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[ [ "Bill Clinton" ], [ "Introduction", "'''William Jefferson Clinton''' (born '''William Jefferson Blythe III''', August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992.Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist \"Third Way\" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat.Clinton was born and raised in Arkansas.", "He graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School, where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham.", "After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor.", "As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association.", "Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election, defeating the incumbent Republican Party president George H. W. Bush and the independent businessman Ross Perot.", "He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation.Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history.", "He signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, but failed to pass his plan for national health care reform.", "The Republican Party won unified control of Congress for the first time in 40 years in the 1994 elections, but Clinton was still comfortably re-elected president in 1996 against both the Republican Party nominee Bob Dole and the Reform Party nominee Perot.", "Starting in the mid-1990s, he began an ideological evolution as he became much more conservative in his domestic policy, advocating for and signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and financial deregulation measures.", "He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court.", "During the last three years of Clinton's presidency, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus—the first such surplus since 1969.In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U.S. military intervention in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars, eventually signing the Dayton Peace agreement.", "He also called for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe and many former Warsaw Pact members joined NATO during his presidency.", "Clinton's foreign policy in the Middle East saw him sign the Iraq Liberation Act which gave aid to groups against Saddam Hussein.", "He also participated in the Oslo I Accord and Camp David Summit to advance the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, and assisted the Northern Ireland peace process.Clinton's second term was dominated by the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, which began in 1995, when he had a sexual relationship with the then 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky.", "In January 1998, news of the affair made tabloid headlines.", "This scandal escalated throughout the year, culminating in December when Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives.", "The two impeachment articles that the House passed were centered around his having used the powers of the presidency to obstruct the investigation and his lying under oath.", "In 1999, Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate, where he was acquitted on both charges.Clinton left office in 2001 with the joint-highest approval rating of any U.S. president.", "His presidency ranks among the middle to upper tier in historical rankings of U.S. presidents.", "However, his personal conduct and allegations of sexual abuse have made him the subject of substantial scrutiny.", "Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work.", "He created the Clinton Foundation to address international causes such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming.", "In 2009, he was named the United Nations special envoy to Haiti.", "After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Clinton founded the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.", "He has remained active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for his wife's 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns." ], [ "Early life and career", "birthplace home in Hope, ArkansasClinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas.", "He is the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr., a traveling salesman who died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy (later Virginia Kelley).", "His parents had married on September 4, 1943, but this union later proved to be bigamous, as Blythe was still married to his fourth wife.", "Virginia traveled to New Orleans to study nursing soon after Bill was born, leaving him in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store.", "At a time when the southern United States was racially segregated, Clinton's grandparents sold goods on credit to people of all races.", "In 1950, Bill's mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr., who co-owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks.", "The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950.Although he immediately assumed use of his stepfather's surname, it was not until Clinton turned 15 that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward him.", "Clinton has described his stepfather as a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his mother and half-brother, Roger Clinton Jr.", "The physical abuse only ceased after a then-14-year-old Bill challenged his stepfather to \"stand and face\" him, though the verbal/emotional abuse continued.", "Bill would eventually forgive Roger Sr. for his abusive actions near the latter's death.In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and the segregated Hot Springs High School, where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician.", "Clinton was in the chorus and played the tenor saxophone, winning first chair in the state band's saxophone section.", "While in high school, Clinton performed for two years in a jazz trio, The 3 Kings, with Randy Goodrum, who became a successful professional pianist.In 1961, Clinton became a member of the Hot Springs Chapter of the Order of DeMolay, a youth group affiliated with Freemasonry, but he never became a Freemason.", "He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography ''My Life'':Hot Springs High School's 1963 yearbookClinton began an interest in law at Hot Springs High, when he took up the challenge to argue the defense of the ancient Roman senator Catiline in a mock trial in his Latin class.", "After a vigorous defense that made use of his \"budding rhetorical and political skills\", he told the Latin teacher Elizabeth Buck it \"made him realize that someday he would study law\".Clinton has identified two influential moments in his life, both occurring in 1963, that contributed to his decision to become a public figure.", "One was his visit as a Boys Nation senator to the White House to meet President John F. Kennedy.", "The other was watching Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 \"I Have a Dream\" speech on TV, which impressed him so much that he later memorized it." ], [ "College and law school years", "===Georgetown University===Student Council while attending the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., receiving a Bachelor of Science in foreign service degree in 1968.Georgetown was the only university where Clinton applied.In 1964 and 1965, Clinton won elections for class president.", "From 1964 to 1967, he was an intern and then a clerk in the office of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright.", "While in college, he became a brother of service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.", "He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi honorary band fraternity.===Oxford===Upon graduating from Georgetown in 1968, Clinton won a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford, where he initially read for a B.Phil.", "in philosophy, politics, and economics but transferred to a B.Litt.", "in politics and, ultimately, a B.Phil.", "in politics.", "Clinton did not expect to return for the second year because of the draft and so he switched programs; this type of activity was common among other Rhodes Scholars from his cohort.", "He had received an offer to study at Yale Law School, and so he left early to return to the United States and did not receive a degree from Oxford.During his time at Oxford, Clinton befriended fellow American Rhodes Scholar Frank Aller.", "In 1969, Aller received a draft letter that mandated deployment to the Vietnam War.", "Aller's 1971 suicide had an influential impact on Clinton.", "British writer and feminist Sara Maitland said of Clinton, \"I remember Bill and Frank Aller taking me to a pub in Walton Street in the summer term of 1969 and talking to me about the Vietnam War.", "I knew nothing about it, and when Frank began to describe the napalming of civilians I began to cry.", "Bill said that feeling bad wasn't good enough.", "That was the first time I encountered the idea that liberal sensitivities weren't enough and you had to do something about such things\".", "Clinton was a member of the Oxford University Basketball Club and also played for Oxford University's rugby union team.While Clinton was president in 1994, he received an honorary degree and a fellowship from the University of Oxford, specifically for being \"a doughty and tireless champion of the cause of world peace\", having \"a powerful collaborator in his wife\", and for winning \"general applause for his achievement of resolving the gridlock that prevented an agreed budget\".===Vietnam War opposition and draft controversy===During the Vietnam War, Clinton received educational draft deferments while he was in England in 1968 and 1969.While at Oxford, he participated in Vietnam War protests and organized a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam event in October 1969.He was planning to attend law school in the U.S. and knew he might lose his deferment.", "Clinton tried unsuccessfully to obtain positions in the National Guard and the Air Force officer candidate school, and he then made arrangements to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at the University of Arkansas.He subsequently decided not to join the ROTC, saying in a letter to the officer in charge of the program that he opposed the war, but did not think it was honorable to use ROTC, National Guard, or Reserve service to avoid serving in Vietnam.", "He further stated that because he opposed the war, he would not volunteer to serve in uniform, but would subject himself to the draft, and would serve if selected only as a way \"to maintain my political viability within the system\".", "Clinton registered for the draft and received a high number (311), meaning that those whose birthdays had been drawn as numbers1 to 310 would be drafted before him, making it unlikely he would be called up.", "(In fact, the highest number drafted was 195.", ")Colonel Eugene Holmes, the Army officer who had been involved with Clinton's ROTC application, suspected that Clinton attempted to manipulate the situation to avoid the draft and avoid serving in uniform.", "He issued a notarized statement during the 1992 presidential campaign:During the 1992 campaign, it was revealed that Clinton's uncle had attempted to secure him a position in the Navy Reserve, which would have prevented him from being deployed to Vietnam.", "This effort was unsuccessful and Clinton said in 1992 that he had been unaware of it until then.", "Although legal, Clinton's actions with respect to the draft and deciding whether to serve in the military were criticized during his first presidential campaign by conservatives and some Vietnam veterans, some of whom charged that he had used Fulbright's influence to avoid military service.", "Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, James Carville, successfully argued that Clinton's letter in which he declined to join the ROTC should be made public, insisting that voters, many of whom had also opposed the Vietnam War, would understand and appreciate his position.===Law school===After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.)", "degree in 1973.In 1971, he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, in the Yale Law Library; she was a class year ahead of him.", "They began dating and were soon inseparable.", "After only about a month, Clinton postponed his summer plans to be a coordinator for the George McGovern campaign for the 1972 United States presidential election in order to move in with her in California.", "The couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school.Clinton eventually moved to Texas with Rodham in 1972 to take a job leading McGovern's effort there.", "He spent considerable time in Dallas, at the campaign's local headquarters on Lemmon Avenue, where he had an office.", "Clinton worked with future two-term mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk, future governor of Texas Ann Richards, and then unknown television director and filmmaker Steven Spielberg." ], [ "Failed congressional campaign and tenure as Attorney General of Arkansas", "After graduating from Yale Law School, Clinton returned to Arkansas and became a law professor at the University of Arkansas.", "In 1974, he ran for the House of Representatives.", "Running in the conservative 3rd district against incumbent Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt, Clinton's campaign was bolstered by the anti-Republican and anti-incumbent mood resulting from the Watergate scandal.", "Hammerschmidt, who had received 77 percent of the vote in 1972, defeated Clinton by only a 52 percent to 48 percent margin.", "In 1976, Clinton ran for Arkansas attorney general.", "Defeating the secretary of state and the deputy attorney general in the Democratic primary, Clinton was elected with no opposition at all in the general election, as no Republican had run for the office." ], [ "Governor of Arkansas (1979–1981, 1983–1992)", "Newly elected Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton meets with President Jimmy Carter, 1978.In 1978, Clinton entered the Arkansas gubernatorial primary.", "At just 31 years old, he was one of the youngest gubernatorial candidates in the state's history.", "Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978, having defeated the Republican candidate Lynn Lowe, a farmer from Texarkana.", "Clinton was only 32 years old when he took office, the youngest governor in the country at the time and the second youngest governor in the history of Arkansas.", "Due to his youthful appearance, Clinton was often called the \"Boy Governor\".", "He worked on educational reform and directed the maintenance of Arkansas's roads, with wife Hillary leading a successful committee on urban health care reform.", "However, his term included an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the Mariel boatlift) detained in Fort Chaffee in 1980.Monroe Schwarzlose, of Kingsland in Cleveland County, polled 31 percent of the vote against Clinton in the Democratic gubernatorial primary of 1980.Some suggested Schwarzlose's unexpected voter turnout foreshadowed Clinton's defeat by Republican challenger Frank D. White in the general election that year.", "As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history.Clinton joined friend Bruce Lindsey's Little Rock law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings.", "In 1982, he was elected governor a second time and kept the office for ten years.", "Effective with the 1986 election, Arkansas had changed its gubernatorial term of office from two to four years.", "During his term, he helped transform Arkansas's economy and improved the state's educational system.", "For senior citizens, he removed the sales tax from medications and increased the home property-tax exemption.", "He became a leading figure among the New Democrats, a group of Democrats who advocated welfare reform, smaller government, and other policies not supported by liberals.", "Formally organized as the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the New Democrats argued that in light of President Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in 1984, the Democratic Party needed to adopt a more centrist political stance in order to succeed at the national level.", "Clinton delivered the Democratic response to Reagan's 1985 State of the Union Address and served as chair of the National Governors Association from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas.Governor and Mrs. Clinton attend the Dinner Honoring the Nation's Governors in the White House with President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1987.In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration.", "The Arkansas Education Standards Committee was chaired by Clinton's wife Hillary, who was also an attorney as well as the chair of the Legal Services Corporation.", "The committee transformed Arkansas's education system.", "Proposed reforms included more spending for schools (supported by a sales-tax increase), better opportunities for gifted children, vocational education, higher teachers' salaries, more course variety, and compulsory teacher competency exams.", "The reforms passed in September 1983 after Clinton called a special legislative session—the longest in Arkansas history.", "Many have considered this the greatest achievement of the Clinton governorship.", "He defeated four Republican candidates for governor: Lowe (1978), White (1982 and 1986), Jonesboro businessmen Woody Freeman (1984), and Sheffield Nelson of Little Rock (1990).Also in the 1980s, the Clintons' personal and business affairs included transactions that became the basis of the Whitewater controversy investigation, which later dogged his presidential administration.", "After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.According to some sources, Clinton was a death penalty opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions.", "However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton was insisting that Democrats \"should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent\".", "During Clinton's final term as governor, Arkansas performed its first executions since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976).", "As Governor, he oversaw the first four executions carried out by the state of Arkansas since the death penalty was reinstated there in 1976: one by electric chair and three by lethal injection.", "To draw attention to his stance on capital punishment, Clinton flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign in 1992, in order to affirm in person that the controversial execution of Ricky Ray Rector, would go forward as scheduled.===1988 Democratic presidential primaries===Clinton in 1986.In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race after incumbent New York governor Mario Cuomo declined to run and Democratic front-runner Gary Hart withdrew owing to revelations of multiple marital infidelities.", "Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor (following consideration for the potential candidacy of Hillary for governor, initially favored—but ultimately vetoed—by the First Lady).", "For the nomination, Clinton endorsed Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.", "He gave the nationally televised opening night address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, but his speech, which was 33 minutes long and twice the length it was expected to be, was criticized for being too long and poorly delivered.", "Clinton presented himself both as a moderate and as a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, and he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991.===1992 United States presidential election===In the first primary contest, the Iowa Caucus, Clinton finished a distant third to Iowa senator Tom Harkin.", "During the campaign for the New Hampshire primary, reports surfaced that Clinton had engaged in an extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers.", "Clinton fell far behind former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas in the New Hampshire polls.", "Following Super Bowl XXVI, Clinton and his wife Hillary went on ''60 Minutes'' to rebuff the charges.", "Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but Clinton regained several delegates.", "He finished second to Tsongas in the New Hampshire primary, but after trailing badly in the polls and coming within single digits of winning, the media viewed it as a victory.", "News outlets labeled him \"The Comeback Kid\" for earning a firm second-place finish.Winning the big prizes of Florida and Texas and many of the Southern primaries on Super Tuesday gave Clinton a sizable delegate lead.", "However, former California governor Jerry Brown was scoring victories and Clinton had yet to win a significant contest outside his native South.", "With no major Southern state remaining, Clinton targeted New York, which had many delegates.", "He scored a resounding victory in New York City, shedding his image as a regional candidate.", "Having been transformed into the consensus candidate, he secured the Democratic Party nomination, finishing with a victory in Jerry Brown's home state of California.During the campaign, questions of conflict of interest regarding state business and the politically powerful Rose Law Firm, at which Hillary Rodham Clinton was a partner, arose.", "Clinton argued the questions were moot because all transactions with the state had been deducted before determining Hillary's firm pay.", "Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that, with Hillary, voters would be getting two presidents \"for the price of one\".Clinton was still the governor of Arkansas while campaigning for U.S. president, and he returned to his home state to see that Ricky Ray Rector would be executed.", "After killing a police officer and a civilian, Rector shot himself in the head, leading to what his lawyers said was a state where he could still talk but did not understand the idea of death.", "According to both Arkansas state law and federal law, a seriously mentally impaired inmate cannot be executed.", "The courts disagreed with the allegation of grave mental impairment and allowed the execution.", "Clinton's return to Arkansas for the execution was framed in an article for ''The New York Times'' as a possible political move to counter \"soft on crime\" accusations.Bush's approval ratings were around 80 percent during the Gulf War, and he was described as unbeatable.", "When Bush compromised with Democrats to try to lower federal deficits, he reneged on his promise not to raise taxes, which hurt his approval rating.", "Clinton repeatedly condemned Bush for making a promise he failed to keep.", "By election time, the economy was souring and Bush saw his approval rating plummet to just slightly over 40 percent.", "Finally, conservatives were previously united by anti-communism, but with the end of the Cold War, the party lacked a uniting issue.", "When Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson addressed Christian themes at the Republican National Convention—with Bush criticizing Democrats for omitting God from their platform—many moderates were alienated.", "Clinton then pointed to his moderate, \"New Democrat\" record as governor of Arkansas, though some on the more liberal side of the party remained suspicious.", "Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their support to Clinton.", "Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore, toured the country during the final weeks of the campaign, shoring up support and pledging a \"new beginning\".On March 26, 1992, during a Democratic fund raiser of the presidential campaign, Robert Rafsky confronted then Gov.", "Bill Clinton of Arkansas and asked what he was going to do about AIDS, to which Clinton replied, \"I feel your pain\".", "The televised exchange led to AIDS becoming an issue in the 1992 presidential election.", "On April 4, then candidate Clinton met with members of ACT UP and other leading AIDS advocates to discuss his AIDS agenda and agreed to make a major AIDS policy speech, to have people with HIV speak to the Democratic Convention, and to sign onto the AIDS United Action five point plan.1992 electoral vote results.", "Clinton won 370–168.Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire populist Ross Perot (zero electoral votes), who ran as an independent on a platform that focused on domestic issues.", "Bush's steep decline in public approval was a significant part of Clinton's success.", "Clinton's victory in the election ended twelve years of Republican rule of the White House and twenty of the previous twenty-four years.", "The election gave Democrats full control of the United States Congress, the first time one party controlled both the executive and legislative branches since Democrats held the 96th United States Congress during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.According to Seymour Martin Lipset, the 1992 election had several unique characteristics.", "Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush.", "A rare event was the presence of a strong third-party candidate.", "Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House.", "The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups." ], [ "Presidency (1993–2001)", "Clinton's \"third way\" of moderate liberalism built up the nation's fiscal health and put the nation on a firm footing abroad amid globalization and the development of anti-American terrorist organizations.During his presidency, Clinton advocated for a wide variety of legislation and programs, most of which were enacted into law or implemented by the executive branch.", "His policies, particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement and welfare reform, have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance.", "His policy of fiscal conservatism helped to reduce deficits on budgetary matters.", "Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history.The Congressional Budget Office reported budget surpluses of $69 billion in 1998, $126 billion in 1999, and $236 billion in 2000, during the last three years of Clinton's presidency.", "Over the years of the recorded surplus, the gross national debt rose each year.", "At the end of the fiscal year (September 30) for each of the years a surplus was recorded, The U.S. treasury reported a gross debt of $5.413 trillion in 1997, $5.526 trillion in 1998, $5.656 trillion in 1999, and $5.674 trillion in 2000.Over the same period, the Office of Management and Budget reported an end of year (December 31) gross debt of $5.369 trillion in 1997, $5.478 trillion in 1998, $5.606 in 1999, and $5.629 trillion in 2000.At the end of his presidency, the Clintons moved to 15 Old House Lane in Chappaqua, New York, in order to quell political worries about his wife's residency for election as a U.S.", "Senator from New York.===First term (1993–1997)===Clinton during the signing of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, with Yitzhak Rabin (left) and King Hussein of Jordan (right)After his presidential transition, Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd president of the United States on January 20, 1993.Clinton was physically exhausted at the time, and had an inexperienced staff.", "His high levels of public support dropped in the first few weeks, as he made a series of mistakes.", "His first choice for attorney general had not paid her taxes on babysitters and was forced to withdraw.", "The second appointee also withdrew for the same reason.", "Clinton had repeatedly promised to encourage gays in the military service, despite what he knew to be the strong opposition of the military leadership.", "He tried anyway, and was publicly opposed by the top generals, and forced by Congress to a compromise position of \"Don't ask, don't tell\" whereby gays could serve if and only if they kept it secret.", "He devised a $16-billion stimulus package primarily to aid inner-city programs desired by liberals, but it was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate.", "His popularity at the 100 day mark of his term was the lowest of any president at that point.Public opinion did support one liberal program, and Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow employees to take unpaid leave for pregnancy or a serious medical condition.", "This action had bipartisan support, and was popular with the public.Two days after taking office, on January 22, 1993—the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''Roe v. Wade''—Clinton reversed restrictions on domestic and international family planning programs that had been imposed by Reagan and Bush.", "Clinton said abortion should be kept \"safe, legal, and rare\"—a slogan that had been suggested by political scientist Samuel L. Popkin and first used by Clinton in December 1991, while campaigning.", "During the eight years of the Clinton administration, the abortion rate declined by 18 percent.On February 15, 1993, Clinton made his first address to the nation, announcing his plan to raise taxes to close a budget deficit.", "Two days later, in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress, Clinton unveiled his economic plan.", "The plan focused on reducing the deficit rather than on cutting taxes for the middle class, which had been high on his campaign agenda.", "Clinton's advisers pressured him to raise taxes, based on the theory that a smaller federal budget deficit would reduce bond interest rates.President Clinton's attorney general Janet Reno authorized the FBI's use of armored vehicles to deploy tear gas into the buildings of the Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas, in hopes of ending a 51 day siege.", "During the operation on April 19, 1993, the buildings caught fire and 75 of the residents died, including 24 children.", "The raid had originally been planned by the Bush administration; Clinton had played no role.In August, Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which passed Congress without a Republican vote.", "It cut taxes for 15million low-income families, made tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses, and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2 percent of taxpayers.", "Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over many years through the implementation of spending restraints.Clinton and Vice President Al Gore on the South Lawn, August 10, 1993On September 22, 1993, Clinton made a major speech to Congress regarding a health care reform plan; the program aimed at achieving universal coverage through a national health care plan.", "This was one of the most prominent items on Clinton's legislative agenda and resulted from a task force headed by Hillary Clinton.", "The plan was well received in political circles, but it was eventually doomed by well-organized lobby opposition from conservatives, the American Medical Association, and the health insurance industry.", "However, Clinton biographer John F. Harris said the program failed because of a lack of coordination within the White House.", "Despite the Democratic majority in Congress, the effort to create a national health care system ultimately died when compromise legislation by George J. Mitchell failed to gain a majority of support in August 1994.The failure of the bill was the first major legislative defeat of the Clinton administration.On November 30, 1993, Clinton signed into law the Brady Bill, which mandated federal background checks on people who purchase firearms in the United States.", "The law also imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases, until the NICS system was implemented in 1998.He also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, a subsidy for low-income workers.In December of the same year, allegations by Arkansas state troopers Larry Patterson and Roger Perry were first reported by David Brock in ''The American Spectator.''", "In the affair later known as \"Troopergate\", the officers alleged that they had arranged sexual liaisons for Clinton back when he was governor of Arkansas.", "The story mentioned a woman named ''Paula'', a reference to Paula Jones.", "Brock later apologized to Clinton, saying the article was politically motivated \"bad journalism\", and that \"the troopers were greedy and had slimy motives\".Yitzhak Rabin, Clinton and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993That month, Clinton implemented a Department of Defense directive known as \"Don't Ask, Don't Tell\", which allowed gay men and women to serve in the armed services provided they kept their sexual preferences a secret.", "The Act forbade the military from inquiring about an individual's sexual orientation.", "The policy was developed as a compromise after Clinton's proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the military met staunch opposition from prominent Congressional Republicans and Democrats, including senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Sam Nunn (D-GA).", "According to David Mixner, Clinton's support for the compromise led to a heated dispute with Vice President Al Gore, who felt that \"the President should lift the ban ... even though his executive order was sure to be overridden by the Congress\".", "Some gay-rights advocates criticized Clinton for not going far enough and accused him of making his campaign promise to get votes and contributions.", "Their position was that Clinton should have integrated the military by executive order, noting that President Harry S. Truman used executive order to racially desegregate the armed forces.", "Clinton's defenders argued that an executive order might have prompted the Senate to write the exclusion of gays into law, potentially making it harder to integrate the military in the future.", "Later in his presidency, in 1999, Clinton criticized the way the policy was implemented, saying he did not think any serious person could say it was not \"out of whack\".", "The policy remained controversial, and was finally repealed in 2011, removing open sexual orientation as a reason for dismissal from the armed forces.On January 1, 1994, Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law.", "Throughout his first year in office, Clinton consistently supported ratification of the treaty by the U.S. Senate.", "Clinton and most of his allies in the Democratic Leadership Committee strongly supported free trade measures; there remained, however, strong disagreement within the party.", "Opposition came chiefly from anti-trade Republicans, protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot.", "The bill passed the house with 234 votes in favor and 200 votes opposed (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats in favor; 156 Democrats, 43 Republicans, and one independent opposed).", "The treaty was then ratified by the Senate and signed into law by the president.On July 29, 1994, the Clinton administration launched the first official White House website, whitehouse.gov.", "The site was followed with three more versions, with the final version being launched on July 21, 2000.The White House website was part of a wider movement of the Clinton administration toward web-based communication.", "According to Robert Longley, \"Clinton and Gore were responsible for pressing almost all federal agencies, the U.S. court system and the U.S. military onto the Internet, thus opening up America's government to more of America's citizens than ever before.", "On July 17, 1996, Clinton issued Executive Order 13011—Federal Information Technology, ordering the heads of all federal agencies to utilize information technology fully to make the information of the agency easily accessible to the public.", "\"The Omnibus Crime Bill, which Clinton signed into law in September 1994, made many changes to U.S. crime and law enforcement legislation including the expansion of the death penalty to include crimes not resulting in death, such as running a large-scale drug enterprise.", "During Clinton's re-election campaign he said, \"My 1994 crime bill expanded the death penalty for drug kingpins, murderers of federal law enforcement officers, and nearly 60 additional categories of violent felons.\"", "It also included a subsection of assault weapons ban for a ten-year period.After two years of Democratic Party control, the Democrats lost control of Congress to the Republicans in the mid-term elections in 1994, for the first time in forty years.A speech delivered by President Bill Clinton at the December 6, 1995 White House Conference on HIV/AIDS projected that a cure for AIDS and a vaccine to prevent further infection would be developed.", "The President focused on his administration's accomplishments and efforts related to the epidemic, including an accelerated drug-approval process.", "He also condemned homophobia and discrimination against people with HIV.", "Clinton announced three new initiatives: creating a special working group to coordinate AIDS research throughout the federal government; convening public health experts to develop an action plan that integrates HIV prevention with substance abuse prevention; and launching a new effort by the Department of Justice to ensure that health care facilities provide equal access to people with HIV and AIDS.Clinton's coat of arms, granted by the Chief Herald of Ireland in 1995On September 21, 1996, Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage for federal purposes as the legal union of one man and one woman; the legislation allowed individual states to refuse to recognize gay marriages that were performed in other states.", "Paul Yandura, speaking for the White House gay and lesbian liaison office, said Clinton's signing DOMA \"was a political decision that they made at the time of a re-election\".", "In defense of his actions, Clinton has said that DOMA was intended to \"head off an attempt to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the states\", a possibility he described as highly likely in the context of a \"very reactionary Congress\".", "Administration spokesman Richard Socarides said, \"the alternatives we knew were going to be far worse, and it was time to move on and get the president re-elected.\"", "Clinton himself said DOMA was something \"which the Republicans put on the ballot to try to get the base vote for Bush up, I think it's obvious that something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress from presenting that\"; Others were more critical.", "The veteran gay rights and gay marriage activist Evan Wolfson has called these claims \"historic revisionism\".", "Despite this, it has been noted that other than a brief written response to a Reader's Digest that questioned whether he agreed with it, Clinton had made no documented reference to the issue of gay marriage until May 1996.In a July 2, 2011, editorial ''The New York Times'' opined, \"The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996 as an election-year wedge issue, signed by President Bill Clinton in one of his worst policy moments.\"", "Ultimately, in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA in June 2013.Despite DOMA, Clinton was the first president to select openly gay persons for administrative positions, and he is generally credited as being the first president to publicly champion gay rights.", "During his presidency, Clinton issued two substantially controversial executive orders on behalf of gay rights, the first lifting the ban on security clearances for LGBT federal employees and the second outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal civilian workforce.", "Under Clinton's leadership, federal funding for HIV/AIDS research, prevention and treatment more than doubled.", "Clinton also pushed for passing hate crimes laws for gays and for the private sector Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which, buoyed by his lobbying, failed to pass the Senate by a single vote in 1996.Advocacy for these issues, paired with the politically unpopular nature of the gay rights movement at the time, led to enthusiastic support for Clinton's election and reelection by the Human Rights Campaign.", "Clinton came out for gay marriage in July 2009 and urged the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA in 2013.He was later honored by GLAAD for his prior pro-gay stances and his reversal on DOMA.The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy was an alleged effort by China to influence the domestic policies of the United States, before and during the Clinton administration, and involved the fundraising practices of the administration itself.", "Despite the evidence, the Chinese government denied all accusations.As part of a 1996 initiative to curb illegal immigration, Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) on September 30, 1996.Appointed by Clinton, the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform recommended reducing legal immigration from about 800,000 people a year to about 550,000.In November 1996, Clinton narrowly escaped possible assassination in the Philippines, which was a bridge bomb planted by al-Qaeda and was masterminded by Osama bin Laden.", "During Clinton's presidency, the attempt remained top secret.====1996 presidential campaign====1996 electoral vote results.", "Clinton won 379–159.In the 1996 presidential election, Clinton was re-elected, receiving 49.2 percent of the popular vote over Republican Bob Dole (40.7 percent of the popular vote) and Reform candidate Ross Perot (8.4 percent of the popular vote).", "Clinton received 379 of the Electoral College votes, with Dole receiving 159 electoral votes.", "With his victory, he became the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since Franklin D. Roosevelt.===Second term (1997–2001)===In the January 1997, State of the Union address, Clinton proposed a new initiative to provide health coverage to up to five million children.", "Senators Ted Kennedy—a Democrat—and Orrin Hatch—a Republican—teamed up with Hillary Rodham Clinton and her staff in 1997, and succeeded in passing legislation forming the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the largest (successful) health care reform in the years of the Clinton Presidency.", "That year, Hillary Clinton shepherded through Congress the Adoption and Safe Families Act and two years later she succeeded in helping pass the Foster Care Independence Act.", "Bill Clinton negotiated the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 by the Republican Congress.", "In October 1997, he announced he was getting hearing aids, due to hearing loss attributed to his age, and his time spent as a musician in his youth.", "In 1999, he signed into law the Financial Services Modernization Act also known as the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, which repealed the part of the Glass–Steagall Act that had prohibited a bank from offering a full range of investment, commercial banking, and insurance services since its enactment in 1933.==== Investigations ====In November 1993, David Hale—the source of criminal allegations against Bill Clinton in the Whitewater controversy—alleged that while governor of Arkansas, Clinton pressured Hale to provide an illegal $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, the Clintons' partner in the Whitewater land deal.", "A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation resulted in convictions against the McDougals for their role in the Whitewater project, but the Clintons themselves were never charged, and Clinton maintains his and his wife's innocence in the affair.", "Investigations Robert B. Fiske and Ken Starr found insufficient to evidence to prosecute the Clintons.The White House FBI files controversy of June 1996 arose concerning improper access by the White House to FBI security-clearance documents.", "Craig Livingstone, head of the White House Office of Personnel Security, improperly requested, and received from the FBI, background report files without asking permission of the subject individuals; many of these were employees of former Republican administrations.", "In March 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray determined there was no credible evidence of any crime.", "Ray's report further stated, \"there was no substantial and credible evidence that any senior White House official was involved\" in seeking the files.On May 19, 1993, Clinton fired seven employees of the White House Travel Office.", "This caused the White House travel office controversy even though the travel office staff served at the pleasure of the president and could be dismissed without cause.", "The White House responded to the controversy by claiming that the firings were done in response to financial improprieties that had been revealed by a brief FBI investigation.", "Critics contended that the firings had been done to allow friends of the Clintons to take over the travel business and the involvement of the FBI was unwarranted.", "The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee issued a report which accused the Clinton administration of having obstructed their efforts to investigate the affair.", "Special counsel Robert Fiske said that Hillary Clinton was involved in the firing and gave \"factually false\" testimony to the GAO, congress, and the independent counsel.", "However Fiske said there was not enough evidence to prosecute.====Impeachment and acquittal====Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999After a House inquiry, Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998, by the House of Representatives.", "The House voted 228–206 to impeach him for perjury to a grand jury and voted 221–212 to impeach him for obstruction of justice.", "Clinton was only the second U.S. president (the first being Andrew Johnson) to be impeached.", "Impeachment proceedings were based on allegations that Clinton had illegally lied about and covered up his relationship with 22-year-old White House (and later Department of Defense) employee Monica Lewinsky.", "After the Starr Report was submitted to the House providing what it termed \"substantial and credible information that President Clinton Committed Acts that May Constitute Grounds for an Impeachment\", the House began impeachment hearings against Clinton before the mid-term elections.", "To hold impeachment proceedings, Republican leadership called a lame-duck session in December 1998.Clinton in 2000 at Trump Tower, shaking hands with future President Donald Trump.While the House Judiciary Committee hearings ended in a straight party-line vote, there was lively debate on the House floor.", "The two charges passed in the House (largely with Republican support, but with a handful of Democratic votes as well) were for perjury and obstruction of justice.", "The perjury charge arose from Clinton's testimony before a grand jury that had been convened to investigate perjury he may have committed in his sworn deposition during ''Jones v. Clinton,'' Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit.", "The obstruction charge was based on his actions to conceal his relationship with Lewinsky before and after that deposition.The Senate later acquitted Clinton of both charges.", "The Senate refused to meet to hold an impeachment trial before the end of the old term, so the trial was held over until the next Congress.", "Clinton was represented by Washington law firm Williams & Connolly.", "The Senate finished a twenty-one-day trial on February 12, 1999, with the vote of 55 not guilty/45 guilty on the perjury charge and 50 not guilty/50 guilty on the obstruction of justice charge.", "Both votes fell short of the constitutional two-thirds majority requirement to convict and remove an officeholder.", "The final vote was generally along party lines, with no Democrats voting guilty, and only a handful of Republicans voting not guilty.On January 19, 2001, Clinton's law license was suspended for five years after he acknowledged to an Arkansas circuit court he had engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in the ''Jones'' case.====Pardons and commutations ====Clinton issued 141 pardons and 36 commutations on his last day in office on January 20, 2001.Controversy surrounded Marc Rich and allegations that Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, accepted payments in return for influencing the president's decision-making regarding the pardons.", "Federal prosecutor Mary Jo White was appointed to investigate the pardon of Rich.", "She was later replaced by then-Republican James Comey.", "The investigation found no wrongdoing on Clinton's part.", "Clinton also pardoned 4 defendants in the Whitewater Scandal, Chris Wade, Susan McDougal, Stephen Smith, and Robert W. Palmer, all of whom had ties to Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.", "Former Clinton HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, was also among Clinton's pardons.==== Campaign finance controversies ====In February 1997 it was discovered upon documents being released by the Clinton Administration that 938 people had stayed at the White House and that 821 of them had made donations to the Democratic Party and got the opportunity to stay in the Lincoln bedroom as a result of the donations.", "Some donors included Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Jane Fonda, and Judy Collins.", "Top donors also got golf games and morning jogs with Clinton as a result of the contributions.", "Janet Reno was called on to investigate the matter by Trent Lott, but she refused.In 1996, it was found that several Chinese foreigners made contributions to Clinton's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee with the backing of the People's Republic of China.", "Some of them also attempted to donate to Clinton's defense fund.", "This violated United States law forbidding non-American citizens from making campaign contributions.", "Clinton and Al Gore also allegedly met with the foreign donors.", "A Republican investigation led by Fred Thompson found that Clinton was targeted by the Chinese government.", "However, Democratic senators Joe Lieberman and John Glenn said that the evidence showed that China only targeted congressional elections and not presidential elections.===Military and foreign affairs=======Somalia====Col.", "Paul Fletcher, USAF and Clinton speak before boarding Air Force One, November 4, 1999American troops had first entered Somalia during the Bush administration in response to a humanitarian crisis and civil war.", "Though initially involved to assist humanitarian efforts, the Clinton administration shifted the objectives set out in the mission and began pursuing a policy of attempting to neutralize Somali warlords.", "In 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu, two U.S. helicopters were shot down by rocket-propelled grenade attacks to their tail rotors, trapping soldiers behind enemy lines.", "This resulted in an urban battle that killed 18 American soldiers, wounded 73 others, and resulted in one being taken prisoner.", "Television news programs depicted the supporters of warlord Mohammed Aidid desecrating the corpses of troops.", "The backlash resulting from the incident prompted in a drop in support for American intervention in the country and coincided with a more cautious use of troops throughout the rest of the Clinton administration.", "Following a subsequent national security policy review, U.S. forces were withdrawn from Somalia and later conflicts were approached with fewer soldiers on the ground.====Rwanda====In April 1994, genocide broke out in Rwanda.", "Intelligence reports indicate that Clinton was aware a \"final solution to eliminate all Tutsis\" was underway, long before the administration publicly used the word \"genocide\".", "Fearing a reprisal of the events in Somalia the previous year, Clinton chose not to intervene.", "Clinton has called his failure to intervene one of his main foreign policy failings, saying \"I don't think we could have ended the violence, but I think we could have cut it down.", "And I regret it.", "\"====Bosnia and Herzegovina====Clinton with the U.S. delegation to Bosnia and Air Force personnel in a flight to Tuzla on December 22, 1997.Clinton is seen alongside future President Joe Biden.In 1993 and 1994, Clinton pressured Western European leaders to adopt a strong military policy against Bosnian Serbs during the Bosnian War.", "This strategy faced staunch opposition from the United Nations, NATO allies, and Congressional Republicans, leading Clinton to adopt a more diplomatic approach.", "In 1995, U.S. and NATO aircraft bombed Bosnian Serb targets to halt attacks on UN safe zones and pressure them into a peace accord that would end the Bosnian war.", "Clinton deployed U.S. peacekeepers to Bosnia in late 1995, to uphold the subsequent Dayton Agreement.====Irish peace talks====Clinton shaking hands with Gerry Adams outside a business in East Belfast, November 30, 1995In 1992, before his presidency, Clinton proposed sending a peace envoy to Northern Ireland, but this was dropped to avoid tensions with the British government.", "In November 1995, in a ceasefire during the Troubles, Clinton became the first president to visit Northern Ireland, examining both of the two divided communities of Belfast.", "Despite unionist criticism, Clinton used his visit as a way to negotiate an end to the violent conflict, playing a key role in the peace talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.Clinton plays the saxophone presented to him by Russian president Boris Yeltsin at a private dinner in Russia, January 13, 1994.====Iran====Clinton sought to continue the Bush administration's policy of limiting Iranian influence in the Middle East, which he laid out in the dual containment strategy.", "In 1994, Clinton declared that Iran was a \"state sponsor of terrorism\" and a \"rogue state\", marking the first time that an American President used that term.", "Subsequent executive orders heavily sanctioned Iran's oil industry and banned almost all trade between U.S. companies and the Iranian government.", "In February 1996, the Clinton administration agreed to pay Iran US$131.8million (equivalent to $ million in ) in settlement to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the U.S. in the International Court of Justice after the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 by the U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser.", "Following the 1997 election of reformist president Mohammad Khatami, the administration eased sanctions.====Iraq====In Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address, he warned Congress that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was building an arsenal of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 on October 31, 1998, which instituted a policy of \"regime change\" against Iraq, though it explicitly stated it did not provide for direct intervention on the part of American military forces.", "The administration then launched a four-day bombing campaign named Operation Desert Fox, lasting from December 16 to 19, 1998.At the end of this operation Clinton announced that \"So long as Saddam remains in power, he will remain a threat to his people, his region, and the world.", "With our allies, we must pursue a strategy to contain him and to constrain his weapons of mass destruction program, while working toward the day Iraq has a government willing to live at peace with its people and with its neighbors.\"", "American and British aircraft in the Iraq no-fly zones attacked hostile Iraqi air defenses 166 times in 1999 and 78 times in 2000.====Osama bin Laden====Capturing Osama bin Laden was an objective of the U.S. government during the Clinton presidency (and continued to be until bin Laden's death in 2011).", "Despite claims by Mansoor Ijaz and Sudanese officials that the Sudanese government had offered to arrest and extradite bin Laden, and that U.S. authorities rejected each offer, the 9/11 Commission Report stated that \"we have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim\".In response to a 1996 State Department warning about bin Laden and the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa by al-Qaeda (which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans), Clinton ordered several military missions to capture or kill bin Laden, all of which were unsuccessful.", "In August 1998, Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan, targeting the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, which was suspected of assisting bin Laden in making chemical weapons, and bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.", "The factory was destroyed by the attack, resulting in the death of one employee and the wounding of 11 other people.", "After the destruction of the factory, there was a medicine shortage in Sudan due to the plant providing 50 percent of Sudan's medicine, and the destruction of the plant led to a shortage of chloroquine, a drug which is used to treat malaria.", "U.S. officials later acknowledged that there was no evidence the plant was acknowledging manufacturing or storing nerve gas.", "The attack provoked criticism of Clinton from journalists and academics including Christopher Hitchens, Seymour Hersh, Max Taylor, and others.====Kosovo====Clinton during a briefing on Kosovo, March 31, 1999In the midst of a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in the province of Kosovo by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Clinton authorized the use of U.S. Armed Forces in a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, named Operation Allied Force.", "The stated reasoning behind the intervention was to stop the ethnic cleansing (and what the Clinton administration labeled genocide) of Albanians by Yugoslav anti-guerilla military units.", "General Wesley Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and oversaw the mission.", "With United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, the bombing campaign ended on June 10, 1999.The resolution placed Kosovo under UN administration and authorized a peacekeeping force to be deployed to the region.", "NATO announced its soldiers all survived combat, though two died in an Apache helicopter crash.", "Journalists in the popular press criticized genocide statements by the Clinton administration as false and greatly exaggerated.", "Prior to the bombing campaign on March 24, 1999, estimates showed that the number of civilians killed in the over year long conflict in Kosovo had been approximately 1,800, with critics asserting that little or no evidence existed of genocide.", "In a post-war inquiry, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted \"the patterns of the expulsions and the vast increase in lootings, killings, rape, kidnappings and pillage once the NATO air war began on March 24.\"", "In 2001, the UN-supervised Supreme Court of Kosovo ruled that genocide (the intent to destroy a people) did not take place, but recognized \"a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments\" with the intention being the forceful departure of the Albanian population.", "The term \"ethnic cleansing\" was used as an alternative to \"genocide\" to denote not just ethnically motivated murder but also displacement, though critics charge there is little difference.", "Slobodan Milošević, the president of Yugoslavia at the time of the atrocities, was eventually brought to trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague on charges including crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the war.", "He died in 2006, before the completion of the trial.====China====Clinton and Chinese president Jiang Zemin holding a joint press conference at the White House, October 29, 1997Clinton aimed to increase trade with China, minimizing import tariffs and offering the country most favoured nation status in 1993, his administration minimized tariff levels in Chinese imports.", "Clinton initially conditioned extension of this status on human rights reforms, but ultimately decided to extend the status despite a lack of reform in the specified areas, including free emigration, treatment of prisoners in terms of international human rights, and observation of human rights specified by UN resolutions, among others.Relations were damaged briefly by the American bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999.Clinton apologized for the bombing, stating it was accidental.Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, President Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David, July 2000On October 10, 2000, Clinton signed into law the United States–China Relations Act of 2000, which granted permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) trade status to China.", "The president asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform.In encouraging Congress to approve the agreement and China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Clinton stated that more trade with China would advance America's economic interests, saying that \"economically, this agreement is the equivalent of a one-way street.", "It requires China to open its markets—with a fifth of the world's population, potentially the biggest markets in the world—to both our products and services in unprecedented new ways.", "\"====Israeli-Palestinian conflict====King Husein, Shimon Peres, Clinton, Hosni Mubarak, Boris Yeltsin and Yasser Arafat in Sharm El Sheikh, March 1996Clinton attempted to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.", "Secret negotiations mediated by Clinton between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat led to a historic declaration of peace in September 1993, called the Oslo Accords, which were signed at the White House on September 13.The agreement led to the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994 and the Wye River Memorandum in October 1998, however, this did not end the conflict.", "He brought Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat together at Camp David for the 2000 Camp David Summit, which lasted 14 days in July.", "Following the failure of the peace talks, Clinton said Arafat had \"missed the opportunity\" to facilitate a \"just and lasting peace\".", "In his autobiography, Clinton blames Arafat for the collapse of the summit.", "Following another attempt in December 2000 at Bolling Air Force Base, in which the president offered the Clinton Parameters, the situation broke down completely after the end of the Taba Summit and with the start of the Second Intifada.===Judicial appointments===Ruth Bader Ginsburg accepting her nomination to the Supreme Court from President Clinton, 1993Clinton appointed two justices to the Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993 and Stephen Breyer in 1994.Both justices went on to serve until the 2020s, leaving a lasting judicial legacy for President Clinton.Clinton was the first president in history to appoint more women and minority judges than white male judges to the federal courts.", "In his eight years in office, 11.6% of Clinton's court of appeals nominees and 17.4% of his district court nominees were black; 32.8% of his court of appeals nominees and 28.5% of his district court nominees were women." ], [ "Public opinion", "approval ratings throughout his presidential career (Roper Center)Throughout Clinton's first term, his job approval rating fluctuated in the 40s and 50s.", "In his second term, his rating consistently ranged from the high-50s to the high-60s.", "After his impeachment proceedings in 1998 and 1999, Clinton's rating reached its highest point.", "According to a CBS News/''New York Times'' poll, Clinton left office with an approval rating of 68 percent, which matched those of Ronald Reagan and Franklin D. Roosevelt as the highest ratings for departing presidents in the modern era.", "Clinton's average Gallup poll approval rating for his last quarter in office was 61 percent, the highest final quarter rating any president has received for fifty years.", "Forty-seven percent of the respondents identified themselves as being Clinton supporters.As he was leaving office, a CNN/''USA Today''/Gallup poll revealed that 45 percent of Americans said they would miss him; 55 percent thought he \"would have something worthwhile to contribute and should remain active in public life\"; 68 percent thought he would be remembered more for his \"involvement in personal scandal\" than for \"his accomplishments\"; and 58 percent answered \"No\" to the question \"Do you generally think Bill Clinton is honest and trustworthy?\"", "The same percentage said he would be remembered as either \"outstanding\" or \"above average\" as a president, while 22 percent said he would be remembered as \"below average\" or \"poor\".", "ABC News characterized public consensus on Clinton as, \"You can't trust him, he's got weak morals and ethics—and he's done a heck of a good job.", "\"In May 2006, a CNN poll comparing Clinton's job performance with that of his successor, George W. Bush, found that a strong majority of respondents said Clinton outperformed Bush in six different areas questioned.", "Gallup polls in 2007 and 2011 showed that Clinton was regarded by 13 percent of Americans as the greatest president in U.S. history.In 2014, 18 percent of respondents in a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll of American voters regarded Clinton as the best president since World War II, making him the third most popular among postwar presidents, behind John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.", "The same poll showed that just 3 percent of American voters regarded Clinton as the worst president since World War II.A 2015 poll by ''The Washington Post'' asked 162 scholars of the American Political Science Association to rank all the U.S. presidents in order of greatness.", "According to their findings, Clinton ranked eighth overall, with a rating of 70 percent." ], [ "Public image", "British Parliament on November 29, 1995Clinton was the first baby boomer president.", "Authors Martin Walker and Bob Woodward stated that Clinton's innovative use of sound bite-ready dialogue, personal charisma, and public perception-oriented campaigning were a major factor in his high public approval ratings.", "When Clinton played the saxophone on ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', he was described by some religious conservatives as \"the MTV president\".", "Opponents sometimes referred to him as \"Slick Willie\", a nickname which was first applied to him in 1980 by ''Pine Bluff Commercial'' journalist Paul Greenberg; Greenberg believed that Clinton was abandoning the progressive policies of previous Arkansas Governors such as Winthrop Rockefeller, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor.", "The claim \"Slick Willie\" would last throughout his presidency.", "His folksy manner led him to be nicknamed Bubba, especially in the South, starting from the 1992 presidential election.", "Since 2000, he has frequently been referred to as \"The Big Dog\" or \"Big Dog\".", "His prominent role in campaigning for President Obama during the 2012 presidential election and his widely publicized speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where he officially nominated Obama and criticized Republican nominee Mitt Romney and Republican policies in detail, earned him the nickname \"Explainer-in-Chief\".Clinton drew strong support from the African American community and insisted that the improvement of race relations would be a major theme of his presidency.", "In 1998, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison called Clinton \"the first black president\", saying, \"Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas\".", "Morrison noted that Clinton's sex life was scrutinized more than his career accomplishments, and she compared this to the stereotyping and double standards that, she said, black people typically endure.", "Many viewed this comparison as unfair and disparaging both to Clinton and to the African-American community." ], [ "Sexual assault and misconduct allegations", "Clinton and Monica Lewinsky on February 28, 1997Several women have publicly accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, including rape, harassment, and sexual assault.", "Additionally, some commentators have characterized Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as predatory or non-consensual, despite the fact that Lewinsky called the relationship consensual at the time.", "These allegations have been revisited and lent more credence in 2018, in light of the #MeToo movement, with many commentators and Democratic leaders now saying Clinton should have been compelled to resign after the Lewinsky affair.In 1994, Paula Jones initiated a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton, claiming he had made unwanted advances towards her in 1991; Clinton denied the allegations.", "In April 1998, the case was initially dismissed by Judge Susan Webber Wright on the grounds that it lacked legal merit.", "Jones appealed Webber Wright's ruling, and her suit gained traction following Clinton's admission to having an affair with Monica Lewinsky in August 1998.In 1998, lawyers for Paula Jones released court documents that alleged a pattern of sexual harassment by Clinton when he was Governor of Arkansas.", "Robert S. Bennett, Clinton's main lawyer for the case, called the filing \"a pack of lies\" and \"an organized campaign to smear the President of the United States\" funded by Clinton's political enemies.", "Clinton later agreed to an out-of-court settlement and paid Jones $850,000.Bennett said the president made the settlement only so he could end the lawsuit for good and move on with his life.", "During the deposition for the Jones lawsuit, which was held at the White House, Clinton denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky—a denial that became the basis for an impeachment charge of perjury.In 1998, Kathleen Willey alleged that Clinton had groped her in a hallway in 1993.An independent counsel determined Willey gave \"false information\" to the FBI, inconsistent with sworn testimony related to the Jones allegation.", "On March 19, 1998, Julie Hiatt Steele, a friend of Willey, released an affidavit, accusing the former White House aide of asking her to lie to corroborate Ms. Willey's account of being sexually groped by Clinton in the Oval Office.", "An attempt by Kenneth Starr to prosecute Steele for making false statements and obstructing justice ended in a mistrial and Starr declined to seek a retrial after Steele sought an investigation against the former independent counsel for prosecutorial misconduct.", "Linda Tripp's grand jury testimony also differed from Willey's claims regarding inappropriate sexual advances.Also in 1998, Juanita Broaddrick alleged that Clinton had raped her in the spring of 1978, although she said she did not remember the exact date.", "To support her charge, Broaddrick notes that she told multiple witnesses in 1978 she had been raped by Clinton, something these witnesses also state in interviews to the press.", "Broaddrick had earlier filed an affidavit denying any \"unwelcome sexual advances\" and later repeated the denial in a sworn deposition.", "In a 1998 NBC interview wherein she detailed the alleged rape, Broaddrick said she had denied (under oath) being raped only to avoid testifying about the ordeal publicly.The Lewinsky scandal has had an enduring impact on Clinton's legacy, beyond his impeachment in 1998.In the wake of the #MeToo movement (which shed light on the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace), various commentators and Democratic political leaders, as well as Lewinsky herself, have revisited their view that the Lewinsky affair was consensual, and instead characterized it as an abuse of power or harassment, in light of the power differential between a president and a 22-year old intern.", "In 2018, Clinton was asked in several interviews about whether he should have resigned, and he said he had made the right decision in not resigning.", "During the 2018 Congressional elections, ''The New York Times'' alleged that having no Democratic candidate for office asking Clinton to campaign with them was a change that attributed to the revised understanding of the Lewinsky scandal.", "However, former DNC interim chair Donna Brazile previously urged Clinton in November 2017 to campaign during the 2018 midterm elections, in spite of New York U.S. senator Kirsten Gillibrand's recent criticism of the Lewinsky scandal.=== Alleged affairs ===Clinton admitted to having extramarital affairs with singer Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky.", "Actress Elizabeth Gracen, Miss Arkansas winner Sally Perdue, and Dolly Kyle Browning all claimed that they had affairs with Clinton during his time as governor of Arkansas.", "Browning later sued Clinton, Bruce Lindsey, Robert S. Bennett, and Jane Mayer, alleging they engaged in a conspiracy to attempt to block her from publishing a book loosely based on her relationship with Clinton and tried to defame him.", "However, Browning's lawsuit was dismissed." ], [ "Post-presidency (2001–present)", "Clinton greets a Hurricane Katrina evacuee, September 5, 2005.In the background, second from the right, is then-Senator Barack Obama.Bill Clinton has continued to be active in public life since leaving office in 2001, giving speeches, fundraising, and founding charitable organizations, and has spoken in prime time at every Democratic National Convention.===Activities until 2008 campaign===In 2002, Clinton warned that pre-emptive military action against Iraq would have unwelcome consequences, and later claimed to have opposed the Iraq War from the start (though some dispute this).", "In 2005, Clinton criticized the Bush administration for its handling of emissions control, while speaking at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Montreal.The William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, was dedicated in 2004.Clinton released a best-selling autobiography, ''My Life'', in 2004.In 2007, he released ''Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World'', which also became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller and garnered positive reviews.Former president George H. W. Bush and Clinton in the White House Library, January 2005In the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami, U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan appointed Clinton to head a relief effort.", "After Hurricane Katrina, Clinton joined with fellow former president George H. W. Bush to establish the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund in January 2005, and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund in October of that year.", "As part of the tsunami effort, these two ex-presidents appeared in a Super Bowl XXXIX pre-game show, and traveled to the affected areas.", "They also spoke together at the funeral of Boris Yeltsin in April 2007.Based on his philanthropic worldview, Clinton created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address issues of global importance.", "This foundation includes the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI), which strives to combat that disease, and has worked with the Australian government toward that end.", "The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), begun by the Clinton Foundation in 2005, attempts to address world problems such as global public health, poverty alleviation and religious and ethnic conflict.", "In 2005, Clinton announced through his foundation an agreement with manufacturers to stop selling sugary drinks in schools.", "Clinton's foundation joined with the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group in 2006 to improve cooperation among those cities, and he met with foreign leaders to promote this initiative.", "The foundation has received donations from many governments all over the world, including Asia and the Middle East.", "In 2008, Foundation director Inder Singh announced deals to reduce the price of anti-malaria drugs by 30 percent in developing nations.", "Clinton also spoke in favor of California Proposition 87 on alternative energy, which was voted down.===2008 presidential election===Clinton speaking at the 2008 Democratic National ConventionDuring the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, Clinton vigorously advocated on behalf of his wife, Hillary.", "Through speaking engagements and fundraisers, he was able to raise $10 million toward her campaign.", "Some worried that as an ex-president, he was too active on the trail, too negative to Clinton rival Barack Obama, and alienating his supporters at home and abroad.", "Many were especially critical of him following his remarks in the South Carolina primary, which Obama won.", "Later in the 2008 primaries, there was some infighting between Bill and Hillary's staffs, especially in Pennsylvania.", "Considering Bill's remarks, many thought he could not rally Hillary supporters behind Obama after Obama won the primary.", "Such remarks led to apprehension that the party would be split to the detriment of Obama's election.", "Fears were allayed August 27, 2008, when Clinton enthusiastically endorsed Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, saying all his experience as president assures him that Obama is \"ready to lead\".", "After Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was over, Bill Clinton continued to raise funds to help pay off her campaign debt.===After the 2008 election===Hillary, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in New York City on September 29, 2014In 2009, Clinton travelled to North Korea on behalf of two American journalists imprisoned there.", "Euna Lee and Laura Ling had been imprisoned for illegally entering the country from China.", "Jimmy Carter had made a similar visit in 1994.After Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim issued a pardon.Since then, Clinton has been assigned many other diplomatic missions.", "He was named United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti in 2009 following a series of hurricanes which caused $1 billion in damages.", "Clinton organized a conference with the Inter-American Development Bank, where a new industrial park was discussed in an effort to \"build back better\".", "In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, U.S. president Barack Obama announced that Clinton and George W. Bush would coordinate efforts to raise funds for Haiti's recovery.", "Funds began pouring into Haiti, which led to funding becoming available for Caracol Industrial Park in a part of the country unaffected by the earthquake.", "While Hillary Clinton was in South Korea, she and Cheryl Mills worked to convince SAE-A, a large apparel subcontractor, to invest in Haiti despite the company's deep concerns about plans to raise the minimum wage.", "In the summer of 2010, the South Korean company signed a contract at the U.S. State Department, ensuring that the new industrial park would have a key tenant.", "In 2010, Clinton announced support of, and delivered the keynote address for, the inauguration of NTR, Ireland's first environmental foundation.", "At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Clinton gave a widely praised speech nominating Barack Obama.===2016 presidential election and after===Clinton campaigning at an election rally for his wife Hillary who was running for President of the United States, 2016During the 2016 presidential election, Clinton again encouraged voters to support Hillary, and made appearances speaking on the campaign trail.", "In a series of tweets, then-President-elect Donald Trump criticized his ability to get people out to vote.", "Clinton served as a member of the electoral college for the state of New York.", "He voted for the Democratic ticket consisting of his wife Hillary and her running-mate Tim Kaine.state funeral of George H. W. Bush in December 2018On September 7, 2017, Clinton partnered with former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama to work with One America Appeal to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas communities.Clinton with President Joe Biden in February 2023.In 2020, Clinton again served as a member of the United States Electoral College from New York, casting his vote for the successful Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.===Post-presidential health concerns===In September 2004, Clinton underwent quadruple bypass surgery.", "In March 2005, he again underwent surgery, this time for a partially collapsed lung.", "On February 11, 2010, he was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital in Manhattan after complaining of chest pains, and he had two coronary stents implanted in his heart.", "After this procedure, Clinton adopted a plant-based whole foods (vegan) diet, which had been recommended by doctors Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn.", "However, he has since incorporated fish and lean proteins at the suggestion of Mark Hyman, a proponent of the pseudoscientific ethos of functional medicine.", "As a result, he is no longer a strict vegan.In October 2021, Clinton was treated for sepsis at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center.In December 2022, Clinton tested positive for COVID-19.===Wealth===The Clintons incurred several million dollars in legal bills during his presidency, which were paid off four years after he left office.", "Bill and Hillary Clinton have each earned millions of dollars from book publishing.", "In 2016, ''Forbes'' reported Bill and Hillary Clinton made about $240million in the 15years from January 2001, to December 2015, (mostly from paid speeches, business consulting and book-writing).", "Also in 2016, CNN reported the Clintons combined to receive more than $153million in paid speeches from 2001 until spring 2015.In May 2015, ''The Hill'' reported that Bill and Hillary Clinton have made more than $25million in speaking fees since the start of 2014, and that Hillary Clinton also made $5million or more from her book, ''Hard Choices'', during the same time period.", "In July 2014, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that at the end of 2012, the Clintons were worth between $5million and $25.5million, and that in 2012 (the last year they were required to disclose the information) the Clintons made between $16 and $17million, mostly from speaking fees earned by the former president.", "Clinton earned more than $104million from paid speeches between 2001 and 2012.In June 2014, ABC News and ''The Washington Post'' reported that Bill Clinton has made more than $100million giving paid speeches since leaving public office, and in 2008, ''The New York Times'' reported that the Clintons' income tax returns show they made $109million in the eight years from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2007, including almost $92million from his speaking and book-writing.Bill Clinton has given dozens of paid speeches each year since leaving office in 2001, mostly to corporations and philanthropic groups in North America and Europe; he often earned $100,000 to $300,000 per speech.", "Russian investment bank with ties to the Kremlin paid Clinton $500,000 for a speech in Moscow.", "Hillary Clinton said she and Bill came out of the White House financially \"broke\" and in debt, especially due to large legal fees incurred during their years in the White House.", "\"We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea's education\".", "She added, \"Bill has worked really hard ... we had to pay off all our debts ... he had to make double the money because of, obviously, taxes; and then pay off the debts, and get us houses, and take care of family members\".=== Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein ===In the early 2000s, Clinton took flights on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet in connection with Clinton Foundation work.", "According to Epstein's attorney Gerald B. Lefcourt, Epstein was \"part of the original group that conceived of the Clinton Global Initiative\".", "In 2002, a spokesperson for Clinton praised Epstein as \"a committed philanthropist\" with \"insights and generosity\".", "While Clinton was president Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times.", "Years later, Epstein was convicted on sex trafficking charges.", "Clinton's office released a statement in 2019 saying, \"President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.", "In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took four trips on Jeffrey Epstein's airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation.", "Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg of every trip.", "...", "He's not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade.", "\"However, later reports showed that Clinton had flown on Epstein's plane 26 times.", "In another statement Clinton said \"one meeting with Epstein in his Harlem office in 2002, and around the same time made one brief visit to Epstein's New York apartment with a staff member and his security detail\".", "In July 2019 it was reported that Clinton attended a dinner with Epstein in 1995, a meeting with Epstein that Clinton had not previously disclosed.Clinton reportedly used Epstein's private jet to visit Little St. James Island, where Epstein resided, on multiple occasions between 2002 and 2005.Virginia Roberts, later known as Virginia Giuffre, says in a lawsuit that while working at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort she was lured into a sex-trafficking ring run by Epstein and while traveling with Epstein she saw Clinton on the island.", "In a 2011 conversation with her lawyers, Roberts stated that Clinton traveled to Epstein's retreat on Little St. James in 2002.According to Roberts, Epstein told her that Clinton \"owes me favors\" when she asked what he was doing there.", "She also reportedly claimed that Epstein and Clinton had dined in the presence of two girls aged approximately seventeen whom she believed Epstein had invited to have sex with Clinton, but that Clinton showed no interest in them.", "A Freedom of Information Act request for United States Secret Service records of visits Clinton may have made to Little St. James produced no such evidence.", "According to Epstein's flight logs, Clinton never flew near the U.S. Virgin Islands.", "In July 2019, a Clinton spokesperson issued a statement saying Clinton never visited the island.", "According to former Clinton aide, Doug Band, Clinton visited Epstein's island in January 2003.In 2024, unsealed court documents revealed allegations that Clinton had visited the offices of ''Vanity Fair'' and 'threatened' the paper not to print stories about Epstein's sexual trafficking.", "Former ''Vanity Fair'' editor Graydon Carter denied the incident ever took place." ], [ "Personal life", "At the age of 10, he was baptized at Park Place Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas.", "His faith grew cold during his university studies.", "In 1980, after participating in a pilgrimage to Israel led by Pastor W. O. Vaught, he became a member of his church, Immanuel Baptist Church Little Rock.", "When he became president in 1993, he became a member of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. with his wife, a Methodist.On October 11, 1975, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he married Hillary Rodham, whom he met while studying at Yale University.", "They had Chelsea Clinton, their only child, on February 27, 1980.He is the maternal grandfather to Chelsea's three children." ], [ "Honors and recognition", "Clinton receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack ObamaVarious colleges and universities have awarded Clinton honorary degrees, including Doctorate of Law degrees and Doctor of Humane Letters degrees.", "He received an honorary degree from Georgetown University, his alma mater, and was the commencement speaker in 1980.He is an honorary fellow of University College, Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, although he did not complete his studies there.", "Schools have been named for Clinton, and statues have been built to pay him homage.", "U.S. states where he has been honored include Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and New York.", "He was presented with the Medal for Distinguished Public Service by Secretary of Defense William Cohen in 2001.The Clinton Presidential Center was opened in Little Rock, Arkansas, in his honor on December 5, 2001.He has been honored in various other ways, in countries that include the Czech Republic, Papua New Guinea, Germany, and Kosovo.", "The Republic of Kosovo, in gratitude for his help during the Kosovo War, renamed a major street in the capital city of Pristina as Bill Clinton Boulevard and added a monumental Clinton statue.Clinton was selected as ''Time'' \"Man of the Year\" in 1992, and again in 1998, along with Ken Starr.", "From a poll conducted of the American people in December 1999, Clinton was among eighteen included in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.", "In 2001, Clinton received the NAACP's President's Award.", "He has also been honored with a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, a J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, a TED Prize (named for the confluence of technology, entertainment and design), and was named as an Honorary GLAAD Media Award recipient for his work as an advocate for the LGBT community.In 2011, President Michel Martelly of Haiti awarded Clinton with the National Order of Honour and Merit to the rank of Grand Cross \"for his various initiatives in Haiti and especially his high contribution to the reconstruction of the country after the earthquake of January 12, 2010\".", "Clinton declared at the ceremony that \"in the United States of America, I really don't believe former American presidents need awards anymore, but I am very honored by this one, I love Haiti, and I believe in its promise\".U.S.", "president Barack Obama awarded Clinton the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 20, 2013." ], [ "Authored books", "* * * * * * " ], [ "Recordings", "Bill Clinton is one of the narrators on ''Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf'', a 2003 recording of Sergei Prokofiev's ''Peter and the Wolf'' performed by the Russian National Orchestra, on Pentatone, together with Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren.", "This garnered Clinton the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.The audiobook edition of his autobiography, ''My Life'', read by Clinton himself, won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album as well as the Audie Award as the Audiobook of the Year.Clinton has two more Grammy nominations for his audiobooks: ''Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World'' in 2007 and ''Back to Work'' in 2012." ], [ "See also", " 1996 United States campaign finance controversy* Clinton family* Clinton School of Public Service* Efforts to impeach Bill Clinton* Electoral history of Bill Clinton* Gun control policy of the Clinton Administration* List of presidents of the United States" ], [ "References", "===Citations===" ], [ "Further reading", "===Primary sources===* Clinton, Bill.", "(with Al Gore). ''", "Science in the National Interest.''", "Washington, D.C.: The White House, August 1994.", "* --- (with Al Gore). ''", "The Climate Change Action Plan.''", "Washington, D.C.: The White House, October 1993.", "* Taylor Branch ''The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President.''", "(2009) Simon & Schuster.", "* ''Official Congressional Record Impeachment Set: ...", "Containing the Procedures for Implementing the Articles of Impeachment and the Proceedings of the Impeachment Trial of President William Jefferson Clinton.''", "Washington, D.C.: U.S.", "G.P.O., 1999.", "* ''Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J.", "Clinton.''", "Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration: For sale by the Supt.", "of Docs., U.S.", "G.P.O., 1994–2002.", "* S. Daniel Abraham ''Peace Is Possible'', foreword by Bill Clinton===Popular books===* Peter Baker ''The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton'' (2000) * James Bovard ''Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years'' (2000) * Joe Conason and Gene Lyons ''The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton'' (2003) * Elizabeth Drew ''On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency'' (1994) * David Gergen ''Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership.''", "(2000) * Nigel Hamilton ''Bill Clinton: An American Journey'' (2003) * Christopher Hitchens ''No One Left to Lie to: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton'' (1999) * Michael Isikoff ''Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter's Story'' (1999) * Mark Katz ''Clinton and Me: A Real-Life Political Comedy'' (2004) * David Maraniss ''The Clinton Enigma: A Four and a Half Minute Speech Reveals This President's Entire Life'' (1998) * Dick Morris with Eileen McGann ''Because He Could'' (2004) * Richard A. Posner ''An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton'' (1999) * Mark J. Rozell ''The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government'' (2000) * Timperlake, Edward, and William C. Triplett II ''Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised U.S. Security for Chinese Cash''.", "Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 1998.", "* Michael Waldman ''POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency'' (2000) * Ivory Tower Publishing Company.", "Achievements of the Clinton Administration: the Complete Legislative and Executive.", "(1995) ===Scholarly studies===* Campbell, Colin, and Bert A. Rockman, eds.", "''The Clinton Legacy'' (Chatham House Pub, 2000)* * * * * * * * Halberstam, David.", "''War in a time of peace: Bush, Clinton, and the generals'' (Simon and Schuster, 2001).", "online* Harris, John F. ''The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House'' (2006).", "online* Head, Simon.", "The Clinton System (January 30, 2016), ''The New York Review of Books''* Hyland, William G. ''Clinton's World: Remaking American Foreign Policy'' (1999) * * * Laham, Nicholas, ''A Lost Cause: Bill Clinton's Campaign for National Health Insurance'' (1996)* * Levy, Peter B.", "''Encyclopedia of the Clinton presidency'' (Greenwood, 2002) online* * * * * * Renshon; Stanley A.", "''The Clinton Presidency: Campaigning, Governing, and the Psychology of Leadership'' Westview Press, 1995 * * Romano, Flavio.", "''Clinton and Blair: the political economy of the third way'' (Routledge, 2007)* Rushefsky, Mark E. and Kant Patel.", "''Politics, Power & Policy Making: The Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s'' (1998) * Schantz, Harvey L. ''Politics in an Era of Divided Government: Elections and Governance in the Second Clinton Administration'' (2001) * Troy, Gill.", "''The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s'' (2015)* * Warshaw, Shirley Anne.", "''The Clinton Years'' (Infobase Publishing, 2009)* White, Mark, ed.", "''The Presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and Foreign Policy'' (I.B.Tauris, 2012)===Arkansas years===* Allen, Charles and Jonathan Portis.", "''The Life and Career of Bill Clinton: The Comeback Kid'' (1992).", "* Blair, Diane D. \"The Big Three of Late Twentieth-Century Arkansas Politics: Dale Bumpers, Bill Clinton, and David Pryor.\"", "''Arkansas Historical Quarterly'' 54.1 (1995): 53–79.online* Blair, Diane D. \"William Jefferson Clinton\" in ''The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography'' ed.", "by Willard B. Gatewood Jr., et al.", "(1995)* Brummett, John.", "''Highwire: From the Backroads to the Beltway: The Education of Bill Clinton'' (Hyperion, 1994).", "* Clinton, Bill. ''", "My Life: The Early Years'' (Random House, 2004)* Dumas, Ernest, ed.", "''The Clintons of Arkansas: An Introduction by Those Who Knew Them Best'' (University of Arkansas Press, 1993) online.", "* ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' (2023) online* Johnston, Phyllis F. ''Bill Clinton's Public Policy for Arkansas: 1979-80'' (Little Rock: August House, 1982).", "* Maraniss, David.", "''First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton'' (Simon & Schuster, 1995).", "* Marcus, Alan.", "\"Bill Clinton in Arkansas: generational politics, the technology of political communication and the permanent campaign.\"", "''The Historian'' 72.2 (2010): 354–385.online* Oakley, Meredith L. ''On the make: The rise of Bill Clinton'' (Regnery Publishing, 1994), attack from the right.", "* Osborne, David.", "\"Turning around Arkansas' Schools: Bill Clinton and Education Reform.\"", "''American Educator: The Professional Journal of the American Federation of Teachers'' 16.3 (1992): 6–17.online* Smith, Stephen A., ed.", "''Preface to the Presidency: Selected Speeches of Bill Clinton, 1974–1992'' (University of Arkansas Press, 1996)." ], [ "External links", "===Official===* Presidential Library & Museum* Clinton Foundation* White House biography* Archived White House website===Interviews, speeches, and statements===* * * Full audio of a number of Clinton speeches Miller Center of Public Affairs* Oral History Interview with Bill Clinton from Oral Histories of the American South, June 1974* \"The Wanderer\", a profile from ''The New Yorker'', September 2006===Media coverage===* * ===Other===* * Extensive essays on Bill Clinton and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs* \"Life Portrait of Bill Clinton\", from C-SPAN's ''American Presidents: Life Portraits'', December 20, 1999* ''Clinton'' an ''American Experience'' documentary* * * 1992 election episode in CNN's Race for the White House" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Black-letter law" ], [ "Introduction", "Blackletter ''L''In common law legal systems, '''black-letter law''' refers to well-established legal rules that are no longer subject to reasonable dispute.", "Black-letter law can be contrasted with legal theory or unsettled legal issues." ], [ "History and etymology", "In an 1831 case in the U.S. Supreme Court, ''Jackson ex dem.", "Bradstreet v. Huntington'', the phrase \"black letter\" was used: \"It is seldom that a case in our time savours so much of the black letter; but the course of decisions in New York renders it unavoidable...\".", "The phrase \"black-letter law\" was used in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case ''Naglee v. Ingersoll,'' 7 Pa. 185 (1847).", "The phrase does not come from association with ''Black's Law Dictionary'', which was first published in 1891.Instead, it refers to the practice of setting law books and citing legal precedents in blackletter type, a tradition that survived long after the switch to Roman and italic text for other printed works.The phrase refers to a distillation of the common law into general and accepted legal principles.", "This can be seen in the quote above from the Supreme Court where the court is noting that while the black-letter law is clear, New York precedent deviates from the general principles.In common law, the informal notion of black-letter law includes the basic principles of law generally accepted by the courts and/or embodied in the statutes of a particular jurisdiction.", "The letter of the law is its actual implementation, thereby demonstrating that black-letter laws are those statutes, rules, acts, laws, provisions, etc.", "that are or have been written down, codified, or indicated somewhere in legal texts throughout history of specific state law.", "This is often the case for many precedents that have been set in the common law.", "An example of such a state within the common law jurisdiction, and using the black letter legal doctrine is Canada.", "Canada is a monarchical state, with its roots invested in Colonial England, and black-letter law is the principles of law accepted by the majority of judges in most provinces and territories.", "Sometimes it is referred to as \"hornbook law\" meaning treatise or textbook, often relied upon as authoritative, competent, and generally accepted in the field of Canadian law.", "In lawyer lingo, hornbook law or black-letter law is a fundamental and well-accepted legal principle that does not require any further explanation, since a hornbook is a primer of basics.", "Law is the rule which establish that a principle, provision, references, inference, observation, etc.", "may not require further explanation or clarification when the very nature of them shows that they are basic and elementary." ], [ "Similar phrases", "The phrase is nearly synonymous with the phrase \"hornbook law\".", "There are a number of venerable legal sources that distill the common law on various subjects known as restatement of the Law.", "The specific titles will be \"The Restatement (First) of Contracts\" or \"The Restatement of Agency\", etc.", "Each of these volumes is divided into sections that begin with a text in boldface that summarizes a basic rule on an aspect of the law of contracts, agency, etc.", "This \"restatement\" is followed by commentary and examples that expand on the principle stated.Another synonymous term, usually used in the United Kingdom, is \"trite law\"." ], [ "Examples", "Examples of black-letter law include that the formation of a contract requires consideration, or that the registration of a trademark requires established use in the course of trade." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Blue law" ], [ "Introduction", "Alexander Johnston'''Blue laws''', also known as '''Sunday laws''', '''Sunday trade laws''' and '''Sunday closing laws''', are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world.", "The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, specifically to promote the observance of the Christian day of worship, but since then have come to serve secular purposes as well.Blue laws commonly ban certain business and recreational activities on Sundays and impose restrictions on the retail sale of hard goods and consumables, particularly alcoholic beverages.", "The laws also place limitations on a range of other endeavors, including travel, fashions, hunting, professional sports, stage performances, movie showings, and gambling.", "While less prevalent today, blue laws continue to be enforced in parts of the United States and Canada as well as in European countries, such as Austria, Germany, Norway, and Poland, where most stores are required to close on Sundays.In the United States, the Supreme Court has upheld blue laws as constitutional, recognizing their religious origins but citing secular justifications that have resulted, most notably the provision of a day of rest for the general population.", "Meanwhile, various state courts have struck down the laws as either unenforceable or in violation of their states' constitutions.", "In response, state legislators have re-enacted certain Sunday laws to satisfy the rulings while allowing some of the other statutes to remain on the books with no intention to enforce them." ], [ "History", "The Roman Emperor Constantine promulgated the first known law regarding prohibition of Sunday labour for apparent religion-associated reasons in A.D. 321:The earliest laws in North America addressing Sunday activities and public behavior were enacted in the Jamestown Colony in 1619 by the first General Assembly of Virginia.", "Among the 70 laws passed by the assembly was a mandate requiring attendance by all colonists at both morning and afternoon worship services on Sundays.", "The laws adopted that year also included provisions addressing idleness, gambling, drunkenness, and excessive apparel.", "Similar laws aimed at keeping the Sabbath holy and regulating morals were soon adopted throughout the colonies.The first known example of the phrase \"blue laws\" in print was in the March 3, 1755, edition of the ''New-York Mercury'', in which the writer imagines a future newspaper praising the revival of \"our Connecticut's old Blue Laws\".", "In his 1781 book ''General History of Connecticut'', the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735–1826) used the phrase to describe numerous laws adopted by 17th-century Puritans that prohibited various activities on Sunday, recreational as well as commercial.", "Beyond that, Peters' book is regarded as an unreliable account of the laws and probably was written to satirize their puritanical nature.While the historical roots of Sunday trade laws in the United States are generally known, the origin of the term \"blue laws\" remains a mystery.", "According to a ''Time'' magazine editorial in 1961, the year the Supreme Court heard four cases on the issue, the color blue came to be associated with colonial laws in opposition to the red emblem of British royalty.", "Other explanations have been offered.", "One of the most widely circulated is that early blue laws adopted in Connecticut were printed on blue paper.", "However, no copies have been found that would support this claim.", "A more plausible explanation, one that is gaining general acceptance, is that the laws adopted by Puritans were aimed at enforcing morality and thus were \"blue-nosed\", though the term \"blue\" may have been used in the vernacular of the times as a synonym for puritanism itself, in effect, overly strict.As Protestant moral reformers organized the Sabbath reform in 19th-century America, calls for the enactment and enforcement of stricter Sunday laws developed.", "Numerous Americans were arrested for working, keeping an open shop, drinking alcohol, traveling, and engaging in recreational activities on Sundays.", "Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley write that throughout their existence, organizations advocating first-day Sabbatarianism, such as the Lord's Day Alliance in North America and the Lord's Day Observance Society in the British Isles, were supported by labor unions in lobbying \"to prevent secular and commercial interests from hampering freedom of worship and from exploiting workers\".In Canada, the ''Ligue du Dimanche'', a Roman Catholic Sunday league, supported the Lord's Day Act in 1923 and promoted first-day Sabbatarian legislation.", "Beginning in the 1840s, workers, Jews, Seventh Day Baptists, freethinkers, and other groups began to organize opposition.", "Throughout the century, Sunday laws fueled churchstate controversy, and as an issue that contributed to the emergence of modern American minority-rights politics.", "On the other hand, the more recent ''Dies Domini'', written by Pope John Paul II in 1998, advocates Sunday legislation in that it protects civil servants and workers; the North Dakota Catholic Conference in 2011 likewise maintained that blue laws, in accordance with the ''Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church'', \"ensure that, for reasons of economic productivity, citizens are not denied time for rest and divine worship\".", "Similarly, Chief Justice Earl Warren, while recognizing the partial religious origin of blue laws, acknowledged the \"secular purpose they served by providing a benefit to workers at the same time that they enhanced labor productivity\"." ], [ "Laws by jurisdiction", "=== Europe ======= Germany ====The \"shop closing\" laws on Sundays and public holidays are in effect, since 1956.A map of Europe providing an overview of Sunday shopping laws in each country'''Green:''' Large supermarkets and shopping centers are generally open on Sundays.", "'''Blue:''' Large supermarkets are allowed to be open for no more than 6 hours on Sundays.", "'''Red:''' Large supermarkets are generally closed on Sundays.==== Denmark ====In Denmark the closing laws restricting retail trade on Sundays have been abolished with effect from October 1, 2012.From then on retail trade is only restricted on public holidays (New Years Day, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Day of Prayer, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday, Whit Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day) and on Constitution Day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (on New Year's Eve from 3 pm only).", "On these days almost all shops will remain closed.", "Exempt are bakeries, DIYs, garden centres, gas stations and smaller supermarkets.==== England and Wales ========= Before 1994 =====Prior to 1994, trading laws forbade sale of certain products on a Sunday; the distinction between those that could and could not be sold was increasingly seen as arbitrary, and the laws were inadequately enforced and widely flouted.", "For example, some supermarkets would treat the relatively modest fines arising as a business cost and open nonetheless.===== Since 1994 =====The Sunday Trading Act 1994 relaxed restrictions on Sunday trading.", "This produced vocal opposition from bodies such as the Keep Sunday Special campaign, and the Lord's Day Observance Society: on religious grounds, on the grounds that it would increase consumerism, and that it would reduce shop assistants' weekend leisure time.The legislation permits large shops (those with a relevant floor area in excess of 280 square metres; 3000 sq.", "ft.) to open for up to six hours on Sunday.", "Small shops, those with an area of below 280 square metres (3000 sq.", "ft.), are free to set their own Sunday trading times.", "Some large shops, such as off-licences, service stations and garages, are exempt from the restrictions.Some very large shops (e.g.", "department stores) open for longer than six hours on a Sunday by allowing customers in to browse 30 minutes prior to allowing them to make a purchase, since the six-hour restriction only applies to time during which the shop may make sales.Christmas Day and Easter Sunday are non-trading days.", "This applies even to garden centres, which earlier had been trading over Easter, but not to small shops (those with an area of below 280 square metres; 3000 sq.", "ft.).==== Netherlands ====Prior to 1996, shops were generally closed on Sundays.", "A new law regarding opening times changed that and leaves that decision mostly up to local municipalities.The ''Zondagswet'' (\"Sunday law\"), a law on Sabbath desecration, is mainly to ensure that church services remain undisturbed on Sundays and Christian holidays.", "It forbids public festivities on a Sunday before 13:00, as well as making noise that carries further than 200 m (yards), but activities that are unlikely to disturb church services are exempt.==== Northern Ireland ====Prior to 2008, no football was permitted to be played on Sundays by clubs affiliated to the Irish Football Association in Northern Ireland.Shops with a floor area of over may only open from 1 to 6pm on Sundays.In Belfast, public playgrounds were closed on Sundays until 1965.Swings in public parks were tied up and padlocked to prevent their use.", "Similar laws formerly applied to cinemas, pubs and parks.==== Poland ====Since 2007, blue laws were enacted and resulted in stores closing on the 13 state holidays in Poland - these are both religious and secular days of rest.", "In 2014, an initiative by the Law and Justice party failed to pass the reading in the Sejm to ban trading on Sundays and state holidays.", "However, since 2018, the ruling government and the President of Poland has signed a law that restricts store trading from March 1, 2018, to the first and last Sunday of the month, Palm Sunday, the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve.In 2019, the restriction was extended, and trading was permitted solely on the last Sunday of the month, as well as Palm Sunday, the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve.", "From 2020, stores may only be open on 7 Sundays in the year: Palm Sunday, the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, the last Sunday of January, April, June and August as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve.", "As a result of restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2nd Advent Sunday was later added as a shopping day.=== North America ======= Canada ====Sunday laws in Ontario, 1911The ''Lord's Day Act'', which since 1906 had prohibited business transactions from taking place on Sundays, was declared unconstitutional in the 1985 case ''R.", "v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd.'' Calgary police officers witnessed several transactions at the Big M Drug Mart, all of which occurred on a Sunday.", "Big M was charged with a violation of the ''Lord's Day Act''.", "A provincial court ruled that the ''Lord's Day Act'' was unconstitutional, but the Crown proceeded to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.", "In a unanimous 6–0 decision, the ''Lord's Day Act'' was ruled an infringement of the freedom of conscience and religion defined in section 2(a) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.A Toronto referendum in 1950 allowed only team sports to be played professionally on Sunday.", "Theatre performances, movie screenings, and horse racing were not permitted until the 1960s.The Supreme Court later concluded, in ''R.", "v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd.'' 1986 (2 S.C.R.", "713), that Ontario's ''Retail Business Holiday Act'', which required some Sunday closings, did not violate the Charter because it did not have a religious purpose.", "Nonetheless, as of today, virtually all provincial Sunday closing laws have ceased to exist.", "Some were struck down by provincial courts, but most were simply abrogated, often due to competitive reasons where out-of-province or foreign merchants were open.==== United States ====In the United States, judges have defended blue laws \"in terms of their secular benefit to workers\", holding that \"the laws were essential to social well-being\".", "In 1896, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, opined with regard to Sunday blue laws:Many states prohibit selling alcohol for on and off-premises sales in one form or another on Sundays at some restricted time, under the idea that people should be in church on Sunday morning, or at least not drinking.Many blue laws in the United States restrict the purchase of particular items on Sundays.", "Some of these laws restrict the ability to buy cars, groceries, office supplies, and housewares among other things.", "Though most of these laws have been relaxed or repealed in most states, they are still enforced in some other states.In Texas, for example, blue laws prohibited selling housewares such as pots, pans, and washing machines on Sunday until 1985.In Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Jersey, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, car dealerships continue to operate under blue-law prohibitions in which an automobile may not be purchased or traded on a Sunday.", "Maryland permits Sunday automobile sales only in the counties of Charles, Prince George's, Montgomery, and Howard; similarly, Michigan restricts Sunday sales to only those counties with a population of less than 130,000.Texas and Utah prohibit car dealerships from operating over consecutive weekend days.", "In some cases these laws were created or retained with the support of those whom they affected, to allow them a day off each week without fear of their competitors still being open.Blue laws may also prohibit retail activity on days other than Sunday.", "In Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine, for example, blue laws prohibit most retail stores, including grocery stores, from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas.Research regarding the effect of the repeal of blue laws has been conducted, with Professor Elesha Coffman of Baylor University writing:===== Court cases =====Beginning in the mid-19th century, religious and ethno-cultural minorities arrested for violating state and local blue laws appealed their convictions to state supreme courts.", "In ''Specht v. Commonwealth'' (Pa. 1848), for example, German Seventh Day Baptists in Pennsylvania employed attorney Thaddeus Stevens to challenge the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's Sunday law.", "As in cases in other states, litigants pointed to the provisions of state constitutions protecting religious liberty and maintained that Sunday laws were a blatant violation.", "Though typically unsuccessful (most state supreme courts upheld the constitutionality of Sunday laws), these constitutional challenges helped set a pattern by which subsequent minorities would seek to protect religious freedom and minority rights.The Supreme Court of the United States held in its landmark case, ''McGowan v. Maryland'' (1961), that Maryland's blue laws violated neither the Free Exercise Clause nor the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.", "It approved the state's blue law restricting commercial activities on Sunday, noting that while such laws originated to encourage attendance at Christian churches, the contemporary Maryland laws were intended to serve \"to provide a uniform day of rest for all citizens\" on a secular basis and to promote the secular values of \"health, safety, recreation, and general well-being\" through a common day of rest.", "That this day coincides with Christian Sabbath is not a bar to the state's secular goals; it neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days.", "''McGowan'' was but one of four Sunday closing cases decided together by the Court in May 1961.In ''Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Mass., Inc.'', the Court ruled against a Kosher deli that closed on Saturday but was open on Sunday.", "The other two cases were ''Braunfeld v. Brown'', and ''Two Guys from Harrison-Allentown, Inc. v. McGinley''.", "Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that \"the State seeks to set one day apart from all others as a day of rest, repose, recreation and tranquility--a day which all members of the family and community have the opportunity to spend and enjoy together, a day on which there exists relative quiet and disassociation from the everyday intensity of commercial activities, a day on which people may visit friends and relatives who are not available during working days.", "\"In March 2006, Texas judges upheld the state blue law that requires car dealerships to close either Saturday or Sunday each weekend.=== Oceania ======= Cook Islands and Niue ====In the Cook Islands and Niue, there also exist blue laws.", "In the Cook Islands, these were the first written legislation, enacted by the London Missionary Society in 1827, with the consent of the ''ariki'' (chiefs).", "Laws in Niue ban certain activities on Sunday, reflecting the country's history of observing the Christian Sabbath tradition.==== Tonga ====In the Kingdom of Tonga, the Vavaʻu Code (1839) was a form of blue law inspired by the teachings of Methodist missionaries.", "With the inauguration of the Tongan Constitution on June 4, 1875, the sixth clause stipulates: \"The Sabbath Day shall be kept holy in Tonga and no person shall practise his trade or profession or conduct any commercial undertaking on the Sabbath Day except according to law; and any agreement made or witnessed on that day shall be null and void and of no legal effect.\"" ], [ "See also", "* Desuetude* Dry county* Neo-prohibitionism* Raines law* Religious law* Sunday shopping" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* Algeo, Matthew (2006).", "''Last Team Standing''.", "Philadelphia: Da Capo Press.", "* Ruck, Rob; with Patterson, Maggie Jones and Weber, Michael P. (2010).", "''Rooney: A Sporting Life''.", "Lincoln, Neb.", ": University of Nebraska Press.", "* Sarna, Jonathan D. and Dalin, David G. (1997).", "''Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience''.", "Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.", "* Volk, Kyle G. (2014).", "''Minorities and the Making of American Democracy''.", "New York: Oxford University Press.", ".", "* Westcott, Rich (2001).", "''A Century of Philadelphia Sports''.", "Philadelphia: Temple University Press." ], [ "External links", "* Red, White, but Mostly Blue: The Validity of Modern Sunday Closing Laws Under the Establishment Clause - Vanderbilt Law Review (2007)* Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Blue Laws* The Massachusetts Blue Laws* Blue Law - Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois newspaper)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bar" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bar''' or '''BAR''' may refer to:" ], [ "Food and drink", "* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages* Candy bar:* Chocolate bar" ], [ "Science and technology", "* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud* Bar (unit), a unit of pressure* BAR domain, a protein domain* Bar stock, of metal* Sandbar===Computing===* Bar (computer science), a placeholder* Base Address Register in PCI* Bar, a mobile phone form factor* Bar, a type of graphical control element" ], [ "Law", "* Bar (law), the legal profession* Bar association* Bar examination" ], [ "Media and entertainment", "* ''Bar'' (Croatian TV series)* Bar (Czech TV series)* Bar (dance), Turkey* Bar (music), a segment* Bar (Polish TV series)* Bar (Slovenian TV series)* ''Bay Area Reporter'', a newspaper* ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', a magazine* \"Bar\" (song), by Tini and L-Gante* ''B.A.R.", "(Bay Area Representatives)'', 2014 album by Lil Wyte and Frayser Boy" ], [ "Places", "* Bar (Martian crater)* Bar, Rutog County, Tibet, China* Bar (river), France* Bar, Corrèze, France, a commune* Bar-le-Duc, France, a commune formerly Bar, Meuse* Bar-sur-Aube, France, a commune* Bar-sur-Seine, France, a commune* Bár, Hungary, a village* Bar, Bushehr, Iran, a village* Bar, Hormozgan, Iran, a village* Bar, Razavi Khorasan, Iran, a city* Bar Municipality, Montenegro** Bar, Montenegro, a town* Bar Region, Punjab, Pakistan* Bar, Republic of Buryatia, Russia* Bar, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine, a town* Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire* Barbados, IOC and UNDP country code BAR" ], [ "Language", "* Bar (diacritic), a line through a letter* Bavarian language (ISO 639-3: bar)* Vertical bar, a punctuation symbol* X-bar theory, in linguistics" ], [ "Transportation", "* Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, US, reporting mark* Barstow station, US, station code* California Bureau of Automotive Repair, a consumer protection agency* Qionghai Bo'ao Airport, IATA code" ], [ "Firearms", "* M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle* Browning BAR, a Belgian rifle" ], [ "Other uses", "* ''Bar'' (Aramaic), a patronymic prefix in Aramaic* Bar (heraldry), a band across a shield* Bar (name)* Bar Confederation, an 18th-century Polish association* Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish coming of age ceremony* Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment, South African Army* British Archaeological Reports* British American Racing, a Formula One constructor* Chin-up bar, playground equipment* Medal bar, additional award* Space bar, on a keyboard* Historical gatehouse* Bennett acceptance ratio in thermodynamics* BlackArts Racing Team, a motor racing team from Hong Kong* Business Analysis and Reporting in the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination" ], [ "See also", "* The Bar (disambiguation)* Barr (disambiguation)* Barre (disambiguation)* Bars (disambiguation)* Bär (disambiguation)* FUBAR* *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Beer" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Beer''' is an alcoholic drink produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used.", "The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation.", "Most beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and act as a preservative and stabilising agent.", "Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may also be used.", "In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.Some of the earliest writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, and \"The Hymn to Ninkasi\", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, a recipe for it.Beer is distributed in bottles and cans and is also commonly available on draught, particularly in pubs and bars.", "The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.", "The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as activities like pub crawling, pub quizzes, and pub games." ], [ "Etymology", " 'beer'In early forms of English and in the Scandinavian languages, the usual word for beer was the word whose Modern English form is ''ale''.The word ''beer'' comes into present-day English from Old English , itself from Common Germanic; although the word is not attested in the East Germanic branch of the language family, it is found throughout the West Germanic and North Germanic dialects (modern Dutch and German , Old Norse ).", "The earlier etymology of the word is debated: the three main theories are that the word originates in Proto-Germanic (putatively from Proto-Indo-European ), meaning 'brewer's yeast, beer dregs'; that it is related to the word ''barley,'' or that it was somehow borrowed from Latin 'to drink'.In Old English and Old Norse, the ''beer-word'' did not denote a malted alcoholic drink like ale, but a sweet, potent drink made from honey and the juice of one or more fruits other than grapes, much less ubiquitous than ale, perhaps served in the kind of tiny drinking cups sometimes found in early mediaeval grave goods: a drink more like mead or cider.", "In German, however, the meaning of the ''beer''-word expanded to cover the meaning of the ''ale''-word already before our earliest surviving written evidence.", "As German hopped ale became fashionable in England in the late Middle Ages, the English word ''beer'' took on the German meaning, and thus in English too, ''beer'' came during the early modern period to denote hopped, malt-based alcoholic drinks." ], [ "History", "Egyptian wooden model of beer making in ancient Egypt, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose, CaliforniaAncient Egyptian painting, 18th dynasty, reign of Akhenaten, , showing Syrian mercenary drinking beer through a straw.", "Egyptian Museum of BerlinBeer is one of the world's oldest prepared alcoholic drinks.", "The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000 year-old residues of a beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic Natufians for ritual feasting, at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in Israel.", "There is evidence that beer was produced at Göbekli Tepe during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (around 8500 to 5500 ).", "The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from barley dates to about 3500–3100 , from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran.", "It is possible, but not proven, that it dates back even further – to about 10,000 , when cereal was first farmed.Beer is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt, and archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilizations.", "Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk (modern day Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer.", "During the building of the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, each worker got a daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids' construction.Some of the earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer; examples include a prayer to the goddess Ninkasi, known as \"The Hymn to Ninkasi\", which served as both a prayer and a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people, and the ancient advice (\"Fill your belly.", "Day and night make merry\") to Gilgamesh, recorded in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' by the alewife Siduri, may, at least in part, have referred to the consumption of beer.", "The Ebla tablets, discovered in 1974 in Ebla, Syria, show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BC.", "A fermented drink using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC.", "Unlike sake, mould was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by chewing or malting.", "During the Vedic period in Ancient India, there are records of the consumption of the beer-like ''sura''.", "Xenophon noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia.Almost any substance containing sugar can naturally undergo alcoholic fermentation and thus be utilised in the brewing of beer.", "It is likely that many cultures, on observing that a sweet liquid could be obtained from a source of starch, independently invented beer.", "Bread and beer increased prosperity to a level that allowed time for the development of other technologies and contributed to the building of civilizations.François Jaques: ''Peasants enjoying beer at pub in Fribourg'' (Switzerland, 1923)Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale.", "The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today.", "Alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers may have contained fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices, and other substances such as narcotic herbs.", "What they did not contain was hops, as that was a later addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot and again in 1067 by abbess Hildegard of Bingen.In 1516, William IV, Duke of Bavaria, adopted the ''Reinheitsgebot'' (purity law), perhaps the oldest food-quality regulation still in use in the 21st century, according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops, and barley-malt.", "Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution continued to be made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century , beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries.", "During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century.", "The development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process and greater knowledge of the results.In 1912, brown bottles began to be used by the ''Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company'' of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States.", "This innovation has since been accepted worldwide and prevents harmful rays from destroying the quality and stability of beer.The brewing industry is now a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers, ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.", "As of 2006, more than , the equivalent of a cube 510 metres on a side, of beer are sold per year, producing total global revenues of US$294.5 billion.", "In 2010, China's beer consumption hit , or nearly twice that of the United States, but only 5 per cent sold were premium beers, compared with 50 per cent in France and Germany.A widely publicised study in 2018 suggested that sudden decreases in barley production due to extreme drought and heat could in the future cause substantial volatility in the availability and price of beer." ], [ "Brewing", "The process of making beer is known as brewing.", "A dedicated building for the making of beer is called a brewery, though beer can be made at home and has been for much of its history, in which case the brewing location is often called a brewhouse.", "A company that makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company.", "Beer made on a domestic scale for non-commercial reasons is today usually classified as homebrewing, regardless of where it is made, though most homebrewed beer is made at home.", "Historically, domestic beer was what's called farmhouse ale.Brewing beer has been subject to legislation and taxation for millennia, and from the late 19th century on, taxation largely restricted brewing to commercial operations only in the UK.", "However, the UK government relaxed legislation in 1963, followed by Australia in 1972 and the US in 1978, though individual states were allowed to pass their own laws limiting production, allowing homebrewing to become a popular hobby.The purpose of brewing is to convert the starch source into a sugary liquid called wort and to convert the wort into the alcoholic drink known as beer in a fermentation process effected by yeast.The first step, where the wort is prepared by mixing the starch source (normally malted barley) with hot water, is known as \"mashing\".", "Hot water (known as \"liquor\" in brewing terms) is mixed with crushed malt or malts (known as \"grist\") in a mash tun.", "The mashing process takes around 1 to 2 hours, during which the starches are converted to sugars, and then the sweet wort is drained off the grains.", "The grains are then washed in a process known as \"sparging\".", "This washing allows the brewer to gather as much of the fermentable liquid from the grains as possible.", "The process of filtering the spent grain from the wort and sparge water is called ''wort separation''.", "The traditional process for wort separation is lautering, in which the grain bed itself serves as the filter medium.", "Some modern breweries prefer the use of filter frames, which allow for a more finely ground grist.Most modern breweries use a continuous sparge, collecting the original wort and the sparge water together.", "However, it is possible to collect a second or even third wash with the not quite spent grains as separate batches.", "Each run would produce a weaker wort and thus, a weaker beer.", "This process is known as the second (and third) runnings.", "Brewing with several runnings is called parti gyle brewing.A 16th-century breweryThe sweet wort collected from sparging is put into a kettle, or \"copper\" (so-called because these vessels were traditionally made from copper), and boiled, usually for about one hour.", "During boiling, the water in the wort evaporates, but the sugars and other components of the wort remain; this allows more efficient use of the starch sources in the beer.", "Boiling also destroys any remaining enzymes left over from the mashing stage.", "Hops are added during boiling as a source of bitterness, flavour, and aroma.", "Hops may be added at more than one point during the boil.", "The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but the less hop flavour and aroma remain in the beer.After boiling, the hopped wort is cooled and ready for the yeast.", "In some breweries, the hopped wort may pass through a hopback, which is a small vat filled with hops, to add aromatic hop flavouring and to act as a filter, but usually the hopped wort is simply cooled for the fermenter, where the yeast is added.", "During fermentation, the wort becomes beer in a process that takes a week to several months, depending on the type of yeast and strength of the beer.", "In addition to producing ethanol, fine particulate matter suspended in the wort settles during fermentation.", "Once fermentation is complete, the yeast also settles, leaving the beer clear.During fermentation, most of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape through a trap, and the beer is left with carbonation of only about one atmosphere of pressure.", "The carbonation is often increased either by transferring the beer to a pressure vessel such as a keg and introducing pressurised carbon dioxide or by transferring it before the fermentation is finished so that carbon dioxide pressure builds up inside the container as the fermentation finishes.", "Sometimes the beer is put unfiltered (so it still contains yeast) into bottles with some added sugar, which then produces the desired amount of carbon dioxide inside the bottle.Fermentation is sometimes carried out in two stages: primary and secondary.", "Once most of the alcohol has been produced during primary fermentation, the beer is transferred to a new vessel and allowed a period of secondary fermentation.", "Secondary fermentation is used when the beer requires long storage before packaging or greater clarity.", "When the beer has fermented, it is packaged either into casks for cask ale or kegs, aluminium cans, or bottles for other sorts of beer." ], [ "Ingredients", "Malted barley before roastingThe basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source, such as malted barley or malted maize (such as used in the preparation of Tiswin and Tesgüino), able to be saccharified (converted to sugars) and then fermented (converted into ethanol and carbon dioxide); a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring such as hops.", "A mixture of starch sources may be used, with a secondary carbohydrate source, such as maize (corn), rice, wheat, or sugar, often termed an adjunct, especially when used alongside malted barley.", "Less widely used starch sources include millet, sorghum, and cassava root in Africa; potato in Brazil; and agave in Mexico, among others.", "The amount of each starch source in a beer recipe is collectively called the grain bill.Water is the main ingredient in beer, accounting for 93% of its weight.", "Though water itself is, ideally, flavourless, its level of dissolved minerals, specifically bicarbonate ions, does influence beer's finished taste.", "Due to the mineral properties of each region's water, specific areas were originally the sole producers of certain types of beer, each identifiable by regional characteristics.", "Regional geology accords that Dublin's hard water is well-suited to making stout, such as Guinness, while the Plzeň Region's soft water is ideal for brewing Pilsner (pale lager), such as Pilsner Urquell.", "The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum, which benefits making pale ale to such a degree that brewers of pale ales will add gypsum to the local water in a process known as Burtonisation.The starch source, termed the \"mash ingredients\", in a beer provides the fermentable material and is a key determinant of the strength and flavour of the beer.", "The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain.", "Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln.", "Malting grain produces enzymes that convert starches in the grain into fermentable sugars.", "Different roasting times and temperatures are used to produce different colours of malt from the same grain.", "Darker malts will produce darker beers.", "Nearly all beers include barley malt as the majority of the starch.", "This is because its fibrous hull remains attached to the grain during threshing.", "After malting, barley is milled, which finally removes the hull, breaking it into large pieces.", "These pieces remain with the grain during the mash and act as a filter bed during lautering, when sweet wort is separated from insoluble grain material.", "Other malted and unmalted grains (including wheat, rice, oats, and rye, and less frequently, corn and sorghum) may be used.", "Some brewers have produced gluten-free beer, made with sorghum with no barley malt, for those who cannot consume gluten-containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye.Hop cone in a Hallertau, Germany, hop yardFlavouring beer is the sole major commercial use of hops.", "The flower of the hop vine is used as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today.", "The flowers themselves are often called \"hops\".", "The first historical mention of the use of hops in beer dates from 822 AD in monastery rules written by Adalhard the Elder, also known as Adalard of Corbie, though the date normally given for widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer is the thirteenth century.", "Before the thirteenth century and until the sixteenth century, during which hops took over as the dominant flavouring, beer was flavoured with other plants, for instance, grains of paradise or ''alehoof''.", "Combinations of various aromatic herbs, berries, and even ingredients like wormwood would be combined into a mixture known as gruit and used as hops are now used.", "Some beers today, such as Fraoch' by the Scottish Heather Ales company and Cervoise Lancelot by the French Brasserie-Lancelot company, use plants other than hops for flavouring.Hops contain several characteristics that brewers desire in beer.", "Hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt; the bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale.", "Hops contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavours to beer.", "Hops have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms and aids in \"head retention\", the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last.", "The acidity of hops is a preservative.Yeast is the microorganism that is responsible for fermentation in beer.", "Yeast metabolises the sugars extracted from grains, which produce alcohol and carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer.", "In addition to fermenting the beer, yeast influences the character and flavour.", "The dominant types of yeast used to make beer are top-fermenting ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' and bottom-fermenting ''Saccharomyces pastorianus''.", "''Brettanomyces'' ferments lambics, and ''Torulaspora delbrueckii'' ferments Bavarian weissbier.", "Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts.", "A few styles, such as lambics, rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures.Some brewers add one or more clarifying agents or finings to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out of the beer along with protein solids and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product.", "This process makes the beer appear bright and clean, rather than the cloudy appearance of ethnic and older styles of beer, such as wheat beers.", "Examples of clarifying agents include isinglass, obtained from the swimbladders of fish; Irish moss, a seaweed; kappa carrageenan, from the seaweed ''Kappaphycus cottonii''; Polyclar (artificial); and gelatin.", "If a beer is marked \"suitable for vegans\", it is clarified either with seaweed or with artificial agents." ], [ "Brewing industry", "Brewing factoryAnnual beer consumption per capita by countryThe history of breweries in the 21st century has included larger breweries absorbing smaller breweries in order to ensure economy of scale.", "In 2002, South African Breweries bought the North American Miller Brewing Company to found SABMiller, becoming the second-largest brewery after North American Anheuser-Busch.", "In 2004, the Belgian Interbrew was the third-largest brewery by volume, and the Brazilian AmBev was the fifth-largest.", "They merged into InBev, becoming the largest brewery.", "In 2007, SABMiller surpassed InBev and Anheuser-Busch when it acquired Royal Grolsch, the brewer of Dutch brand Grolsch.", "In 2008, when InBev (the second-largest) bought Anheuser-Busch (the third-largest), the new Anheuser-Busch InBev company became again the largest brewer in the world., according to the market research firm Technavio, AB InBev remains the largest brewing company in the world, with Heineken second, CR Snow third, Carlsberg fourth, and Molson Coors fifth.A ''microbrewery'', or ''craft brewery'', produces a limited amount of beer.", "The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a 'microbrewery' varies by region and by authority; in the US, it is a year.", "A ''brewpub'' is a type of microbrewery that incorporates a pub or other drinking establishment.", "The highest density of breweries in the world, most of them microbreweries, exists in Franconia, Germany, especially in the district of Upper Franconia, which has about 200 breweries.", "The Benedictine Weihenstephan brewery in Bavaria, Germany, can trace its roots to the year 768, as a document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery.", "The brewery was licensed by the City of Freising in 1040 and is therefore the oldest working brewery in the world." ], [ "Varieties", "While there are many types of beer brewed, the basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries.", "The traditional European brewing regions—Germany, Belgium, England and the Czech Republic—have local varieties of beer.English writer Michael Jackson, in his 1977 book ''The World Guide To Beer'', categorised beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names.", "Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson's work in ''The Essentials of Beer Style'' in 1989.hand pumps with pump clips detailing the beers and their breweries=== Top-fermented beers ===Top-fermented beers are most commonly produced with ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', a top-fermenting yeast which clumps and rises to the surface, typically between .", "At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly \"fruity\" compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune, among others.After the introduction of hops into England from Flanders in the 15th century, \"ale\" referred to an unhopped fermented drink, \"beer\" being used to describe a brew with an infusion of hops.Real ale is the term coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for \"beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide\".", "It is applied to bottle conditioned and cask conditioned beers.Pale ale is a beer which uses a top-fermenting yeast, and predominantly pale malt.", "It is one of the world's major beer styles and includes India pale ale (IPA).Mild ale has a predominantly malty palate.", "It is usually dark coloured with an abv of 3% to 3.6%, although there are lighter hued milds as well as stronger examples reaching 6% abv and higher.Wheat beer is brewed with a large proportion of wheat although it often also contains a significant proportion of malted barley.", "Wheat beers are usually top-fermented.", "The flavour of wheat beers varies considerably, depending upon the specific style.Stout is a dark beer made using roasted barley, and typically brewed with slow fermenting yeast.", "There are a number of variations including dry stout (such as Guinness), sweet stout, and Imperial (or Russian) stout.", "Stout was originally the strongest variety of porter, a dark brown beer popular with the street and river porters of eighteenth century London.=== Bottom-fermented beers ===Kriek, a variety of beer brewed with cherriesLager is cool fermented beer.", "Pale lagers are the most commonly consumed beers in the world.", "Many are of the \"pilsner\" type.", "The name \"lager\" comes from the German \"lagern\" for \"to store\", as brewers around Bavaria stored beer in cool cellars and caves during the warm summer months.", "These brewers noticed that the beers continued to ferment, and to also clear of sediment, when stored in cool conditions.Lager yeast is a cool bottom-fermenting yeast (''Saccharomyces pastorianus'') and typically undergoes primary fermentation at (the fermentation phase), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at (the lagering phase).", "During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows.", "The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a \"cleaner\"-tasting beer.With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.=== Other types of beer ===Lambic, a beer of Belgium, is naturally fermented using wild yeasts, rather than cultivated.", "Many of these are not strains of brewer's yeast (''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'') and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness.", "Yeast varieties such as ''Brettanomyces bruxellensis'' and ''Brettanomyces lambicus'' are common in lambics.", "In addition, other organisms such as ''Lactobacillus'' bacteria produce acids which contribute to the sourness.=== \"Premium\" beers ===Many beer brands are labelled as so-called \"premium\" or \"super-premium\"—terms which have no set industry or legal definitions, but which producers and distributors use to market beers that they wish to be perceived as of a higher quality than normal - even where the beer is a common mass-market brand.", "The most common definitions used include price; and alcohol by volume, where, in some markets, strengths above 4.2% (ale) or 4.5% (lager) may be regarded by some as \"premium\"." ], [ "Measurement", "Beer is measured and assessed by colour, by strength and by bitterness.", "The perceived bitterness is measured by the International Bitterness Units scale (IBU), defined in co-operation between the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the European Brewery Convention.", "The international scale was a development of the European Bitterness Units scale, often abbreviated as EBU, and the bitterness values should be identical.===Colour===Paulaner dunkel – a dark lagerBeer colour is determined by the malt.", "The most common colour is a pale amber produced from using pale malts.", "''Pale lager'' and ''pale ale'' are terms used for beers made from malt dried with the fuel coke.", "Coke was first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it was not until around 1703 that the term ''pale ale'' was used.In terms of sales volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in the town of Pilsen in the present-day Czech Republic.", "The modern pale lager is light in colour with a noticeable carbonation (fizzy bubbles) and a typical alcohol by volume content of around 5%.", "The Pilsner Urquell, Bitburger, and Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, as are the American brands Budweiser, Coors, and Miller.Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or lager malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade.", "Other colourants—such as caramel—are also widely used to darken beers.", "Very dark beers, such as stout, use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer.", "Some have roasted unmalted barley.===Strength===Beer ranges from less than 3% alcohol by volume (abv) to around 14% abv, though this strength can be increased to around 20% by re-pitching with champagne yeast, and to 55% abv by the freeze-distilling process.", "The alcohol content of beer varies by local practice or beer style.", "The pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4–6%, with a typical abv of 5%.", "The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many session beers being around 4% abv.", "In Belgium, some beers, such as table beer are of such low alcohol content (1%–4%) that they are served instead of soft drinks in some schools.", "The weakest beers are dealcoholized beers, which typically have less than 0.05% alcohol (also called \"near beer\") and light beers, which usually have 4% alcohol.The alcohol in beer comes primarily from the metabolism of sugars that are produced during fermentation.", "The quantity of fermentable sugars in the wort and the variety of yeast used to ferment the wort are the primary factors that determine the amount of alcohol in the final beer.", "Additional fermentable sugars are sometimes added to increase alcohol content, and enzymes are often added to the wort for certain styles of beer (primarily \"light\" beers) to convert more complex carbohydrates (starches) to fermentable sugars.", "Alcohol is a by-product of yeast metabolism and is toxic to the yeast in higher concentrations; typical brewing yeast cannot survive at alcohol concentrations above 12% by volume.", "Low temperatures and too little fermentation time decreases the effectiveness of yeasts and consequently decreases the alcohol content.The strength of beers has climbed during the later years of the 20th century.", "Vetter 33, a 10.5% abv (33 degrees Plato, hence Vetter \"33\") doppelbock, was listed in the 1994 ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the strongest beer at that time, though Samichlaus, by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the strongest at 14% abv.", "Since then, some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase the alcohol content of their beers.", "Samuel Adams reached 20% abv with ''Millennium'', and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% abv with Utopias.", "The strongest beer brewed in Britain was Baz's Super Brew by Parish Brewery, a 23% abv beer.", "In September 2011, the Scottish brewery BrewDog produced Ghost Deer, which, at 28%, they claim to be the world's strongest beer produced by fermentation alone.The product claimed to be the strongest beer made is Schorschbräu's 2011 ''Schorschbock 57'' with 57,5%.", "It was preceded by ''The End of History'', a 55% Belgian ale, made by BrewDog in 2010.The same company had previously made ''Sink The Bismarck!", "'', a 41% abv IPA, and ''Tactical Nuclear Penguin'', a 32% abv Imperial stout.", "Each of these beers are made using the eisbock method of fractional freezing, in which a strong ale is partially frozen and the ice is repeatedly removed, until the desired strength is reached, a process that may class the product as spirits rather than beer.", "The German brewery Schorschbräu's ''Schorschbock'', a 31% abv eisbock, and Hair of the Dog's ''Dave'', a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994, used the same fractional freezing method.", "A 60% abv blend of beer with whiskey was jokingly claimed as the strongest beer by a Dutch brewery in July 2010." ], [ "Serving", "===Draught===A selection of cask beersDraught (also spelled \"draft\") beer from a pressurised keg using a lever-style dispenser and a spout is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world.", "A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO2) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing tap or faucet.", "Some beers may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture.", "Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in a dense head and a creamy mouthfeel.", "Some types of beer can also be found in smaller, disposable kegs called beer balls.", "In traditional pubs, the pull levers for major beer brands may include the beer's logo and trademark.In the 1980s, Guinness introduced the beer widget, a nitrogen-pressurised ball inside a can which creates a dense, tight head, similar to beer served from a nitrogen system.", "The words ''draft'' and ''draught'' can be used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled beers containing a beer widget, or which are cold-filtered rather than pasteurised.Cask-conditioned ales (or cask ales) are unfiltered and unpasteurised beers.", "These beers are termed \"real ale\" by the CAMRA organisation.", "Typically, when a cask arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a frame called a \"stillage\" which is designed to hold it steady and at the right angle, and then allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically between ), before being tapped and vented—a tap is driven through a (usually rubber) bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile or other implement is used to open a hole in the side of the cask, which is now uppermost.", "The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period to \"drop\" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition—this period can take anywhere from several hours to several days.", "At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being \"gravity-fed\" directly into the glass.Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences.", "A life cycle study of one beer brand, including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management, shows that the CO2 emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds).", "The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square metres (26 square feet).", "Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO2 emissions.", "Where legal, the use of a refillable jug, reusable bottle or other reusable containers to transport draught beer from a store or a bar, rather than buying pre-bottled beer, can reduce the environmental impact of beer consumption.===Packaging===Assortment of beer bottlesMost beers are cleared of yeast by filtering when packaged in bottles and cans.", "However, bottle conditioned beers retain some yeast—either by being unfiltered, or by being filtered and then reseeded with fresh yeast.", "It is usually recommended that the beer be poured slowly, leaving any yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle.", "However, some drinkers prefer to pour in the yeast; this practice is customary with wheat beers.", "Typically, when serving a hefeweizen wheat beer, 90% of the contents are poured, and the remainder is swirled to suspend the sediment before pouring it into the glass.", "Alternatively, the bottle may be inverted prior to opening.", "Glass bottles are always used for bottle conditioned beers.Many beers are sold in cans, though there is considerable variation in the proportion between different countries.", "In Sweden in 2001, 63.9% of beer was sold in cans.", "People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass.", "A technology developed by Crown Holdings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 'full aperture' can, so named because the entire lid is removed during the opening process, turning the can into a drinking cup.", "Cans protect the beer from light (thereby preventing \"skunked\" beer) and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles.", "Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, then became commonly associated with less expensive, mass-produced beers, even though the quality of storage in cans is much like bottles.", "Plastic (PET) bottles are used by some breweries.===Temperature===The temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience; warmer temperatures reveal the range of flavours in a beer but cooler temperatures are more refreshing.", "Most drinkers prefer pale lager to be served chilled, a low- or medium-strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature.Beer writer Michael Jackson proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled () for \"light\" beers (pale lagers); chilled () for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled () for all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers; cellar temperature () for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialities; and room temperature () for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer) and barley wine.Drinking chilled beer began with the development of artificial refrigeration and by the 1870s, was spread in those countries that concentrated on brewing pale lager.", "Chilling beer makes it more refreshing, though below 15.5 °C (60 °F) the chilling starts to reduce taste awareness and reduces it significantly below .", "Beer served unchilled—either cool or at room temperature—reveal more of their flavours.", "Cask Marque, a non-profit UK beer organisation, has set a temperature standard range of 12°–14 °C (53°–57 °F) for cask ales to be served.===Vessels===Beer is consumed out of a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein, a mug, a pewter tankard, a beer bottle or a can; or at music festivals and some bars and nightclubs, from a plastic cup.", "The shape of the glass from which beer is consumed can influence the perception of the beer and can define and accent the character of the style.", "Breweries offer branded glassware intended only for their own beers as a marketing promotion, as this increases sales of their product.The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation.", "The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the centre or down the side) into the glass all influence the result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and the release of carbonation.A beer tower is a beer dispensing device, usually found in bars and pubs, that consists of a cylinder attached to a beer cooling device at the bottom.", "Beer is dispensed from the beer tower into a drinking vessel." ], [ "Chemistry", "Organic aromatic acids found naturally in beer, such as tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, absorb blue light and fluoresce in green under 450 nm laser light.Beer contains the phenolic acids 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, ''p''-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and sinapic acid.", "Alkaline hydrolysis experiments show that most of the phenolic acids are present as bound forms and only a small portion can be detected as free compounds.", "Hops, and beer made with it, contain 8-prenylnaringenin which is a potent phytoestrogen.", "Hop also contains myrcene, humulene, xanthohumol, isoxanthohumol, myrcenol, linalool, tannins, and resin.", "The alcohol 2M2B is a component of hops brewing.Barley, in the form of malt, brings the condensed tannins prodelphinidins B3, B9 and C2 into beer.", "Tryptophol, tyrosol, and phenylethanol are aromatic higher alcohols found in beer as secondary products of alcoholic fermentation(products also known as congeners) by ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae''." ], [ "Nutritional information", "Beers vary in their nutritional content.", "The ingredients used to make beer, including the yeast, provide a rich source of nutrients; therefore beer may contain nutrients including magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, chromium and B vitamins.", "Beer is sometimes referred to as \"liquid bread\", though beer is not a meal in itself.+ '''Nutritional information of different beers(serving size: 12 oz./355 ml)''' Beer Brand Carbohydrate (g) Alcohol (%) Energy (kcal) Budweiser Select 55 1.8 2.4 55 Coors Light 5 4.2 102 Guinness Draught 10 4.0 126 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 30.3 9.6 330" ], [ "Society and culture<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"Beer culture\"></span>", "A tent at Munich's Oktoberfest in Germany.", "The event is known as the world's largest beer festival.Beer culture in Cameroon.", "A friendship drink of millet beer at the market, Mogode, Cameroon, 1998.Kwak should preferably be drunk from a special glass.In many societies, beer is the most popular alcoholic drink.", "Various social traditions and activities are associated with beer drinking, such as playing cards, darts, or other pub games; attending beer festivals; engaging in zythology (the study of beer); visiting a series of pubs in one evening; visiting breweries; beer-oriented tourism; or rating beer.", "Drinking games, such as beer pong, are also popular.", "Even having a \"shower beer\" has developed a following.", "A relatively new profession is that of the beer sommelier, who informs restaurant patrons about beers and food pairings.Beer is considered to be a social lubricant in many societies and is consumed in countries all over the world.", "There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, and in some African countries.", "Sales of beer are four times those of wine, which is the second most popular alcoholic drink.A study published in the ''Neuropsychopharmacology'' journal in 2013 revealed the finding that the flavour of beer alone could provoke dopamine activity in the brain of the male participants, who wanted to drink more as a result.", "The 49 men in the study were subject to positron emission tomography scans, while a computer-controlled device sprayed minute amounts of beer, water and a sports drink onto their tongues.", "Compared with the taste of the sports drink, the taste of beer significantly increased the participants desire to drink.", "Test results indicated that the flavour of the beer triggered a dopamine release, even though alcohol content in the spray was insufficient for the purpose of becoming intoxicated.Some breweries have developed beers to pair with food.", "Wine writer Malcolm Gluck disputed the need to pair beer with food, while beer writers Roger Protz and Melissa Cole contested that claim." ], [ "Related drinks", "Around the world, there are many traditional and ancient starch-based drinks classed as beer.", "In Africa, there are various ethnic beers made from sorghum or millet, such as Oshikundu in Namibia and Tella in Ethiopia.", "Kyrgyzstan also has a beer made from millet; it is a low alcohol, somewhat porridge-like drink called \"Bozo\".", "Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim also use millet in Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalayas.", "Further east in China are found Huangjiu and Choujiu—traditional rice-based drinks related to beer.The Andes in South America has Chicha, made from germinated maize (corn); while the indigenous peoples in Brazil have Cauim, a traditional drink made since pre-Columbian times by chewing manioc so that an enzyme (amylase) present in human saliva can break down the starch into fermentable sugars; this is similar to Masato in Peru.Some beers which are made from bread, which is linked to the earliest forms of beer, are Sahti in Finland, Kvass in Russia and Ukraine, and Bouza in Sudan.", "4000 years ago fermented bread was used in Mesopotamia.", "Food waste activists got inspired by these ancient recipes and use leftover bread to replace a third of the malted barley that would otherwise be used for brewing their craft ale." ], [ "Health effects", "A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found that moderate ethanol consumption brought no mortality benefit compared with lifetime abstention from ethanol consumption.", "Some studies have concluded that drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men, per day) is associated with a ''decreased'' risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and early death.", "Some of these studies combined former ethanol drinkers and lifelong abstainers into a single group of nondrinkers, which hides the health benefits of lifelong abstention from ethanol.", "The long-term health effects of continuous, moderate or heavy alcohol consumption include the risk of developing alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease.", "Alcoholism, also known as \"alcohol use disorder\", is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems.", "It was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.", "In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use.", "Alcoholism reduces a person's life expectancy by around ten years and alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States.", "No professional medical association recommends that people who are nondrinkers should start drinking alcoholic beverages.", "In the United States, a total of 3.3 million deaths per year (5.9% of all deaths) are believed to be due to alcohol.It is considered that overeating and lack of muscle tone is the main cause of a beer belly, rather than beer consumption.", "A 2004 study, however, found a link between binge drinking and a beer belly.", "But with most overconsumption, it is more a problem of improper exercise and overconsumption of carbohydrates than the product itself.", "Several diet books quote beer as having an undesirably high glycemic index of 110, the same as maltose; however, the maltose in beer undergoes metabolism by yeast during fermentation so that beer consists mostly of water, hop oils and only trace amounts of sugars, including maltose." ], [ "See also" ], [ "References", "===Bibliography===* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * " ], [ "Further reading", " * * * * " ], [ "External links", " * * *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bit" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''bit''' is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications.", "The name is a portmanteau of '''binary digit'''.", "The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values.", "These values are most commonly represented as either , but other representations such as ''true''/''false'', ''yes''/''no'', ''on''/''off'', or ''+''/''−'' are also widely used.The relation between these values and the physical states of the underlying storage or device is a matter of convention, and different assignments may be used even within the same device or program.", "It may be physically implemented with a two-state device.A contiguous group of binary digits is commonly called a ''bit string'', a bit vector, or a single-dimensional (or multi-dimensional) ''bit array''.A group of eight bits is called one ''byte'', but historically the size of the byte is not strictly defined.", "Frequently, half, full, double and quadruple words consist of a number of bytes which is a low power of two.", "A string of four bits is usually a ''nibble''.In information theory, one bit is the information entropy of a random binary variable that is 0 or 1 with equal probability, or the information that is gained when the value of such a variable becomes known.", "As a unit of information, the bit is also known as a ''shannon'', named after Claude E. Shannon.The symbol for the binary digit is either \"bit\", per the IEC 80000-13:2008 standard, or the lowercase character \"b\", per the IEEE 1541-2002 standard.", "Use of the latter may create confusion with the capital \"B\" which is the international standard symbol for the byte." ], [ "History", "The encoding of data by discrete bits was used in the punched cards invented by Basile Bouchon and Jean-Baptiste Falcon (1732), developed by Joseph Marie Jacquard (1804), and later adopted by Semyon Korsakov, Charles Babbage, Herman Hollerith, and early computer manufacturers like IBM.", "A variant of that idea was the perforated paper tape.", "In all those systems, the medium (card or tape) conceptually carried an array of hole positions; each position could be either punched through or not, thus carrying one bit of information.", "The encoding of text by bits was also used in Morse code (1844) and early digital communications machines such as teletypes and stock ticker machines (1870).Ralph Hartley suggested the use of a logarithmic measure of information in 1928.Claude E. Shannon first used the word \"bit\" in his seminal 1948 paper \"A Mathematical Theory of Communication\".", "He attributed its origin to John W. Tukey, who had written a Bell Labs memo on 9 January 1947 in which he contracted \"binary information digit\" to simply \"bit\".==Physical representation==A bit can be stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in either of two possible distinct states.", "These may be the two stable states of a flip-flop, two positions of an electrical switch, two distinct voltage or current levels allowed by a circuit, two distinct levels of light intensity, two directions of magnetization or polarization, the orientation of reversible double stranded DNA, etc.Bits can be implemented in several forms.", "In most modern computing devices, a bit is usually represented by an electrical voltage or current pulse, or by the electrical state of a flip-flop circuit.For devices using positive logic, a digit value of (or a logical value of true) is represented by a more positive voltage relative to the representation of .", "Different logic families require different voltages, and variations are allowed to account for component aging and noise immunity.", "For example, in transistor–transistor logic (TTL) and compatible circuits, digit values and at the output of a device are represented by no higher than 0.4 volts and no lower than 2.6 volts, respectively; while TTL inputs are specified to recognize 0.8 volts or below as and 2.2 volts or above as .===Transmission and processing===Bits are transmitted one at a time in serial transmission, and by a multiple number of bits in parallel transmission.", "A bitwise operation optionally processes bits one at a time.", "Data transfer rates are usually measured in decimal SI multiples of the unit bit per second (bit/s), such as kbit/s.===Storage===In the earliest non-electronic information processing devices, such as Jacquard's loom or Babbage's Analytical Engine, a bit was often stored as the position of a mechanical lever or gear, or the presence or absence of a hole at a specific point of a paper card or tape.", "The first electrical devices for discrete logic (such as elevator and traffic light control circuits, telephone switches, and Konrad Zuse's computer) represented bits as the states of electrical relays which could be either \"open\" or \"closed\".", "When relays were replaced by vacuum tubes, starting in the 1940s, computer builders experimented with a variety of storage methods, such as pressure pulses traveling down a mercury delay line, charges stored on the inside surface of a cathode-ray tube, or opaque spots printed on glass discs by photolithographic techniques.In the 1950s and 1960s, these methods were largely supplanted by magnetic storage devices such as magnetic-core memory, magnetic tapes, drums, and disks, where a bit was represented by the polarity of magnetization of a certain area of a ferromagnetic film, or by a change in polarity from one direction to the other.", "The same principle was later used in the magnetic bubble memory developed in the 1980s, and is still found in various magnetic strip items such as metro tickets and some credit cards.In modern semiconductor memory, such as dynamic random-access memory, the two values of a bit may be represented by two levels of electric charge stored in a capacitor.", "In certain types of programmable logic arrays and read-only memory, a bit may be represented by the presence or absence of a conducting path at a certain point of a circuit.", "In optical discs, a bit is encoded as the presence or absence of a microscopic pit on a reflective surface.", "In one-dimensional bar codes, bits are encoded as the thickness of alternating black and white lines." ], [ "Unit and symbol", "The bit is not defined in the International System of Units (SI).", "However, the International Electrotechnical Commission issued standard IEC 60027, which specifies that the symbol for binary digit should be 'bit', and this should be used in all multiples, such as 'kbit', for kilobit.", "However, the lower-case letter 'b' is widely used as well and was recommended by the IEEE 1541 Standard (2002).", "In contrast, the upper case letter 'B' is the standard and customary symbol for byte.===Multiple bits===Multiple bits may be expressed and represented in several ways.", "For convenience of representing commonly reoccurring groups of bits in information technology, several units of information have traditionally been used.", "The most common is the unit byte, coined by Werner Buchholz in June 1956, which historically was used to represent the group of bits used to encode a single character of text (until UTF-8 multibyte encoding took over) in a computer and for this reason it was used as the basic addressable element in many computer architectures.", "The trend in hardware design converged on the most common implementation of using eight bits per byte, as it is widely used today.", "However, because of the ambiguity of relying on the underlying hardware design, the unit octet was defined to explicitly denote a sequence of eight bits.Computers usually manipulate bits in groups of a fixed size, conventionally named \"words\".", "Like the byte, the number of bits in a word also varies with the hardware design, and is typically between 8 and 80 bits, or even more in some specialized computers.", "In the 21st century, retail personal or server computers have a word size of 32 or 64 bits.The International System of Units defines a series of decimal prefixes for multiples of standardized units which are commonly also used with the bit and the byte.", "The prefixes kilo (103) through yotta (1024) increment by multiples of one thousand, and the corresponding units are the kilobit (kbit) through the yottabit (Ybit)." ], [ "Information capacity and information compression", "When the information capacity of a storage system or a communication channel is presented in ''bits'' or ''bits per second'', this often refers to binary digits, which is a computer hardware capacity to store binary data ( or , up or down, current or not, etc.).", "Information capacity of a storage system is only an upper bound to the quantity of information stored therein.", "If the two possible values of one bit of storage are not equally likely, that bit of storage contains less than one bit of information.", "If the value is completely predictable, then the reading of that value provides no information at all (zero entropic bits, because no resolution of uncertainty occurs and therefore no information is available).", "If a computer file that uses ''n'' bits of storage contains only ''m'' < ''n'' bits of information, then that information can in principle be encoded in about ''m'' bits, at least on the average.", "This principle is the basis of data compression technology.", "Using an analogy, the hardware binary digits refer to the amount of storage space available (like the number of buckets available to store things), and the information content the filling, which comes in different levels of granularity (fine or coarse, that is, compressed or uncompressed information).", "When the granularity is finer—when information is more compressed—the same bucket can hold more.For example, it is estimated that the combined technological capacity of the world to store information provides 1,300 exabytes of hardware digits.", "However, when this storage space is filled and the corresponding content is optimally compressed, this only represents 295 exabytes of information.", "When optimally compressed, the resulting carrying capacity approaches Shannon information or information entropy." ], [ "Bit-based computing", "Certain bitwise computer processor instructions (such as ''bit set'') operate at the level of manipulating bits rather than manipulating data interpreted as an aggregate of bits.In the 1980s, when bitmapped computer displays became popular, some computers provided specialized bit block transfer instructions to set or copy the bits that corresponded to a given rectangular area on the screen.In most computers and programming languages, when a bit within a group of bits, such as a byte or word, is referred to, it is usually specified by a number from 0 upwards corresponding to its position within the byte or word.", "However, 0 can refer to either the most or least significant bit depending on the context." ], [ "Other information units", "Similar to torque and energy in physics; information-theoretic information and data storage size have the same dimensionality of units of measurement, but there is in general no meaning to adding, subtracting or otherwise combining the units mathematically, although one may act as a bound on the other.Units of information used in information theory include the ''shannon'' (Sh), the ''natural unit of information'' (nat) and the ''hartley'' (Hart).", "One shannon is the maximum amount of information needed to specify the state of one bit of storage.", "These are related by 1 Sh ≈ 0.693 nat ≈ 0.301 Hart.Some authors also define a '''binit''' as an arbitrary information unit equivalent to some fixed but unspecified number of bits." ], [ "See also", "* Byte* Integer (computer science)* Primitive data type* Trit (Trinary digit)* Qubit (quantum bit)* Bitstream* Entropy (information theory)* Bit rate and baud rate* Binary numeral system* Ternary numeral system* Shannon (unit)* Nibble" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Bit Calculator – a tool providing conversions between bit, byte, kilobit, kilobyte, megabit, megabyte, gigabit, gigabyte* BitXByteConverter – a tool for computing file sizes, storage capacity, and digital information in various units" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Byte" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''byte''' is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits.", "Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures.", "To disambiguate arbitrarily sized bytes from the common 8-bit definition, network protocol documents such as the Internet Protocol () refer to an 8-bit byte as an octet.", "Those bits in an octet are usually counted with numbering from 0 to 7 or 7 to 0 depending on the bit endianness.The size of the byte has historically been hardware-dependent and no definitive standards existed that mandated the size.", "Sizes from 1 to 48 bits have been used.", "The six-bit character code was an often-used implementation in early encoding systems, and computers using six-bit and nine-bit bytes were common in the 1960s.", "These systems often had memory words of 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, or 60 bits, corresponding to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 six-bit bytes.", "In this era, bit groupings in the instruction stream were often referred to as ''syllables'' or ''slab'', before the term ''byte'' became common.The modern ''de facto'' standard of eight bits, as documented in ISO/IEC 2382-1:1993, is a convenient power of two permitting the binary-encoded values 0 through 255 for one byte, as 2 to the power of 8 is 256.The international standard IEC 80000-13 codified this common meaning.", "Many types of applications use information representable in eight or fewer bits and processor designers commonly optimize for this usage.", "The popularity of major commercial computing architectures has aided in the ubiquitous acceptance of the 8-bit byte.", "Modern architectures typically use 32- or 64-bit words, built of four or eight bytes, respectively.The unit symbol for the byte was designated as the upper-case letter B by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).", "Internationally, the unit ''octet'', symbol o, explicitly defines a sequence of eight bits, eliminating the potential ambiguity of the term \"byte\"." ], [ "Etymology and history", "The term ''byte'' was coined by Werner Buchholz in June 1956, during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer, which had addressing to the bit and variable field length (VFL) instructions with a byte size encoded in the instruction.It is a deliberate respelling of ''bite'' to avoid accidental mutation to ''bit''.Another origin of ''byte'' for bit groups smaller than a computer's word size, and in particular groups of four bits, is on record by Louis G. Dooley, who claimed he coined the term while working with Jules Schwartz and Dick Beeler on an air defense system called SAGE at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 1956 or 1957, which was jointly developed by Rand, MIT, and IBM.", "Later on, Schwartz's language JOVIAL actually used the term, but the author recalled vaguely that it was derived from AN/FSQ-31.Early computers used a variety of four-bit binary-coded decimal (BCD) representations and the six-bit codes for printable graphic patterns common in the U.S. Army (FIELDATA) and Navy.", "These representations included alphanumeric characters and special graphical symbols.", "These sets were expanded in 1963 to seven bits of coding, called the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) as the Federal Information Processing Standard, which replaced the incompatible teleprinter codes in use by different branches of the U.S. government and universities during the 1960s.", "ASCII included the distinction of upper- and lowercase alphabets and a set of control characters to facilitate the transmission of written language as well as printing device functions, such as page advance and line feed, and the physical or logical control of data flow over the transmission media.", "During the early 1960s, while also active in ASCII standardization, IBM simultaneously introduced in its product line of System/360 the eight-bit Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC), an expansion of their six-bit binary-coded decimal (BCDIC) representations used in earlier card punches.The prominence of the System/360 led to the ubiquitous adoption of the eight-bit storage size, while in detail the EBCDIC and ASCII encoding schemes are different.In the early 1960s, AT&T introduced digital telephony on long-distance trunk lines.", "These used the eight-bit μ-law encoding.", "This large investment promised to reduce transmission costs for eight-bit data.In Volume 1 of ''The Art of Computer Programming'' (first published in 1968), Donald Knuth uses ''byte'' in his hypothetical MIX computer to denote a unit which \"contains an ''unspecified'' amount of information ... capable of holding at least 64 distinct values ... ''at most'' 100 distinct values.", "On a binary computer a byte must therefore be composed of six bits\".", "He notes that \"Since 1975 or so, the word ''byte'' has come to mean a sequence of precisely eight binary digits...When we speak of bytes in connection with MIX we shall confine ourselves to the former sense of the word, harking back to the days when bytes were not yet standardized.", "\"The development of eight-bit microprocessors in the 1970s popularized this storage size.", "Microprocessors such as the Intel 8008, the direct predecessor of the 8080 and the 8086, used in early personal computers, could also perform a small number of operations on the four-bit pairs in a byte, such as the decimal-add-adjust (DAA) instruction.", "A four-bit quantity is often called a nibble, also ''nybble'', which is conveniently represented by a single hexadecimal digit.The term ''octet'' is used to unambiguously specify a size of eight bits.", "It is used extensively in protocol definitions.Historically, the term ''octad'' or ''octade'' was used to denote eight bits as well at least in Western Europe; however, this usage is no longer common.", "The exact origin of the term is unclear, but it can be found in British, Dutch, and German sources of the 1960s and 1970s, and throughout the documentation of Philips mainframe computers." ], [ "Unit symbol", "The unit symbol for the byte is specified in IEC 80000-13, IEEE 1541 and the Metric Interchange Format as the upper-case character B.In the International System of Quantities (ISQ), B is also the symbol of the ''bel'', a unit of logarithmic power ratio named after Alexander Graham Bell, creating a conflict with the IEC specification.", "However, little danger of confusion exists, because the bel is a rarely used unit.", "It is used primarily in its decadic fraction, the decibel (dB), for signal strength and sound pressure level measurements, while a unit for one-tenth of a byte, the decibyte, and other fractions, are only used in derived units, such as transmission rates.The lowercase letter o for octet is defined as the symbol for octet in IEC 80000-13 and is commonly used in languages such as French and Romanian, and is also combined with metric prefixes for multiples, for example ko and Mo." ], [ "Multiple-byte units", "More than one system exists to define unit multiples based on the byte.", "Some systems are based on powers of 10, following the International System of Units (SI), which defines for example the prefix ''kilo'' as 1000 (103); other systems are based on powers of 2.Nomenclature for these systems has confusion.", "Systems based on powers of 10 use standard SI prefixes (''kilo'', ''mega'', ''giga'', ...) and their corresponding symbols (k, M, G, ...).", "Systems based on powers of 2, however, might use binary prefixes (''kibi'', ''mebi'', ''gibi'', ...) and their corresponding symbols (Ki, Mi, Gi, ...) or they might use the prefixes K, M, and G, creating ambiguity when the prefixes M or G are used.While the difference between the decimal and binary interpretations is relatively small for the kilobyte (about 2% smaller than the kibibyte), the systems deviate increasingly as units grow larger (the relative deviation grows by 2.4% for each three orders of magnitude).", "For example, a power-of-10-based terabyte is about 9% smaller than power-of-2-based tebibyte.===Units based on powers of 10===Definition of prefixes using powers of 10—in which 1 ''kilobyte'' (symbol kB) is defined to equal 1,000 bytes—is recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).", "The IEC standard defines eight such multiples, up to 1 yottabyte (YB), equal to 10008 bytes.", "The additional prefixes ''ronna-'' for 10009 and ''quetta-'' for 100010 were adopted by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in 2022.This definition is most commonly used for data-rate units in computer networks, internal bus, hard drive and flash media transfer speeds, and for the capacities of most storage media, particularly hard drives, flash-based storage, and DVDs.", "Operating systems that use this definition include macOS, iOS, Ubuntu, and Debian.", "It is also consistent with the other uses of the SI prefixes in computing, such as CPU clock speeds or measures of performance.===Units based on powers of 2===A system of units based on powers of 2 in which 1 kibibyte (KiB) is equal to 1,024 (i.e., 210) bytes is defined by international standard IEC 80000-13 and is supported by national and international standards bodies (BIPM, IEC, NIST).", "The IEC standard defines eight such multiples, up to 1 yobibyte (YiB), equal to 10248 bytes.", "The natural binary counterparts to ''ronna-'' and ''quetta-'' were given in a consultation paper of the International Committee for Weights and Measures' Consultative Committee for Units (CCU) as ''robi-'' (Ri, 10249) and ''quebi-'' (Qi, 102410), but have not yet been adopted by the IEC and ISO.An alternative system of nomenclature for the same units (referred to here as the ''customary convention''), in which 1 ''kilobyte'' (KB) is equal to 1,024 bytes, 1 ''megabyte'' (MB) is equal to 10242 bytes and 1 ''gigabyte'' (GB) is equal to 10243 bytes is mentioned by a 1990s JEDEC standard.", "Only the first three multiples (up to GB) are mentioned by the JEDEC standard, which makes no mention of TB and larger.", "While confusing and incorrect The customary convention is used by the Microsoft Windows operating system and random-access memory capacity, such as main memory and CPU cache size, and in marketing and billing by telecommunication companies, such as Vodafone, AT&T, Orange and Telstra.For storage capacity, the customary convention was used by macOS and iOS through Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and iOS 10, after which they switched to units based on powers of 10.===Parochial units ===Various computer vendors have coined terms for data of various sizes, sometimes with different sizes for the same term even within a single vendor.", "These terms include ''double word'', ''half word'', ''long word'', ''quad word'', ''slab'', ''superword'' and ''syllable''.", "There are also informal terms.", "e.g., ''half byte'' and ''nybble'' for 4 bits, ''octal K'' for .===History of the conflicting definitions===Percentage difference between decimal and binary interpretations of the unit prefixes grows with increasing storage sizeContemporary computer memory has a binary architecture making a definition of memory units based on powers of 2 most practical.", "The use of the metric prefix ''kilo'' for binary multiples arose as a convenience, because 1,024 is approximately 1,000.This definition was popular in early decades of personal computing, with products like the Tandon 5-inch DD floppy format (holding 368,640 bytes) being advertised as \"360 KB\", following the 1,024-byte convention.", "It was not universal, however.", "The Shugart SA-400 5-inch floppy disk held 109,375 bytes unformatted, and was advertised as \"110 Kbyte\", using the 1000 convention.", "Likewise, the 8-inch DEC RX01 floppy (1975) held 256,256 bytes formatted, and was advertised as \"256k\".", "Other disks were advertised using a ''mixture'' of the two definitions: notably, -inch HD disks advertised as \"1.44 MB\" in fact have a capacity of 1,440 KiB, the equivalent of 1.47 MB or 1.41 MiB.In 1995, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry's (IUPAC) Interdivisional Committee on Nomenclature and Symbols attempted to resolve this ambiguity by proposing a set of binary prefixes for the powers of 1024, including kibi (kilobinary), mebi (megabinary), and gibi (gigabinary).In December 1998, the IEC addressed such multiple usages and definitions by adopting the IUPAC's proposed prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, etc.)", "to unambiguously denote powers of 1024.Thus one kibibyte (1 KiB) is 10241 bytes = 1024 bytes, one mebibyte (1 MiB) is 10242 bytes = bytes, and so on.In 1999, Donald Knuth suggested calling the kibibyte a \"large kilobyte\" (''KKB'').===Modern standard definitions===The IEC adopted the IUPAC proposal and published the standard in January 1999.The IEC prefixes are part of the International System of Quantities.", "The IEC further specified that the kilobyte should only be used to refer to 1,000 bytes.===Lawsuits over definition===Lawsuits arising from alleged consumer confusion over the binary and decimal definitions of multiples of the byte have generally ended in favor of the manufacturers, with courts holding that the legal definition of gigabyte or GB is 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 (109) bytes (the decimal definition), rather than the binary definition (230, i.e., 1,073,741,824).", "Specifically, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California held that \"the U.S. Congress has deemed the decimal definition of gigabyte to be the 'preferred' one for the purposes of 'U.S.", "trade and commerce' ...", "The California Legislature has likewise adopted the decimal system for all 'transactions in this state.Earlier lawsuits had ended in settlement with no court ruling on the question, such as a lawsuit against drive manufacturer Western Digital.", "Western Digital settled the challenge and added explicit disclaimers to products that the usable capacity may differ from the advertised capacity.", "Seagate was sued on similar grounds and also settled.===Practical examples=== Unit Approximate equivalentbita Boolean variable indicating true (1) or false (0).bytea basic Latin character.kilobytetext of \"Jabberwocky\"a typical faviconmegabytetext of ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''gigabyteabout half an hour of videoCD-quality uncompressed audio of ''The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway''terabytethe largest consumer hard drive in 20071080p 4:3 video of ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' animated television series, all 61 episodespetabyte years of MP3-encoded musicexabyteglobal monthly Internet traffic in 2004zettabyteglobal yearly Internet traffic in 2016" ], [ "Common uses", "Many programming languages define the data type ''byte''.The C and C++ programming languages define ''byte'' as an \"addressable unit of data storage large enough to hold any member of the basic character set of the execution environment\" (clause 3.6 of the C standard).", "The C standard requires that the integral data type ''unsigned char'' must hold at least 256 different values, and is represented by at least eight bits (clause 5.2.4.2.1).", "Various implementations of C and C++ reserve 8, 9, 16, 32, or 36 bits for the storage of a byte.", "In addition, the C and C++ standards require that there are no gaps between two bytes.", "This means every bit in memory is part of a byte.Java's primitive data type ''byte'' is defined as eight bits.", "It is a signed data type, holding values from −128 to 127..NET programming languages, such as C#, define ''byte'' as an unsigned type, and the ''sbyte'' as a signed data type, holding values from 0 to 255, and −128 to 127, respectively.In data transmission systems, the byte is used as a contiguous sequence of bits in a serial data stream, representing the smallest distinguished unit of data.", "For asynchronous communication a full transmission unit usually additionally includes a start bit, 1 or 2 stop bits, and possibly a parity bit, and thus its size may vary from seven to twelve bits for five to eight bits of actual data.", "For synchronous communication the error checking usually uses bytes at the end of a frame." ], [ "See also", "* Data* Data hierarchy* Nibble* Octet (computing)* Primitive data type* Tryte* Word (computer architecture)" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* * Ashley Taylor.", "\"Bits and Bytes.\"", "Stanford.", "https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs101/bits-bytes.html" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Boron nitride" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Boron nitride''' is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula '''BN'''.", "It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice.", "The hexagonal form corresponding to graphite is the most stable and soft among BN polymorphs, and is therefore used as a lubricant and an additive to cosmetic products.", "The cubic (zincblende aka sphalerite structure) variety analogous to diamond is called c-BN; it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior.", "The rare wurtzite BN modification is similar to lonsdaleite but slightly softer than the cubic form.Because of excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are used in high-temperature equipment and metal casting.", "Boron nitride has potential use in nanotechnology." ], [ "Structure", "Boron nitride exists in multiple forms that differ in the arrangement of the boron and nitrogen atoms, giving rise to varying bulk properties of the material.=== Amorphous form (a-BN) ===The amorphous form of boron nitride (a-BN) is non-crystalline, lacking any long-distance regularity in the arrangement of its atoms.", "It is analogous to amorphous carbon.All other forms of boron nitride are crystalline.=== Hexagonal form (h-BN) ===The most stable crystalline form is the hexagonal one, also called h-BN, α-BN, g-BN, and ''graphitic boron nitride''.", "Hexagonal boron nitride (point group = D6h; space group = P63/mmc) has a layered structure similar to graphite.", "Within each layer, boron and nitrogen atoms are bound by strong covalent bonds, whereas the layers are held together by weak van der Waals forces.", "The interlayer \"registry\" of these sheets differs, however, from the pattern seen for graphite, because the atoms are eclipsed, with boron atoms lying over and above nitrogen atoms.", "This registry reflects the local polarity of the B–N bonds, as well as interlayer N-donor/B-acceptor characteristics.", "Likewise, many metastable forms consisting of differently stacked polytypes exist.", "Therefore, h-BN and graphite are very close neighbors, and the material can accommodate carbon as a substituent element to form BNCs.", "BC6N hybrids have been synthesized, where carbon substitutes for some B and N atoms.", "Hexagonal boron nitride monolayer is analogous to graphene, having a honeycomb lattice structure of nearly the same dimensions.", "Unlike graphene, which is black and an electrical conductor, h-BN monolayer is white and an insulator.", "It has been proposed for use as an atomic flat insulating substrate or a tunneling dielectric barrier in 2D electronics.", ".=== Cubic form (c-BN) ===Cubic boron nitride has a crystal structure analogous to that of diamond.", "Consistent with diamond being less stable than graphite, the cubic form is less stable than the hexagonal form, but the conversion rate between the two is negligible at room temperature, as it is for diamond.", "The cubic form has the sphalerite crystal structure (space group = F3m), the same as that of diamond (with ordered B and N atoms), and is also called β-BN or c-BN.=== Wurtzite form (w-BN) ===The wurtzite form of boron nitride (w-BN; point group = C6v; space group = P63mc) has the same structure as lonsdaleite, a rare hexagonal polymorph of carbon.", "As in the cubic form, the boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into tetrahedra.", "In the wurtzite form, the boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into 6-membered rings.", "In the cubic form all rings are in the chair configuration, whereas in w-BN the rings between 'layers' are in boat configuration.", "Earlier optimistic reports predicted that the wurtzite form was very strong, and was estimated by a simulation as potentially having a strength 18% stronger than that of diamond.", "Since only small amounts of the mineral exist in nature, this has not yet been experimentally verified.", "Its hardness is 46 GPa, slightly harder than commercial borides but softer than the cubic form of boron nitride.File:Boron-nitride-(hexagonal)-side-3D-balls.png\|Hexagonal form (h-BN)hexagonal analogous to graphiteFile:Boron-nitride-(sphalerite)-3D-balls.png\|Cubic form (c-BN)sphalerite structure analogous to diamondFile:Boron-nitride-(wurtzite)-3D-balls.png\|Wurtzite form (w-BN)wurtzite structureanalogous to lonsdaleite" ], [ "Properties", "===Physical===+ Properties of amorphous and crystalline BN, graphite and diamond.Some properties of h-BN and graphite differ within the basal planes (∥) and perpendicular to them (⟂) Material Boron nitride (BN) Graphite Diamond a- h- c- w- Density (g/cm3) 2.28 ~2.1 3.45 3.49 ~2.1 3.515 Knoop hardness (GPa) 10 45 34 100 Bulk modulus (GPa) 100 36.5 400 400 34 440 Thermal conductivity (W/m·K) 3 600 ∥, 30 ⟂ 740 200–2000 ∥, 2–800 ⟂ 600–2000 Thermal expansion (10−6/K) −2.7 ∥, 38 ⟂ 1.2 2.7 −1.5 ∥, 25 ⟂ 0.8 Band gap (eV) 5.05 5.9–6.4 10.1-10.7 4.5–5.5 0 5.5 Refractive index 1.7 1.8 2.1 2.05 2.4 Magnetic susceptibility (µemu/g) −0.48 ∥, −17.3 ⟂ −0.2 – −2.7 ∥, −20 – −28 ⟂ −1.6The partly ionic structure of BN layers in h-BN reduces covalency and electrical conductivity, whereas the interlayer interaction increases resulting in higher hardness of h-BN relative to graphite.", "The reduced electron-delocalization in hexagonal-BN is also indicated by its absence of color and a large band gap.", "Very different bonding – strong covalent within the basal planes (planes where boron and nitrogen atoms are covalently bonded) and weak between them – causes high anisotropy of most properties of h-BN.For example, the hardness, electrical and thermal conductivity are much higher within the planes than perpendicular to them.", "On the contrary, the properties of c-BN and w-BN are more homogeneous and isotropic.Those materials are extremely hard, with the hardness of bulk c-BN being slightly smaller and w-BN even higher than that of diamond.", "Polycrystalline c-BN with grain sizes on the order of 10 nm is also reported to have Vickers hardness comparable or higher than diamond.", "Because of much better stability to heat and transition metals, c-BN surpasses diamond in mechanical applications, such as machining steel.", "The thermal conductivity of BN is among the highest of all electric insulators (see table).Boron nitride can be doped p-type with beryllium and n-type with boron, sulfur, silicon or if co-doped with carbon and nitrogen.", "Both hexagonal and cubic BN are wide-gap semiconductors with a band-gap energy corresponding to the UV region.", "If voltage is applied to h-BN or c-BN, then it emits UV light in the range 215–250 nm and therefore can potentially be used as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers.Little is known on melting behavior of boron nitride.", "It sublimates at 2973 °C at normal pressure releasing nitrogen gas and boron, but melts at elevated pressure.===Thermal stability===Hexagonal and cubic BN (and probably w-BN) show remarkable chemical and thermal stabilities.", "For example, h-BN is stable to decomposition at temperatures up to 1000 °C in air, 1400 °C in vacuum, and 2800 °C in an inert atmosphere.", "The reactivity of h-BN and c-BN is relatively similar, and the data for c-BN are summarized in the table below.", "+ Reactivity of c-BN with solids Solid Ambient Action Threshold temperature (°C) Mo vacuum Reaction 1360 Ni vacuum Wetting 1360 Fe, Ni, Co Argon React 1400–1500 Al vacuum Wetting and reaction 1050 Si vacuum Wetting 1500 Cu, Ag, Au, Ga, In, Ge, Sn vacuum No wetting 1100 B No wetting 2200 vacuum No reaction 1360Thermal stability of c-BN can be summarized as follows:* In air or oxygen: protective layer prevents further oxidation to ~1300 °C; no conversion to hexagonal form at 1400 °C.", "* In nitrogen: some conversion to h-BN at 1525 °C after 12 h.* In vacuum (): conversion to h-BN at 1550–1600 °C.===Chemical stability===Boron nitride is insoluble in the usual acids, but is soluble in alkaline molten salts and nitrides, such as LiOH, KOH, NaOH-, , , , , or , which are therefore used to etch BN.===Thermal conductivity===The theoretical thermal conductivity of hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) can approach 1700–2000 W/(m⋅K), which has the same order of magnitude as the experimental measured value for graphene, and can be comparable to the theoretical calculations for graphene nanoribbons.", "Moreover, the thermal transport in the BNNRs is anisotropic.", "The thermal conductivity of zigzag-edged BNNRs is about 20% larger than that of armchair-edged nanoribbons at room temperature." ], [ "Natural occurrence", "In 2009, a naturally occurring boron nitride mineral in the cubic form (c-BN) was reported in Tibet, and the name qingsongite proposed.", "The substance was found in dispersed micron-sized inclusions in chromium-rich rocks.", "In 2013, the International Mineralogical Association affirmed the mineral and the name." ], [ "Synthesis", "===Preparation and reactivity of hexagonal BN===Boron nitride is produced synthetically.", "Hexagonal boron nitride is obtained by the reacting boron trioxide () or boric acid () with ammonia () or urea () in a nitrogen atmosphere:: (''T'' = 900 °C): (''T'' = 900 °C): (''T'' > 1000 °C): (''T'' > 1500 °C)The resulting disordered (amorphous) boron nitride contains 92–95% BN and 5–8% .", "The remaining can be evaporated in a second step at temperatures in order to achieve BN concentration >98%.", "Such annealing also crystallizes BN, the size of the crystallites increasing with the annealing temperature.h-BN parts can be fabricated inexpensively by hot-pressing with subsequent machining.", "The parts are made from boron nitride powders adding boron oxide for better compressibility.", "Thin films of boron nitride can be obtained by chemical vapor deposition from boron trichloride and nitrogen precursors.", "ZYP Coatings also has developed boron nitride coatings that may be painted on a surface.", "Combustion of boron powder in nitrogen plasma at 5500 °C yields ultrafine boron nitride used for lubricants and toners.Boron nitride reacts with iodine fluoride in trichlorofluoromethane at −30 °C to produce an extremely sensitive contact explosive, , in low yield.Boron nitride reacts with nitrides of lithium, alkaline earth metals and lanthanides to form nitridoborate compounds.", "For example::===Intercalation of hexagonal BN===Structure of hexagonal boron nitride intercalated with potassium ()Similar to graphite, various molecules, such as or alkali metals, can be intercalated into hexagonal boron nitride, that is inserted between its layers.", "Both experiment and theory suggest the intercalation is much more difficult for BN than for graphite.===Preparation of cubic BN===Synthesis of c-BN uses same methods as that of diamond: cubic boron nitride is produced by treating hexagonal boron nitride at high pressure and temperature, much as synthetic diamond is produced from graphite.", "Direct conversion of hexagonal boron nitride to the cubic form has been observed at pressures between 5 and 18 GPa and temperatures between 1730 and 3230 °C, that is similar parameters as for direct graphite-diamond conversion.", "The addition of a small amount of boron oxide can lower the required pressure to 4–7 GPa and temperature to 1500 °C.", "As in diamond synthesis, to further reduce the conversion pressures and temperatures, a catalyst is added, such as lithium, potassium, or magnesium, their nitrides, their fluoronitrides, water with ammonium compounds, or hydrazine.", "Other industrial synthesis methods, again borrowed from diamond growth, use crystal growth in a temperature gradient, or explosive shock wave.", "The shock wave method is used to produce material called heterodiamond, a superhard compound of boron, carbon, and nitrogen.Low-pressure deposition of thin films of cubic boron nitride is possible.", "As in diamond growth, the major problem is to suppress the growth of hexagonal phases (h-BN or graphite, respectively).", "Whereas in diamond growth this is achieved by adding hydrogen gas, boron trifluoride is used for c-BN.", "Ion beam deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, pulsed laser deposition, reactive sputtering, and other physical vapor deposition methods are used as well.===Preparation of wurtzite BN===Wurtzite BN can be obtained via static high-pressure or dynamic shock methods.", "The limits of its stability are not well defined.", "Both c-BN and w-BN are formed by compressing h-BN, but formation of w-BN occurs at much lower temperatures close to 1700 °C.===Production statistics===Whereas the production and consumption figures for the raw materials used for BN synthesis, namely boric acid and boron trioxide, are well known (see boron), the corresponding numbers for the boron nitride are not listed in statistical reports.", "An estimate for the 1999 world production is 300 to 350 metric tons.", "The major producers and consumers of BN are located in the United States, Japan, China and Germany.", "In 2000, prices varied from about $75–120/kg for standard industrial-quality h-BN and were about up to $200–400/kg for high purity BN grades." ], [ "Applications", "===Hexagonal BN===Ceramic BN crucibleHexagonal BN (h-BN) is the most widely used polymorph.", "It is a good lubricant at both low and high temperatures (up to 900 °C, even in an oxidizing atmosphere).", "h-BN lubricant is particularly useful when the electrical conductivity or chemical reactivity of graphite (alternative lubricant) would be problematic.", "In internal combustion engines, where graphite could be oxidized and turn into carbon sludge, h-BN with its superior thermal stability can be added to engine lubricants.", "As with all nano-particle suspensions, Brownian-motion settlement is a problem.", "Settlement can clog engine oil filters, which limits solid lubricant applications in a combustion engine to automotive racing, where engine re-building is common.", "Since carbon has appreciable solubility in certain alloys (such as steels), which may lead to degradation of properties, BN is often superior for high temperature and/or high pressure applications.", "Another advantage of h-BN over graphite is that its lubricity does not require water or gas molecules trapped between the layers.", "Therefore, h-BN lubricants can be used in vacuum, such as space applications.", "The lubricating properties of fine-grained h-BN are used in cosmetics, paints, dental cements, and pencil leads.Hexagonal BN was first used in cosmetics around 1940 in Japan.", "Because of its high price, h-BN was abandoned for this application.", "Its use was revitalized in the late 1990s with the optimization h-BN production processes, and currently h-BN is used by nearly all leading producers of cosmetic products for foundations, make-up, eye shadows, blushers, kohl pencils, lipsticks and other skincare products.Because of its excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics and coatings are used high-temperature equipment.", "h-BN can be included in ceramics, alloys, resins, plastics, rubbers, and other materials, giving them self-lubricating properties.", "Such materials are suitable for construction of e.g.", "bearings and in steelmaking.", "Recently, h-BN coatings have been used in 3d printing applications.", "Plastics filled with BN have less thermal expansion as well as higher thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity.", "Due to its excellent dielectric and thermal properties, BN is used in electronics as a substrate for semiconductors, microwave-transparent windows, as a heat conductive yet electrically insulating filler in thermal pastes and as a structural material for seals.", "Many quantum devices use multilayer h-BN as a substrate material.", "It can also be used as a dielectric in resistive random access memories.Hexagonal BN is used in xerographic process and laser printers as a charge leakage barrier layer of the photo drum.", "In the automotive industry, h-BN mixed with a binder (boron oxide) is used for sealing oxygen sensors, which provide feedback for adjusting fuel flow.", "The binder utilizes the unique temperature stability and insulating properties of h-BN.Parts can be made by hot pressing from four commercial grades of h-BN.", "Grade HBN contains a boron oxide binder; it is usable up to 550–850 °C in oxidizing atmosphere and up to 1600 °C in vacuum, but due to the boron oxide content is sensitive to water.", "Grade HBR uses a calcium borate binder and is usable at 1600 °C.", "Grades HBC and HBT contain no binder and can be used up to 3000 °C.Boron nitride nanosheets (h-BN) can be deposited by catalytic decomposition of borazine at a temperature ~1100 °C in a chemical vapor deposition setup, over areas up to about 10 cm2.Owing to their hexagonal atomic structure, small lattice mismatch with graphene (~2%), and high uniformity they are used as substrates for graphene-based devices.", "BN nanosheets are also excellent proton conductors.", "Their high proton transport rate, combined with the high electrical resistance, may lead to applications in fuel cells and water electrolysis.h-BN has been used since the mid-2000s as a bullet and bore lubricant in precision target rifle applications as an alternative to molybdenum disulfide coating, commonly referred to as \"moly\".", "It is claimed to increase effective barrel life, increase intervals between bore cleaning and decrease the deviation in point of impact between clean bore first shots and subsequent shots.h-BN is used as a release agent in molten metal and glass applications.", "For example, ZYP Coatings developed and currently produces a line of paintable h-BN coatings that are used by manufacturers of molten aluminium, non-ferrous metal, and glass.", "Because h-BN is nonwetting and lubricious to these molten materials, the coated surface (i.e.", "mold or crucible) does not stick to the material.===Cubic BN===Cubic boron nitride (CBN or c-BN) is widely used as an abrasive.", "Its usefulness arises from its insolubility in iron, nickel, and related alloys at high temperatures, whereas diamond is soluble in these metals.", "Polycrystalline c-BN ('''PCBN''') abrasives are therefore used for machining steel, whereas diamond abrasives are preferred for aluminum alloys, ceramics, and stone.", "When in contact with oxygen at high temperatures, BN forms a passivation layer of boron oxide.", "Boron nitride binds well with metals due to formation of interlayers of metal borides or nitrides.", "Materials with cubic boron nitride crystals are often used in the tool bits of cutting tools.", "For grinding applications, softer binders such as resin, porous ceramics and soft metals are used.", "Ceramic binders can be used as well.", "Commercial products are known under names \"Borazon\" (by Hyperion Materials & Technologies), and \"Elbor\" or \"Cubonite\" (by Russian vendors).Contrary to diamond, large c-BN pellets can be produced in a simple process (called sintering) of annealing c-BN powders in nitrogen flow at temperatures slightly below the BN decomposition temperature.", "This ability of c-BN and h-BN powders to fuse allows cheap production of large BN parts.Similar to diamond, the combination in c-BN of highest thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity is ideal for heat spreaders.As cubic boron nitride consists of light atoms and is very robust chemically and mechanically, it is one of the popular materials for X-ray membranes: low mass results in small X-ray absorption, and good mechanical properties allow usage of thin membranes, further reducing the absorption.===Amorphous BN===Layers of amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) are used in some semiconductor devices, e.g.", "MOSFETs.", "They can be prepared by chemical decomposition of trichloroborazine with caesium, or by thermal chemical vapor deposition methods.", "Thermal CVD can be also used for deposition of h-BN layers, or at high temperatures, c-BN." ], [ "Other forms of boron nitride", "=== Atomically thin boron nitride ===Hexagonal boron nitride can be exfoliated to mono or few atomic layer sheets.", "Due to its analogous structure to that of graphene, atomically thin boron nitride is sometimes called ''white graphene''.====Mechanical properties====Atomically thin boron nitride is one of the strongest electrically insulating materials.", "Monolayer boron nitride has an average Young's modulus of 0.865TPa and fracture strength of 70.5GPa, and in contrast to graphene, whose strength decreases dramatically with increased thickness, few-layer boron nitride sheets have a strength similar to that of monolayer boron nitride.====Thermal conductivity====Atomically thin boron nitride has one of the highest thermal conductivity coefficients (851 W/mK at room temperature) among semiconductors and electrical insulators, and its thermal conductivity increases with reduced thickness due to less intra-layer coupling.====Thermal stability====The air stability of graphene shows a clear thickness dependence: monolayer graphene is reactive to oxygen at 250 °C, strongly doped at 300 °C, and etched at 450 °C; in contrast, bulk graphite is not oxidized until 800 °C.", "Atomically thin boron nitride has much better oxidation resistance than graphene.", "Monolayer boron nitride is not oxidized till 700 °C and can sustain up to 850 °C in air; bilayer and trilayer boron nitride nanosheets have slightly higher oxidation starting temperatures.", "The excellent thermal stability, high impermeability to gas and liquid, and electrical insulation make atomically thin boron nitride potential coating materials for preventing surface oxidation and corrosion of metals and other two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as black phosphorus.====Better surface adsorption====Atomically thin boron nitride has been found to have better surface adsorption capabilities than bulk hexagonal boron nitride.", "According to theoretical and experimental studies, atomically thin boron nitride as an adsorbent experiences conformational changes upon surface adsorption of molecules, increasing adsorption energy and efficiency.", "The synergic effect of the atomic thickness, high flexibility, stronger surface adsorption capability, electrical insulation, impermeability, high thermal and chemical stability of BN nanosheets can increase the Raman sensitivity by up to two orders, and in the meantime attain long-term stability and reusability not readily achievable by other materials.====Dielectric properties====Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride is an excellent dielectric substrate for graphene, molybdenum disulfide (), and many other 2D material-based electronic and photonic devices.", "As shown by electric force microscopy (EFM) studies, the electric field screening in atomically thin boron nitride shows a weak dependence on thickness, which is in line with the smooth decay of electric field inside few-layer boron nitride revealed by the first-principles calculations.====Raman characteristics====Raman spectroscopy has been a useful tool to study a variety of 2D materials, and the Raman signature of high-quality atomically thin boron nitride was first reported by Gorbachev et al.", "in 2011.and Li et al.", "However, the two reported Raman results of monolayer boron nitride did not agree with each other.", "Cai et al., therefore, conducted systematic experimental and theoretical studies to reveal the intrinsic Raman spectrum of atomically thin boron nitride.", "It reveals that atomically thin boron nitride without interaction with a substrate has a G band frequency similar to that of bulk hexagonal boron nitride, but strain induced by the substrate can cause Raman shifts.", "Nevertheless, the Raman intensity of G band of atomically thin boron nitride can be used to estimate layer thickness and sample quality.BN nanomesh observed with a scanning tunneling microscope.", "The center of each ring corresponds to the center of the poresTop: absorption of cyclohexane by BN aerogel.", "Cyclohexane is stained with Sudan II red dye and is floating on water.", "Bottom: reuse of the aerogel after burning in air.===Boron nitride nanomesh===Boron nitride nanomesh is a nanostructured two-dimensional material.", "It consists of a single BN layer, which forms by self-assembly a highly regular mesh after high-temperature exposure of a clean rhodium or ruthenium surface to borazine under ultra-high vacuum.", "The nanomesh looks like an assembly of hexagonal pores.", "The distance between two pore centers is 3.2 nm and the pore diameter is ~2 nm.", "Other terms for this material are boronitrene or white graphene.The boron nitride nanomesh is air-stable and compatible with some liquids.", "up to temperatures of 800 °C.", "BN nanotubes are flame resistant, as shown in this comparative test of airplanes made of cellullose, carbon buckypaper and BN nanotube buckypaper.===Boron nitride nanotubes=== Boron nitride tubules were first made in 1989 by Shore and Dolan This work was patented in 1989 and published in 1989 thesis (Dolan) and then 1993 Science.", "The 1989 work was also the first preparation of amorphous BN by B-trichloroborazine and cesium metal.Boron nitride nanotubes were predicted in 1994 and experimentally discovered in 1995.They can be imagined as a rolled up sheet of h-boron nitride.", "Structurally, it is a close analog of the carbon nanotube, namely a long cylinder with diameter of several to hundred nanometers and length of many micrometers, except carbon atoms are alternately substituted by nitrogen and boron atoms.", "However, the properties of BN nanotubes are very different: whereas carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the rolling direction and radius, a BN nanotube is an electrical insulator with a bandgap of ~5.5 eV, basically independent of tube chirality and morphology.", "In addition, a layered BN structure is much more thermally and chemically stable than a graphitic carbon structure.===Boron nitride aerogel===Boron nitride aerogel is an aerogel made of highly porous BN.", "It typically consists of a mixture of deformed BN nanotubes and nanosheets.", "It can have a density as low as 0.6 mg/cm3 and a specific surface area as high as 1050 m2/g, and therefore has potential applications as an absorbent, catalyst support and gas storage medium.", "BN aerogels are highly hydrophobic and can absorb up to 160 times their weight in oil.", "They are resistant to oxidation in air at temperatures up to 1200 °C, and hence can be reused after the absorbed oil is burned out by flame.", "BN aerogels can be prepared by template-assisted chemical vapor deposition using borazine as the feed gas.===Composites containing BN===Addition of boron nitride to silicon nitride ceramics improves the thermal shock resistance of the resulting material.", "For the same purpose, BN is added also to silicon nitride-alumina and titanium nitride-alumina ceramics.", "Other materials being reinforced with BN include alumina and zirconia, borosilicate glasses, glass ceramics, enamels, and composite ceramics with titanium boride-boron nitride, titanium boride-aluminium nitride-boron nitride, and silicon carbide-boron nitride composition." ], [ "Health issues", "Boron nitride (along with , NbN, and BNC) is generally considered to be non-toxic and does not exhibit chemical activity in biological systems.", "Due to its excellent safety profile and lubricious properties, boron nitride finds widespread use in various applications, including cosmetics and food processing equipment." ], [ "See also", "* Beta carbon nitride* Borazon* Borocarbonitrides* Boron suboxide* Superhard materials* Wide-bandgap semiconductors" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* National Pollutant Inventory: Boron and Compounds* Materials Safety Data Sheet at University of Oxford" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bach (disambiguation)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Johann Sebastian Bach''' (1685–1750) was a German composer of the Baroque period.", "'''Bach''' may also refer to:" ], [ "People", "* Bach (surname)** Bach family, a noted family in music* Bach (actor), stage name of French actor, singer and music hall performer Charles-Joseph Pasquier (1882–1953)* Sebastian Bach (born 1968), stage name of Canadian heavy metal singer Sebastian Bierk* King Bach, American actor, comedian, and Internet personality* Bill Bachrach (1879–1959), American swim coach known as \"Bach\"* Joel Sirkis (1561–1640), Polish posek and halakhist, known as \"the Bach\"* P. D. Q. Bach (1807–1742), a fictitious composer invented by musical satirist Peter Schickele* Nigel Bach, the nom de plume of Tom Fanslau, the creator of the ''Bad Ben'' series" ], [ "Places", "* Bach, Austria, a municipality in Reutte* Bach, Lot, a commune in France* Bach an der Donau, a town in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany* Bäch, a settlement of the Freienbach municipality in Schwyz, Switzerland** Bäch railway station, in Freienbach, Switzerland* Bach, Michigan, US, an unincorporated community* Bach Ice Shelf, on Alexander Island, Antarctica* Bach quadrangle, on the planet Mercury* Bach (crater), on the planet Mercury* 1814 Bach, an asteroid" ], [ "Radio stations", "* WBQK, a radio station licensed to West Point, Virginia, US, known as Bach FM* WLTT, a defunct radio station formerly licensed to Carolina Beach, North Carolina, US, known as Bach FM from 2011 to 2013" ], [ "Other uses", "* Bach Gesellschaft, an 1850 society for publishing J.S.", "Bach's complete works* ''Bach'' (journal), an academic journal of Baroque music* BACH motif, a sequence of notes* Bach (New Zealand), a modest holiday home or beach house* Brown Association for Cooperative Housing, in Providence, Rhode Island, United States* Bach Aircraft, an aircraft manufacturer from 1927 to 1931* Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (abbreviated BWV), a catalogue of compositions by J.S.", "Bach* Quarry Bach, a slate quarry near Cilgerran, Wales" ], [ "See also", "* Bache (disambiguation)* Bach House (disambiguation)* Batch (disambiguation)* Bạch, a Vietnamese surname* Bachs, a municipality in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Blood on the Tracks" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''Blood on the Tracks''''' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 20, 1975, by Columbia Records.", "The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia after a two-album stint with Asylum Records.", "Dylan began recording the album at an A & R studio in New York City in September 1974.In December, shortly before Columbia was due to release the album, Dylan abruptly re-recorded much of the material in Sound 80 studio in Minneapolis.", "The final album contains five tracks recorded in New York and five from Minneapolis.", "The album’s songs have been linked to tensions in Dylan's personal life, including his estrangement from his then-wife Sara.", "One of their children, Jakob Dylan, has described the songs as \"my parents talking.\"", "In interviews, Dylan has denied that the songs on the album are autobiographical.Although ''Blood on the Tracks'' initially received mixed reviews from critics, it has retrospectively been acclaimed as one of Dylan's best albums by both critics and fans and various publications have since listed it as one of the greatest albums of all time.", "It was a commercial success, peaking at No.", "1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No.", "4 on the UK Albums Chart, with the single \"Tangled Up in Blue\" peaking at No.", "31 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.It remains one of Dylan's best-selling studio releases, with a double-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for at least two million copies sold in the United States.", "In 2015, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.", "''Blood on the Tracks'' was voted number 7 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2000).", "In 2003, the album was ranked number 16 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, rising to number 9 in the 2020 revision of the list.", "In 2004, it was placed at number 5 on ''Pitchfork''s list of the \"Top 100 Albums of the 1970s\".", "A high-definition 5.1 surround sound edition of the album was released on SACD by Columbia in 2003." ], [ "Background and recording", "At the conclusion of his 1974 tour with the Band, Dylan began a relationship with a Columbia Records employee, Ellen Bernstein, which Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin has described as the beginning of the end of Dylan's marriage to his wife Sara.", "In spring 1974, Dylan was in New York for several weeks while he attended art classes with the painter Norman Raeben.", "Dylan subsequently gave Raeben credit in interviews for transforming his understanding of time, and during the summer of 1974 Dylan began to write a series of songs in a series of three small notebooks which used his new knowledge: Dylan subsequently spent time with Bernstein on his farm in Minnesota and there he completed the 17 songs from which ''Blood on the Tracks'' was formed—songs which Heylin has described as \"perhaps the finest collection of love songs of the twentieth century, songs filled with the full spectrum of emotions a marriage on the rocks can engender\".Before recording the songs that would constitute ''Blood on the Tracks'', Dylan previewed them for a number of friends in the music world, including David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Tim Drummond and Peter Rowan.", "Nash recalled that Stills disliked Dylan's private performance of his new songs; immediately after Dylan left the room, Stills remarked to Nash, \"He's a good songwriter ... but he's no musician.", "\"All of the tracks on the album are performed in Open D tuning.", "Irish folk musician Paul Brady recounts how Dylan had heard Brady's 'the Lakes of Pontchartrain' and asked to meet him.", "Brady showed him Open D tuning, and where to put his fingers to make the chords.Initially, Dylan considered recording ''Blood on the Tracks'' with an electric backing group, and contacted Mike Bloomfield who had played lead guitar on Dylan's ''Highway 61 Revisited'' album.", "When the two met, Dylan ran through the songs he was planning to record, but he played them too quickly for Bloomfield to learn.", "Bloomfield later recalled the experience: \"They all began to sound the same to me; they were all in the same key; they were all long.", "It was one of the strangest experiences of my life.", "He was sort of pissed off that I didn't pick it up.\"", "In the end, Dylan rejected the idea of recording the album with a band, and instead substituted stripped-down acoustic arrangements for all of his songs.", "On August 2, 1974, Dylan signed a contract with Columbia Records.", "After releasing his two previous albums, ''Planet Waves'' and ''Before the Flood'', on Asylum Records, Dylan decided his new album would benefit from the commercial muscle of the record label that had made him famous, and his new contract gave him increased control over his own masters.Dylan commenced recording at A & R Recording Studios in New York City on September 16, 1974.Bernstein has stated \"the theme of returning ran through the sessions\", so \"it made a lot of sense to do it at A&R\".", "A & R Studios was the former Columbia Records \"Studio A\", where Dylan had recorded six albums in the 1960s.", "The musicians quickly realized that Dylan was taking a \"spontaneous\" approach to recording.", "The producer, Phil Ramone, later said that Dylan transitioned from one song to another as if they were part of a medley.", "Ramone noted: \"Sometimes he will have several bars, and in the next version, he will change his mind about how many bars there should be in between a verse.", "Or eliminate a verse.", "Or add a chorus when you don't expect.", "\"Eric Weissberg and his band, Deliverance, originally recruited as session men, were rejected after two days of recording because they could not keep up with Dylan's pace.", "Dylan retained bassist Tony Brown from the band, and soon added organist Paul Griffin (who had also worked on ''Highway 61 Revisited'' and ''Blonde on Blonde'') and steel guitarist Buddy Cage.", "After ten days and four sessions with the current lineup, Dylan had finished recording and mixing, and, by November, had cut a test pressing of the album.", "Columbia began to prepare to release the album before Christmas.Dylan played the test pressing for his brother, David Zimmerman, who persuaded Dylan the album would not sell because the overall sound was too stark.", "Robert Christgau also heard the early version of the album and called it \"a sellout to the memory of Dylan's pre-electric period\".", "At his brother's urging, Dylan agreed to re-record five of the album's songs in Sound 80 in Minneapolis, with backing musicians recruited by David.", "The new takes were accomplished in two days at the end of December 1974.", "''Blood on the Tracks'' was released into stores on January 20, 1975.The version on the original test pressing was given a limited release in 2019 for Record Store Day.=== Outtakes ===Until 1991, only one of the five New York acetate recordings that were subsequently replaced on the official album was officially released: \"You're a Big Girl Now\", released on 1985's ''Biograph''.", "The acetate takes of \"Tangled Up in Blue\", \"Idiot Wind\", and \"If You See Her, Say Hello\" were released on ''The Bootleg Series, Vol.", "1–3''.", "That collection also includes \"Call Letter Blues\", an outtake/early version of \"Meet Me in the Morning\" with alternate lyrics.", "\"Up to Me\", another outtake from these sessions, was also released on 1985's ''Biograph''.", "An alternate take of the song \"Shelter from the Storm\" is featured in the original soundtrack album for ''Jerry Maguire'' (1996).", "An alternate take of \"Meet Me in the Morning\" was released on the B-side of the Record Store Day 2012 release of \"Duquesne Whistle\".", "\"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts\" was, until 2018, the only song from the New York sessions that had not been officially released in any form.", "Now all of these, as well as more than 70 previously unreleased recordings, are available on the 6-disc deluxe edition of ''More Blood, More Tracks'', volume 14 of Dylan's ongoing archival ''Bootleg Series''." ], [ "Autobiographical interpretation", "The songs that constitute ''Blood on the Tracks'' have been described by many Dylan critics as stemming from his personal turmoil at the time, particularly his estrangement from his then-wife Sara Dylan.", "One of Bob and Sara Dylan's children, Jakob Dylan, has said, \"When I'm listening to ''Blood On The Tracks'', that's about my parents.", "\"Dylan has denied this autobiographical interpretation, stating in a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan, \"A lot of people thought that album pertained to me.", "It didn't pertain to me ...", "I'm not going to make an album and lean on a marriage relationship.\"", "Informed of the album's popularity, Dylan told Mary Travers in a radio interview in April 1975: \"A lot of people tell me they enjoy that album.", "It's hard for me to relate to that.", "I mean ... people enjoying that type of pain, you know?\"", "Addressing whether the album described his own personal pain, Dylan replied that he didn't write \"confessional songs\".", "However, on the live At Budokan album, Dylan seems to acknowledge the autobiographical nature of the song \"Simple Twist of Fate\" by introducing it as \"Here's a simple love story.", "Happened to me.\"", "And in a 1978 interview, he responded to an observation that the album was confessional and that \"Tangled Up in Blue\" drew on his relationship with Sara by saying, \"There might be some little part of me which is confessing something which I've experienced and I know, but is not definitely the total me confessing anything.", "\"According to ''Rolling Stone'', in Dylan's lyric notebook, the working title of ''Simple Twist of Fate'' was '' 4th Street Affair''; Dylan and Suze Rotolo lived at 161 W. 4th St.", "The narrator of the song memorializes an affair of ten years ago instead of singing about Dylan's marriage.", "In \"Hot Press,\" writing about the three known lyric notebooks for the songs, Anne Margaret Daniel noted that \"Simple Twist of Fate\" was first entitled \"Snowbound,\" and set in part, like \"Tangled Up In Blue,\" in a New York City apartment.In his 2004 memoir, ''Chronicles, Vol.", "1'', Dylan stated that the songs have nothing to do with his personal life, and that they were inspired by the short stories of Anton Chekhov." ], [ "Critical reception and legacy", "Released in early 1975, ''Blood on the Tracks'' initially received mixed reviews from critics.", "''Rolling Stone'' published two assessments.", "The first, by Jonathan Cott, called it \"Dylan's magnificent new album\".", "The second reviewer, Jon Landau, wrote that \"the record has been made with typical shoddiness.\"", "In ''NME'', Nick Kent described \"the accompaniments as often so trashy they sound like mere practice takes\", while ''Crawdaddy'' magazine's Jim Cusimano found the instrumentation incompetent.An influential review of the album was written by Dylan critic Michael Gray for the magazine ''Let It Rock''.", "Gray argued that it transformed the cultural perception of Dylan, and that he was no longer defined as \"the major artist of the sixties.", "Instead, Dylan has legitimized his claim to a creative prowess as vital now as then—a power not bounded by the one decade he so affected.\"", "This view was amplified by Clinton Heylin, who wrote: \"Ten years after he turned the rock & roll brand of pop into rock ... Dylan renewed its legitimacy as a form capable of containing the work of a mature artist.\"", "In ''The Village Voice'', Robert Christgau wrote that although the lyrics occasionally evoke romantic naiveté and bitterness, ''Blood on the Tracks'' is altogether Dylan's \"most mature and assured record\".Since its initial reception, ''Blood on the Tracks'' has been viewed by critics as one of Dylan's best albums.", "In Salon.com, Wyman wrote: \"''Blood on the Tracks'' is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion.", "It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years.\"", "Bell, in his critical biography of Dylan, wrote that ''Blood on the Tracks'' was proof that \"Dylan had won the argument over his refusal to argue about politics.", "In this, he began to seem prescient.\"", "Bell concluded the album \"might well count as one of the best things Dylan ever did\".", "Novelist Rick Moody called it \"the truest, most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape\".A result of the acclaim surrounding the album has been that when critics have praised one of Dylan's subsequent albums, they have often described it as \"his best since ''Blood on the Tracks''\".", "According to music journalist Rob Sheffield, ''Blood on the Tracks'' became a benchmark album for Dylan in the years that followed because it was \"such a stunning comeback\".The album was also included in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.Hip hop group Public Enemy reference it in their 2007 Dylan tribute song \"Long and Whining Road\": \"It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back / You bet there's blood on them Bomb Squad tracks\".A film adaptation of the album is currently in pre-production, under the direction of Luca Guadagnino." ], [ "Track listing" ], [ "Personnel", "For personnel details, see Heylin, 1996 and Björner, 2014.Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.===Musicians===* Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar (1–10), harmonica (1–5, 7, 9), Hammond organ (4), mandolin (8), production* Chris Weber – guitar (1, 3, 4, 7), 12-string guitar (8)* Gregg Inhofer – keyboards (1), piano (3, 4), Hammond organ (7, 8)* Billy Peterson – bass guitar (1, 4, 7)* Bill Berg – drums (1, 3, 4, 7, 8)* Tony Brown – bass guitar (2, 5, 6, 9, 10)* Kevin Odegard – guitar (1)* Eric Weissberg – guitar (6)* Charles Brown III – guitar (6)* Buddy Cage – pedal steel guitar (6)* Thomas McFaul – keyboards (6)* Richard Crooks – drums (6)* Peter Ostroushko – mandolin (8)===Technical===* Ron Coro – art direction* Pete Hamill – liner notes* David Oppenheim – illustrations* Philip Rabinowitz – engineering* Paul Martinson – engineering* Glenn Berger – tape operator, assistant engineer* Paul Till – photography'''M'''Involved in the Minneapolis recording sessions'''NY'''Involved in the New York recording sessions" ], [ "Cover albums", "In 2002, Mary Lee's Corvette released an album covering ''Blood on the Tracks'' in its entirety.In 2022, singer/songwriter Ryan Adams also released an album covering each song on the album track-by-track." ], [ "Charts", "===Weekly charts=== Chart (1975) Peakposition Canadian Albums ''(RPM)'' 1Spanish Albums Chart3 Chart (2000) Peakposition Chart (2019) Peakposition===Year-end charts=== Chart (1975) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 31 UK Albums (OCC) 49 US ''Billboard'' 200 40===Singles=== Year Single Peak position US 1975 \"Tangled Up in Blue\" 31" ], [ "Certifications" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== General sources ===* * * * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", " ''Blood on the Tracks'' (Adobe Flash) at Spotify (streamed copy where licensed – registration required)* * Reviews, superseventies.com* Public Radio Special, \"Right On Target, So Direct: Bob Dylan's BLOOD ON THE TRACKS\"" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Love and Theft (Bob Dylan album)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''\"Love and Theft\"''''' is the thirty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 11, 2001, by Columbia Records.", "It featured backing by his touring band of the time, with keyboardist Augie Meyers added for the sessions.", "It peaked at No.", "5 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.", "A limited edition release included two bonus tracks on a separate disc recorded in the early 1960s, and two years later, on September 16, 2003, this album was remixed into 5.1 surround sound and became one of 15 Dylan titles reissued and remastered for SACD playback." ], [ "Background and recording", "''Love and Theft'' was the first album Dylan recorded with his Never Ending Tour road band.", "This is a trend that would continue with his subsequent eight studio albums.", "Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell recalls Dylan showing him the chord changes for the new song “Po' Boy” shortly after the band had recorded Dylan's Oscar-winning original song \"Things Have Changed\" in 1999: “They were relatively sophisticated changes for a Bob Dylan song … That was the first inkling of what the material might be like—taking elements from the jazz era and adding a folk sensibility to it\".David Kemper, Dylan's drummer at the time, described in an interview how the sound of ''Love and Theft'' arose from lessons the band had absorbed from Dylan: \"I didn’t realise we were actually headed somewhere.", "I wasn’t smart enough to realise: you are in the School of Bob.", "But when we went in to record ''Love And Theft'', I realised then, because the influences were really so old on that record.", "It comes from really early Americana, way back at the turn of the century, and the 1920s.", "And not everybody in the band was familiar with that style of playing.", "And I know that the songs that he would bring in would be these amazing examples of early Americana.", "Nobody that I know, knows as much about American music as Bob Dylan.", "He has spent so much time trying to understand, and collecting these songs—it was like a never stopping resource.", "He was always coming up with these songs or artists that I had never heard of.", "And then when we went in and recorded ''Love And Theft'' it was like, oh my God, he’s been teaching us this music—not literally these songs, but these styles.", "And as a band, we’re familiar with every one of these.", "That’s why we could cut a song a day … and the album was done\".As Kemper indicated, the twelve songs on ''\"Love and Theft\"'' were recorded in just 12 days in May 2001 at Clinton Recording in Midtown Manhattan.", "The recording sessions were notable for their spontaneity.", "According to engineer Chris Shaw, “What surprised me was how quickly Dylan would abandon an arrangement when he was working.", "He’d say, ‘What’s the tempo?", "Let’s do it in F and drop the tempo down and do it like a Western swing tune, and I want the drummer to play brushes, not drums.’ And suddenly the song was completely different.", "Nothing was set in stone until he found that key, tempo and style that fit that vocal and that lyric”.For his part, Dylan had been interested in working with Chris Shaw when he heard Shaw had gotten his start on Public Enemy's early records.", "Dylan praised Shaw's work as an engineer during a press conference in Rome to promote ''\"Love and Theft\"'' in 2001: After complaining that previous producers had botched the recording of his vocals, he was asked if he felt it was difficult to record his voice in the studio.", "Dylan referenced Shaw when he responded, \"I don't think so … On this particular record we had a young guy who understood how to do it.\"", "Dylan would subsequently employ Shaw to engineer and mix his albums ''Modern Times'' (2006) and ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' (2020) as well as various non-album tracks." ], [ "Content", "The album continued Dylan's artistic comeback following 1997's ''Time Out of Mind'' and was given an even more enthusiastic reception.", "The title of the album was apparently inspired by historian Eric Lott's book ''Love & Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class,'' which was published in 1993.", "\"''Love and Theft'' becomes his ''Fables of the Reconstruction'', to borrow an R.E.M.", "album title\", writes Greg Kot in the ''Chicago Tribune'' (published September 11, 2001), \"the myths, mysteries and folklore of the South as a backdrop for one of the finest roots rock albums ever made\".The opening track, \"Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum\", includes many references to parades in Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where participants are masked, and \"determined to go all the way\" of the parade route, in spite of being intoxicated.", "\"It rolls in like a storm, drums galloping over the horizon into ear shot, guitar riffs slicing with terse dexterity while a tale about a pair of vagabonds unfolds,\" writes Kot.", "\"It ends in death, and sets the stage for an album populated by rogues, con men, outcasts, gamblers, gunfighters and desperados, many of them with nothing to lose, some of them out of their minds, all of them quintessentially American.Offered the song by Dylan, Sheryl Crow later recorded an up-tempo cover of \"Mississippi\" for her ''The Globe Sessions'', released in 1998, before Dylan revisited it for ''Love and Theft''.", "Subsequently the Dixie Chicks made it a mainstay of their Top of the World, Vote for Change, and Accidents & Accusations Tours.As music critic Tim Riley notes, \"Dylan's singing on ''Love and Theft'' shifts artfully between humble and ironic...'I'm not quite as cool or forgiving as I sound,' he sings in 'Floater,' which is either hilarious or horrifying, and probably a little of both\".", "\"''Love and Theft'' is, as the title implies, a kind of homage,\" writes Kot, \"and never more so than on 'High Water (for Charley Patton),' in which Dylan draws a sweeping portrait of the South's racial history, with the unsung blues singer as a symbol of the region's cultural richness and ingrained social cruelties.", "Rumbling drums and moaning backing vocals suggest that things are going from bad to worse.", "'It's tough out there,' Dylan rasps.", "'High water everywhere.'", "Death and dementia shadow the album, tempered by tenderness and wicked gallows humor\".", "\"'Po' Boy', scored for guitar with lounge chord jazz patterns, 'almost sounds as if it could have been recorded around 1920\", says Riley.", "\"He leaves you dangling at the end of each bridge, lets the band punctuate the trail of words he's squeezed into his lines, which gives it a reluctant soft-shoe charm\".The album closes with \"Sugar Baby\", a lengthy, dirge-like ballad, noted for its evocative, apocalyptic imagery and sparse production drenched in echo.", "Praising it as \"a finale to be proud of\", Riley notes that \"Sugar Baby\" is \"built on a disarmingly simple riff that turns foreboding\".In a ''Rolling Stone'' interview with Mikal Gilmore, Dylan himself summarized the album's themes as dealing with \"business, politics and war, and maybe love interest on the side\"." ], [ "Release and promotion", "Bob Dylan in the poker-themed \"Love and Theft\" commercialAlthough no singles were released from the album, Dylan appeared in a 30-second commercial featuring the song \"Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum\" that appeared online on August 28, 2001, and on network television beginning on September 3, 2001.The spot, directed by Kinka Usher, shows Dylan in a tense poker game with magician Ricky Jay, actress Francine York and ''Dharma & Greg'' writer Eddie Gorodetsky.", "The poker setting was Dylan's idea and, according to Usher, he only made one request of the director: \"He said, `You know, I just don't want it to be corporate'.", "And I assured him that I wasn't going to do that, I was going to shoot it like a little film.", "I know he's very happy with it\".Dylan also consented to what, for him, was an unusual amount of interviews with press to promote the album.", "On July 23, 2001 he participated in a press conference at the Hotel de la Ville in Rome with reporters from Austria, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.", "He was also interviewed by Edna Gundersen for ''USA Today'', Robert Hilburn for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and Mikal Gilmore for ''Rolling Stone''.", "All of these interviews appeared shortly before or shortly after the album's release on September 11, 2001." ], [ "Packaging", "The album's cover features a black-and-white photograph of Dylan, sporting a then-new pencil-thin mustache, which was taken in the studio by Kevin Mazur.", "The back cover features a black-and-white portrait of Dylan taken by photographer David Gahr.", "Mazur also took the album's inside cover photo of Dylan and the ''Love and Theft'' band (including organist Augie Meyers).", "The album's art direction is credited to Geoff Gans." ], [ "Reception and legacy", "The album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards.", "It was nominated for Album of the Year and the track \"Honest with Me\" was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.In a glowing review for his \"Consumer Guide\" column published by ''The Village Voice'', Robert Christgau wrote: \"If ''Time Out of Mind'' was his death album—it wasn't, but you know how people talk—this is his immortality album\".", "Later, when ''The Village Voice'' conducted its annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, ''Love and Theft'' topped the list, the third Dylan album to accomplish this.", "It also topped ''Rolling Stone''s list.", "''Q'' listed ''Love and Theft'' as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.", "''Kludge'' ranked it at number eight on their list of best albums of 2001.In 2003, the album was ranked number 467 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, climbing to number 385 in the 2012 update and dropping to number 411 in the 2020 update of the list.", "''Newsweek'' magazine pronounced it the second best album of its decade.", "In 2009, ''Glide Magazine'' ranked it as the No.", "1 Album of the Decade.", "''Entertainment Weekly'' put it on its end-of-the-decade, \"best-of\" list, saying, \"The predictably unpredictable rock poet greeted the new millennium with a folksy, bluesy instant classic\".In a 2020 list of \"Bob Dylan's 10 greatest albums\" in ''Far Out'' magazine, ''Love and Theft'' was ranked seventh.", "An article accompanying the list characterized the album as one in which \"Dylan turns into a historian and showcases the music which moves him.", "It is another rootsy affair and one which feels capable of stirring up the ghosts of music past all on its own\".", "A 2020 article at the ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' website also placed ''Love and Theft'' seventh in the Dylan pantheon, noting that it \"plays like an attic-sweeping of songs and themes Dylan and others left behind over the years\" and that it evokes \"long-gone musical spirits from the other turn of the century\".", "Finally, ''Glide Magazine'' likewise placed ''Love and Theft'' seventh in a comprehensive list ranking all of Dylan's albums, writing that \"Dylan here pulls readers through a bevy of American song traditions\" and that \"each song recaptures and renews a sub-genre that influenced Dylan’s career\".", "Ian O'Riordan, in a 2021 article in the ''Irish Times'', ranked the album sixth out of the 39, praising David Kemper's drumming and citing \"Lonesome Day Blues\" as his favourite track.Johnny Cash, in a 2001 interview with ''The New York Times'', named it as Dylan's best album.Critic Jake Cole, in a 2021 ''Spectrum Culture'' article celebrating the album's 20th anniversary, referred to it as Dylan's most eclectic work \"from the storming rock of 'Lonesome Day Blues' to the gorgeous slow-dance lounge number 'Moonlight', which points straight at Dylan’s later Great American Songbook phase of the 2010s.", "In that sense, '''Love and Theft''' might be the closest that Dylan ever came to capturing the spirit of his lauded Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the studio.", "If that roadshow was conceived as a way to rummage through folk tradition and feeding it into some kind of interpretive revivalism, this album codifies that approach into a freewheeling tour of blues, jazz, country and folk, all of it wrangled into a form of rock so rustic that even roots rock sounds modern compared to it\"." ], [ "Allegations of plagiarism", "''Love and Theft'' generated controversy when some similarities between the album's lyrics and Japanese writer Junichi Saga's book ''Confessions of a Yakuza'' were pointed out.", "Translated to English by John Bester, the book is a biography of one of the last traditional yakuza bosses in Japan.", "In the article published in the ''Journal'', a line from \"Floater\" (\"I'm not quite as cool or forgiving as I sound\") was traced to a line in the book, which said \"I'm not as cool or forgiving as I might have sounded.\"", "Another line from \"Floater\" is \"My old man, he's like some feudal lord\".", "One line in the book's first chapter is, \"My old man would sit there like a feudal lord.\"", "However, when informed of this, author Saga's reaction was one of having been honored rather than abused from Dylan's use of lines from his work.", "Similarly, in defense of Dylan, Robert Christgau wrote: \"All pop music is love and theft, and in 40 years of records whose sources have inspired volumes of scholastic exegesis, Dylan has never embraced that truth so warmly.\"" ], [ "Track listing" ], [ "Personnel", "* Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, record production* Larry Campbell – guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin* Charlie Sexton – guitar* Augie Meyers – accordion, Hammond B3 organ, Vox organ* Tony Garnier – bass guitar and upright bass* David Kemper – drums* Clay Meyers – bongos* Chris Shaw – engineering" ], [ "Charts", "===Weekly charts=== Chart (2001) PeakpositionSpanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)21=== Year-end charts ===+Year-end chart performance for ''Love and Theft'' by Bob Dylan Chart (2001) Position Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 148 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 84 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 91 US ''Billboard'' 200 200" ], [ "Certifications" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Love and Theft commercial at Bob Dylan's official Facebook page* Lyrics at Bob Dylan's official site* Chords at Dylanchords" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "The Beverly Hillbillies" ], [ "Introduction", "''The Beverly Hillbillies'' episode 18: \"Jed Saves The Drysdales' Marriage\"'''''The Beverly Hillbillies''''' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971.It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from Silver Dollar City in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, who move to posh Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land.", "The show was produced by Filmways and was created by Paul Henning.", "It was followed by two other Henning-inspired \"country cousin\" series on CBS: ''Petticoat Junction'' and its spin-off ''Green Acres'', which reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city model of ''The Beverly Hillbillies''.", "''The Beverly Hillbillies'' ranked among the top 20 most-watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, ranking as the No.1 series of the year during its first two seasons, with 16 episodes that still remain among the 100 most-watched television episodes in American history.", "It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run.", "It remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a 1993 film adaptation by 20th Century Fox." ], [ "Premise", "The series starts with Jed Clampett, a poor, widowed hillbilly who lives with his daughter and mother-in-law near an oil-rich swamp in Silver Dollar City in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.The opening sequence shows Jed discovering oil while shooting at a rabbit, although the first episode shows the oil being discovered by a surveyor for the OK Oil Company.", "The company pays Jed many millions of dollars for the right to drill on his land.", "Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine prods him to move to California now that he is wealthy and pressures him into taking her son Jethro along.", "The family moves into a mansion in upscale Beverly Hills, California, next door to Jed's banker, Milburn Drysdale, and his wife, Margaret, who is appalled by the hillbilly Clampetts.The Clampetts bring an unsophisticated, simple, moral lifestyle to the wealthy and sometimes superficial community.", "Double entendres and cultural misconceptions are the core of the sitcom's humor.", "Plots often involve Drysdale's outlandish efforts to keep the Clampetts' money in his bank and his wife's efforts to rid the neighborhood of \"those hillbillies\".", "The family's periodic attempts to return to the mountains are often the result of Granny feeling slighted by the \"city folk\"." ], [ "Characters", "Three of the main charactersJed, Granny and Elly Mayappear in all 274 episodes.", "Jethro (272 episodes) is not in the last two episodes of the series, having gone into hiding to avoid an anticipated marriage proposal.===Jed Clampett===Good-natured patriarch Jed Clampett (portrayed by Buddy Ebsen) has little formal education and is naive about the world outside the rural area where he lived but has a great deal of wisdom and common sense.", "His forebears are revealed in series 1, episode 25, to have come to America before the ''Mayflower'' arrived.", "However, he later denies this to avoid offending Mrs. Drysdale.", "He is the widower of Granny's daughter, Rose Ellen (Buddy Ebsen was only 5 years younger than Irene Ryan).", "He is the son of Luke Clampett and his wife and has a sister called Myrtle.", "In episode 13, it is revealed that Jed's grandfather was 98 when he married Jed's grandmother, who was 18.In an early episode, Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother.", "He is usually the straight man to Granny and Jethro's antics.", "His catchphrase is, \"Welllllll, doggies!", "\"===Granny===Daisy May Moses (portrayed by Irene Ryan in all 274 episodes), called \"Granny\" by all, is Jed's mother-in-law, so is often called \"Granny Clampett\" in spite of her last name and despite the fact that in the pilot episode Milburn Drysdale refers to her as Jed's mother.", "She is a descendant of the Moses clan, who feuded with another family, the Bodkins, and drove them out of Napoleon, Tennessee.", "In Season 9, Episode 23, Granny states that she is \"from Limestone, Tennessee\".Granny has an abrasive personality and is quick to anger but is often overruled by Jed.", "She is a devout Confederate and fancies herself a Baptist Christian (\"dunked, not sprinkled\").", "A self-styled \"M.D.\"", "(\"mountain doctor\"), Granny uses her \"white lightning\" brew as a form of anesthesia when performing painful treatments such as leech bleeding or tooth pulling.", "She often refers to the concoction as \"rheumatize medicine\".", "Like the other Clampetts, she is known to take things literally, having thought Mrs. Drysdale had turned herself into a bird using black magic (astrology) and mistook an escaped kangaroo for a giant jackrabbit (but failed to convince anyone of its existence).Paul Henning discarded the idea of making Granny Jed's mother, which would have changed the show's dynamics, making Granny the matriarch and Jed her subordinate.===Elly May Clampett===Elly May (portrayed by Donna Douglas in all 274 episodes), the only child of Jed and Rose Ellen Clampett, is a mountain beauty with the body of a pin-up girl and the soul of a tomboy.", "In a very early episode, Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother.", "She can throw a fastball and \"wrassle\" most men to a fall, and she can be tender with her friends, animals, and family.", "She says once that animals can be better companions than people, but as she grows older, she allows that \"fellas kin be more fun than critters.\"", "In addition to the family dog, Duke (an old Bloodhound), a number of pets live on the Clampett estate thanks to Elly May's love of animals.", "In the 1981 TV movie, Elly May is the head of a zoo.", "She is a terrible cook, and family members cringe whenever she takes over the kitchen.", "Elly May is easily in her 20s, but Granny usually promotes her age as \"14\" since an unmarried mountain woman as old as Elly May is considered an old maid.===Jethro Bodine===Max Baer Jr. as Jethro (1962)Jethro (portrayed by Max Baer Jr. in 272 episodes) is the dim-witted son of Jed's cousin, Pearl Bodine (in a customary practice, he addresses Jedhis once-removed elder cousinas \"Uncle Jed\", just as his second cousin, Elly May, addresses Jethro's mother as \"Aunt Pearl\").", "Pearl's mother and Jed's father were siblings.", "Jethro drives the Clampett family to their new home in California and stays on with them to further his education.", "In the first series, he is in the fifth grade, having spent three years in the fourth grade and two years in the first grade.", "The others boast of Jethro's \"sixth-grade education\".", "Jethro often speaks enthusiastically of his abilities in \"cipherin'\" (1 and 1 is 2, 2 and 2 is 4), and \"gazintas\" (4 gazinta 8 2 times, 3 gazinta 12 4 times), and he is ignorant about nearly every aspect of modern California life.", "In one episode, he attends a local secretarial school and is so disruptive that he is given a diploma at the end of the day to keep him from returning.", "In real life, Max Baer Jr. has a bachelor's degree in business administration, minoring in philosophy, from Santa Clara University.Many story lines involve Jethro's endless career search.", "He considers becoming a brain surgeon, a fry cook, a millwright, a street car conductor, a spy, a telephone lineman, a soda jerk, a chauffeur, a USAF general, a sculptor, a restaurant owner, a psychiatrist, a bookkeeper for Milburn Drysdale's bank, a talent agent for \"cousin\" Bessie and \"Cousin Roy\" (see below), and a Hollywood producer.", "More often than not, his goal is merely to meet pretty girls.", "Miss Hathaway has a crush on him, but he is oblivious to this.", "Of all the Clampett clan, he is the most eager to embrace city life.", "Jethro has a huge appetite — in one episode, he eats a jetliner's entire supply of steaks, in another he tries to set himself up as a Hollywood agent for cousin \"Bessie\" the chimpanzee – with a fee of 10,000 bananas for Bessie and 1,000 for him.", "When \"Cousin Roy\" (Roy Clark) comes from \"the hills\" to Beverly Hills to become a country music star, Jethro refuses to be his agent when Roy becomes a success.", "Jethro does not appear in the third- or second-to-last episodes, but Baer remains billed in the title credits.Baer is the only surviving main cast member.===Milburn Drysdale===Mr.", "Drysdale (portrayed by Raymond Bailey in 247 episodes) is the Clampetts' banker, confidant, and next-door neighbor.", "He is obsessed with money, and to keep the Clampetts' $96,000,000 (in 1969; ) in his Commerce Bank, Mr. Drysdale will go to great lengths to cater to their wishes.", "He often forces others, especially his long-suffering secretary, to help fulfill their outlandish requests.", "He is a descendant of the Bodkins family from Tennessee.", "It is revealed in the first season that Granny's clan, the Moses family, feuded with the Bodkins family and drove them from Napoleon, Tennessee.", "A recurring comedic scene shows Drysdale angrily answering his phone only to find Jed on the other end of the line, at which point Drysdale's demeanor instantly changes to one of good humor and accommodation.===Jane Hathaway===Nancy Kulp (center) as Jane Hathaway, with Max Baer Jr. and Sharon Tate (in a dark wig)Jane Hathaway (portrayed by Nancy Kulp in 246 episodes), whom the Clampetts address as \"Miss Jane\", is Drysdale's loyal, well-educated, efficient secretary.", "She is genuinely fond of the family and tries to shield them from her boss's greed.", "Miss Hathaway frequently has to \"rescue\" Drysdale from his schemes, receiving little or no thanks for her efforts.", "The Clampetts consider her family; even Granny, the one most averse to living in California, likes her.", "Jane has a crush on Jethro for most of the series' run.", "In 1999, ''TV Guide'' ranked Jane Hathaway number 38 on its list titled \"50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time\".===Recurring characters=======Margaret Drysdale====Margaret Drysdale (portrayed by Harriet MacGibbon in 55 episodes) is the snobbish wife of Milburn Drysdale.", "She is appalled by the Clampetts and their hillbilly lifestyle.", "She touts herself as a \"blue-blooded Bostonian\" and repeatedly tries to drive the Clampetts out of Beverly Hills, without success.====Pearl Bodine====\"Cousin\" Pearl Bodine (portrayed by Bea Benaderet in 23 episodes) is Jethro's mother and Jed's first cousin.", "Pearl encouraged the Clampetts to move to Beverly Hills and is envious of their wealth.", "She attempts to achieve success through various schemes, including wooing oil man John Brewster and finding a wealthy husband for her daughter Jethrine (Jethro's sister, also portrayed by Max Baer Jr.).====Shorty Kellems====Shorty Kellems (portrayed by Shug Fisher in 17 episodes) is Jed's best friend who occasionally visits from back in the hills.", "In one story line, Drysdale mistakenly believes Shorty is richer than Jed and goes to great lengths to win his business.====Janet Trego====Janet Trego (portrayed by Sharon Tate in 15 episodes) is a secretary at Drysdale's bank.", "She assists Jane Hathaway and is often the object of Jethro's romantic overtures.====John Brewster====John Brewster (portrayed by Frank Wilcox in 14 episodes) is an oil executive from Tulsa, whose company made Jed a millionaire after leasing Jed's land for oil production." ], [ "Episodes" ], [ "Theme music", "The show's theme song, \"The Ballad of Jed Clampett\", was written by producer and writer Paul Henning and originally performed by bluegrass artists Foggy Mountain Boys, led by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.", "The song is sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode.", "Flatt and Scruggs subsequently cut their own version of the theme (with Flatt singing) for Columbia Records; released as a single, it reached number 44 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop music chart and number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country chart (the lone country chart-topper for the duo).As was customary in the 1960s, the show's advertising sponsors were woven into bumpers involving the cast.", "To this end, the show sometimes included extra verses of the theme song about Winston cigarettes and Kellogg's cereals.Perry Botkin composed many songs for ''The Beverly Hillbillies''.", "Botkin's upbeat tune from ''Murder by Contract'', played during scenes of sunny LA, signaled scenes at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia soundtrack album, which featured original song numbers in character.", "Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan, and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the show's success, including Ryan's 1966 novelty single, \"Granny's Miniskirt\".The series generally features no country music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally play on the program.", "Pop singer Pat Boone appears in one episode as himself, under the premise that he hails from the same area of the country as the Clampetts, although Boone is a native of Jacksonville, Florida.The 1989 film ''UHF'' featured a \"Weird Al\" Yankovic parody music video, \"Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies\", combining \"The Ballad of Jed Clampett\" and English rock band Dire Straits' 1985 hit song \"Money for Nothing\"." ], [ "Reception", "Buddy Ebsen and Roy Clark''The Beverly Hillbillies'' received generally poor reviews from contemporary critics.", "''The New York Times'' called the show \"strained and unfunny\"; ''Variety'' called it \"painful to sit through\".", "Film professor Janet Staiger writes that \"the problem for these reviewers was that the show confronted the cultural elite's notions of quality entertainment.\"", "The show did receive a somewhat favorable review from noted critic Gilbert Seldes in the December 15, 1962 ''TV Guide'': \"The whole notion on which ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is founded is an encouragement to ignorance...", "But it ''is'' funny.", "What can I do?", "\"Regardless of the poor reviews, the show shot to the top of the Nielsen ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons.", "During its first two seasons, it was the number-one program in the U.S; during its second season, it earned some of the highest ratings ever recorded for a half-hour sitcom.", "The season-two episode \"The Giant Jackrabbit\" also became the most-watched telecast up to the time of its airing and remains the most-watched half-hour episode of a sitcom, as well.", "The series enjoyed excellent ratings throughout its run, although it had fallen out of the top 20 most-watched shows during its final season.In 1997, the season-three episode \"Hedda Hopper's Hollywood\" was ranked number 62 on \"''TV Guide''s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time\".===Nielsen ratings===+Nielsen ratings for ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' Season Time Rank Rating Notes 1 (1962–63)Wednesday at 9:00–9:30 pm 1 36.0 2 (1963–64) 39.1 3 (1964–65)Wednesday at 8:30–9:00 pm 12 25.6 4 (1965–66) 7 25.9 Tied with ''Bewitched'' 5 (1966–67) 23.4 Tied with ''Daktari'' and ''Bewitched'' 6 (1967–68) 12 23.3 7 (1968–69) Wednesday at 9:00–9:30 pm 10 23.5 8 (1969–70) Wednesday at 8:30–9:00 pm 18 21.7 9 (1970–71) Tuesday at 7:30–8:00 pm Not in the Top 30" ], [ "Cancellation", "Oldsmobile Model 37.This one, which was modified by George Barris, is on display at Planet Hollywood in Disney Springs.", "The original truck is at the Ralph Foster Museum.The show was canceled in the spring of 1971 after 274 episodes.", "The CBS network, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on new urban-themed shows and, to make room for them, the two remaining series of CBS's rural-themed comedies were cancelled.", "This action came to be known as \"the Rural Purge\".", "Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney on ''Green Acres'', famously remarked, \"It was the year CBS cancelled everything with a tree – including Lassie.\"" ], [ "Reunions", "===1981 CBS film===In 1981, ''Return of the Beverly Hillbillies'' television film, written and produced by series creator Henning, was aired on the CBS network.", "Irene Ryan had died in 1973, and Raymond Bailey had died in 1980.The script acknowledged Granny's passing, but featured Imogene Coca as Granny's mother.", "Max Baer decided against reprising the role that both started and stymied his career, so the character of Jethro Bodine was given to another actor, Ray Young.The film's plot had Jed back in his old homestead in Bugtussle, having divided his massive fortune among Elly May and Jethro, both of whom stayed on the West Coast.", "Jane Hathaway had become a Department of Energy agent and was seeking Granny's \"White Lightnin'\" recipe to combat the energy crisis.", "Since Granny had gone on to \"her re-ward\", it was up to Granny's centenarian \"Maw\" (Imogene Coca) to divulge the secret brew's ingredients.", "Subplots included Jethro playing an egocentric, starlet-starved Hollywood producer, Jane and her boss (Werner Klemperer) having a romance, and Elly May owning a large petting zoo.", "The four main characters finally got together by the end of the story.According to viewer consensus, though filmed a mere decade after the final episode of the series, the movie lacked the series' original spirit on many fronts, among them being the deaths of Ryan and Bailey and Baer's absence, leaving only three of the six original cast members to reprise their respective roles.", "Further subtracting from the familiarity was that the legendary Clampett mansion (the Sumner Spaulding-designed Chartwell Mansion) – was unavailable for a location shoot as the owners' lease was too expensive.", "Henning himself admitted sheer embarrassment when the finished product aired, blaming his inability to rewrite the script due to the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike.===1993 special===In 1993, Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunited onscreen for the only time in the CBS-TV retrospective television special, ''The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies'', which ranked as the fourth-most watched television program of the week — a major surprise given the mediocre rating for the 1981 television film.", "It was a rare tribute from the \"Tiffany network\", which owed much of its success in the 1960s to the series, but has often seemed embarrassed by it in hindsight, often downplaying the show in retrospective television specials on the network's history and rarely inviting cast members to participate in such all-star broadcasts.", "''The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies'' special ignored several plot twists of the television film, notably that Jethro was now not a film director but a leading Los Angeles physician.", "Critter-loving Elly May was still in California with her animals, but Jed was back home in the Hills, having lost his fortune, stolen by the now-imprisoned banker Drysdale.", "Nancy Kulp had died in 1991 and was little referred to beyond the multitude of film clips that dotted the special.", "The special was released on VHS tape by CBS/Fox Video in 1995 and as a bonus feature on the Official Third Season DVD Set in 2009." ], [ "Controversy", "In 1974, CBS made a reportedly large cash payment settlement to employee Hamilton Morgen after Morgen sued the network.", "Morgen claimed CBS appropriated his submitted ideas and script for a show called ''Country Cousins'' to form ''The Beverly Hillbillies''." ], [ "Syndication", "Guest star Jim Backus and Nancy Kulp in ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (1963)''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is still televised daily around the world in syndication.", "In the United States, the show is broadcast currently on MeTV, Circle, Classic Reruns TV, GAC Family and Laff and was previously on TBS Superstation, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Hallmark Channel, and Superstation WGN.", "A limited number of episodes from the earlier portions of the series run have turned up in the public domain and as such are seen occasionally on many smaller networks such as Retro TV and MyFamily TV.MeTV airs ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., on Sundays at 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and weeknights at 9 p.m. (all Eastern/Pacific Time)The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures, the syndication arm of CBS Television Studios and the CBS network.", "It was previously distributed by CBS Enterprises, Viacom Enterprises, Paramount Domestic Television, and CBS Paramount Domestic Television (all through corporate changes involving TV distribution rights to the early CBS library).", "The repeats of the show that debuted on CBS Daytime on September 5–9, 1966, as \"Mornin' Beverly Hillbillies\" through September 10, 1971, and on September 13–17, 1971, as \"The Beverly Hillbillies\" lasted up to winter 1971–72.It aired at 11:00–11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:00-10:30 a.m. Central through September 3, 1971, then moved to 10:30–11:00 a.m. Eastern/9:30–10:00 a.m. Central for the last season on CBS Daytime." ], [ "Home media and legal status", "Buddy Ebsen and Phil SilversFifty-five episodes of the series are in the public domain (all 36 season-one episodes and 19 season-two episodes), because Orion Television, successor to Filmways, neglected to renew their copyrights.", "As a result, these episodes have been released on home video and DVD on many low-budget labels and shown on low-power television stations and low-budget networks in prints.", "In many video prints of the public domain episodes, the original theme music has been replaced by generic music due to copyright issues.Before his death, Paul Henning, whose estate now holds the original film elements to the public domain episodes, authorized MPI Home Video to release the best of the first two seasons on DVD, the first \"ultimate collection\" of which was released in the fall of 2005.These collections include the original, uncut versions of the first season's episodes, complete with their original theme music and opening sponsor plugs.", "Volume 1 has, among its bonus features, the alternate, unaired version of the pilot film, ''The Hillbillies Of Beverly Hills'' (the version of the episode that sold the series to CBS), and the \"cast commercials\" (cast members pitching the products of the show's sponsors) originally shown at the end of each episode.", "The alternate version is also the version seen on Amazon Prime Video.With the exception of the public domain episodes, the copyrights to the series were renewed by Orion Television.", "However, any new compilation of ''Hillbillies'' material will be copyrighted by either MPI Media Group or CBS, depending on the content of the material used.For many years, 20th Century Fox, through a joint venture with CBS called CBS/Fox Video, released select episodes of ''Hillbillies'' on videocassette.", "After Viacom merged with CBS in 1999, Paramount Home Entertainment (the video division of Paramount Pictures, which was acquired by Viacom in 1994) took over the video rights.In 2006, Paramount announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in boxed sets through CBS DVD later that year.", "The show's second season (consisting of the public domain episodes from that season) was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 7, 2008, as \"...The Official Second Season\".", "The third season was released on February 17, 2009.Both seasons are available to be purchased together from major online retailers.", "On October 1, 2013, season four was released on DVD as a Walmart exclusive.", "It was released as a full retail release on April 15, 2014.On April 26, 2016, CBS/Paramount released the complete first season on DVD.", "The fifth season was released on October 2, 2018.DVD title No.", "ofepisodes Region 1release date ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (Ultimate Collection) 26 September 27, 2005 ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (Ultimate Collection Volume 2) 27 February 28, 2006 ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (The Official First Season) 36 April 26, 2016 ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (The Official Second Season) 36 October 7, 2008 ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (The Official Third Season) 34 February 17, 2009 ''Return of the Beverly Hillbillies'' (TV Movie) — March 12, 2013 ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (The Official Fourth Season) 32 April 15, 2014 ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (The Official Fifth Season) 30 October 2, 2018With so much work that has to be done to remaster the seasons, and a limited public appeal after 60 years, future remastered, unedited DVD releases are in doubt." ], [ "Spin-offs and associated merchandise", "===Theatrical adaptation===A three-act stage play based on the pilot was written by David Rogers in 1968.", "''The Deadly Hillbillies,'' an interactive murder mystery, was written by John R. Logue using the core cast of characters as inspiration.", "This Gypsy Productions Murder Mystery Parody features characters such as Jed Clumpett, Daisy May Mostes, and Jane Hatchaway.===Comics===Dell Comics adapted the series into a comic book series in 1962.The art work was provided by Henry Scarpelli.", "The comic ran for 18 issues, ending in August 1967.===Feature film===In 1993, a film version of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' was released starring Jim Varney as Jed Clampett and featuring Buddy Ebsen in a cameo as Barnaby Jones, the lead character in his long-running post-''Hillbillies'' television series.=== Computer game ===Based on ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' movie, a PC computer adventure game for operating system MS-DOS was developed by Synergistic Software, Inc. and published in 1993 by Capstone Software." ], [ "See also", " Chartwell Mansion" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' at the Museum of Broadcast Communications* ''Beverly Hillbillies'' Theme Bluegrass Lyrics (The Ballad of Jed Clampett)* All 55 public domain episodes (Season 1 and part of 2) at Internet Archive#Moving image collection*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Beryllium" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Beryllium''' is a chemical element; it has symbol '''Be''' and atomic number 4.It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal.", "It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form minerals.", "Gemstones high in beryllium include beryl (aquamarine, emerald, red beryl) and chrysoberyl.", "It is a relatively rare element in the universe, usually occurring as a product of the spallation of larger atomic nuclei that have collided with cosmic rays.", "Within the cores of stars, beryllium is depleted as it is fused into heavier elements.", "Beryllium constitutes about 0.0004 percent by mass of Earth's crust.", "The world's annual beryllium production of 220 tons is usually manufactured by extraction from the mineral beryl, a difficult process because beryllium bonds strongly to oxygen.In structural applications, the combination of high flexural rigidity, thermal stability, thermal conductivity and low density (1.85 times that of water) make beryllium metal a desirable aerospace material for aircraft components, missiles, spacecraft, and satellites.", "Because of its low density and atomic mass, beryllium is relatively transparent to X-rays and other forms of ionizing radiation; therefore, it is the most common window material for X-ray equipment and components of particle detectors.", "When added as an alloying element to aluminium, copper (notably the alloy beryllium copper), iron, or nickel, beryllium improves many physical properties.", "For example, tools and components made of beryllium copper alloys are strong and hard and do not create sparks when they strike a steel surface.", "In air, the surface of beryllium oxidizes readily at room temperature to form a passivation layer 1–10 nm thick that protects it from further oxidation and corrosion.", "The metal oxidizes in bulk (beyond the passivation layer) when heated above , and burns brilliantly when heated to about .The commercial use of beryllium requires the use of appropriate dust control equipment and industrial controls at all times because of the toxicity of inhaled beryllium-containing dusts that can cause a chronic life-threatening allergic disease in some people called berylliosis.", "Berylliosis causes pneumonia and other associated respiratory illness." ], [ "Characteristics", "===Physical properties===Beryllium is a steel gray and hard metal that is brittle at room temperature and has a close-packed hexagonal crystal structure.", "It has exceptional stiffness (Young's modulus 287 GPa) and a melting point of 1287 °C.", "The modulus of elasticity of beryllium is approximately 35% greater than that of steel.", "The combination of this modulus and a relatively low density results in an unusually fast sound conduction speed in beryllium – about 12.9 km/s at ambient conditions.", "Other significant properties are high specific heat () and thermal conductivity (), which make beryllium the metal with the best heat dissipation characteristics per unit weight.", "In combination with the relatively low coefficient of linear thermal expansion (11.4×10−6 K−1), these characteristics result in a unique stability under conditions of thermal loading.===Nuclear properties===Naturally occurring beryllium, save for slight contamination by the cosmogenic radioisotopes, is isotopically pure beryllium-9, which has a nuclear spin of .", "Beryllium has a large scattering cross section for high-energy neutrons, about 6 barns for energies above approximately 10 keV.", "Therefore, it works as a neutron reflector and neutron moderator, effectively slowing the neutrons to the thermal energy range of below 0.03 eV, where the total cross section is at least an order of magnitude lower; the exact value strongly depends on the purity and size of the crystallites in the material.The single primordial beryllium isotope 9Be also undergoes a (n,2n) neutron reaction with neutron energies over about 1.9 MeV, to produce 8Be, which almost immediately breaks into two alpha particles.", "Thus, for high-energy neutrons, beryllium is a neutron multiplier, releasing more neutrons than it absorbs.", "This nuclear reaction is:: + n → 2 + 2 nNeutrons are liberated when beryllium nuclei are struck by energetic alpha particles producing the nuclear reaction: + → + nwhere is an alpha particle and is a carbon-12 nucleus.Beryllium also releases neutrons under bombardment by gamma rays.", "Thus, natural beryllium bombarded either by alphas or gammas from a suitable radioisotope is a key component of most radioisotope-powered nuclear reaction neutron sources for the laboratory production of free neutrons.Small amounts of tritium are liberated when nuclei absorb low energy neutrons in the three-step nuclear reaction: + n → + , → + β−, + n → + has a half-life of only 0.8 seconds, β− is an electron, and has a high neutron absorption cross section.", "Tritium is a radioisotope of concern in nuclear reactor waste streams.===Optical properties===As a metal, beryllium is transparent or translucent to most wavelengths of X-rays and gamma rays, making it useful for the output windows of X-ray tubes and other such apparatus.===Isotopes and nucleosynthesis===Both stable and unstable isotopes of beryllium are created in stars, but the radioisotopes do not last long.", "It is believed that most of the stable beryllium in the universe was originally created in the interstellar medium when cosmic rays induced fission in heavier elements found in interstellar gas and dust.", "Primordial beryllium contains only one stable isotope, 9Be, and therefore beryllium is a monoisotopic and mononuclidic element.Plot showing variations in solar activity, including variation in sunspot number (red) and 10Be concentration (blue).", "Note that the beryllium scale is inverted, so increases on this scale indicate lower 10Be levelsRadioactive cosmogenic 10Be is produced in the atmosphere of the Earth by the cosmic ray spallation of oxygen.", "10Be accumulates at the soil surface, where its relatively long half-life (1.36 million years) permits a long residence time before decaying to boron-10.Thus, 10Be and its daughter products are used to examine natural soil erosion, soil formation and the development of lateritic soils, and as a proxy for measurement of the variations in solar activity and the age of ice cores.", "The production of 10Be is inversely proportional to solar activity, because increased solar wind during periods of high solar activity decreases the flux of galactic cosmic rays that reach the Earth.", "Nuclear explosions also form 10Be by the reaction of fast neutrons with 13C in the carbon dioxide in air.", "This is one of the indicators of past activity at nuclear weapon test sites.The isotope 7Be (half-life 53 days) is also cosmogenic, and shows an atmospheric abundance linked to sunspots, much like 10Be.8Be has a very short half-life of about 8 s that contributes to its significant cosmological role, as elements heavier than beryllium could not have been produced by nuclear fusion in the Big Bang.", "This is due to the lack of sufficient time during the Big Bang's nucleosynthesis phase to produce carbon by the fusion of 4He nuclei and the very low concentrations of available beryllium-8.British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle first showed that the energy levels of 8Be and 12C allow carbon production by the so-called triple-alpha process in helium-fueled stars where more nucleosynthesis time is available.", "This process allows carbon to be produced in stars, but not in the Big Bang.", "Star-created carbon (the basis of carbon-based life) is thus a component in the elements in the gas and dust ejected by AGB stars and supernovae (see also Big Bang nucleosynthesis), as well as the creation of all other elements with atomic numbers larger than that of carbon.The 2s electrons of beryllium may contribute to chemical bonding.", "Therefore, when 7Be decays by L-electron capture, it does so by taking electrons from its atomic orbitals that may be participating in bonding.", "This makes its decay rate dependent to a measurable degree upon its chemical surroundings – a rare occurrence in nuclear decay.The shortest-lived known isotope of beryllium is 16Be, which decays through neutron emission with a half-life of .", "The exotic isotopes 11Be and 14Be are known to exhibit a nuclear halo.", "This phenomenon can be understood as the nuclei of 11Be and 14Be have, respectively, 1 and 4 neutrons orbiting substantially outside the classical Fermi 'waterdrop' model of the nucleus.===Occurrence===Beryllium ore with 1US¢ coin for scaleEmerald is a naturally occurring compound of beryllium.The Sun has a concentration of 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) of beryllium.", "Beryllium has a concentration of 2 to 6 parts per million (ppm) in the Earth's crust.", "It is most concentrated in the soils, 6 ppm.", "Trace amounts of 9Be are found in the Earth's atmosphere.", "The concentration of beryllium in sea water is 0.2–0.6 parts per trillion.", "In stream water, however, beryllium is more abundant with a concentration of 0.1 ppb.Beryllium is found in over 100 minerals, but most are uncommon to rare.", "The more common beryllium containing minerals include: bertrandite (Be4Si2O7(OH)2), beryl (Al2Be3Si6O18), chrysoberyl (Al2BeO4) and phenakite (Be2SiO4).", "Precious forms of beryl are aquamarine, red beryl and emerald.", "The green color in gem-quality forms of beryl comes from varying amounts of chromium (about 2% for emerald).The two main ores of beryllium, beryl and bertrandite, are found in Argentina, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Russia and the United States.", "Total world reserves of beryllium ore are greater than 400,000 tonnes." ], [ "Production", "The extraction of beryllium from its compounds is a difficult process due to its high affinity for oxygen at elevated temperatures, and its ability to reduce water when its oxide film is removed.", "Currently the United States, China and Kazakhstan are the only three countries involved in the industrial-scale extraction of beryllium.", "Kazakhstan produces beryllium from a concentrate stockpiled before the breakup of the Soviet Union around 1991.This resource had become nearly depleted by mid-2010s.Production of beryllium in Russia was halted in 1997, and is planned to be resumed in the 2020s.Beryllium is most commonly extracted from the mineral beryl, which is either sintered using an extraction agent or melted into a soluble mixture.", "The sintering process involves mixing beryl with sodium fluorosilicate and soda at to form sodium fluoroberyllate, aluminium oxide and silicon dioxide.", "Beryllium hydroxide is precipitated from a solution of sodium fluoroberyllate and sodium hydroxide in water.", "Extraction of beryllium using the melt method involves grinding beryl into a powder and heating it to .", "The melt is quickly cooled with water and then reheated in concentrated sulfuric acid, mostly yielding beryllium sulfate and aluminium sulfate.", "Aqueous ammonia is then used to remove the aluminium and sulfur, leaving beryllium hydroxide.Beryllium hydroxide created using either the sinter or melt method is then converted into beryllium fluoride or beryllium chloride.", "To form the fluoride, aqueous ammonium hydrogen fluoride is added to beryllium hydroxide to yield a precipitate of ammonium tetrafluoroberyllate, which is heated to to form beryllium fluoride.", "Heating the fluoride to with magnesium forms finely divided beryllium, and additional heating to creates the compact metal.", "Heating beryllium hydroxide forms the oxide, which becomes beryllium chloride when combined with carbon and chlorine.", "Electrolysis of molten beryllium chloride is then used to obtain the metal." ], [ "Chemical properties", "A beryllium atom has the electronic configuration He 2s2.The predominant oxidation state of beryllium is +2; the beryllium atom has lost both of its valence electrons.", "Lower oxidation states complexes of beryllium are exceedingly rare.", "For example, bis(carbene) compounds proposed to contain beryllium in the 0- and +1-oxidation state have been reported, although these claims have proved controversial.A stable complex with a Be-Be bond, which formally features beryllium in the +1 oxidation state, has been described.", "Beryllium's chemical behavior is largely a result of its small atomic and ionic radii.", "It thus has very high ionization potentials and strong polarization while bonded to other atoms, which is why all of its compounds are covalent.", "Its chemistry has similarities to that of aluminium, an example of a diagonal relationship.At room temperature, the surface of beryllium forms a 1−10 nm-thick oxide passivation layer that prevents further reactions with air, except for gradual thickening of the oxide up to about 25 nm.", "When heated above about 500 °C, oxidation into the bulk metal progresses along grain boundaries.", "Once the metal is ignited in air by heating above the oxide melting point around 2500 °C, beryllium burns brilliantly, forming a mixture of beryllium oxide and beryllium nitride.", "Beryllium dissolves readily in non-oxidizing acids, such as HCl and diluted H2SO4, but not in nitric acid or water as this forms the oxide.", "This behavior is similar to that of aluminium metal.", "Beryllium also dissolves in alkali solutions.Binary compounds of beryllium(II) are polymeric in the solid state.", "BeF2 has a silica-like structure with corner-shared BeF4 tetrahedra.", "BeCl2 and BeBr2 have chain structures with edge-shared tetrahedra.", "Beryllium oxide, BeO, is a white refractory solid, which has the wurtzite crystal structure and a thermal conductivity as high as some metals.", "BeO is amphoteric.", "Beryllium sulfide, selenide and telluride are known, all having the zincblende structure.", "Beryllium nitride, Be3N2 is a high-melting-point compound which is readily hydrolyzed.", "Beryllium azide, BeN6 is known and beryllium phosphide, Be3P2 has a similar structure to Be3N2.A number of beryllium borides are known, such as Be5B, Be4B, Be2B, BeB2, BeB6 and BeB12.Beryllium carbide, Be2C, is a refractory brick-red compound that reacts with water to give methane.", "No beryllium silicide has been identified.The halides BeX2 (X = F, Cl, Br, I) have a linear monomeric molecular structure in the gas phase.", "Complexes of the halides are formed with one or more ligands donating at total of two pairs of electrons.", "Such compounds obey the octet rule.", "Other 4-coordinate complexes such as the aqua-ion Be(H2O)42+ also obey the octet rule.===Aqueous solutions===Schematic structure of basic beryllium acetate Beryllium hydrolysis.", "Water molecules attached to Be are omitted in this diagramStructure of the trimeric hydrolysis product of beryllium(II)Solutions of beryllium salts, such as beryllium sulfate and beryllium nitrate, are acidic because of hydrolysis of the Be(H2O)42+ ion.", "The concentration of the first hydrolysis product, Be(H2O)3(OH)+, is less than 1% of the beryllium concentration.", "The most stable hydrolysis product is the trimeric ion Be3(OH)3(H2O)63+.", "Beryllium hydroxide, Be(OH)2, is insoluble in water at pH 5 or more.", "Consequently, beryllium compounds are generally insoluble at biological pH.", "Because of this, inhalation of beryllium metal dust by people leads to the development of the fatal condition of berylliosis.", "Be(OH)2 dissolves in strongly alkaline solutions.Beryllium(II) forms few complexes with monodentate ligands because the water molecules in the aquo-ion, Be(H2O)42+ are bound very strongly to the beryllium ion.", "Notable exceptions are the series of water-soluble complexes with the fluoride ion: Be(H2O)4^2+{} + \\mathit{n}\\,F^- Be(H2O)_{2\\!-\\mathit{n}}F_\\mathit{n}^{2\\!-\\mathit{n}}{} + \\mathit{n}\\,H2OBeryllium(II) forms many complexes with bidentate ligands containing oxygen-donor atoms.", "The species Be3O(H2PO4)62- is notable for having a 3-coordinate oxide ion at its center.", "Basic beryllium acetate, Be4O(OAc)6, has an oxide ion surrounded by a tetrahedron of beryllium atoms.With organic ligands, such as the malonate ion, the acid deprotonates when forming the complex.", "The donor atoms are two oxygens.", "H2A + Be(H2O)4^2+ BeA(H2O)2 + 2H+ + 2H2O H2A + BeA(H2O)2 BeA2^2- + 2H+ + 2H2O Formation of a complex is in competition with the metal ion-hydrolysis reaction and mixed complexes with both the anion and the hydroxide ion are also formed.", "For example, derivatives of the cyclic trimer are known, with a bidentate ligand replacing one or more pairs of water molecules.Aliphatic hydroxycarboxylic acids such as glycollic acid form rather weak, monodentate complexes in solution, in which the hydroxyl group remains intact.", "In the solid state, the hydroxyl group may deprotonate: a hexamer, Na_4Be_6(OCH_2(O)O)_6 , was isolated long ago.", "Aromatic hydroxy ligands (i.e.", "phenols) form relatively strong complexes.", "For example, log K1 and log K2 values of 12.2 and 9.3 have been reported for complexes with tiron.Beryllium has generally a rather poor affinity for ammine ligands.", "Ligands such as EDTA behave as dicarboxylic acids.", "There are many early reports of complexes with amino acids, but unfortunately they are not reliable as the concomitant hydrolysis reactions were not understood at the time of publication.", "Values for log β of ca.", "6 to 7 have been reported.", "The degree of formation is small because of competition with hydrolysis reactions.===Organic chemistry===Organoberyllium chemistry is limited to academic research due to the cost and toxicity of beryllium, beryllium derivatives and reagents required for the introduction of beryllium, such as beryllium chloride.", "Organometallic beryllium compounds are known to be highly reactive Examples of known organoberyllium compounds are ''dineopentylberyllium'', ''beryllocene'' (Cp2Be), ''diallylberyllium'' (by exchange reaction of diethyl beryllium with triallyl boron), bis(1,3-trimethylsilylallyl)beryllium, Be(mes)2, and (beryllium(I) complex) ''diberyllocene''.", "Ligands can also be aryls and alkynyls." ], [ "History", "The mineral beryl, which contains beryllium, has been used at least since the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.", "In the first century CE, Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder mentioned in his encyclopedia ''Natural History'' that beryl and emerald (\"smaragdus\") were similar.", "The Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis, written in the third or fourth century CE, contains notes on how to prepare artificial emerald and beryl.Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered berylliumEarly analyses of emeralds and beryls by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, Torbern Olof Bergman, Franz Karl Achard, and Johann Jakob Bindheim always yielded similar elements, leading to the mistaken conclusion that both substances are aluminium silicates.", "Mineralogist René Just Haüy discovered that both crystals are geometrically identical, and he asked chemist Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin for a chemical analysis.In a 1798 paper read before the Institut de France, Vauquelin reported that he found a new \"earth\" by dissolving aluminium hydroxide from emerald and beryl in an additional alkali.", "The editors of the journal ''Annales de Chimie et de Physique'' named the new earth \"glucine\" for the sweet taste of some of its compounds.", "Klaproth preferred the name \"beryllina\" due to the fact that yttria also formed sweet salts.", "The name \"beryllium\" was first used by Wöhler in 1828.Friedrich Wöhler was one of the men who independently isolated berylliumFriedrich Wöhler and Antoine Bussy independently isolated beryllium in 1828 by the chemical reaction of metallic potassium with beryllium chloride, as follows::BeCl2 + 2 K → 2 KCl + BeUsing an alcohol lamp, Wöhler heated alternating layers of beryllium chloride and potassium in a wired-shut platinum crucible.", "The above reaction immediately took place and caused the crucible to become white hot.", "Upon cooling and washing the resulting gray-black powder he saw that it was made of fine particles with a dark metallic luster.", "The highly reactive potassium had been produced by the electrolysis of its compounds, a process discovered 21 years before.", "The chemical method using potassium yielded only small grains of beryllium from which no ingot of metal could be cast or hammered.The direct electrolysis of a molten mixture of beryllium fluoride and sodium fluoride by Paul Lebeau in 1898 resulted in the first pure (99.5 to 99.8%) samples of beryllium.", "However, industrial production started only after the First World War.", "The original industrial involvement included subsidiaries and scientists related to the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, and Siemens & Halske AG in Berlin.", "In the US, the process was ruled by Hugh S. Cooper, director of The Kemet Laboratories Company.", "In Germany, the first commercially successful process for producing beryllium was developed in 1921 by Alfred Stock and Hans Goldschmidt.A sample of beryllium was bombarded with alpha rays from the decay of radium in a 1932 experiment by James Chadwick that uncovered the existence of the neutron.", "This same method is used in one class of radioisotope-based laboratory neutron sources that produce 30 neutrons for every million α particles.Beryllium production saw a rapid increase during World War II, due to the rising demand for hard beryllium-copper alloys and phosphors for fluorescent lights.", "Most early fluorescent lamps used zinc orthosilicate with varying content of beryllium to emit greenish light.", "Small additions of magnesium tungstate improved the blue part of the spectrum to yield an acceptable white light.", "Halophosphate-based phosphors replaced beryllium-based phosphors after beryllium was found to be toxic.Electrolysis of a mixture of beryllium fluoride and sodium fluoride was used to isolate beryllium during the 19th century.", "The metal's high melting point makes this process more energy-consuming than corresponding processes used for the alkali metals.", "Early in the 20th century, the production of beryllium by the thermal decomposition of beryllium iodide was investigated following the success of a similar process for the production of zirconium, but this process proved to be uneconomical for volume production.Pure beryllium metal did not become readily available until 1957, even though it had been used as an alloying metal to harden and toughen copper much earlier.", "Beryllium could be produced by reducing beryllium compounds such as beryllium chloride with metallic potassium or sodium.", "Currently, most beryllium is produced by reducing beryllium fluoride with magnesium.", "The price on the American market for vacuum-cast beryllium ingots was about $338 per pound ($745 per kilogram) in 2001.Between 1998 and 2008, the world's production of beryllium had decreased from 343 to about 200 tonnes.", "It then increased to 230 tonnes by 2018, of which 170 tonnes came from the United States.===Etymology===Named after beryl, a semiprecious mineral, from which it was first isolated." ], [ "Applications", "===Radiation windows===Beryllium target which converts a proton beam into a neutron beamA square beryllium foil mounted in a steel case to be used as a window between a vacuum chamber and an X-ray microscope.", "Beryllium is highly transparent to X-rays owing to its low atomic number.Because of its low atomic number and very low absorption for X-rays, the oldest and still one of the most important applications of beryllium is in radiation windows for X-ray tubes.", "Extreme demands are placed on purity and cleanliness of beryllium to avoid artifacts in the X-ray images.", "Thin beryllium foils are used as radiation windows for X-ray detectors, and the extremely low absorption minimizes the heating effects caused by high intensity, low energy X-rays typical of synchrotron radiation.", "Vacuum-tight windows and beam-tubes for radiation experiments on synchrotrons are manufactured exclusively from beryllium.", "In scientific setups for various X-ray emission studies (e.g., energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) the sample holder is usually made of beryllium because its emitted X-rays have much lower energies (≈100 eV) than X-rays from most studied materials.Low atomic number also makes beryllium relatively transparent to energetic particles.", "Therefore, it is used to build the beam pipe around the collision region in particle physics setups, such as all four main detector experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb), the Tevatron and at SLAC.", "The low density of beryllium allows collision products to reach the surrounding detectors without significant interaction, its stiffness allows a powerful vacuum to be produced within the pipe to minimize interaction with gases, its thermal stability allows it to function correctly at temperatures of only a few degrees above absolute zero, and its diamagnetic nature keeps it from interfering with the complex multipole magnet systems used to steer and focus the particle beams.===Mechanical applications===Because of its stiffness, light weight and dimensional stability over a wide temperature range, beryllium metal is used for lightweight structural components in the defense and aerospace industries in high-speed aircraft, guided missiles, spacecraft, and satellites, including the James Webb Space Telescope.", "Several liquid-fuel rockets have used rocket nozzles made of pure beryllium.", "Beryllium powder was itself studied as a rocket fuel, but this use has never materialized.", "A small number of extreme high-end bicycle frames have been built with beryllium.", "From 1998 to 2000, the McLaren Formula One team used Mercedes-Benz engines with beryllium-aluminium-alloy pistons.", "The use of beryllium engine components was banned following a protest by Scuderia Ferrari.Mixing about 2.0% beryllium into copper forms an alloy called beryllium copper that is six times stronger than copper alone.", "Beryllium alloys are used in many applications because of their combination of elasticity, high electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, high strength and hardness, nonmagnetic properties, as well as good corrosion and fatigue resistance.", "These applications include non-sparking tools that are used near flammable gases (beryllium nickel), in springs and membranes (beryllium nickel and beryllium iron) used in surgical instruments and high temperature devices.", "As little as 50 parts per million of beryllium alloyed with liquid magnesium leads to a significant increase in oxidation resistance and decrease in flammability.Beryllium copper adjustable wrenchThe high elastic stiffness of beryllium has led to its extensive use in precision instrumentation, e.g.", "in inertial guidance systems and in the support mechanisms for optical systems.", "Beryllium-copper alloys were also applied as a hardening agent in \"Jason pistols\", which were used to strip the paint from the hulls of ships.Beryllium was also used for cantilevers in high performance phonograph cartridge styli, where its extreme stiffness and low density allowed for tracking weights to be reduced to 1 gram, yet still track high frequency passages with minimal distortion.An earlier major application of beryllium was in brakes for military airplanes because of its hardness, high melting point, and exceptional ability to dissipate heat.", "Environmental considerations have led to substitution by other materials.To reduce costs, beryllium can be alloyed with significant amounts of aluminium, resulting in the AlBeMet alloy (a trade name).", "This blend is cheaper than pure beryllium, while still retaining many desirable properties.===Mirrors===Beryllium mirrors are of particular interest.", "Large-area mirrors, frequently with a honeycomb support structure, are used, for example, in meteorological satellites where low weight and long-term dimensional stability are critical.", "Smaller beryllium mirrors are used in optical guidance systems and in fire-control systems, e.g.", "in the German-made Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 main battle tanks.", "In these systems, very rapid movement of the mirror is required which again dictates low mass and high rigidity.", "Usually the beryllium mirror is coated with hard electroless nickel plating which can be more easily polished to a finer optical finish than beryllium.", "In some applications, though, the beryllium blank is polished without any coating.", "This is particularly applicable to cryogenic operation where thermal expansion mismatch can cause the coating to buckle.The James Webb Space Telescope has 18 hexagonal beryllium sections for its mirrors, each plated with a thin layer of gold.", "Because JWST will face a temperature of 33 K, the mirror is made of gold-plated beryllium, capable of handling extreme cold better than glass.", "Beryllium contracts and deforms less than glass – and remains more uniform – in such temperatures.", "For the same reason, the optics of the Spitzer Space Telescope are entirely built of beryllium metal.===Magnetic applications===A hollow beryllium sphere used in a gyrocompass of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress aircraftBeryllium is non-magnetic.", "Therefore, tools fabricated out of beryllium-based materials are used by naval or military explosive ordnance disposal teams for work on or near naval mines, since these mines commonly have magnetic fuzes.", "They are also found in maintenance and construction materials near magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines because of the high magnetic fields generated.", "In the fields of radio communications and powerful (usually military) radars, hand tools made of beryllium are used to tune the highly magnetic klystrons, magnetrons, traveling wave tubes, etc., that are used for generating high levels of microwave power in the transmitters.===Nuclear applications===Thin plates or foils of beryllium are sometimes used in nuclear weapon designs as the very outer layer of the plutonium pits in the primary stages of thermonuclear bombs, placed to surround the fissile material.", "These layers of beryllium are good \"pushers\" for the implosion of the plutonium-239, and they are good neutron reflectors, just as in beryllium-moderated nuclear reactors.Beryllium is also commonly used in some neutron sources in laboratory devices in which relatively few neutrons are needed (rather than having to use a nuclear reactor, or a particle accelerator-powered neutron generator).", "For this purpose, a target of beryllium-9 is bombarded with energetic alpha particles from a radioisotope such as polonium-210, radium-226, plutonium-238, or americium-241.In the nuclear reaction that occurs, a beryllium nucleus is transmuted into carbon-12, and one free neutron is emitted, traveling in about the same direction as the alpha particle was heading.", "Such alpha decay driven beryllium neutron sources, named \"urchin\" neutron initiators, were used in some early atomic bombs.", "Neutron sources in which beryllium is bombarded with gamma rays from a gamma decay radioisotope, are also used to produce laboratory neutrons.Two CANDU fuel bundles: Each about 50 cm in length and 10 cm in diameter.", "Notice the small appendages on the fuel clad surfacesBeryllium is also used in fuel fabrication for CANDU reactors.", "The fuel elements have small appendages that are resistance brazed to the fuel cladding using an induction brazing process with Be as the braze filler material.", "Bearing pads are brazed in place to prevent contact between the fuel bundle and the pressure tube containing it, and inter-element spacer pads are brazed on to prevent element to element contact.Beryllium is also used at the Joint European Torus nuclear-fusion research laboratory, and it will be used in the more advanced ITER to condition the components which face the plasma.", "Beryllium has also been proposed as a cladding material for nuclear fuel rods, because of its good combination of mechanical, chemical, and nuclear properties.", "Beryllium fluoride is one of the constituent salts of the eutectic salt mixture FLiBe, which is used as a solvent, moderator and coolant in many hypothetical molten salt reactor designs, including the liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR).===Acoustics===The low weight and high rigidity of beryllium make it useful as a material for high-frequency speaker drivers.", "Because beryllium is expensive (many times more than titanium), hard to shape due to its brittleness, and toxic if mishandled, beryllium tweeters are limited to high-end home, pro audio, and public address applications.", "Some high-fidelity products have been fraudulently claimed to be made of the material.Some high-end phonograph cartridges used beryllium cantilevers to improve tracking by reducing mass.===Electronic===Beryllium is a p-type dopant in III-V compound semiconductors.", "It is widely used in materials such as GaAs, AlGaAs, InGaAs and InAlAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).", "Cross-rolled beryllium sheet is an excellent structural support for printed circuit boards in surface-mount technology.", "In critical electronic applications, beryllium is both a structural support and heat sink.", "The application also requires a coefficient of thermal expansion that is well matched to the alumina and polyimide-glass substrates.", "The beryllium-beryllium oxide composite \"E-Materials\" have been specially designed for these electronic applications and have the additional advantage that the thermal expansion coefficient can be tailored to match diverse substrate materials.Beryllium oxide is useful for many applications that require the combined properties of an electrical insulator and an excellent heat conductor, with high strength and hardness, and a very high melting point.", "Beryllium oxide is frequently used as an insulator base plate in high-power transistors in radio frequency transmitters for telecommunications.", "Beryllium oxide is also being studied for use in increasing the thermal conductivity of uranium dioxide nuclear fuel pellets.", "Beryllium compounds were used in fluorescent lighting tubes, but this use was discontinued because of the disease berylliosis which developed in the workers who were making the tubes.===Healthcare===Beryllium is a component of several dental alloys." ], [ "Toxicity and safety", "===Biological effects===Approximately 35 micrograms of beryllium is found in the average human body, an amount not considered harmful.", "Beryllium is chemically similar to magnesium and therefore can displace it from enzymes, which causes them to malfunction.", "Because Be2+ is a highly charged and small ion, it can easily get into many tissues and cells, where it specifically targets cell nuclei, inhibiting many enzymes, including those used for synthesizing DNA.", "Its toxicity is exacerbated by the fact that the body has no means to control beryllium levels, and once inside the body, beryllium cannot be removed.===Inhalation===Chronic beryllium disease (CBD), or berylliosis, is a pulmonary and systemic granulomatous disease caused by inhalation of dust or fumes contaminated with beryllium; either large amounts over a short time or small amounts over a long time can lead to this ailment.", "Symptoms of the disease can take up to five years to develop; about a third of patients with it die and the survivors are left disabled.", "The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists beryllium and beryllium compounds as Category 1 carcinogens.===Occupational exposure===In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has designated a permissible exposure limit (PEL) for beryllium and beryllium compounds of 0.2 µg/m3 as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) and 2.0 µg/m3 as a short-term exposure limit over a sampling period of 15 minutes.", "The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) upper-bound threshold of 0.5 µg/m3.The IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) value is 4 mg/m3.The toxicity of beryllium is on par with other toxic metalloids/metals, such as arsenic and mercury.Exposure to beryllium in the workplace can lead to a sensitization immune response and can over time develop chronic beryllium disease.", "The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the United States researches these effects in collaboration with a major manufacturer of beryllium products.", "NIOSH also conducts genetic research on sensitization and CBD, independently of this collaboration.Acute beryllium disease in the form of chemical pneumonitis was first reported in Europe in 1933 and in the United States in 1943.A survey found that about 5% of workers in plants manufacturing fluorescent lamps in 1949 in the United States had beryllium-related lung diseases.", "Chronic berylliosis resembles sarcoidosis in many respects, and the differential diagnosis is often difficult.", "It killed some early workers in nuclear weapons design, such as Herbert L. Anderson.Beryllium may be found in coal slag.", "When the slag is formulated into an abrasive agent for blasting paint and rust from hard surfaces, the beryllium can become airborne and become a source of exposure.Although the use of beryllium compounds in fluorescent lighting tubes was discontinued in 1949, potential for exposure to beryllium exists in the nuclear and aerospace industries and in the refining of beryllium metal and melting of beryllium-containing alloys, the manufacturing of electronic devices, and the handling of other beryllium-containing material.===Detection===Early researchers undertook the highly hazardous practice of identifying beryllium and its various compounds from its sweet taste.", "Identification is now performed using safe modern diagnostics techniques.", "A successful test for beryllium in air and on surfaces has been developed and published as an international voluntary consensus standard ASTM D7202.The procedure uses dilute ammonium bifluoride for dissolution and fluorescence detection with beryllium bound to sulfonated hydroxybenzoquinoline, allowing up to 100 times more sensitive detection than the recommended limit for beryllium concentration in the workplace.", "Fluorescence increases with increasing beryllium concentration.", "The new procedure has been successfully tested on a variety of surfaces and is effective for the dissolution and detection of refractory beryllium oxide and siliceous beryllium in minute concentrations (ASTM D7458).", "The NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods contains methods for measuring occupational exposures to beryllium." ], [ "References" ], [ "Cited sources", "* * " ], [ "Further reading", " * Mroz MM, Balkissoon R, Newman LS.", "\"Beryllium\".", "In: Bingham E, Cohrssen B, Powell C (eds.)", "''Patty's Toxicology'', Fifth Edition.", "New York: John Wiley & Sons 2001, 177–220.", "* Walsh, KA, ''Beryllium Chemistry and Processing''.", "Vidal, EE.", "et al.", "Eds.", "2009, Materials Park, OH:ASM International.", "* Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Testing (BeLPT).", "DOE Specification 1142–2001.Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, 2001.", "2007, Eric Scerri,''The periodic table: Its story and its significance,'' Oxford University Press, New York," ], [ "External links", " ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Beryllium Toxicity U.S. Department of Health and Human Services* It's Elemental – Beryllium* MSDS: ESPI Metals* Beryllium at ''The Periodic Table of Videos'' (University of Nottingham)* National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Beryllium Page* National Supplemental Screening Program (Oak Ridge Associated Universities)* Historic Price of Beryllium in USA" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Britney Spears" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Britney Jean Spears''' (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer.", "Often referred to as the \"Princess of Pop\", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s.", "Spears has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists.", "She has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness world records, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven ''Billboard'' Music Awards (including the Millennium Award), the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.", "Her heavily choreographed videos earned her the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.After appearing in stage productions and television series, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age fifteen.", "Her first two studio albums, ''...Baby One More Time'' (1999) and ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'' (2000), are among the best-selling albums of all time and made Spears the best-selling teenage artist of all time.", "With first-week sales of over 1.3 million copies, ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'' held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the United States for fifteen years.", "Spears adopted a more mature and provocative style for her albums ''Britney'' (2001) and ''In the Zone'' (2003), and starred in the 2002 film ''Crossroads''.", "She was executive producer of her fifth studio album, ''Blackout'' (2007), often referred to as her best work.", "Following a series of highly publicized personal problems, promotion for the album was limited, and Spears was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship.Subsequently, Spears released the chart-topping albums, ''Circus'' (2008) and ''Femme Fatale'' (2011), the latter of which became her most successful era of singles in the US charts.", "With \"3\" in 2009 and \"Hold It Against Me\" in 2011, Spears became the second artist after Mariah Carey in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100's history to debut at number one with two or more songs.", "She embarked on a four-year concert residency, Britney: Piece of Me, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to promote her next two albums ''Britney Jean'' (2013) and ''Glory'' (2016).", "In 2019, Spears's legal battle over her conservatorship became more publicized and led to the establishment of the #FreeBritney movement.", "In 2021, the conservatorship was terminated following her public testimony in which she accused her management team and family of abuse.In the United States, Spears is the fourth best-selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, as well as the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s.", "She was ranked by ''Billboard'' as the eighth-biggest artist of the 2000s.", "Spears has had six number-one albums on the ''Billboard'' 200 and five number-one singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100: \"...Baby One More Time\", \"Womanizer\", \"3\", \"Hold It Against Me\", and \"S&M (Remix)\".", "Other hit singles include \"Oops!...", "I Did It Again\", \"I'm a Slave 4 U\", \"Toxic\", \"Gimme More\", and \"Piece of Me\".", "\"...Baby One More Time\" was named the greatest debut single of all time by ''Rolling Stone'' in 2020.In 2004, Spears launched a perfume brand with Elizabeth Arden, Inc.; sales exceeded $1.5 billion .", "''Forbes'' has reported Spears as the highest-earning female musician of 2001 and 2012.By 2012, she had topped Yahoo!", "'s list of most searched celebrities seven times in twelve years.", "''Time'' named Spears one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021.Spears placed first in the ''Time'' reader poll." ], [ "Life and career", "===1981–1997: Early life, family, and career beginnings===Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in McComb, Mississippi, the second child of James \"Jamie\" Parnell Spears and Lynne Irene Bridges.", "Her maternal grandmother, Lillian Portell, was English (born in London), and one of Spears's maternal grandfathers was Maltese.", "Her siblings are Bryan James Spears and Jamie Lynn Spears.", "In her memoir ''The Woman in Me'', Spears wrote that her paternal grandmother, Emma Jean Spears, was sent to an asylum by Spears's paternal grandfather.", "Their three-day-old baby had died and Emma Jean was overwhelmed by grief.", "While at the asylum, she was put on lithium; subsequently, she shot herself over the child's grave.Born in the Bible Belt, where socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a particularly strong religious influence, she was baptized as a Southern Baptist and sang in a church choir as a child.", "As an adult, she has studied Kabbalist teachings.", "On August 5, 2021, Spears announced that she had converted to Catholicism.", "Her mother, sister, and nieces Maddie Aldridge and Ivey Joan Watson, are also Catholic.", "However, on September 5, 2022, after Spears's ex-husband, Kevin Federline, and youngest son did an interview defending her father's actions during her conservatorship, she stated: \"I don't believe in God anymore because of the way my children and my family have treated me.", "There is nothing to believe in anymore.", "I'm an atheist y'all\".At age three, Spears began attending dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform as a solo artist at the annual recital.", "Aged five she made her local stage debut, singing \"What Child Is This?\"", "at her kindergarten graduation.", "During her childhood, she also had gymnastics and voice lessons, and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows.", "In gymnastics, Spears attended Béla Károlyi's training camp.", "She said of her ambition as a child, \"I was in my own world, ...", "I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age\".When Spears was eight, she and her mother Lynne traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to audition for the 1990s revival of ''The Mickey Mouse Club''.", "Casting director Matt Casella rejected her as too young, but introduced her to Nancy Carson, a New York City talent agent.", "Carson was impressed with Spears's singing and suggested enrolling her at the Professional Performing Arts School; shortly afterward, Lynne and her daughters moved to a sublet apartment in New York.Spears was hired for her first professional role as the understudy for the lead role of Tina Denmark in the off-Broadway musical ''Ruthless!''", "She also appeared as a contestant on the popular television show ''Star Search'' and was cast in a number of commercials.", "In December 1992, she was cast in ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' alongside Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell.", "After the show was canceled in 1994, she returned to Mississippi and enrolled at McComb's Parklane Academy.", "Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to \"the opening scene in ''Clueless'' with all the cliques. ...", "I was so bored.", "I was the point guard on the basketball team.", "I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal.", "But I wanted more.", "\"In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join the female pop group Innosense.", "Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures.", "Rudolph decided that he wanted to pitch her to record labels, for which she needed a professional demo made.", "He sent Spears an unused song of Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio.", "Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day.", "Three of the labels rejected her, saying that audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and \"there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany.", "\"Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph.", "Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster said about Spears's audition that \"it's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal ... For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important.", "And Britney had that.\"", "Spears sang Houston's \"I Have Nothing\" (1992) for the executives, and was subsequently signed to the label.", "They assigned her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month; he reportedly shaped her voice from \"lower and less poppy\" delivery to \"distinctively, unmistakably Britney\".", "After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album.", "Spears had originally envisioned \"Sheryl Crow music, but younger; more adult contemporary\".", "She felt secure with her label's appointment of producers, since \"It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me.\"", "She flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded from March to April 1998, with producers Max Martin, Denniz Pop, and Rami Yacoub, among others.===1998–2000: ''...Baby One More Time'' and ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again''===After Spears returned to the United States, she embarked on a shopping mall promotional tour, titled L'Oreal Hair Zone Mall Tour, to promote her upcoming debut album.", "Her show was a four-song set and she was accompanied by two back-up dancers.", "Her first concert tour followed, as an opening act for NSYNC.", "Her debut studio album, ''...Baby One More Time'', was released on January 12, 1999.It debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after a month.", "Worldwide, the album topped the charts in fifteen countries and sold over 10 million copies in a year.", "It became the biggest-selling album ever by a teenage artist.Spears performing during her L'Oreal Hair Zone Mall Tour in 1998\"...Baby One More Time\" was released as the lead single from the album on September 29, 1998.Originally, Jive Records wanted the associated music video to be animated; however, Spears rejected this idea, and suggested the final concept of a Catholic schoolgirl.", "The single peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, topping the chart for two consecutive weeks in January–February 1999.It sold more than 10 million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.", "\"...Baby One More Time\" later received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.", "The title track also topped the singles chart for two weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 460,000 copies.", "It would later become the 25th-most successful song of all time in British chart history.", "Spears is the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the UK.", "The album's third single \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\" became a top-ten hit worldwide and further propelled the success of the ''...Baby One More Time'' album.", "The album has sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.", "It is the best-selling debut album by any artist.On June 28, 1999, Spears began her first headlining ...Baby One More Time Tour in North America, which was positively received by critics.", "It also generated some controversy due to her racy outfits.", "An extension of the tour, titled (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour, followed in March 2000.Spears premiered songs from her upcoming second album during the show.''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'', Spears's second studio album, was released in May 2000.It debuted at number one in the US, selling 1.3 million copies, breaking the Nielsen SoundScan record for the highest debut sales by any solo artist.", "It has sold over 20 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.", "Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' said that \"the great thing about ''Oops!''", "– under the cheese surface, Britney's demand for satisfaction is complex, fierce and downright scary, making her a true child of rock & roll tradition.\"", "The album's lead single, \"Oops!...", "I Did It Again\", peaked at the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and many other European nations, while the second single \"Lucky\", peaked at number one in Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland.", "The album as well as the title track received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.The same year, Spears embarked on the Oops!...", "I Did It Again Tour, which grossed $40.5 million; she also released her first book, ''Britney Spears' Heart to Heart'', co-written with her mother.", "On September 7, 2000, Spears performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.", "Halfway through the performance, she ripped off her black suit to reveal a sequined flesh-colored bodysuit, followed by heavy dance routine.", "It is noted by critics as the moment that Spears showed signs of becoming a more provocative performer.", "Amidst media speculation, Spears confirmed she was dating NSYNC member Justin Timberlake.", "Spears and Timberlake both graduated from high school via distance learning from the University of Nebraska High School.", "She also bought a home in Destin, Florida.", "In her 2023 memoir, Spears revealed that she had an abortion during late 2000 while dating Timberlake after he said they were not prepared for parenthood.", "Spears called the abortion \"one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.", "\"===2001–2002: ''Britney'' and ''Crossroads''===Spears doing a soundcheck for the Dream Within a Dream Tour, July 2002In January 2001, Spears hosted the 28th Annual American Music Awards, starred at Rock in Rio alongside NSYNC, and performed as a special guest in the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show headlined by Aerosmith and NSYNC.", "In February 2001, she signed a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, and released another book co-written with her mother, ''A Mother's Gift''.", "Her third studio album, ''Britney'', was released in November 2001, with a funkier sound inspired by hip hop artists such as Jay-Z and the Neptunes.", "''Britney'' debuted at number one in the ''Billboard'' 200 and reached top five positions in Australia, the United Kingdom, and mainland Europe, and has sold 10 million copies worldwide.Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called ''Britney'' \"the record where she strives to deepen her persona, making it more adult while still recognizably Britney. ...", "It does sound like the work of a star who has now found and refined her voice, resulting in her best record yet.\"", "It was nominated for the Grammy awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for \"Overprotected\", and in 2007 it was named one of the best albums of the preceding 25 years by ''Entertainment Weekly''.", "The lead single, \"I'm a Slave 4 U\", became a top-ten hit in several countries.Spears's performance of the single at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards featured a caged tiger (wrangled by Bhagavan Antle) and a large albino python draped over her shoulders.", "It was harshly received by animal rights organization PETA, who claimed the animals were mistreated and scrapped plans for an anti-fur billboard that was to feature Spears.", "Jocelyn Vena of MTV summarized Spears's performance at the ceremony, saying, \"draping herself in a white python and slithering around a steamy garden setting – surrounded by dancers in zebra and tiger outfits – Spears created one of the most striking visuals in the 27-year history of the show.", "\"To support the album, Spears embarked on the Dream Within a Dream Tour.", "The show was critically praised for its technical innovations, the ''pièce de résistance'' being a water screen that pumped two tons of water into the stage.", "The tour grossed $43.7 million, becoming the second highest-grossing tour of 2002 by a female artist, behind Cher's Farewell Tour.", "Her career success was highlighted by ''Forbes'' in 2002, as Spears was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity.", "Spears also landed her first starring role in ''Crossroads'', released in February 2002.Although the film was largely panned, critics praised Spears's acting and the film was a box office success.", "''Crossroads'', which had a $12 million budget, went on to gross over $61.1 million worldwide.In June 2002, Spears opened her first restaurant, Nyla, in New York City, but terminated her relationship in November, citing mismanagement and \"management's failure to keep her fully apprised\".", "In July 2002, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her career; however, she went back into the studio in November to record her new album.", "Spears's relationship with Justin Timberlake ended after three years.", "In November 2002, Timberlake released the song \"Cry Me a River\" as the second single from his solo debut album.", "The music video featured a Spears look-alike and fueled the rumors that she had been engaging in an affair, fueled by further rumors of possible relationships involving Timberlake's choreographer Wade Robson and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst.", "Spears had initially denied the allegations of a possible affair involving Durst, despite the two being spotted together on multiple occasions; even claiming the two had a friendly connection.", "Though in 2022, she later admitted to engaging in an affair with Robson.", "As a response, Spears wrote the ballad \"Everytime\" with her backing vocalist and friend Annet Artani.===2003–2005: ''In the Zone'' and first two marriages===Spears performing at the NFL Kickoff Live in September 2003In 2003, Spears worked with the electronic musician James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, but the collaboration was unsuccessful.", "A track from their collaboration was leaked online in 2006.In August, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards with Christina Aguilera, performing \"Like a Virgin\".", "Halfway through they were joined by Madonna, whom they both kissed.", "The incident was highly publicized.", "In 2008, MTV listed the performance as the number-one opening moment in the history of MTV Video Music Awards, while ''Blender'' cited it as one of the 25 sexiest music moments on television history.Spears released her fourth studio album, ''In the Zone'', in November 2003.She assumed more creative control by writing and co-producing most of the material.", "''Vibe'' called it \"A supremely confident dance record that also illustrates Spears's development as a songwriter.\"", "NPR listed the album as one of \"The 50 Most Important Recording of the Decade\", adding that \"the decade's history of impeccably crafted pop is written on her body of work.\"", "''In the Zone'' sold over 609,000 copies in the United States during its first week of availability in the United States, debuting at the top of the charts, making Spears the first female artist in the SoundScan era to have her first four studio albums to debut at number one.", "It also debuted at the top of the charts in France and the top ten in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.", "The album produced four singles: \"Me Against the Music\", a collaboration with Madonna; \"Toxic\"—which won Spears her first Grammy for Best Dance Recording; \"Everytime\", and \"Outrageous\".In January 2004, Spears married her childhood friend at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.", "The marriage was annulled 55 hours later, following a petition to the court that stated that Spears \"lacked understanding of her actions\".In March 2004, Spears embarked on the Onyx Hotel Tour in support of ''In the Zone''.", "The tour was canceled in June 2004, when she fell and injured her left knee during the music video shoot for \"Outrageous\".", "She underwent arthroscopic surgery and wore a thigh brace for six weeks, followed by eight to twelve weeks of rehabilitation.", "That year, Spears became involved in the Kabbalah Centre through her friendship with Madonna.In July 2004, Spears became engaged to dancer Kevin Federline, whom she had met three months earlier.", "The romance was the subject of intense media attention, since Federline had recently broken up with actress Shar Jackson, who was still pregnant with their second child at the time.", "The stages of their relationship were chronicled in Spears's first reality show ''Britney and Kevin: Chaotic'', which premiered on May 17, 2005, on UPN.", "Spears later referred to the show in a 2013 interview as \"probably the worst thing I've done in my career\".", "They held a wedding ceremony on September 18, 2004, but were not legally married until three weeks later on October 6 due to a delay finalizing the couple's prenuptial agreement.Shortly after, she released her first perfume, Curious, with Elizabeth Arden, which broke the company's first-week gross for a perfume.", "In October 2004, Spears took a career break to start a family.", "''Greatest Hits: My Prerogative'', her first greatest hits compilation album, was released in November 2004.Spears's cover version of Bobby Brown's \"My Prerogative\" was released as the lead single from the album, reaching the top of the charts in Finland, Ireland, Italy, and Norway.", "The second single, \"Do Somethin'\", was a top ten hit in Australia, the United Kingdom, and other countries of mainland Europe.", "In August 2005, Spears released \"Someday (I Will Understand)\", which was dedicated to her first child, a son named Sean Preston, who was born the following month.", "In November 2005, she released her first remix compilation, ''B in the Mix: The Remixes'', which consists of 11 remixes.===2006–2007: Personal struggles and ''Blackout''===Spears leaving court surrounded in October 2007In February 2006, pictures surfaced of Spears driving with her son, Sean, on her lap instead of in a car seat.", "Child advocates were horrified by the photos of her holding the wheel with one hand and Sean with the other.", "Spears claimed that the situation happened because of a frightening encounter with paparazzi, and that it was a mistake on her part.", "The following month, she guest-starred on the ''Will & Grace'' episode \"Buy, Buy Baby\" as closeted lesbian Amber-Louise.", "She announced she no longer studied Kabbalah in May 2006, explaining, \"my baby is my religion\".", "Spears posed nude for the August 2006 cover of ''Harper's Bazaar''; the photograph was compared to Demi Moore's August 1991 ''Vanity Fair'' cover.", "In September 2006, she gave birth to her second son, Jayden James.", "In November 2006, Spears filed for divorce from Federline, citing irreconcilable differences.", "Their divorce was finalized in July 2007, when the two reached a global settlement and agreed to share joint custody of their sons.Spears's maternal aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, died of ovarian cancer in January 2007.In February, Spears stayed in a drug rehabilitation facility in Antigua for less than a day.", "The following night, she shaved her head with electric clippers at a hair salon in Tarzana, Los Angeles.", "She admitted herself to other treatment facilities during the following weeks.", "In May 2007, she produced a series of promotional concerts at House of Blues venues, titled The M+M's Tour.", "In October 2007, Spears lost physical custody of her sons to Federline.", "The reasons of the court ruling were not revealed to the public.", "Spears was also sued by Louis Vuitton over her 2005 music video \"Do Somethin'\" for upholstering her Hummer interior in counterfeit Louis Vuitton cherry blossom fabric, which resulted in the video being banned on European TV stations.In October 2007, Spears released her fifth studio album, ''Blackout''.", "The album debuted atop the charts in Canada and Ireland, at number two in the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, France, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and many European nations.", "In the United States, it was Spears's first album not to debut at number one, although, she did become the only female artist to have her first five studio albums debut at the two top slots of the chart.", "The album received positive reviews from critics and had sold 3.1 million copies worldwide by the end of 2008.", "''Blackout'' won Album of the Year at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and was listed as the fifth Best Pop Album of the Decade by ''The Times''.Spears performed the lead single \"Gimme More\" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.", "The performance was widely panned by critics.", "Despite the criticism, the single enjoyed worldwide success, peaking at number one in Canada and within the top ten in almost every country it charted.", "The second single \"Piece of Me\" reached the top of the charts in Ireland and reached the top five in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.", "The third single \"Break the Ice\" was released the following year, and respectively reached numbers seven and nine in Ireland and Canada.", "In December 2007, Spears began a relationship with paparazzo Adnan Ghalib.===2008–2010: Conservatorship and ''Circus''===In January 2008, Spears refused to relinquish custody of her sons to Federline's representatives.", "She was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after police that had arrived at her house noted she appeared to be under the influence of an unidentified substance.", "The following day, Spears's visitation rights were suspended at an emergency court hearing, and Federline was given sole physical and legal custody of their sons.", "She was committed to the psychiatric ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold under California state law.", "The court placed her under a conservatorship led by her father, Jamie Spears, and attorney Andrew Wallet, giving them complete control of her assets.", "She was released five days later.The following month, Spears guest-starred on the ''How I Met Your Mother'' episode \"Ten Sessions\" as receptionist Abby.", "She received positive reviews for her performance, as well as bringing the series its highest ratings ever.", "In July 2008, Spears regained some visitation rights after coming to an agreement with Federline and his counsel.", "In September 2008, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards with a pre-taped comedy sketch with Jonah Hill and an introduction speech.", "She won Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, and Video of the Year for \"Piece of Me\".", "A 60-minute introspective documentary, ''Britney: For the Record'', was produced to chronicle Spears's return to the recording industry.", "Directed by Phil Griffin, ''For the Record'' was shot in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and New York City during the third quarter of 2008.The documentary was broadcast on MTV to 5.6 million viewers for the two airings on the premiere night.", "It was the highest rating in its Sunday night timeslot and in the network's history.", "Spears performing on The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour, March 2009In December 2008, Spears's sixth studio album ''Circus'' was released.", "It received positive reviews from critics and debuted at number one in Canada, Czech Republic, and the United States, and within the top ten in many European nations.", "In the United States, Spears became the youngest female artist to have five albums debut at number one, earning a place in ''Guinness World Records''.", "She also became the only act in the SoundScan era to have four albums debut with 500,000 or more copies sold.", "The album was one of the fastest-selling albums of the year, and has sold 4 million copies worldwide.", "Its lead single, \"Womanizer\", became Spears's first chart-topper on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 since \"...Baby One More Time\".", "The single also topped the charts in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, and Sweden.", "It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.In January 2009, Spears and her father obtained a restraining order against her former manager Sam Lutfi, ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, and attorney Jon Eardley, all of whom had been accused of conspiring to gain control of Spears's affairs.", "Spears embarked on The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour in March 2009.With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest-grossing tour of the year.", "In November 2009, Spears released her second greatest hits album, ''The Singles Collection''.", "The album's lead and only single, \"3\", became her third number-one single in the U.S.In May 2010, Spears's representatives confirmed she was dating her agent, Jason Trawick, and that they had decided to end their professional relationship to focus on their personal relationship.", "Spears designed a limited edition clothing line for Candie's, which was released in stores in July 2010.In September 2010, she made a cameo appearance on a Spears-themed tribute episode of the television series ''Glee'', titled \"Britney/Brittany\"; the episode drew the highest Nielsen ratingup to that point in the series's runin the 18–49 demographic.===2011–2012: ''Femme Fatale'' and ''The X Factor''===In March 2011, Spears released her seventh studio album, ''Femme Fatale''.", "The album peaked at number one in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and within the top ten on nearly every other chart.", "Its peak in the United States tied Spears with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson for the third-most number ones among women.", "''Femme Fatale'' has been certified platinum by the RIAA and as of February 2014, it had sold 2.4 million copies worldwide.Spears performing on her alt=Image of a blonde female performer wearing a white leotard and black fishnets.The album's lead single, \"Hold It Against Me\" debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Spears's fourth number-one single on the chart and making her the second artist in history to have two consecutive singles debut at number one, after Mariah Carey.", "The second single \"Till the World Ends\" peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May, while the third single \"I Wanna Go\" reached number seven in August.", "''Femme Fatale'' became Spears's first album in which three of its songs reached the top ten of the chart.", "The fourth and final single \"Criminal\" was released in September 2011.The music video sparked controversy when British politicians criticized Spears for using replica guns while filming the video in a London area that had been badly affected by the 2011 England riots.", "Spears's management briefly responded, stating, \"The video is a fantasy story featuring Britney's boyfriend, Jason Trawick, which literally plays out the lyrics of a song written three years before the riots ever happened.\"", "In April 2011, Spears appeared in a remix of Rihanna's song \"S&M\".", "It reached number one in the US later that month, giving Spears her fifth number one on the chart.", "On ''Billboard''s 2011 Year-End list, Spears was ranked number fourteen on the Artists of the Year, thirty-two on ''Billboard'' 200 artists, and ten on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 artists.", "Spears co-wrote \"Whiplash\", a song from the album ''When the Sun Goes Down'' (2011) by Selena Gomez & the Scene.In June 2011, Spears embarked on her Femme Fatale Tour.", "The first ten dates of the tour grossed $6.2 million, landing the fifty-fifth spot on Pollstar's Top 100 North American Tours list for the half-way point of the year.", "The tour ended on December 10, 2011, in Puerto Rico after 79 performances.", "A DVD of the tour was released in November 2011.In August 2011, Spears received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.", "The next month, she released her second remix album, ''B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol.", "2''.", "In December 2011, Spears became engaged to her long-time boyfriend Jason Trawick, who had formerly been her agent.", "Trawick was legally granted a role as co-conservator, alongside her father, in April 2012.In May 2012, Spears was hired to replace Paula Abdul as a judge for the second season of the USA show of ''The X Factor'', joining Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, and fellow new judge Demi Lovato, who replaced Nicole Scherzinger.", "With a reported salary of $15 million, she became the highest-paid judge on a singing competition series in television history.", "However, Katy Perry broke her record in 2018 after Perry was signed for a $25-million salary to serve as a judge on ABC's revival of ''American Idol''.", "Spears mentored the Teens category; her final act, Carly Rose Sonenclar, was named the runner-up of the season.", "Spears did not return for the show's third season and was replaced by Paulina Rubio.Spears appeared on the song \"Scream & Shout\" with will.i.am, which was released as the third single from his fourth studio album, ''#willpower'' (2013).", "The song later became Spears's sixth number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.", "\"Scream & Shout\" was among the best-selling songs of 2012 and 2013 with denoting sales of over 8.1 million worldwide, the accompanying music video was the third most-viewed video in 2013 on Vevo despite the video being released in 2012.In December 2012, ''Forbes'' named her music's top-earning woman of 2012, with estimated earnings of $58 million.===2013–2015: ''Britney Jean'' and Britney: Piece of Me===Spears performing in 2014 during Britney: Piece of Me, a two-year concert residency in Las VegasSpears began work on her eighth studio album, ''Britney Jean'', in December 2012, and enlisted will.i.am as its executive producer in May 2013.In January 2013, Spears and Jason Trawick ended their engagement.", "Trawick was also removed as Spears's co-conservator, restoring her father as the sole conservator.", "Following the breakup, she began dating David Lucado in March; the couple split in August 2014.During the production of ''Britney Jean'', Spears recorded the song \"Ooh La La\" for the soundtrack of ''The Smurfs 2'', which was released in June 2013.On September 17, 2013, she appeared on ''Good Morning America'' to announce her two-year concert residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, titled Britney: Piece of Me.", "It began on December 27, 2013, and included a total of 100 shows throughout 2014 and 2015.During the same appearance, Spears announced that ''Britney Jean'' would be released on December 3, 2013, in the United States.", "It was released through RCA Records due to the disbandment of Jive Records in 2011, which had formed the joint RCA/Jive Label Group (initially known as BMG Label Group) between 2007 and 2011.", "''Britney Jean'' became Spears's final project under her original recording contract with Jive, which had guaranteed the release of eight studio albums.", "The record received a low amount of promotion and had little commercial impact, reportedly due to time conflicts involving preparations for Britney: Piece of Me.", "Upon its release, the record debuted at number four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 107,000 copies, becoming her lowest-peaking and lowest-selling album in the United States.", "''Britney Jean'' debuted at number 34 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 12,959 copies in its first week.", "In doing so, it became Spears's lowest-charting and lowest-selling album in the country.", "\"Work Bitch\" was released as the lead single from ''Britney Jean'' in September 2013.It debuted and peaked at number 12 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 marking Spears's 31st entry on the chart and the fifth highest debut of her career on the chart, and her seventh in the top 20.It also marked Spears's 19th top 20 entry and overall her 23rd top 40 single.", "The song marked Spears's highest sales debut since her 2011 number-one single \"Hold It Against Me\".", "\"Work Bitch\" debuted and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.", "The song also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.The second single \"Perfume\" premiered in November 2013.It debuted and peaked at number 76 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.In October 2013, she was featured as a guest vocalist on the song \"SMS (Bangerz)\" by Miley Cyrus, from the latter's fourth studio album ''Bangerz'' (2013).", "On January 8, 2014, Spears won Favorite Pop Artist at the 40th People's Choice Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.", "In August 2014, Spears confirmed she had renewed her contract with RCA and that she was writing and recording new music for her next album.Spears announced via Twitter in August 2014 that she would be releasing an intimate apparel line called \"The Intimate Britney Spears\".", "It was available to be purchased beginning on September 9, 2014, in the United States and Canada through Spears's Intimate Collection website.", "It was later available on September 25 for purchase in Europe.", "The company now ships to over 200 countries including Australia and New Zealand.", "On September 25, 2014, Spears confirmed on ''Good Morning Britain'' that she had extended her contract with The AXIS and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, to continue Britney: Piece of Me for two additional years.", "Spears began dating television producer Charlie Ebersol in October 2014.The pair were split in June 2015.On May 14, 2015, Spears released a single, \"Pretty Girls\", with Iggy Azalea.", "It reached number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and charted moderately in international territories.", "Spears and Azalea performed the track live at the 2015 ''Billboard'' Music Awards from The AXIS, the home of Spears's residency, to positive critical response.", "''Entertainment Weekly'' praised the performance, noting \"Spears gave one of her most energetic televised performances in years.\"", "On June 16, 2015, Giorgio Moroder released the album ''Déjà Vu'', which featured Spears on \"Tom's Diner\".", "The song was released as the fourth single from the album on October 9, 2015.In an interview, Moroder praised Spears's vocals and said she \"sounds so good that you would hardly recognize her\".", "At the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, Spears received the Candie's Style Icon Award, her ninth Teen Choice Award.", "In November 2015, Spears guest-starred as a fictionalized version of herself on the CW series ''Jane the Virgin''.", "On the show, she danced to \"Toxic\" with Gina Rodriguez's character.===2016–2018: ''Glory'', continued residency, and the Piece of Me Tour===Spears performing during the Apple Music Festival at the Roundhouse in London in September 2016In 2016, Spears confirmed via social media that she had begun recording her ninth studio album.", "On March 1, 2016, ''V'' announced that Spears would appear on the cover of its 100th issue, dated March 8, 2016, in addition to revealing three different covers shot by photographer Mario Testino for the milestone publication.", "The ''V'' editor-in-chief, Stephen Gan, said Spears was selected because of her status as an icon in the industry, and asked: \"Who in our world did not grow up listening to her music?\"", "In May 2016, Spears launched a casual role-play gaming application, ''Britney Spears: American Dream''.", "The app, created by Glu Mobile, was made available through both iOS and Google Play.On May 22, 2016, Spears performed a medley of her past singles at the 2016 ''Billboard'' Music Awards.", "In addition to opening the show, Spears was honored with the ''Billboard'' Millennium Award.", "On July 15, 2016, Spears released the lead single, \"Make Me\", from her ninth studio album, featuring guest vocals from American rapper G-Eazy.", "The album, ''Glory'', was formally released on August 26, 2016.On August 16, 2016, MTV and Spears announced that she would perform at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.", "The performance marked Spears's first time returning to the VMA stage after her widely panned performance of \"Gimme More\" at the 2007 show nine years earlier.", "Along with \"Make Me\", Spears and G-Eazy also performed the latter's hit song \"Me, Myself & I\".Spears appeared on the cover of ''Marie Claire'' UK for the October 2016 issue.", "In the publication, Spears revealed that she had suffered from crippling anxiety in the past, and that motherhood played a major role in helping her overcome it.", "\"My boys don't care if everything isn't perfect.", "They don't judge me\", Spears said in the issue.", "In November 2016, during an interview with Las Vegas Blog, Spears confirmed she had already begun work on her next album, stating: \"I'm not sure what I want the next album to sound like. ...", "I just know that I'm excited to get into the studio again and actually have already been back recording.\"", "In the same month, she released a remix version of \"Slumber Party\" as the second single from ''Glory'', featuring Tinashe.She began dating \"Slumber Party\"'s music video co-star Sam Asghari after the two met on set.", "In January 2017, Spears received four wins out of four nominations at the 43rd People's Choice Awards, including Favorite Pop Artist, Female Artist, Social Media Celebrity, as well as Comedic Collaboration for a skit with Ellen DeGeneres for ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''.", "In March 2017, Spears announced that her residency concert would be performed abroad as a world tour, Britney: Live in Concert, with dates in select Asian cities.", "In April 2017, the Israeli Labor Party announced that it would reschedule its July primary election to avoid conflict with Spears's sold-out Tel Aviv concert, citing traffic, and security concerns.Spears's manager Larry Rudolph also announced the residency would not be extended following her contract expiration with Caesars Entertainment at the end of 2017.On April 29, 2017, Spears became the first recipient of the Icon Award at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards.", "On November 4, 2017, Spears attended the grand opening of the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation Britney Spears Campus in Las Vegas.", "Later that month, ''Forbes'' announced that Spears was the 8th highest earning female musician, earning $34 million in 2017.On December 31, 2017, Spears performed the final show of Britney: Piece of Me.", "The final performance reportedly brought in $1.172 million, setting a new box office record for a single show in Las Vegas, and breaking the record previously held by Jennifer Lopez.", "Performances of \"Toxic\" and \"Work Bitch\" were recorded on earlier dates and aired on ABC's ''Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' to a record audience of 25.6 million.In January 2018, Spears released her 24th perfume with Elizabeth Arden, Sunset Fantasy, and announced the Piece of Me Tour which took place in July 2018 in North America and Europe.", "Tickets were sold out within minutes for major cities, and additional dates were added to meet the demand.", "Pitbull was the supporting act for the European leg.", "The tour ranked at 86 and 30 on Pollstar's 2018 Year-End Top 100 Tours chart both in North America and worldwide, respectively.", "In total, the tour grossed $54.3 million with 260,531 tickets sold and was the sixth highest-grossing female tour of 2018, and was the United Kingdom's second best-selling female tour of 2018.On March 20, 2018, Spears was announced as part of a campaign for French luxury fashion house Kenzo.", "The company said it aimed to shake up the 'jungle' world of fashion with Spears's 'La Collection Memento No.", "2' campaign.", "On April 12, 2018, Spears was honored with the 2018 GLAAD Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for her role in \"accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community\".", "On April 27, 2018, Epic Rights announced a new partnership with Spears to debut her own fashion line in 2019, which would include clothing, fitness apparel, accessories, and electronics.In July 2018, Spears released her first unisex fragrance, Prerogative.", "On October 18, 2018, Spears announced her second Las Vegas residency show, Britney: Domination, which was set to launch at Park MGM's Park Theatre on February 13, 2019.Spears was slated to make $507,000 per show, which would have made her the highest paid act on the Las Vegas Strip.", "On October 21, 2018, Spears performed at the Formula One Grand Prix in Austin, the final performance of her Piece of Me Tour.===2019–2021: Conservatorship dispute, #FreeBritney, and abuse allegations===On January 4, 2019, Spears announced an indefinite hiatus and the cancellation of her Las Vegas residency after her father, Jamie, suffered a near-fatal colon rupture.", "In March 2019, Andrew Wallet resigned as co-conservator of her estate after 11 years.", "Spears entered a psychiatric facility amidst stress from her father's illness that same month.", "The following month, a fan podcast, ''Britney's Gram'', released a voicemail message from a source who claimed to be a former member of Spears's legal team.", "They alleged that Jamie had canceled the residency due to Spears's refusal to take her medication, that he had been holding her in the facility against her will since January 2019 after she violated a no-driving rule, and that her conservatorship was supposed to have ended in 2009.The allegations gave rise to a movement to terminate the conservatorship, #FreeBritney, which received support from celebrities including singers Cher, Paris Hilton, and Miley Cyrus, and the nonprofit organization American Civil Liberties Union.", "On April 22, 2019, fans protested outside the West Hollywood City Hall and demanded Spears's release.", "Spears said \"all was well\" two days later and left the facility later that month.The #FreeBritney movement in front of the Lincoln Memorial, 2021In a May 2019 hearing, Judge Brenda Penny ordered a professional evaluation of the conservatorship.", "In September, Spears's ex-husband Federline obtained a restraining order against Britney's father, Jamie, following an alleged physical altercation between Jamie and one of her sons.", "Spears's longtime care manager, Jodi Montgomery, temporarily replaced Jamie as her conservator that same month, which also saw a hearing where no decisions about the arrangement were reached.", "An interactive pop-up museum dedicated to Spears, dubbed \"The Zone\", opened in Los Angeles in February 2020, though it was later suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.", "She released ''Glory''s Japanese-exclusive bonus track, \"Mood Ring\" as a single, and debuted a new cover of the album to streaming and digital platforms worldwide in May 2020.In August, Jamie called the #FreeBritney movement \"a joke\" and its organizers \"conspiracy theorists\".On August 17, 2020, Spears's court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, submitted a court filing that documented Spears's desire to have her conservatorship altered to reflect her wishes as well as lifestyle, to instate Montgomery as her permanent conservator, and to replace Jamie with a fiduciary as conservator of her estate.", "Four days later, Penny extended the established arrangement until February 2021.In November 2020, Penny approved Bessemer Trust as co-conservator of Spears's estate alongside Jamie.", "The following month, Spears released a new deluxe edition of ''Glory'', which includes \"Mood Ring\" and new songs \"Swimming in the Stars\" and \"Matches\".A documentary about Spears's career and conservatorship, ''Framing Britney Spears'', premiered on FX in February 2021.Spears later revealed that she had seen parts of the documentary, stating that she felt humiliated by the perception of her that was presented and that she \"cried for two weeks\" following the initial broadcast.", "The following month, Ingham filed a petition to permanently replace Jamie with Montgomery as the conservator of Spears's person, citing a 2014 order that determined that Spears did not have the capacity to consent to medical treatment of any form.On June 22, 2021, shortly before Spears was set to speak to the court, ''The New York Times'' obtained confidential court documents stating that Spears had pushed for years to end her conservatorship.", "Spears spoke to the court on June 23, calling the conservatorship \"abusive\".", "She said she had lied by \"telling the whole world I'm OK and I'm happy\", and that she was traumatized and angry.", "The court statement received widespread media coverage and generated over 1 million shares on Twitter, over 500,000 messages using the tag #FreeBritney, and more than 150,000 messages with a new hashtag referencing the court appearance, #BritneySpeaks.On July 1, Bessemer Trust asked the judge to allow them to withdraw from the conservatorship, saying that they had been misled and had entered into the arrangement on the understanding that the conservatorship was voluntary.", "The same day, senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey Jr. called on federal agencies to increase oversight of the country's conservatorship systems.", "Spears's manager of 25 years, Larry Rudolph, resigned on July 6 due to her \"intention to officially retire\" and on that same day, it was reported that Ingham planned to file documents to the court asking to be dismissed.", "In a July 14 hearing, Judge Penny approved the resignations of Bessemer Trust and Ingham.", "The court also approved of Spears's request to hire attorney Mathew S. Rosengart to represent her.", "Rosengart informed the court that he would be working to terminate the conservatorship.", "Later that day, Spears publicly endorsed the #FreeBritney movement for the first time, using the hashtag in a caption on an Instagram post.", "She mentioned feeling \"blessed\" after earning \"real representation\", referring to Judge Penny's decision to allow her to choose her own counsel.On July 26, Rosengart filed a petition seeking to remove Jamie as conservator of Spears's estate and to replace him with Jason Rubin, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) at Certified Strategies Inc. in Woodland Hills, California.", "On August 12, Jamie agreed to step down as conservator at some future date, with his lawyers stating that he wanted \"an orderly transition to a new conservator\".", "On September 7, Jamie filed a petition to end the conservatorship.", "Five days later, Spears announced her engagement to her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, through an Instagram post.", "On September 29, Judge Penny suspended Jamie as conservator of Spears's estate, with accountant John Zabel replacing him on a temporary basis.", "On November 12, Judge Penny terminated the conservatorship.===2022–present: Third marriage, ''The Woman in Me'', and retirement from music===In April 2022, she announced her pregnancy with Asghari's child, which ended in a miscarriage the following month.", "The couple married on June 9 at her home in Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles.", "None of Spears's immediate family (including her parents, sister, and brother) were invited; her two sons did not attend.", "Spears's first husband, Jason Alexander, attempted to crash the wedding by breaking into her home, armed with a knife, but was arrested.", "Spears had a three-year restraining order against him.", "On August 26, Spears and English musician Elton John released the duet \"Hold Me Closer\", a remake of John's 1972 single \"Tiny Dancer\".", "It was Spears's first musical release since the termination of her conservatorship.", "\"Hold Me Closer\" debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming her 14th top-ten single and her highest-charting song in the chart since \"Scream & Shout\" (2012).", "It debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart, earning Spears her 24th top-ten.Since the termination of her conservatorship, Spears's personal life, social media presence, and overall well-being have been subject to renewed media interest and fan speculation, giving rise to conspiracy theories.", "On January 24, 2023, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office performed a welfare check at Spears's residence after receiving several calls from fans who were concerned after she deleted her Instagram account.", "A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department stated that Spears \"was safe and in no danger.\"", "Spears addressed the incident on her Twitter account, asking fans to respect her privacy.", "Spears and the rapper will.i.am released their single, \"Mind Your Business\", on July 21, 2023.On August 16, it was announced Spears and Asghari separated after 14 months of marriage.", "In September 2023, an additional welfare check was initiated when Spears posted an Instagram video of herself dancing with knives.", "Her security team assured the attending officer that there was no immediate threat to her safety, and the officer departed.", "Spears also clarified that the knives were not real.In February 2022, Spears signed a $15 million book deal for a memoir in one of the biggest book deals of all time.", "The memoir, ''The Woman in Me,'' was released on October 24, 2023.It details her rise to fame, public media events, her conservatorship, and her newfound freedom.", "In the United States, it sold 1.1 million copies, while worldwide it sold 2.4 million copies in print sales during its first week of release.", "In January 2024, reports circulated that Charli XCX and Julia Michaels had been asked to write songs for Spears, and ''Rolling Stone'' reported that \"management and A&R are trying to get her excited for the music\".", "Spears denied the reports, saying she would never return to the music industry.", "However, she also said that she had written more than 20 songs for other artists in the previous two years." ], [ "Artistry", "===Influences===Spears has cited Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston as major influences, her \"three favorite artists\" as a child, whom she would \"sing along to ... day and night in her living room\"; Houston's \"I Have Nothing\" was the song she auditioned to that landed her record deal with Jive Records.", "Spears also named Mariah Carey as \"one of the main reasons I started singing\".", "Throughout her career, Spears has drawn frequent comparisons to Madonna and Jackson in particular, in terms of vocals, choreography, and stage presence.", "According to Spears: \"I know when I was younger, I looked up to people ... like, you know, Janet Jackson and Madonna.", "And they were major inspirations for me.", "But I also had my own identity and I knew who I was.", "\"In the 2002 book ''Madonnastyle'' by Carol Clerk, she is quoted saying: \"I have been a huge fan of Madonna since I was a little girl.", "She's the person that I've really looked up to.", "I would really, really like to be a legend like Madonna.\"", "Spears cited \"That's the Way Love Goes\" as the inspiration for her song \"Touch of My Hand\" from her album ''In the Zone'', saying \"I like to compare it to 'That's the Way Love Goes,' kind of a Janet Jackson thing.\"", "She also said her song \"Just Luv Me\" from her ''Glory'' album also reminded her of \"That's the Way Love Goes\".After meeting Spears face to face, Janet Jackson stated: \"she said to me, 'I'm such a big fan; I really admire you.'", "That's so flattering.", "Everyone gets inspiration from some place.", "And it's awesome to see someone else coming up who's dancing and singing, and seeing how all these kids relate to her.", "A lot of people put it down, but what she does is a positive thing.\"", "Madonna said of Spears in the documentary ''Britney: For the Record'': \"I admire her talent as an artist ...", "There are aspects about her that I recognize in myself when I first started out in my career\".", "Spears has also named Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Otis Redding, Shania Twain, Brandy, Beyoncé, Natalie Imbruglia, Cher, and Prince as inspirations, and younger artists such as Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande.===Musical style===Spears is described as a pop artist and generally explores the genre in the form of Following her debut, she was credited with influencing the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s.", "Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote: \"Spears carries on the classic archetype of the rock & roll teen queen, the dungaree doll, the angel baby who just has to make a scene.\"", "In a review of ''...Baby One More Time'', Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described her music as a \"blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry.\"", "''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'' saw Spears working with several R&B producers to create \"a combination of bubblegum, urban soul, and raga\".", "Her third studio album, ''Britney'' derived from the teen pop niche \"rhythmically and melodically\", but was described as \"sharper, tougher than what came before\", incorporating genres such as R&B, disco, and funk.Spears has explored and heavily incorporated the genres of electropop and dance music in her records, as well as influences of urban and hip hop, which are most present on ''In the Zone'' and ''Blackout''.", "''In the Zone'' also experiments with Euro trance, reggae, and Middle Eastern music.", "''Femme Fatale'' and ''Britney Jean'' were also heavily influenced by electronic music genres.", "Spears's ninth studio album ''Glory'' is more eclectic and experimental than her previous released work.", "She commented that it \"took a lot of time ... it's really different ... there are like two or three songs that go in the direction of more urban that I've wanted to do for a long time now, and I just haven't really done that.", "\"''...Baby One More Time'' and ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'' address themes such as love and relationships from a teenager's point of view.", "Following the massive commercial success of her first two studio albums, Spears's team and producers wanted to maintain the formula that took her to the top of the charts.", "Spears, however, was no longer satisfied with the sound and themes covered on her records.", "She co-wrote five songs and choose each track's producer on her third studio album, ''Britney'', which lyrics address the subjects of reaching adulthood, sexuality, and self-discovery.", "Sex, dancing, freedom, and love continued to be Spears's music main subjects on her subsequent albums.", "Her fifth studio effort, ''Blackout'', also addresses issues such as fame and media scrutiny, including on the song \"Piece of Me\".Spears's music has also been noted for some catchphrases.", "The opening in her debut single \"...Baby One More Time\", \"Oh, baby baby\" is considered to be one of her signature lines and has been parodied in the media by various artists such as Nicole Scherzinger and Ariana Grande.", "It has been used in variating forms throughout her music, such as simply, \"baby\" and \"oh baby\", as well as the ''Blackout'' track, \"Ooh Ooh Baby\".", "On the initial development of \"...Baby One More Time\", Barry Weiss noted Spears's inception of the catchphrase from her strange ad-libbing during the recording of the song.", "He commented further, \"We thought it was really weird at first.", "It was strange.", "It was not the way Max wrote it.", "But it worked!", "We thought it could be a really good opening salvo for her.\"", "The opening line in \"Gimme More\", \"It's Britney, bitch\" has become another signature phrase.", "An early review of ''Blackout'' suggested the phrase was \"simply laughable\".", "Amy Roberts of ''Bustle'' called it \"an indelible cultural turning point, transforming a frenetic, floundering moment in the superstars career to one of strength and empowerment\".===Voice===Spears is a soprano.", "Other sources state that she possesses a contralto vocal range.", "Prior to her breakthrough success, she is described as having sung \"much deeper than her highly recognizable trademark voice of today\", with Eric Foster White, who worked with Spears on her debut album ''...Baby One More Time'', being cited as \"shaping her voice over the course of a month\" upon being signed to Jive Records \"to where it is today—distinctively, unmistakably Britney\".", "Rami Yacoub, who co-produced Spears's debut album with lyricist Max Martin, commented, \"I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing.", "With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice.", "When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice.", "\"Guy Blackman of ''The Age'' wrote that \"the thing about Spears, though, is that her biggest songs, no matter how committee-created or impossibly polished, have always been convincing because of her delivery, her commitment and her presence. ...", "Spears expresses perfectly the conflicting urges of adolescence, the tension between chastity and sexual experience, between hedonism and responsibility, between confidence and vulnerability.\"", "Producer William Orbit, who worked with Spears on her album ''Britney Jean'', stated regarding her vocals: \"Britney didn't get so big just because she put on great shows; she got to be that way because her voice is unique: you hear two words and you know who is singing\".Spears has also been criticized for her reliance on Auto-Tune and her vocals being \"over-processed\" on records.", "Erlewine criticized Spears's singing abilities in a review of her ''Blackout'' album, stating: \"Never the greatest vocalist, her thin squawk could be dismissed early in her career as an adolescent learning the ropes, but nearly a decade later her singing hasn't gotten any better, even if the studio tools to masquerade her weaknesses have.\"", "Joan Anderman of ''The Boston Globe'' remarked that \"Spears sounds robotic, nearly inhuman, on her records, so processed is her voice by digital pitch-shifters and synthesizers.", "\"Kayla Upadhyaya of ''The Michigan Daily'' has provided a different point of view, stating: \"Auto-tuned and over-processed vocals define Spears's voice as an artist, and in her music, auto-tune isn't so much a gimmick as it is an instrument used to highlight, contort and make a statement.\"", "Adam Markovitz of ''Entertainment Weekly'' opines that \"Spears is no technical singer, that's for sure.", "But backed by Martin and Dr. Luke's wall of pound, her vocals melt into a mix of babytalk coo and coital panting that is, in its own overprocessed way, just as iconic and propulsive as Michael Jackson's yips or Eminem's snarls.", "\"===Stage performances and videos===Spears performing on The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour in 2009Spears is known for her stage performances, particularly the elaborate dance routines which incorporate \"belly-dancing and tempered erotic moves\" that are credited with influencing \"dance-heavy acts\" such as Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls.", "''Rolling Stone'' readers voted Spears their second-favorite dancing musician.", "Spears is described as being much more shy than her stage persona suggests.", "She said that performing is \"a boost to her confidence.", "It's like an alter-ego type thing.", "Something clicks and I go and turn into this different person.", "I think it's kind of a gift to be able to do that.\"", "Her 2000, 2001, and 2003 MTV Video Music Awards performances were lauded, while her 2007 presentation was widely panned by critics, as she \"teetered through her dance steps and mouthed only occasional words\".", "''Billboard'' called her 2016 \"comeback\" performance at the show \"an effective, but not entirely glorious, bid to regain pop superstardom\".After her knee injuries and personal problems, Spears's \"showmanship\" and dance abilities came under criticism.", "Serge F. Kovaleski of ''The New York Times'' watched her Las Vegas concert residency in 2016 and stated: \"Once a fluid, natural dancer, Ms. Spears can appear stiff, even robotic, today, relying on flailing arms and flashy sets.\"", "''Las Vegas Sun''s Robin Leach seemed more impressed over Spears's efforts on the concert by saying that she delivered a \"flawless performance\" on the residency's opening night.It has been widely reported that Spears lip-syncs during live performances, which often prompts criticism from music critics and concert goers.", "Some, however, claimed that, although she \"got plenty of digital support\", she \"doesn't merely lip-sync\" during her live shows.", "In 2016, Sabrina Weiss of Refinery29 referred to her lip-syncing as a \"well-known fact that's not even taboo anymore.\"", "Noting on the prevalence of lip-syncing, the ''Los Angeles Daily News'' opined: \"In the context of a Britney Spears concert, does it really matter? ...", "you just go for the somewhat-ridiculous spectacle of it all\".", "Spears herself has commented on the topic, arguing: \"Because I'm dancing so much, I do have a little bit of playback, but there's a mixture of my voice and the playback. ...", "It really pisses me off because I'm busting my ass out there and singing at the same time and nobody ever gives me credit for it\".In 2012, VH1 ranked Spears as the fourth Greatest Woman of the Video Era, while ''Billboard'' ranked her as the eight Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, explaining: \"The storylines, the dancing, the ''outfits''.", "Right from the start, the pop princess established the lengths of her creativity with some of the most memorable videos of the last three decades.\"", "She has been retroactively noted as the pioneer for her early career videography.", "She conceptualized the \"iconic Catholic schoolgirl and cheerleader motif\" in the \"...Baby One More Time\" video, rejecting the animation video idea.", "She also made the \"Oops!...", "I Did It Again\" video \"dance-centric rather than space-centric as her producers suggested\".", "She also used her dancer's intuition to help select the beats for each track." ], [ "Public image", "Wax figure of Spears on display at Madame Tussauds in LondonUpon launching her music career with ''...Baby One More Time'', Spears was labeled a teen idol, and ''Rolling Stone'' described her as \"the latest model of a classic product: the unneurotic pop star who performs her duties with vaudevillian pluck and spokesmodel charm.\"", "The April 1999 cover of ''Rolling Stone'' featured Spears lying on her bed, wearing an open top revealing her bra, and shorts, while clutching a Teletubby.", "The American Family Association (AFA) referred to the shoot as \"a disturbing mix of childhood innocence and adult sexuality\" and called on \"God-loving Americans to boycott stores selling Britney's albums.\"", "Spears addressed the outcry, commenting: \"What's the big deal?", "I have strong morals. ...", "I'd do it again.", "I thought the pictures were fine.", "And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time.\"", "Shortly prior, Spears had announced publicly she would remain abstinent until marriage.An early criticism of Spears dismissed her as a \"manufactured pop star, the product of a Swedish songwriting factory that had no real hand in either her music or her persona\", which ''Vox'' editor Constance Grady assesses as being perpetuated from the fact that Spears debuted in the late 1990s, when music was dominated by rockism, that prizes \"so-called authenticity and grittiness of rock above all else\".", "Spears's \"slick, breezy pop was an affront to rockist sensibilities, and claiming that Spears was fake was an easy way to dismiss her.\"", "Ron Levy for ''Rolling Stone'' noted that \"I have to tell you, if the record company could have created more than one Britney Spears, they would have done it, and they tried!", "\"''Billboard'' opined that, by the time Spears released her sophomore album ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'', \"There was a shift occurring in both the music and her public image: She was sharper, sexier and singing about more grown-up fare, setting the stage for 2001's ''Britney'', which shed her innocent skin and ushered her into adulthood.\"", "''Britney''s lead single \"I'm a Slave 4 U\" and its music video were also credited for distancing her from her previous \"wholesome bubblegum star\" image.", "Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic remarked, \"If 2001's ''Britney'' was a transitional album, capturing Spears at the point when she wasn't a girl and not yet a woman, its 2003 follow-up, ''In the Zone'', is where she has finally completed that journey and turned into Britney, the Adult Woman.\"", "Erlewine likened Spears to fellow singer Christina Aguilera, explaining that both equated \"maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs\".", "Brittany Spanos of ''LA Weekly'' stated that Spears \"set the bar for the 'adulthood' transition teen pop stars often struggle with\".Spears's erratic behavior and personal problems during 2006–2008 were highly publicized and affected both her career and public image.", "Erlewine reflected on this period of her life, stating that \"each new disaster was stripping away any residual sexiness in her public image\".", "In a 2008 article, ''Rolling Stone''s Vanessa Grigoriadis described her much-publicized personal issues as \"the most public downfall of any star in history\".", "Spears later received favorable media attention; ''Billboard'' wrote that her appearance at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards \"was a picture of professionalism and poise\" after her \"disastrous\" performance the previous year, while ''Business Insider'' ran an article on how she had \"lost control of her life ... and then made an incredible career comeback\".", "In 2017, Spears said: \"I think I had to give myself more breaks through my career and take responsibility for my mental health. ...", "I wrote back then, that I was lost and didn't know what to do with myself.", "I was trying to please everyone around me because that's who I am deep inside.", "There are moments where I look back and think: 'What the hell was I thinking?", "'\"In September 2002, Spears was placed at number eight on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists list.", "She was placed at number one on ''FHM''s 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2004, and, in December 2012, ''Complex'' ranked her 12th on its 100 Hottest Female Singers of All Time list.", "Remarking upon her perceived image as a sex symbol, Spears stated: \"When I'm on stage, that's my time to do my thing and go there and be that and it's fun.", "It's exhilarating just to be something that you're not.", "And people tend to believe it.\"", "In 2003, ''People'' cited her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People.Spears is recognized as a gay icon and received the 2018 GLAAD Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for her role in \"accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community\".", "She addressed the \"unwavering loyalty\" and \"lack of judgment\" of her LGBTQ fans in ''Billboard''s Love Letters to the LGBTQ Community.", "She said: \"Your stories are what inspire me, bring me joy, and make me and my sons strive to be better people.\"", "Manuel Betancourt of ''Vice'' wrote about the \"queer adoration\", especially of gay men, on Spears, and said that \"Where other gay icons exude self-possession, Spears' fragile resilience has made her an even more fascinating role model, closer to Judy Garland than to Lady Gaga ... she's a glittering mirror ball, a fractured reflection of those men on the dance floor back onto themselves.\"", "''HuffPost''s Ben Appel attributed Spears's status as a gay icon to \"her oh-so-innocent/\"not that innocent\" Monroe-like sensuality, her sweet, almost saccharine nature, her beyond basic but addictive pop songs, her dance moves, her phoenix-out-of-the-fire comeback from a series of mental health crises, and her unmistakable tenderness.", "Britney is camp.", "She is a fashion plate.", "A doll.", "Britney is a drag queen.", "\"Since her early years in the public eye, Spears has been a tabloid fixture and a paparazzi target.", "Steve Huey of AllMusic remarked that \"among female singers of Spears's era ... her celebrity star power was rivaled only by Jennifer Lopez.\"", "'Britney Spears' was Yahoo!", "'s most popular search term between 2005 and 2008, and has been in a total of seven different years.", "Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the ''Guinness World Records'' book edition 2007 and 2009.She was later named as the most searched person of the decade 2000–2009.As a public figure, Spears \"has never been known to her fans as a politically active, committed—or even aware—entertainer.\"", "In a 2003 interview with Tucker Carlson, she commented on President George W. Bush and the Iraq War, saying that \"we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes ... and be faithful in what happens\".", "Michael Moore included the footage of Spears's answer in his \"anti-Bush\" documentary ''Fahrenheit 9/11'', which, according to ''The Washington Times''s James Frazier, presented her \"as an example of a naive American blindly trusting a dishonest commander in chief\" and fueled the \"urban legend\" of a \"conservative\" Spears.", "Frazier also said that \"the few positions she has taken can hardly be considered conservative\", such as supporting same-sex marriage.", "In 2016, Spears posted pictures of a meeting with Hillary Clinton on social media.", "She described Clinton as \"an inspiration and a beautiful voice for women around the world\".In December 2017, Spears publicly showed support for the DREAM Act in the wake of the announcement that Donald Trump would end the DACA policy, which previously granted undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation.", "She posted a photo of herself on social media wearing a black T-shirt that reads \"We Are All Dreamers\" in white letters.", "The caption read, \"Tell Congress to pass the #DreamAct\".In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Spears posted an image on Instagram and wrote: \"During this time of isolation ... We will feed each other, redistribute wealth, strike.", "We will understand our own importance from the places we must stay\", along with three emoji roses, \"a symbol commonly used by the Democratic Socialists of America\".", "She later voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd protests in the wake of his murder, saying: \"My heart breaks for my friends in the black community ... and for everything going on in our country.", "Right now I think we should all do what we can to listen, learn, do better, and use our voices for good.", "\"On September 15, 2021, Spears was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 by ''Time.''", "A few days before the editors's list was released, Spears was put at the top of the readers voting list of which personalities should be included on the annual ''Time'' 100 list.", "Deemed an icon of 2021, editors highlighted the impact of her fight against her conservatorship as well as of the #FreeBritney movement.", "In October 2021, Spears thanked her fans and the #FreeBritney movement for \"freeing me from my conservatorship\"." ], [ "Legacy", "Referred to as the \"Princess of Pop\", Spears was credited as one of the \"driving forces behind the return of teen pop in the late 1990s\".", "''Rolling Stone''s Stacy Lambe explained that she \"helped to usher in a new era for the genre that had gone dormant in the decade that followed New Kids on the Block. ...", "Spears would lead an army of pop stars ... built on slick Max Martin productions, plenty of sexual innuendo and dance-heavy performances.", "She became one of the most successful artists of all time—and a cautionary tale for a generation, whether they paid attention or not.\"", "In a 2021 article for ''Time'', Maura Johnston opined that \"Spears' legacy as a pop artist is complex, made up of dazzling musical heights and music-business-borne lows\".", "Johnston also commented: \"While Spears' catalog is part of the canon that defines the first 20 years of this millennium, one hopes that her public struggles, and the strength she's shown while enduring them, will lead to her cementing her true legacy: Reshaping the machine that turns those songs into cultural touchstones.", "\"''Glamour'' contributor Christopher Rosa described her as \"one of pop music's defining voices. ...", "When she emerged onto the scene in 1998 with ''...Baby One More Time'', the world hadn't seen a performer like her.", "Not since Madonna had a female artist affected the genre so profoundly.\"", "''Billboard''s Robert Kelly observed that Spears's \"sexy and coy\" vocals on her debut single \"...Baby One More Time\" \"kicked off a new era of pop vocal stylings that would influence countless artists to come.\"", "In 2020, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song at number one on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time and Rob Sheffield described it as \"One of those pop manifestos that announces a new sound, a new era, a new century.", "But most of all, a new star ... With \"...Baby One More Time\", Spears changed the sound of pop forever: It's Britney, bitch.", "Nothing was ever the same.", "\"Spears was at the forefront of the female teen pop explosion starting in 1999 and extending through the 2000s, leading the pack of Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore.", "All of these performers had been developing material in 1998, but the market changed dramatically in December 1998 when Spears's single and video were charting highly.", "RCA Records quickly signed Aguilera and released her debut single to capitalize on Spears's success, producing her debut hit single \"Genie in a Bottle\".", "Simpson consciously modeled her persona as more mature than Spears; her \"I Wanna Love You Forever\" charted in September 1999, and her album ''Sweet Kisses'' followed shortly after.", "Moore's first single, \"Candy\", hit the airwaves a month before Simpson's single, but it did not perform as well on the charts; Moore was often seen as less accomplished than Spears and the others, coming in fourth of the \"pop princesses\".", "Fueling media stories about their competition for first place, Spears and Aguilera traded barbs but also compliments through the 2000s.Alim Kheraj of ''Dazed'' called Spears \"one of pop's most important pioneers\".", "After eighteen years as a performer, ''Billboard'' described her as having \"earned her title as one of pop's reigning queens.", "Since her early days as a Mouseketeer, Spears has pushed the boundaries of 21st century sounds, paving the way for a generation of artists to shamelessly embrace glossy pop and redefine how one can accrue consistent success in the music industry.\"", "''Entertainment Weekly''s Adam Markovitz described Spears as \"an American institution, as deeply sacred and messed up as pro wrestling or the filibuster.\"", "In 2012, she was ranked as the fourth VH1's 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era show list.", "VH1 also cited her among its choices on the 100 Greatest Women in Music in 2012 and the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons in 2003.In 2020, ''Billboard'' ranked her eight on its 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of all-time list.Spears and her work have influenced various artists including Katy Perry, Meghan Trainor, Demi Lovato, Kelly Key, Kristinia DeBarge, Little Boots, Charli XCX, Marina Diamandis, the Weeknd, Tegan and Sara, Pixie Lott, Grimes, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld, Pabllo Vittar, Tinashe, Victoria Justice, Cassie, Leah Wellbaum of Slothrust, the Saturdays, Normani, Miley Cyrus, Cheryl, Lana Del Rey, Ava Max, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, and Rina Sawayama.", "During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga said that Spears \"taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her.\"", "Gaga has also cited Spears as an influence, calling her \"the most provocative performer of my time.", "\"Before Spears joined ''The X Factor'', Simon Cowell explained that he is \"fascinated by Britney.", "The fact that she's one of the most talked about – not just pop stars – but people in the world today, means that you've got this star power. ...", "She's still hot, she's still having hit records and she's still controversial, there's a reason for that.\"", "Marina Diamandis named Spears as the main influence behind her album ''Electra Heart''.", "Lana Del Rey has said that the music video for \"Toxic\" inspires her.", "Spears has had a direct influence on singer Porcelain Black's work after growing up around her music as a child.", "Black describes her music as a \"love child between\" Spears and Marilyn Manson.", "Rita Ora's 2019 music video for \"Only Want You\" was inspired by Spears's \"Everytime\" music video, and said in a stories from Instagram, \"Hey @britneyspears this was for you because I love you so.", "Pay homage to the ones who inspire!", "#icon.", "\"Spears has been credited with redefining Las Vegas residencies as a retirement place for musicians.", "Her debut concert residency Britney: Piece of Me was described as \"the natural evolution of Celine Dion's powerhourse Vegas residency, a still-charting star of another generation redefining the role of Strip headliner.\"", "''Forbes'' named Spears the sixth-highest-earning female musician of 2015.\"", "She is credited with influencing and paving the way for other artists's residencies such as Jennifer Lopez's Jennifer Lopez: All I Have, Bruno Mars's Bruno Mars at Park MGM, and Backstreet Boys' Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life.", "The arrival of Spears \"saw the pop promoters finally tap into the younger crowd arriving in town for a good time.", "\"Spears's much-publicized personal problems and her subsequent career comeback have inspired some artists.", "Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the 2010 film ''Country Strong'' was inspired by Spears's treatment by the media.", "According to film director Shana Fest, \"that's where this movie came from.", "I mean, I was seeing what was happening in the media to Britney Spears.", "I think it's tragic how we treat people who give us so much, and we love to see them knocked down to build them back up again, to knock them down again.\"", "Nicki Minaj has cited Spears's comeback after her much-publicized personal issues as an inspiration.", "Spears's hounding by paparazzi and personal problems also inspired Barry Manilow's album ''15 Minutes''.", "Manilow said: \"She couldn't have a life without them pulling up next to her car and following her and driving her crazy to the point where, that was around the time she shaved off her hair. ...", "We all looked at it in horror ...", "So it seemed like a thing to be writing an album about.\"", "Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called \"Britney\", which was inspired by \"culture's make-or-break treatment of celebrities.", "\"In 2008, ''Salon'' published an article titled \"The Britney Economy\" describing how Spears is a driving force in music and fashion, stimulating consumer purchases and media coverage.", "Magazines, paparazzi, and record labels make millions of dollars, and Spears profits to a lesser degree.", "Along with Alicia Silverstone, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell, Spears has been credited with introducing the navel piercing to mainstream culture." ], [ "Achievements", "Spears's awards and accolades include a Grammy Award; 15 Guinness world records; six MTV Video Music Awards, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award; seven ''Billboard'' Music Awards, including the Millennium Award; the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award; the GLAAD Media Award's Vanguard Award; and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Spears is listed by the ''Guinness World Records'' as having the \"Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist\" for her debut studio album, ''...Baby One More Time'', which sold over 13 million copies in the United States.", "Melissa Ruggieri of the ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' reported: \"She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist.", "Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears had sold over 37 million albums worldwide\"., according to the ''Evening Standard'', Spears has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.", "She also sold more than 70 million records in United States, including 36.9 million digital singles and 33.6 million digital albums.", "Spears is further recognized as the best-selling female albums artist of the 2000s in the United States, as well as the fifth overall.", "In December 2009, ''Billboard'' ranked Spears the 8th Artist of the 2000s decade in the United States.", "She is one of the few artists in history to have had a number-one single and a number-one studio album in the US during each of the three decades of her career.", "With \"3\" in 2009 and \"Hold It Against Me\" in 2011, she became the second artist after Mariah Carey in the Hot 100's history to debut at number one with two or more songs.", "In 2016, Spears ranked at number twenty on ''Billboard''s Greatest Of All Time Top Dance Club Artists list." ], [ "Other ventures", "===Product and endorsements===Bottle of one of Spears's several perfumes, Curious, released through Elizabeth Arden, Inc.In 2000, Spears released a limited edition of sunglasses titled Shades of Britney.", "In 2001, she signed a deal with shoe company Skechers, and a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, their biggest entertainment deal at the time.", "Aside from numerous commercials with the latter during that year, she also appeared in a 2004 Pepsi television commercial in the theme of \"Gladiators\" with singers Beyoncé, Pink, and Enrique Iglesias.", "On June 19, 2002, she released her first multi-platform video game, ''Britney's Dance Beat'', which received positive reviews.In March 2009, Spears was announced as the new face of clothing brand Candie's.", "Dari Marder, chief marketing officer for the brand, said: \"Everybody loves a comeback and nobody's doing it better than Britney.", "She's just poised for even greater success.\"", "In 2010, Spears designed a limited edition line for the brand, which was released in stores in July 2010.In 2011, she teamed up with Sony, Make Up For Ever, and Plenty of Fish to release her music video for \"Hold It Against Me\", earning her $500,000 for the product placement.Spears also teamed up with Hasbro in 2012 to release an exclusive version of ''Twister Dance'', which includes a remix of \"Till the World Ends\".", "She was also featured on a commercial, which was directed by Ray Kay, to promote the game.", "Spears was also featured on the commercial of ''Twister Dance Rave'', and the game included a Twister remix of \"Circus\".", "In March 2018, it was revealed that Spears would be the face of Kenzo, a contemporary French luxury clothing house.Spears's range of commercial deals and products also includes beauty care products and perfumes.", "She released her first perfume with Elizabeth Arden, Curious in 2004, which broke the company's first-week gross for a perfume.", "By 2009, she had released seven more perfumes including Fantasy.", "In 2010, Spears released her eighth fragrance, Radiance.In 2011, Radiance was reissued as a new perfume titled Cosmic Radiance.", "Worldwide, Spears sold over one million bottles in the first five years, with gross receipts of $1.5 billion.", "In 2016, Spears contacted Glu Mobile to create her own role-playing game, ''Britney Spears: American Dream''.", "The app officially launched in May 2016 and is compatible with iOS and Android.", "On June 17, 2016, Spears announced the release of her twentieth fragrance, Private Show.", ", Spears has released 24 fragrances through Elizabeth Arden.===Philanthropy===Spears founded The Britney Spears Foundation, a charitable entity set up to help children in need.", "The philosophy behind the Foundation was that music and entertainment has a healing quality that can benefit children.", "The Foundation also supported the annual Britney Spears Camp for the Performing Arts, where campers had the opportunity to explore and develop their talents.", "In April 2002, through the efforts of Spears and The Britney Spears Foundation, a grant of $1 million was made to the Twin Towers Fund to support the children of uniformed service heroes affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, including New York City Fire Department and its Emergency Medical Services Command, the New York City Police Department, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Office of court Administration and other government offices.", "However, it was reported in 2008 that the Foundation had a deficit of $200,000.After Spears went through conservatorship, her father and lawyer Andrew Wallet zeroed out the effort, leading to its closure in 2011.On October 30, 2001, Spears, alongside Bono and other popular recording artists under the name \"Artists Against AIDS Worldwide\", released an album consisting of multiple versions of Marvin Gaye's \"What's Going On\", with the intention to benefit AIDS programs in Africa and other impoverished regions.", "In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Spears donated $350,000 to Music Rising.", "Later in 2011, she raised $200,000 during An Evening of Southern Style at a private residence in Beverly Hills to benefit the St. Bernard Project, with the help of several celebrities, including Hilary Duff, Selena Gomez, Kelly Osbourne, Kellan Lutz, and Kim Kardashian.", "Spears has also helped several charities during her career, including Madonna's Kabbalah-based Spirituality for Kids, cancer charity Gilda's Club Worldwide, Promises Foundation, and United Way, with the latter two focused on giving families from various disadvantaged situations new hope and stable foundations for the future.On October 24, 2015, Spears donated $120,000 to the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.", "In addition, $1 of each ticket sale for her Las Vegas residency, Britney: Piece of Me, was donated to the nonprofit organization.", "Spears also fundraised for the charity through social media, in addition to selling limited edition merchandise, with all proceeds going to the NCCF.", "On October 27, 2016, Spears partnered with Zappos and XCYCLE to host the ''Britney Spears Piece of Me Charity Ride'' in Boca Park, Las Vegas to raise additional money toward her goal of $1 million for the NCCF, with $450,000 having already been raised from Spears's ticket sales and merchandise.", "Participants were entered for a chance to win a spin class with Spears herself.", "The event ultimately went on to raise $553,130.The fundraising ultimately led to the development of the NCCF Britney Spears Campus in Las Vegas, which saw its grand opening on November 4, 2017.Spears also regularly participates in Spirit Day to combat bullying of LGBTQ youth and bullying.In March 2020, Spears was participating in the #DoYourPartChallenge, which entails helping people with anything they might need during the COVID-19 pandemic.", "She told fans to send her messages on Instagram if they need supportive words during the coronavirus pandemic, with Spears picking three fans." ], [ "Discography", "* ''...Baby One More Time'' (1999)* ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'' (2000)* ''Britney'' (2001)* ''In the Zone'' (2003)* ''Blackout'' (2007)* ''Circus'' (2008)* ''Femme Fatale'' (2011)* ''Britney Jean'' (2013)* ''Glory'' (2016)" ], [ "Filmography", "* ''Longshot'' (2001)* ''Crossroads'' (2002)* ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002)* ''Pauly Shore Is Dead'' (2003)* ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' (2004)* ''Corporate Animals'' (2019)" ], [ "Concerts and residencies", "===Tours===* ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999)* (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour (2000)* Oops!...", "I Did It Again Tour (2000)* Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001–2002)* The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004)* The M+M's Tour (2007)* The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009)* Femme Fatale Tour (2011)* Britney: Live in Concert (2017)* Piece of Me Tour (2018)===Residencies===* Britney: Piece of Me (2013–2017)" ], [ "Published works", "* ''Heart to Heart'' (2000)* ''A Mother's Gift'' (2001)* ''Crossroads Diary'' (2002)* ''The Woman in Me'' (2023)" ], [ "See also", "* Artists with the most number-one European singles* ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100* List of artists who reached number one in the United States* List of best-selling singles* List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones* List of dancers* List of highest-certified music artists in the United States* List of most expensive music videos* List of most-followed Twitter accounts* ''Time'' 100" ], [ "References", "===Citations======Book sources===* * * * Dennis, Steve (2009).", "''Britney: Inside the Dream''.", "HarperCollins.", ".", "* * * * * Peters, Beth (1999).", "''True Brit: The Story of Singing Sensation Britney Spears''.", "Ballantine Books.", ".", "* Scott, Kieran (2001).", "''I was a Mouseketeer!''.", "Disney Press.", ".", "* * Smith, Sean (2006).", "''Britney: The Unauthorized Biography of Britney Spears''.", "Pan Macmillan.", ".", "* Spears, Britney (2001).", "''A Mother's Gift''.", "Delacorte Books for Young Readers.", ".", "(with Lynne Spears).", "* Spears, Britney (2000).", "''Britney Spears' Heart to Heart''.", "Three Rivers Press.", ".", "(with Lynne Spears).", "* * Stevens, Amanda (2001).", "''Britney Spears: The Illustrated Story''.", "Billboard Books.", "." ], [ "External links", "* *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Brazil''' (; ), officially the '''Federative Republic of Brazil''' (Portuguese: ), is the largest and easternmost country in South America and in Latin America.", "Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous.", "Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo.", "The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District.", "It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language.", "It is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world, and the most populous Roman Catholic-majority country.Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of .", "It borders all other countries and territories in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers roughly half of the continent's land area.", "Its Amazon basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats.", "This unique environmental heritage positions Brazil at number one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest, as environmental degradation through processes like deforestation has direct impacts on global issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.The territory which would become known as Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the discovered land for the Portuguese Empire.", "Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.", "In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.", "Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system.", "The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress.", "Slavery was abolished in 1888.The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état.", "An authoritarian military dictatorship emerged in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed.", "Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic.", "Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.Brazil is a regional and middle power that is an emerging power and a major non-NATO ally of the United States.", "Categorised as a developing country with a high Human Development Index, Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy, having the ninth largest GDP in the world by nominal, and eighth by PPP measures, the largest in Latin America.", "As an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country, Brazil has the largest share of global wealth in South America and it is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.", "However, the country retains noticeable corruption, crime and social inequality.", "Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, G4, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.", "Brazil is also an observer state of the Arab League." ], [ "Etymology", "The word \"Brazil\" likely comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast.", "In Portuguese, brazilwood is called ''pau-brasil'', with the word ''brasil'' commonly given the etymology \"red like an ember\", formed from ''brasa'' (\"ember\") and the suffix ''-il'' (from ''-iculum'' or ''-ilium'').", "As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was highly valued by the European textile industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil.", "Throughout the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples (mostly Tupi) along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders (mostly Portuguese, but also French) in return for assorted European consumer goods.The official Portuguese name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the \"Land of the Holy Cross\" (''Terra da Santa Cruz''), but European sailors and merchants commonly called it the \"Land of Brazil\" (''Terra do Brasil'') because of the brazilwood trade.", "The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name.", "Some early sailors called it the \"Land of Parrots\".In the Guaraní language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called \"Pindorama\", meaning \"land of the palm trees\"." ], [ "History", "=== Pre-Cabraline era ===Rock art at Serra da Capivara National Park, one of the largest and oldest concentrations of prehistoric sites in the AmericasSome of the earliest human remains found in the Americas, Luzia Woman, were found in the area of Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais and provide evidence of human habitation going back at least 11,000 years.", "The earliest pottery ever found in the Western Hemisphere was excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil and radiocarbon dated to 8,000 years ago (6000 BC).", "The pottery was found near Santarém and provides evidence that the region supported a complex prehistoric culture.", "The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó in the Amazon delta from AD 400 to 1400, developing sophisticated pottery, social stratification, large populations, mound building, and complex social formations such as chiefdoms.Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil had an estimated indigenous population of 7 million people, mostly semi-nomadic, who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture.", "The population comprised several large indigenous ethnic groups (e.g., the Tupis, Guaranis, Gês, and Arawaks).", "The Tupi people were subdivided into the Tupiniquins and Tupinambás.Before the arrival of the Europeans, the boundaries between these groups and their subgroups were marked by wars that arose from differences in culture, language and moral beliefs.", "These wars also involved large-scale military actions on land and water, with cannibalistic rituals on prisoners of war.", "While heredity had some weight, leadership was a status more won over time than assigned in succession ceremonies and conventions.", "Slavery among the indigenous groups had a different meaning than it had for Europeans, since it originated from a diverse socioeconomic organization, in which asymmetries were translated into kinship relations.=== Portuguese colonization ===Following the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, the land now called Brazil was claimed for the Portuguese Empire on 22 April 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral.", "The Portuguese encountered indigenous peoples divided into several ethnic societies, most of whom spoke languages of the Tupi–Guarani family and fought among themselves.", "Though the first settlement was founded in 1532, colonization effectively began in 1534, when King John III of Portugal divided the territory into the fifteen private and autonomous captaincies.However, the decentralized and unorganized tendencies of the captaincies proved problematic, and in 1549 the Portuguese king restructured them into the Governorate General of Brazil in the city of Salvador, which became the capital of a single and centralized Portuguese colony in South America.", "In the first two centuries of colonization, Indigenous and European groups lived in constant war, establishing opportunistic alliances in order to gain advantages against each other.By the mid-16th century, cane sugar had become Brazil's most important export, while slaves purchased in Sub-Saharan Africa in the slave market of Western Africa (not only those from Portuguese allies of their colonies in Angola and Mozambique), had become its largest import, to cope with sugarcane plantations, due to increasing international demand for Brazilian sugar.", "Brazil received more than 2.8 million slaves from Africa between the years 1500 and 1800.By the end of the 17th century, sugarcane exports began to decline and the discovery of gold by bandeirantes in the 1690s would become the new backbone of the colony's economy, fostering a gold rush which attracted thousands of new settlers to Brazil from Portugal and all Portuguese colonies around the world.", "This increased level of immigration in turn caused some conflicts between newcomers and old settlers.Portuguese expeditions known as ''bandeiras'' gradually expanded Brazil's original colonial frontiers in South America to its approximately current borders.", "In this era other European powers tried to colonize parts of Brazil, in incursions that the Portuguese had to fight, notably the French in Rio during the 1560s, in Maranhão during the 1610s, and the Dutch in Bahia and Pernambuco, during the Dutch–Portuguese War, after the end of Iberian Union.The Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil had two objectives that would ensure colonial order and the monopoly of Portugal's wealthiest and largest colony: to keep under control and eradicate all forms of slave rebellion and resistance, such as the Quilombo of Palmares, and to repress all movements for autonomy or independence, such as the Minas Gerais Conspiracy.=== Elevation to kingdom ===King João VI of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in Rio de Janeiro, 6 February 1818In late 1807, Spanish and Napoleonic forces threatened the security of continental Portugal, causing Prince Regent John, in the name of Queen Maria I, to move the royal court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.", "There they established some of Brazil's first financial institutions, such as its local stock exchanges and its National Bank, additionally ending the Portuguese monopoly on Brazilian trade and opening Brazil's ports to other nations.", "In 1809, in retaliation for being forced into exile, the Prince Regent ordered the conquest of French Guiana.With the end of the Peninsular War in 1814, the courts of Europe demanded that Queen Maria I and Prince Regent John return to Portugal, deeming it unfit for the head of an ancient European monarchy to reside in a colony.", "In 1815, to justify continuing to live in Brazil, where the royal court had thrived for six years, the Crown established the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, thus creating a pluricontinental transatlantic monarchic state.", "However, the leadership in Portugal, resentful of the new status of its larger colony, continued to demand the return of the court to Lisbon (see Liberal Revolution of 1820).", "In 1821, acceding to the demands of revolutionaries who had taken the city of Porto, John VI departed for Lisbon.", "There he swore an oath to the new constitution, leaving his son, Prince Pedro de Alcântara, as Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil.=== Independent empire ===Brazilian independence by Pedro I on 7 September 1822Tensions between Portuguese and Brazilians increased and the Portuguese Cortes, guided by the new political regime imposed by the Liberal Revolution, tried to re-establish Brazil as a colony.", "The Brazilians refused to yield, and Prince Pedro decided to stand with them, declaring the country's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822.A month later, Prince Pedro was declared the first Emperor of Brazil, with the royal title of Dom Pedro I, resulting in the founding of the Empire of Brazil.The Brazilian War of Independence, which had already begun along this process, spread through the northern, northeastern regions and in the Cisplatina province.", "The last Portuguese soldiers surrendered on 8 March 1824; Portugal officially recognized Brazilian independence on 29 August 1825.On 7 April 1831, worn down by years of administrative turmoil and political dissent with both liberal and conservative sides of politics, including an attempt of republican secession and unreconciled to the way that absolutists in Portugal had given in the succession of King John VI, Pedro I departed for Portugal to reclaim his daughter's crown after abdicating the Brazilian throne in favor of his five-year-old son and heir (Dom Pedro II).Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil between 1831 and 1889As the new Emperor could not exert his constitutional powers until he came of age, a regency was set up by the National Assembly.", "In the absence of a charismatic figure who could represent a moderate face of power, during this period a series of localized rebellions took place, such as the Cabanagem in Grão-Pará, the Malê Revolt in Salvador, the Balaiada (Maranhão), the Sabinada (Bahia), and the Ragamuffin War, which began in Rio Grande do Sul and was supported by Giuseppe Garibaldi.", "These emerged from the provinces' dissatisfaction with the central power, coupled with old and latent social tensions peculiar to a vast, slaveholding and newly independent nation state.", "This period of internal political and social upheaval, which included the Praieira revolt in Pernambuco, was overcome only at the end of the 1840s, years after the end of the regency, which occurred with the premature coronation of Pedro II in 1841.During the last phase of the monarchy, internal political debate centered on the issue of slavery.", "The Atlantic slave trade was abandoned in 1850, as a result of the British Aberdeen Act and the Eusébio de Queirós Law, but only in May 1888, after a long process of internal mobilization and debate for an ethical and legal dismantling of slavery in the country, was the institution formally abolished with the approval of the Golden Law.The foreign-affairs policies of the monarchy dealt with issues with the countries of the Southern Cone with whom Brazil had borders.", "Long after the Cisplatine War that resulted in the independence of Uruguay, Brazil won three international wars during the 58-year reign of Pedro II: the Platine War, the Uruguayan War and the devastating Paraguayan War, the largest war effort in Brazilian history.Although there was no desire among the majority of Brazilians to change the country's form of government, on 15 November 1889, in disagreement with the majority of the Imperial Army officers, as well as with rural and financial elites (for different reasons), the monarchy was overthrown by a military coup.", "A few days later, the national flag was replaced with a new design that included the national motto \"''Ordem e Progresso''\", influenced by positivism.", "15 November is now Republic Day, a national holiday.=== Early republic ===The early republican government was a military dictatorship, with the army dominating affairs both in Rio de Janeiro and in the states.", "Freedom of the press disappeared and elections were controlled by those in power.", "Not until 1894, following an economic crisis and a military one, did civilians take power, remaining there until October 1930.If in relation to its foreign policy, the country in this first republican period maintained a relative balance characterized by a success in resolving border disputes with neighboring countries, only broken by the Acre War (1899–1902) and its involvement in World War I (1914–1918), followed by a failed attempt to exert a prominent role in the League of Nations; Internally, from the crisis of ''Encilhamento'' and the Navy Revolts, a prolonged cycle of financial, political and social instability began until the 1920s, keeping the country besieged by various rebellions, both civilian and military.Little by little, a cycle of general instability sparked by these crises undermined the regime to such an extent that in the wake of the murder of his running mate, the defeated opposition presidential candidate Getúlio Vargas, supported by most of the military, successfully led the Revolution of 1930.Vargas and the military were supposed to assume power temporarily, but instead closed down Congress, extinguished the Constitution, ruled with emergency powers and replaced the states' governors with his own supporters.In the 1930s, three attempts to remove Vargas and his supporters from power failed.", "The first was the Constitutionalist Revolution in 1932, led by the São Paulo's oligarchy.", "The second was a Communist uprising in November 1935, and the last one a ''putsch'' attempt by local fascists in May 1938.The 1935 uprising created a security crisis in which Congress transferred more power to the executive branch.", "The 1937 ''coup d'état'' resulted in the cancellation of the 1938 election and formalized Vargas as dictator, beginning the Estado Novo era.", "During this period, government brutality and censorship of the press increased.During World War II, Brazil remained neutral until August 1942, when the country suffered retaliation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in a strategic dispute over the South Atlantic, and, therefore, entered the war on the allied side.", "In addition to its participation in the battle of the Atlantic, Brazil also sent an expeditionary force to fight in the Italian campaign.With the Allied victory in 1945 and the end of the fascist regimes in Europe, Vargas's position became unsustainable, and he was swiftly overthrown in another military coup, with democracy \"reinstated\" by the same army that had ended it 15 years earlier.", "Vargas committed suicide in August 1954 amid a political crisis, after having returned to power by election in 1950.=== Contemporary era ===National Congress building in Brasília, 1959, during the JK administrationSeveral brief interim governments followed Vargas's suicide.", "Juscelino Kubitschek became president in 1956 and assumed a conciliatory posture towards the political opposition that allowed him to govern without major crises.", "The economy and industrial sector grew remarkably, but his greatest achievement was the construction of the new capital city of Brasília, inaugurated in 1960.Kubitschek's successor, Jânio Quadros, resigned in 1961 less than a year after taking office.", "His vice-president, João Goulart, assumed the presidency, but aroused strong political opposition and was deposed in April 1964 by a coup that resulted in a military dictatorship.M41s along the Avenida Presidente Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, in April 1968, during the military dictatorshipThe new regime was intended to be transitory but gradually closed in on itself and became a full dictatorship with the promulgation of the Fifth Institutional Act in 1968.Oppression was not limited to those who resorted to guerrilla tactics to fight the regime, but also reached institutional opponents, artists, journalists and other members of civil society, inside and outside the country through the infamous \"Operation Condor\".", "Like other brutal authoritarian regimes, due to an economic boom, known as the \"economic miracle\", the regime reached a peak in popularity in the early 1970s.", "Slowly, however, the wear and tear of years of dictatorial power that had not slowed the repression, even after the defeat of the leftist guerrillas.", "The inability to deal with the economic crises of the period and popular pressure made an opening policy inevitable, which from the regime side was led by Generals Ernesto Geisel and Golbery do Couto e Silva.", "With the enactment of the Amnesty Law in 1979, Brazil began a slow return to democracy, which was completed during the 1980s.Ulysses Guimarães holding the Constitution of 1988Civilians returned to power in 1985 when José Sarney assumed the presidency.", "He became unpopular during his tenure through failure to control the economic crisis and hyperinflation he inherited from the military regime.", "Sarney's unsuccessful government led to the election in 1989 of the almost-unknown Fernando Collor, who was subsequently impeached by the National Congress in 1992.Collor was succeeded by his vice-president, Itamar Franco, who appointed Fernando Henrique Cardoso Minister of Finance.", "In 1994, Cardoso produced a highly successful Plano Real, that, after decades of failed economic plans made by previous governments attempting to curb hyperinflation, finally stabilized the Brazilian economy.", "Cardoso won the 1994 election, and again in 1998.The peaceful transition of power from Cardoso to his main opposition leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006), was seen as proof that Brazil had achieved a long-sought political stability.", "However, sparked by indignation and frustrations accumulated over decades from corruption, police brutality, inefficiencies of the political establishment and public service, numerous peaceful protests erupted in Brazil from the middle of first term of Dilma Rousseff, who had succeeded Lula after winning election in 2010 and again in 2014 by narrow margins.Rousseff was impeached by the Brazilian Congress in 2016, halfway into her second term, and replaced by her Vice-president Michel Temer, who assumed full presidential powers after Rousseff's impeachment was accepted on 31 August.", "Large street protests for and against her took place during the impeachment process.", "The charges against her were fueled by political and economic crises along with evidence of involvement with politicians from all the primary political parties.", "In 2017, the Supreme Court requested the investigation of 71 Brazilian lawmakers and nine ministers of President Michel Temer's cabinet who were allegedly linked to the Petrobras corruption scandal.", "President Temer himself was also accused of corruption.", "According to a 2018 poll, 62% of the population said that corruption was Brazil's biggest problem.In the fiercely disputed 2018 elections, the controversial conservative candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) was elected president, winning in the second round Fernando Haddad, of the Workers Party (PT), with the support of 55.13% of the valid votes.", "In the early 2020s, Brazil became one of the hardest hit countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving the second-highest death toll worldwide after the United States.", "In May 2021, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that he would run for a third term in the 2022 Brazilian general election against Bolsonaro.", "On October 2022, Lula was in first place in first round, with 48.43% of the support from the electorate, and received 50.90% of the votes in the second round.", "On 8 January 2023, a week after Lula's inauguration, a mob of Bolsonaro's supporters attacked Brazil's federal government buildings in the capital, Brasília, after several weeks of unrest." ], [ "Geography", "Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French overseas region of French Guiana) to the north.", "It shares a border with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile.", "The brazilian territory also encompasses a number of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.", "Its size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse.", "Including its Atlantic islands, Brazil lies between latitudes 6°N and 34°S, and longitudes 28° and 74°W.Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of , including of water.", "North to South, Brazil is also the longest country in the world, spanning 4,395 km (2,731 mi) from north to south, and the only country in the world that has the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn running through it.", "It spans four time zones; from UTC−5 comprising the state of Acre and the westernmost portion of Amazonas, to UTC−4 in the western states, to UTC−3 in the eastern states (the national time) and UTC−2 in the Atlantic islands.=== Climate ===Brazil map of Köppen climate classification zonesThe climate of Brazil comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a large area and varied topography, but most of the country is tropical.", "According to the Köppen system, Brazil hosts six major climatic subtypes: desert, equatorial, tropical, semiarid, oceanic and subtropical.", "The different climatic conditions produce environments ranging from equatorial rainforests in the north and semiarid deserts in the northeast, to temperate coniferous forests in the south and tropical savannas in central Brazil.", "Many regions have starkly different microclimates.An equatorial climate characterizes much of northern Brazil.", "There is no real dry season, but there are some variations in the period of the year when most rain falls.", "Temperatures average , with more significant temperature variation between night and day than between seasons.", "Over central Brazil rainfall is more seasonal, characteristic of a savanna climate.", "This region is as extensive as the Amazon basin but has a very different climate as it lies farther south at a higher altitude.", "In the interior northeast, seasonal rainfall is even more extreme.", "South of Bahia, near the coasts, and more southerly most of the state of São Paulo, the distribution of rainfall changes, with rain falling throughout the year.", "The south enjoys subtropical conditions, with cool winters and average annual temperatures not exceeding ; winter frosts and snowfall are not rare in the highest areas.The semiarid climatic region generally receives less than of rain, most of which generally falls in a period of three to five months of the year and occasionally less than this, creating long periods of drought.", "Brazil's 1877–78 ''Grande Seca'' (Great Drought), the worst in Brazil's history, caused approximately half a million deaths.", "A similarly devastating drought occurred in 1915.In 2020 the government of Brazil pledged to reduce its annual greenhouse gases emissions by 43% by 2030.It also set as indicative target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060 if the country gets 10 billion dollars per year.=== Topography and hydrography ===Topographic map of BrazilBrazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands.", "Much of the terrain lies between and in elevation.", "The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country.", "The northwestern parts of the plateau consist of broad, rolling terrain broken by low, rounded hills.The southeastern section is more rugged, with a complex mass of ridges and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to .", "These ranges include the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountains and the Serra do Mar.", "In the north, the Guiana Highlands form a major drainage divide, separating rivers that flow south into the Amazon Basin from rivers that empty into the Orinoco River system, in Venezuela, to the north.", "The highest point in Brazil is the Pico da Neblina at , and the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean.Brazil has a dense and complex system of rivers, one of the world's most extensive, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic.", "Major rivers include the Amazon (the world's second-longest river and the largest in terms of volume of water), the Paraná and its major tributary the Iguaçu (which includes the Iguazu Falls), the Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and Tapajós rivers.=== Biodiversity and conservation ===The toco toucan is an animal typical of the Brazilian savannas.The wildlife of Brazil comprises all naturally occurring animals, plants, and fungi in the South American country.", "Home to 60% of the Amazon rainforest, which accounts for approximately one-tenth of all species in the world, Brazil is considered to have the greatest biodiversity of any country on the planet, containing over 70% of all animal and plant species catalogued.", "Brazil has the most known species of plants (55,000), freshwater fish (3,000), and mammals (over 689).", "It also ranks third on the list of countries with the most bird species (1,832) and second with the most reptile species (744).", "The number of fungal species is unknown but is large.", "Brazil is second only to Indonesia as the country with the most endemic species.", "Brazil's large territory comprises different ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, recognized as having the greatest biological diversity in the world, with the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, sustaining the greatest biodiversity.", "In the south, the Araucaria moist forests grow under temperate conditions.", "The rich wildlife of Brazil reflects the variety of natural habitats.", "Scientists estimate that the total number of plant and animal species in Brazil could approach four million, mostly invertebrates.", "Larger mammals include carnivores pumas, jaguars, ocelots, rare bush dogs, and foxes, and herbivores peccaries, tapirs, anteaters, sloths, opossums, and armadillos.", "Deer are plentiful in the south, and many species of New World monkeys are found in the northern rain forests.Cumulatively, Brazil has the highest percentage of deforested and degraded rainforest of any Amazonia nation.More than one-fifth of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has been completely destroyed, and more than 70 mammals are endangered.", "The threat of extinction comes from several sources, including deforestation and poaching.", "Extinction is even more problematic in the Atlantic Forest, where nearly 93% of the forest has been cleared.", "Of the 202 endangered animals in Brazil, 171 are in the Atlantic Forest.", "The Amazon rainforest has been under direct threat of deforestation since the 1970s because of rapid economic and demographic expansion.", "Extensive legal and illegal logging destroy forests the size of a small country per year, and with it a diverse series of species through habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation.", "Since 1970, over of the Amazon rainforest have been cleared by logging.", "In 2017, preserved native vegetation occupies 61% of the Brazilian territory.", "Agriculture occupied only 8% of the national territory and pastures 19.7%.", "In terms of comparison, in 2019, although 43% of the entire European continent has forests, only 3% of the total forest area in Europe is of native forest.", "Brazil has a strong interest in conservation as its agriculture sector directly depends on its forests." ], [ "Government and politics", "National Congress, seat of the legislative branchPalácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the President of BrazilThe form of government is a democratic federative republic, with a presidential system.", "The president is both head of state and head of government of the Union and is elected for a four-year term, with the possibility of re-election for a second successive term.", "The current president is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.", "The President appoints the Ministers of State, who assist in government.Legislative houses in each political entity are the main source of law in Brazil.", "The National Congress is the Federation's bicameral legislature, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate.", "Judiciary authorities exercise jurisdictional duties almost exclusively.", "In 2021, the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index categorized Brazil as a \"flawed democracy\", ranking 46th in the report, and Freedom House classified it as a free country at ''Freedom in the World'' report.The political-administrative organization of the Federative Republic of Brazil comprises the Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities.", "The Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities, are the \"spheres of government\".", "The federation is set on five fundamental principles: sovereignty, citizenship, dignity of human beings, the social values of labor and freedom of enterprise, and political pluralism.The classic tripartite branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial under a checks and balances system) are formally established by the Constitution.", "The executive and legislative are organized independently in all three spheres of government, while the judiciary is organized only at the federal and state and Federal District spheres.", "All members of the executive and legislative branches are directly elected.For most of its democratic history, Brazil has had a multi-party system, with proportional representation.", "Voting is compulsory for the literate between 18 and 70 years old and optional for illiterates and those between 16 and 18 or beyond 70.The country has around 30 registered political parties.", "Twenty political parties are represented in Congress.", "It is common for politicians to switch parties, and thus the proportion of congressional seats held by particular parties changes regularly.=== Law ===Supreme Federal Court of Brazil serves primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country.Brazilian law is based on the civil law legal system and civil law concepts prevail over common law practice.", "Most of Brazilian law is codified, although non-codified statutes also represent a substantial part, playing a complementary role.", "Court decisions set out interpretive guidelines; however, they are seldom binding on other specific cases.", "Doctrinal works and the works of academic jurists have strong influence in law creation and in law cases.", "Judges and other judicial officials are appointed after passing entry exams.The legal system is based on the Federal Constitution, promulgated on 5 October 1988, and the fundamental law of Brazil.", "All other legislation and court decisions must conform to its rules.", ", there have been 124 amendments.", "The highest court is the Supreme Federal Court.", "States have their own constitutions, which must not contradict the Federal Constitution.", "Municipalities and the Federal District have \"organic laws\" (), which act in a similar way to constitutions.", "Legislative entities are the main source of statutes, although in certain matters judiciary and executive bodies may enact legal norms.", "Jurisdiction is administered by the judiciary entities, although in rare situations the Federal Constitution allows the Federal Senate to pass on legal judgments.", "There are also specialized military, labor, and electoral courts.=== Military ===The armed forces of Brazil are the largest in Latin America by active personnel and the largest in terms of military equipment.", "The country was considered the 9th largest military power on the planet in 2021.It consists of the Brazilian Army (including the Army Aviation Command), the Brazilian Navy (including the Marine Corps and Naval Aviation), and the Brazilian Air Force.", "Brazil's conscription policy gives it one of the world's largest military forces, estimated at more than 1.6 million reservists annually.Numbering close to 236,000 active personnel, the Brazilian Army has the largest number of armored vehicles in South America, including armored transports and tanks.", "The states' Military Police and the Military Firefighters Corps are described as an ancillary forces of the Army by the constitution, but are under the control of each state's governor.Brazil's navy once operated some of the most powerful warships in the world with the two dreadnoughts, sparking a naval arms race between Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.", "Today, it is a green water force and has a group of specialized elite in retaking ships and naval facilities, GRUMEC, unit specially trained to protect Brazilian oil platforms along its coast.", ", it is the only navy in Latin America that operates an helicopter carrier, NAM ''Atlântico'', and one of twelve navies in the world to operate or have one under construction.The Air Force is the largest in Latin America and has about 700 crewed aircraft in service and effective about 67,000 personnel.=== Foreign policy ===Itamaraty Palace, the seat of the Ministry of Foreign AffairsBrazil's international relations are based on Article 4 of the Federal Constitution, which establishes non-intervention, self-determination, international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of conflicts as the guiding principles of Brazil's relationship with other countries and multilateral organizations.", "According to the Constitution, the President has ultimate authority over foreign policy, while the Congress is tasked with reviewing and considering all diplomatic nominations and international treaties, as well as legislation relating to Brazilian foreign policy.Brazil's foreign policy is a by-product of the country's position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power.", "Brazilian foreign policy has generally been based on the principles of multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and non-intervention in the affairs of other countries.", "Brazil is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations.An increasingly well-developed tool of Brazil's foreign policy is providing aid as a donor to other developing countries.", "Brazil does not just use its growing economic strength to provide financial aid, but it also provides high levels of expertise and most importantly of all, a quiet non-confrontational diplomacy to improve governance levels.", "Total aid is estimated to be around $1 billion per year, which includes.", "In addition, Brazil already managed a peacekeeping mission in Haiti ($350 million) and makes in-kind contributions to the World Food Programme ($300 million).", "This is in addition to humanitarian assistance and contributions to multilateral development agencies.", "The scale of this aid places it on par with China and India.", "The Brazilian South-South aid has been described as a \"global model in waiting\".=== Law enforcement and crime ===Headquarters of the Federal Police of Brazil in BrasíliaIn Brazil, the Constitution establishes six different police agencies for law enforcement: Federal Police Department, Federal Highway Police, Federal Railroad Police, Federal, District and State Penal Police (included by the Constitutional Amendment No.", "104, of 2019), Military Police and Civil Police.", "Of these, the first three are affiliated with federal authorities, the last two are subordinate to state governments and the Penal Police can be subordinated to the federal or state/district government.", "All police forces are overseen by the executive branch of the federal or state government.", "The National Public Security Force also can act in public disorder situations arising anywhere in the country.The country has high levels of violent crime like gun violence and homicides.", "In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the number of 32 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest rates of homicide of the world.", "The number considered acceptable by the WHO is about 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.", "In 2018, Brazil had a record 63,880 murders.", "However, there are differences between the crime rates in the Brazilian states.", "While in São Paulo the homicide rate registered in 2013 was 10.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, in Alagoas it was 64.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.Brazil also has high levels of incarceration.", "It had the third largest prison population in the world of approximately 700,000 prisoners as of June 2014, which put it only behind the United States (2,228,424) and China (1,701,344).", "The high number of prisoners eventually overloaded the Brazilian prison system, leading to a shortfall of about 200,000 accommodations.=== Human rights ===LGBT rights are generally supported within Brazil, and same-sex marriage has been fully recognised since 2013.However, police violence and gender-based discrimination remain prevalent throughout the nation.", "Brazil has one of the highest Gini coefficient rankings in Latin America.=== Political subdivisions ===States of Brazil and Regions of BrazilBrazil is a federation composed of 26 states, one federal district, and the 5,570 municipalities.", "States have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the Federal government.", "They have a governor and a unicameral legislative body elected directly by their voters.", "They also have independent Courts of Law for common justice.", "Despite this, states have much less autonomy to create their own laws than in other federal states such as the United States.", "For example, criminal and civil laws can be voted by only the federal bicameral Congress and are uniform throughout the country.The states and the federal district are grouped into regions: Northern, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and Southern.", "The Brazilian regions are merely geographical, not political or administrative divisions, and they do not have any specific form of government.", "Although defined by law, Brazilian regions serve mainly statistical purposes, and also to define the distribution of federal funds in development projects.Municipalities, as the states, have autonomous administrations, collect their own taxes and receive a share of taxes collected by the federal and state government.", "Each has an elected mayor and legislative body, but no separate Court of Law.", "Indeed, a Court of Law organized by the state can encompass many municipalities in a single justice administrative division called ''comarca'' (county).Brazil's constitution also provides for the creation of federal territories, which are administrative divisions directly controlled by the federal government.", "However, there are currently no federal territories in the country, as the 1988 Constitution abolished the last three: Amapá and Roraima (which gained statehood status) and Fernando de Noronha, which became a state district of Pernambuco." ], [ "Economy", "Brazil's upper-middle income mixed market economy is rich in natural resources.", "It has the largest national economy in Latin America, the ninth-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, and the eighth-largest by PPP.", "After rapid growth in preceding decades, the country entered an ongoing recession in 2014 amid a political corruption scandal and nationwide protests.", "A developing country, Brazil has a labor force of roughly 100 million, which is the world's fifth-largest; with a high unemployment rate of 14.4% .", "Its foreign exchange reserves are the tenth-highest in the world.", "The B3 in São Paulo is the largest stock exchange of Latin America by market capitalization.", "In regards to poverty, about 1.9% of the total population lives at $2.15 a day, while about 19% live at $6.85 a day.", "Brazil's economy suffers from endemic corruption and high income inequality.", "The Brazilian real is the national currency.Brazil's diversified economy includes agriculture, industry, and a wide range of services.", "The large service sector accounts for about 72.7% of total GDP, followed by the industrial sector (20.7%), while the agriculture sector is by far the smallest, making up 6.6% of total GDP.Brazil is one of the largest producers of various agricultural commodities, and also has a large cooperative sector that provides 50% of the food in the country.", "It has been the world's largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.", "Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, soy, coffee and orange; is one of the top 5 producers of maize, cotton, lemon, tobacco, pineapple, banana, beans, coconut, watermelon and papaya; and is one of the top 10 world producers of cocoa, cashew, mango, rice, tomato, sorghum, tangerine, avocado, persimmon, and guava, among others.", "Regarding livestock, it is one of the 5 largest producers of chicken meat, beef, pork and cow's milk in the world.", "In the mining sector, Brazil is among the largest producers of iron ore, copper, gold, bauxite, manganese, tin, niobium, and nickel.", "In terms of precious stones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst, topaz, agate and one of the main producers of tourmaline, emerald, aquamarine, garnet and opal.", "The country is a major exporter of soy, iron ore, pulp (cellulose), maize, beef, chicken meat, soybean meal, sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton, orange juice, footwear, airplanes, cars, vehicle parts, gold, ethanol, semi-finished iron, among other products.Brazil is the world's 24th-largest exporter and 26th-largest importer .", "China is its largest trading partner, accounting for 32% of the total trade.", "Other large trading partners include the United States, Argentina, the Netherlands and Canada.", "Its automotive industry is the eighth-largest in the world.", "In the food industry, Brazil was the second-largest exporter of processed foods in the world in 2019.The country was the second-largest producer of pulp in the world and the eighth-largest producer of paper in 2016.In the footwear industry, Brazil was the fourth-largest producer in 2019.It was also the ninth-largest producer of steel in the world.", "In 2018, the chemical industry of Brazil was the eighth-largest in the world.", "Although, it was among the five largest world producers in 2013, Brazil's textile industry is very little integrated into world trade.The tertiary sector (trade and services) represented 75.8% of the country's GDP in 2018, according to the IBGE.", "The service sector was responsible for 60% of GDP and trade for 13%.", "It covers a wide range of activities: commerce, accommodation and catering, transport, communications, financial services, real estate activities and services provided to businesses, public administration (urban cleaning, sanitation, etc.)", "and other services such as education, social and health services, research and development, sports activities, etc., since it consists of activities complementary to other sectors.", "Micro and small businesses represent 30% of the country's GDP.", "In the commercial sector, for example, they represent 53% of the GDP within the activities of the sector.=== Tourism ===Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of the country.", "The country had 6.36 million visitors in 2015, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the main destination in South America and second in Latin America after Mexico.", "Revenues from international tourists reached billion in 2010, showing a recovery from the 2008–2009 economic crisis.", "Historical records of 5.4 million visitors and billion in receipts were reached in 2011.In the list of world tourist destinations, in 2018, Brazil was the 48th most visited country, with 6.6 million tourists (and revenues of 5.9 billion dollars).Natural areas are its most popular tourism product, a combination of ecotourism with leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as cultural tourism.", "Among the most popular destinations are the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, cultural tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to São Paulo.In terms of the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, Brazil ranked in the 28th place at the world's level, third in the Americas, after Canada and United States.Domestic tourism is a key market segment for the tourism industry in Brazil.", "In 2005, 51 million Brazilian nationals made ten times more trips than foreign tourists and spent five times more money than their international counterparts.", "The main destination states in 2005 were São Paulo (27.7%), Minas Gerais (10.8%), Rio de Janeiro (8.4%), Bahia (7.4%), and Santa Catarina (7.2%).", "The top three states by trip origin were São Paulo (35.7%), Minas Gerais (13.6%).", "In terms of tourism revenues, the top earners by state were São Paulo (16.4%) and Bahia (11.7%).", "For 2005, the three main trip purposes were visiting friends and family (53.1%), sun and beach (40.8%), and cultural tourism (12.5%).=== Science and technology ===Technological research in Brazil is largely carried out in public universities and research institutes, with the majority of funding for basic research coming from various government agencies.", "Brazil's most esteemed technological hubs are the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, the Butantan Institute, the Air Force's Aerospace Technical Center, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and the National Institute for Space Research.The Brazilian Space Agency has the most advanced space program in Latin America, with significant resources to launch vehicles, and manufacture of satellites.", "Owner of relative technological sophistication, the country develops submarines, aircraft, as well as being involved in space research, having a Vehicle Launch Center Light and being the only country in the Southern Hemisphere the integrate team building International Space Station (ISS).The country is also a pioneer in the search for oil in deep water, from where it extracts 73% of its reserves.Uranium is enriched at the Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory, mostly for research purposes (as Brazil obtains 88% of its electricity from hydroelectricity) and the country's first nuclear submarine is expected to be launched in 2029.Brazil is one of the three countries in Latin America with an operational Synchrotron Laboratory, a research facility on physics, chemistry, material science and life sciences, and Brazil is the only Latin American country to have a semiconductor company with its own fabrication plant, the CEITEC.", "According to the Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010 of the World Economic Forum, Brazil is the world's 61st largest developer of information technology.", "Brazil was ranked 49th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, up from 66th in 2019.Among the most renowned Brazilian inventors are priests Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Landell de Moura and Francisco João de Azevedo, besides Alberto Santos-Dumont, Evaristo Conrado Engelberg, Manuel Dias de Abreu, Andreas Pavel and Nélio José Nicolai.", "Brazilian science is represented by the likes of César Lattes (Brazilian physicist Pathfinder of ''Pi Meson''), Mário Schenberg (considered the greatest theoretical physicist of Brazil), José Leite Lopes (only Brazilian physicist holder of the ''UNESCO Science Prize''), Artur Ávila (the first Latin American winner of the Fields Medal) and Fritz Müller (pioneer in factual support of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin).=== Energy ===Brazil is the world's ninth largest energy consumer.", "Much of its energy comes from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity and ethanol; the Itaipu Dam is the world's largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation, and the country has other large plants like Belo Monte and Tucuruí.", "The first car with an ethanol engine was produced in 1978 and the first airplane engine running on ethanol in 2005.At the end of 2021 Brazil was the 2nd country in the world in terms of installed hydroelectric power (109.4 GW) and biomass (15.8 GW), the 7th country in the world in terms of installed wind power (21.1 GW) and the 14th country in the world in terms of installed solar power (13.0 GW) – on track to also become one of the top 10 in the world in solar energy.", "At the end of 2021, Brazil was the 4th largest producer of wind energy in the world (72 TWh), behind only China, the United States and Germany, and the 11th largest producer of solar energy in the world (16.8 TWh).The main characteristic of the Brazilian energy matrix is that it is much more renewable than that of the world.", "While in 2019 the world matrix was only 14% made up of renewable energy, Brazil's was at 45%.", "Petroleum and oil products made up 34.3% of the matrix; sugar cane derivatives, 18%; hydraulic energy, 12.4%; natural gas, 12.2%; firewood and charcoal, 8.8%; varied renewable energies, 7%; mineral coal, 5.3%; nuclear, 1.4%, and other non-renewable energies, 0.6%.In the electric energy matrix, the difference between Brazil and the world is even greater: while the world only had 25% of renewable electric energy in 2019, Brazil had 83%.", "The Brazilian electric matrix was composed of: hydraulic energy, 64.9%; biomass, 8.4%; wind energy, 8.6%; solar energy, 1%; natural gas, 9.3%; oil products, 2%; nuclear, 2.5%; coal and derivatives, 3.3%.Brazil has the largest electricity sector in Latin America.Its capacity at the end of 2021 was 181,532 MW.As for oil, the Brazilian government has embarked on a program over the decades to reduce dependence on imported oil, which previously accounted for more than 70% of the country's oil needs.", "Brazil became self-sufficient in oil in 2006–2007.In 2021, the country closed the year as the 7th oil producer in the world, with an average of close to three million barrels per day, becoming an exporter of the product.=== Transportation ===Brazilian roads are the primary carriers of freight and passenger traffic.", "The road system totaled in 2019.The total of paved roads increased from in 1967 to in 2018.Brazil's railway system has been declining since 1945, when emphasis shifted to highway construction.", "The country's total railway track length was in 2015, as compared with in 1970, making it the ninth largest network in the world.", "Most of the railway system belonged to the Federal Railroad Network Corporation (RFFSA), which was privatized in 2007.The São Paulo Metro began operating on 14 September 1974 as the first underground transit system in Brazil.There are about 2,500 airports in Brazil, including landing fields: the second largest number in the world, after the United States.", "São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, near São Paulo, is the largest and busiest airport with nearly 20 million passengers annually, while handling the vast majority of commercial traffic for the country.For freight transport waterways are of importance, e.g.", "the industrial zones of Manaus can be reached only by means of the Solimões–Amazonas waterway ( in length, with a minimum depth of ).", "The country also has of waterways.", "Coastal shipping links widely separated parts of the country.", "Bolivia and Paraguay have been given free ports at Santos.", "Of the 36 deep-water ports, Santos, Itajaí, Rio Grande, Paranaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Sepetiba, Vitória, Suape, Manaus, and São Francisco do Sul are the most important.", "Bulk carriers have to wait up to 18 days before being serviced, container ships 36.3 hours on average." ], [ "Demographics", "Population density of Brazilian municipalitiesThe population of Brazil, as recorded by the 2008 PNAD, was approximately 190 million (), with a ratio of men to women of 0.95:1 and 83.75% of the population defined as urban.", "The population is heavily concentrated in the Southeastern (79.8 million inhabitants) and Northeastern (53.5 million inhabitants) regions, while the two most extensive regions, the Center-West and the North, which together make up 64.12% of the Brazilian territory, have a total of only 29.1 million inhabitants.The first census in Brazil was carried out in 1872 and recorded a population of 9,930,478.From 1880 to 1930, 4 million Europeans arrived.", "Brazil's population increased significantly between 1940 and 1970, because of a decline in the mortality rate, even though the birth rate underwent a slight decline.", "In the 1940s the annual population growth rate was 2.4%, rising to 3.0% in the 1950s and remaining at 2.9% in the 1960s, as life expectancy rose from 44 to 54 years and to 72.6 years in 2007.It has been steadily falling since the 1960s, from 3.04% per year between 1950 and 1960 to 1.05% in 2008 and is expected to fall to a negative value of –0.29% by 2050 thus completing the demographic transition.In 2008, the illiteracy rate was 11.48%.=== Race and ethnicity ===According to the National Research by Household Sample (PNAD) of 2022, 45.3% of the population (92,1 million) described themselves as Mixed (officially called ''brown'' or ''pardo''), 43.5% (88,2 million) as White, 10.2% (20,7 million) as Black, 0.6% (1,2 million) as Indigenous and 0.4% (850 thousand) as East Asian (officially called ''yellow'' or ''amarela'').Since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500, considerable genetic mixing between Amerindians, Europeans, and Africans has taken place in all regions of the country (with European ancestry being dominant nationwide according to the vast majority of all autosomal studies undertaken covering the entire population, accounting for between 65% and 77%).", "From the 19th century, Brazil opened its borders to immigration.", "About five million people from over 60 countries migrated to Brazil between 1808 and 1972, most of them of Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, German, English, Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish, African, Armenian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arab origin.", "Brazil has the second largest Jewish community in Latin America making up 0.06% of its population.", "Brazil also has the largest Arab (or Arab ancestry) community in the world outside the Arab world, with 15–20 million people.", "According to Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil is a home to a Lebanese diaspora of 7 million to 10 million, surpassing the population of Lebanese individuals residing in Lebanon.", "Brazilian society is more markedly divided by social class lines, although a high income disparity is found between race groups, so racism and classism often overlap.", "The brown population (officially called ''pardo'' in Portuguese, also colloquially ''moreno'') is a broad category that includes ''caboclos'' (assimilated Amerindians in general, and descendants of Whites and Natives), ''mulatos'' (descendants of primarily Whites and Afro-Brazilians) and ''cafuzos'' (descendants of Afro-Brazilians and Natives).", "Higher percents of Blacks, mulattoes and tri-racials can be found in the eastern coast of the Northeastern region from Bahia to Paraíba and also in northern Maranhão, southern Minas Gerais and in eastern Rio de Janeiro.People of considerable Amerindian ancestry form the majority of the population in the Northern, Northeastern and Center-Western regions.", "In 2007, the National Indian Foundation estimated that Brazil has 67 different uncontacted tribes, up from their estimate of 40 in 2005.Brazil is believed to have the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the world.=== Religion ===Christianity is the country's predominant faith, with Roman Catholicism being its largest denomination.", "Brazil has the world's largest Catholic population.", "According to the 2010 Demographic Census (the PNAD survey does not inquire about religion), 64.63% of the population followed Roman Catholicism; 22.2% Protestantism; 2.0% Kardecist spiritism; 3.2% other religions, undeclared or undetermined; while 8.0% had no religion.Religion in Brazil was formed from the meeting of the Catholic Church with the religious traditions of enslaved African peoples and indigenous peoples.", "This confluence of faiths during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices within the overarching umbrella of Brazilian Catholic Church, characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities,Religious pluralism increased during the 20th century, and the Protestant community has grown to include over 22% of the population.", "The most common Protestant denominations are Evangelical Pentecostal ones.", "Other Protestant branches with a notable presence in the country include the Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Lutherans and the Reformed tradition.In recent decades, Protestantism, particularly in forms of Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism, has spread in Brazil, while the proportion of Catholics has dropped significantly.", "After Protestantism, individuals professing no religion are also a significant group, exceeding 8% of the population as of the 2010 census.", "The cities of Boa Vista, Salvador, and Porto Velho have the greatest proportion of Irreligious residents in Brazil.", "Teresina, Fortaleza, and Florianópolis were the most Roman Catholic in the country.", "Greater Rio de Janeiro, not including the city proper, is the most irreligious and least Roman Catholic Brazilian periphery, while Greater Porto Alegre and Greater Fortaleza are on the opposite sides of the lists, respectively.In October 2009, the Brazilian Senate approved and enacted by the President of Brazil in February 2010, an agreement with the Vatican, in which the Legal Statute of the Catholic Church in Brazil is recognized.=== Health ===Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre is academically linked to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and is part of the SUS, the Brazilian publicly funded health care system.The Brazilian public health system, the Unified Health System (''Sistema Único de Saúde'' – SUS), is managed and provided by all levels of government, being the largest system of this type in the world.", "On the other hand, private healthcare systems play a complementary role.Public health services are universal and offered to all citizens of the country for free.", "However, the construction and maintenance of health centers and hospitals are financed by taxes, and the country spends about 9% of its GDP on expenditures in the area.", "In 2012, Brazil had 1.85 doctors and 2.3 hospital beds for every 1,000 inhabitants.Despite all the progress made since the creation of the universal health care system in 1988, there are still several public health problems in Brazil.", "In 2006, the main points to be solved were the high infant (2.51%) and maternal mortality rates (73.1 deaths per 1000 births).The number of deaths from noncommunicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases (151.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants) and cancer (72.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants), also has a considerable impact on the health of the Brazilian population.", "Finally, external but preventable factors such as car accidents, violence and suicide caused 14.9% of all deaths in the country.", "The Brazilian health system was ranked 125th among the 191 countries evaluated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000.=== Education ===Historical building of the Federal University of Paraná, one of the oldest universities in Brazil, located in CuritibaThe Federal Constitution and the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education determine that the Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities must manage and organize their respective education systems.", "Each of these public educational systems is responsible for its own maintenance, which manages funds as well as the mechanisms and funding sources.", "The constitution reserves 25% of the state budget and 18% of federal taxes and municipal taxes for education.According to the IBGE, in 2019, the literacy rate of the population was 93.4%, meaning that 11.3 million (6.6% of population) people are still illiterate in the country, with some states like Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina reaching around 97% of literacy rate; functional illiteracy has reached 21.6% of the population.", "Illiteracy is higher in the Northeast, where 13.87% of the population is illiterate, while the South, has 3.3% of its population illiterate.Brazil's private institutions tend to be more exclusive and offer better quality education, so many high-income families send their children there.", "The result is a segregated educational system that reflects extreme income disparities and reinforces social inequality.", "However, efforts to change this are making impacts.The University of São Paulo is the second best university in Latin America, according to recent 2019 QS World University Rankings.", "Of the top 20 Latin American universities, eight are Brazilian.", "Most of them are public.Attending an institution of higher education is required by Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education.", "Kindergarten, elementary and medium education are required of all students.=== Language ===The official language of Brazil is Portuguese (Article 13 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil), which almost all of the population speaks and is virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for business and administrative purposes.", "Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from those of its Spanish-speaking neighbors.Brazilian Portuguese has had its own development, mostly similar to 16th-century Central and Southern dialects of European Portuguese (despite a very substantial number of Portuguese colonial settlers, and more recent immigrants, coming from Northern regions, and in minor degree Portuguese Macaronesia), with a few influences from the Amerindian and African languages, especially West African and Bantu restricted to the vocabulary only.", "As a result, the language is somewhat different, mostly in phonology, from the language of Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries (the dialects of the other countries, partly because of the more recent end of Portuguese colonialism in these regions, have a closer connection to contemporary European Portuguese).", "These differences are comparable to those between American and British English.The 2002 sign language law requires government authorities and public agencies to accept and provide information in ''Língua Brasileira dos Sinais'' or \"LIBRAS\", the Brazilian Sign Language, while a 2005 presidential edict extends this to require teaching of the language as a part of the education and speech and language pathology curricula.", "LIBRAS teachers, instructors and translators are recognized professionals.", "Schools and health services must provide access (\"inclusion\") to deaf people.Minority languages are spoken throughout the nation.", "One hundred and eighty Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas and a significant number of other languages are spoken by immigrants and their descendants.", "In the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Nheengatu (a currently endangered South American creole language – or an 'anti-creole', according to some linguists – with mostly Indigenous Brazilian languages lexicon and Portuguese-based grammar that, together with its southern relative língua geral paulista, once was a major lingua franca in Brazil, being replaced by Portuguese only after governmental prohibition led by major political changes), Baniwa and Tucano languages had been granted co-official status with Portuguese.There are significant communities of German (mostly the Brazilian Hunsrückisch, a High German language dialect) and Italian (mostly the Talian, a Venetian dialect) origins in the Southern and Southeastern regions, whose ancestors' native languages were carried along to Brazil, and which, still alive there, are influenced by the Portuguese language.", "Talian is officially a historic patrimony of Rio Grande do Sul, and two German dialects possess co-official status in a few municipalities.", "Italian is also recognized as ''ethnic language'' in the Santa Teresa microregion and Vila Velha (Espirito Santo state), and is taught as mandatory second language at school.=== Urbanization ===According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) urban areas already concentrate 84.35% of the population, while the Southeast region remains the most populated one, with over 80 million inhabitants.The largest urban agglomerations in Brazil are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte – all in the Southeastern Region – with 21.1, 12.3, and 5.1 million inhabitants respectively.", "The majority of state capitals are the largest cities in their states, except for Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, and Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina." ], [ "Culture", "Portela samba school at the Rio Carnival, the largest carnival in the worldThe core culture of Brazil is derived from Portuguese culture, because of its strong colonial ties with the Portuguese Empire.", "Among other influences, the Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, Roman Catholicism and colonial architectural styles.", "The culture was also strongly influenced by African, indigenous and non-Portuguese European cultures and traditions.Some aspects of Brazilian culture were influenced by the contributions of Italian, German and other European as well as Japanese, Jewish and Arab immigrants who arrived in large numbers in the South and Southeast of Brazil during the 19th and 20th centuries.", "The indigenous Amerindians influenced Brazil's language and cuisine; and the Africans influenced language, cuisine, music, dance and religion.Brazilian art has developed since the 16th century into different styles that range from Baroque (the dominant style in Brazil until the early 19th century) to Romanticism, Modernism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstractionism.", "Brazilian cinema dates back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century and has gained a new level of international acclaim since the 1960s.=== Architecture === The Cathedral of Brasilia, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer for the federal capital, an example of Modern architectureThe architecture of Brazil is influenced by Europe, especially Portugal.", "It has a history that goes back 500 years to the time when Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil in 1500.Portuguese colonial architecture was the first wave of architecture to go to Brazil.", "It is the basis for all Brazilian architecture of later centuries.", "In the 19th century during the time of the Empire of Brazil, the country followed European trends and adopted Neoclassical and Gothic Revival architecture.", "Then in the 20th century especially in Brasilia, Brazil experimented with Modernist architecture.The colonial architecture of Brazil dates to the early 16th century when Brazil was first explored, conquered and settled by the Portuguese.", "The Portuguese built architecture familiar to them in Europe in their aim to colonize Brazil.", "They built Portuguese colonial architecture which included churches, civic architecture including houses and forts in Brazilian cities and the countryside.During 19th century, Brazilian architecture saw the introduction of more European styles to Brazil such as Neoclassical and Gothic Revival architecture.", "This was usually mixed with Brazilian influences from their own heritage which produced a unique form of Brazilian architecture.In the 1950s, the modernist architecture was introduced when Brasilia was built as new federal capital in the interior of Brazil to help develop the interior.", "The architect Oscar Niemeyer idealized and built government buildings, churches and civic buildings in the modernist style.=== Music ===Tom Jobim, one of the creators of ''bossa nova'', and Chico Buarque, one of the leading names of MPBThe music of Brazil was formed mainly from the fusion of European, Native Indigenous, and African elements.", "Until the nineteenth century, Portugal was the gateway to most of the influences that built Brazilian music, although many of these elements were not of Portuguese origin, but generally European.", "The first was José Maurício Nunes Garcia, author of sacred pieces with influence of Viennese classicism.", "The major contribution of the African element was the rhythmic diversity and some dances and instruments that had a bigger role in the development of popular music and folk, flourishing especially in the twentieth century.Popular music since the late eighteenth century began to show signs of forming a characteristically Brazilian sound, with samba considered the most typical and on the UNESCO cultural heritage list.", "Maracatu and Afoxê are two music traditions that have been popularized by their appearance in the annual Brazilian Carnivals.", "Capoeira is usually played with its own music referred to as capoeira music, which is usually considered to be a call-and-response type of folk music.", "Forró is a type of folk music prominent during the Festa Junina in northeastern Brazil.", "Jack A. Draper III, a professor of Portuguese at the University of Missouri, argues that Forró was used as a way to subdue feelings of nostalgia for a rural lifestyle.Choro is a very popular music instrumental style.", "Its origins are in 19th-century Rio de Janeiro.", "In spite of the name, the style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, subtle modulations and full of syncopation and counterpoint.", "Bossa nova is also a well-known style of Brazilian music developed and popularized in the 1950s and 1960s.", "The phrase \"bossa nova\" means literally \"new trend\".", "A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz, bossa nova acquired a large following starting in the 1960s.=== Literature ===Machado de Assis, poet and novelist, founder of the Brazilian Academy of LettersBrazilian literature dates back to the 16th century, to the writings of the first Portuguese explorers in Brazil, such as Pêro Vaz de Caminha, filled with descriptions of fauna, flora and commentary about the indigenous population that fascinated European readers.Brazil produced significant works in Romanticism – novelists like Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and José de Alencar wrote novels about love and pain.", "Alencar, in his long career, also treated indigenous people as heroes in the Indigenist novels ''O Guarani'', ''Iracema'' and ''Ubirajara''.", "Machado de Assis, one of his contemporaries, wrote in virtually all genres and continues to gain international prestige from critics worldwide.Brazilian Modernism, evidenced by the Modern Art Week in 1922, was concerned with a nationalist avant-garde literature, while Post-Modernism brought a generation of distinct poets like João Cabral de Melo Neto, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Vinicius de Moraes, Cora Coralina, Graciliano Ramos, Cecília Meireles, and internationally known writers dealing with universal and regional subjects like Jorge Amado, João Guimarães Rosa, Clarice Lispector and Manuel Bandeira.Brazil's most significant literary award is the Camões Prize, which it shares with the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world.", "As of 2016, Brazil has eleven recipients of the prize.", "Brazil also holds its own literary academy, the Brazilian Academy of Letters, a non-profit cultural organization pointed in perpetuating the care of the national language and literature.=== Theatre ===Augusto Boal presenting a workshop on the Theatre of the Oppressed at Riverside Church in New York City in 2008The theatre in Brazil has its origins in the period of Jesuit expansion when theater was used for the dissemination of Catholic doctrine in the 16th century.", "in the 17th and 18th centuries the first dramatists who appeared on the scene of European derivation was for court or private performances.", "During the 19th century, dramatic theater gained importance and thickness, whose first representative was Luís Carlos Martins Pena (1813–1848), capable of describing contemporary reality.", "Always in this period the comedy of costume and comic production was imposed.", "Significant, also in the nineteenth century, was also the playwright Antônio Gonçalves Dias.", "There were also numerous operas and orchestras.", "The Brazilian conductor Antônio Carlos Gomes became internationally known with operas like ''Il Guarany''.", "At the end of the 19th century orchestrated dramaturgias became very popular and were accompanied with songs of famous artists like the conductress Chiquinha Gonzaga.Already in the early 20th century there was the presence of theaters, entrepreneurs and actor companies, but paradoxically the quality of the products staggered, and only in 1940 the Brazilian theater received a boost of renewal thanks to the action of Paschoal Carlos Magno and his student's theater, the comedians group and the Italian actors Adolfo Celi, Ruggero Jacobbi and Aldo Calvo, founders of the ''Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia''.", "From the 1960s it was attended by a theater dedicated to social and religious issues and to the flourishing of schools of dramatic art.", "The most prominent authors at this stage were Jorge Andrade and Ariano Suassuna.=== Cuisine ===Feijoada is one of the main dishes of Brazilian cuisine.Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's varying mix of indigenous and immigrant populations.", "This has created a national cuisine marked by the preservation of regional differences.", "Examples are Feijoada, considered the country's national dish; and regional foods such as beiju, feijão tropeiro, vatapá, moqueca, polenta (from Italian cuisine) and acarajé (from African cuisine).The national beverage is coffee and cachaça is Brazil's native liquor.", "Cachaça is distilled from sugar cane and is the main ingredient in the national cocktail, Caipirinha.A typical meal consists mostly of rice and beans with beef, salad, french fries and a fried egg.", "Often, it is mixed with cassava flour (farofa).", "Fried potatoes, fried cassava, fried banana, fried meat and fried cheese are very often eaten in lunch and served in most typical restaurants.", "Popular snacks are pastel (a fried pastry); coxinha (a variation of chicken croquete); pão de queijo (cheese bread and cassava flour / tapioca); pamonha (corn and milk paste); esfirra (a variation of Lebanese pastry); kibbeh (from Arabic cuisine); empanada (pastry) and empada, little salt pies filled with shrimps or heart of palm.Brazil has a variety of desserts such as brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls), bolo de rolo (roll cake with goiabada), cocada (a coconut sweet), beijinhos (coconut truffles and clove) and Romeu e Julieta (cheese with goiabada).", "Peanuts are used to make paçoca, rapadura and pé-de-moleque.", "Local common fruits like açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, cocoa, cashew, guava, orange, lime, passionfruit, pineapple, and hog plum are turned in juices and used to make chocolates, ice pops and ice cream.=== Cinema ===Festival de Gramado, the biggest film festival in the countryThe Brazilian film industry began in the late 19th century, during the early days of the Belle Époque.", "While there were national film productions during the early 20th century, American films such as ''Rio the Magnificent'' were made in Rio de Janeiro to promote tourism in the city.", "The films ''Limite'' (1931) and ''Ganga Bruta'' (1933), the latter being produced by Adhemar Gonzaga through the prolific studio Cinédia, were poorly received at release and failed at the box office, but are acclaimed nowadays and placed among the finest Brazilian films of all time.", "The 1941 unfinished film ''It's All True'' was divided in four segments, two of which were filmed in Brazil and directed by Orson Welles; it was originally produced as part of the United States' Good Neighbor Policy during Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo government.During the 1960s, the Cinema Novo movement rose to prominence with directors such as Glauber Rocha, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Paulo Cesar Saraceni and Arnaldo Jabor.", "Rocha's films ''Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol'' (1964) and ''Terra em Transe'' (1967) are considered to be some of the greatest and most influential in Brazilian film history.During the 1990s, Brazil saw a surge of critical and commercial success with films such as ''O Quatrilho'' (Fábio Barreto, 1995), ''O Que É Isso, Companheiro?''", "(Bruno Barreto, 1997) and ''Central do Brasil'' (Walter Salles, 1998), all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the latter receiving a Best Actress nomination for Fernanda Montenegro.", "The 2002 crime film ''City of God'', directed by Fernando Meirelles, was critically acclaimed, scoring 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, being placed in Roger Ebert's Best Films of the Decade list and receiving four Academy Award nominations in 2004, including Best Director.", "Notable film festivals in Brazil include the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro International Film Festivals and the Gramado Festival.=== Media ===Former President Dilma Rousseff at ''Jornal Nacional'' news program.", "Rede Globo is the world's second-largest commercial television network.The Brazilian press was officially born in Rio de Janeiro on 13 May 1808 with the creation of the Royal Printing National Press by the Prince Regent Dom João.", "The , the first newspaper published in the country, began to circulate on 10 September 1808.The largest newspapers nowadays are , ''Super Notícia'', ''O Globo'' and ''O Estado de S. Paulo''.Radio broadcasting began on 7 September 1922, with a speech by then President Pessoa, and was formalized on 20 April 1923 with the creation of \"Radio Society of Rio de Janeiro\".Television in Brazil began officially on 18 September 1950, with the founding of TV Tupi by Assis Chateaubriand.", "Since then television has grown in the country, creating large commercial broadcast networks such as Globo, SBT, RecordTV, Bandeirantes and RedeTV.", "Today it is the most important factor in popular culture of Brazilian society, indicated by research showing that as much as 67% of the general population follow the same daily telenovela broadcast.By the mid-1960s Brazilian universities had installed mainframe computers from IBM, and Burroughs Large Systems.", "In the 1970s and 1980s the Brazilian government restricted foreign imports to protect the local manufacturing of computers.", "In the 1980s Brazil produced half of the computers sold in the country.", "By 2009 the mobile phone and Internet use of Brazil was the fifth largest in the world.In May 2010, the Brazilian government launched TV Brasil Internacional, an international television station, initially broadcasting to 49 countries.", "Commercial television channels broadcast internationally include Globo Internacional, RecordTV Internacional and Band Internacional.=== Visual arts ===''Entry in the Forest'' mural at the Thomas Jefferson Building by Candido Portinari, one of the most important Brazilian paintersBrazilian painting emerged in the late 16th century, influenced by Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Cubism and Abstracionism making it a major art style called Brazilian academic art.The French Artistic Mission arrived in Brazil in 1816 proposing the creation of an art academy modeled after the respected Académie des Beaux-Arts, with graduation courses both for artists and craftsmen for activities such as modeling, decorating, carpentry and others and bringing artists like Jean-Baptiste Debret.Upon the creation of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, new artistic movements spread across the country during the 19th century and later the event called Modern Art Week definitely broke with academic tradition in 1922 and started a nationalist trend which was influenced by modernist arts.Among the best-known Brazilian painters are Ricardo do Pilar and Manuel da Costa Ataíde (baroque and rococo), Victor Meirelles, Pedro Américo and Almeida Júnior (romanticism and realism), Anita Malfatti, Ismael Nery, Lasar Segall, Emiliano di Cavalcanti, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, and Tarsila do Amaral (expressionism, surrealism and cubism), Aldo Bonadei, José Pancetti and Cândido Portinari (modernism).=== Sports ===Olympic Gold of the Brazil national football team, won in the 2016 Summer Olympics.", "Football is the most popular sport in the country.The most popular sport in Brazil is football.", "The Brazilian men's national team is ranked among the best in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings, and has won the World Cup tournament a record five times.Volleyball, basketball, auto racing, and martial arts also attract large audiences.", "The Brazil men's national volleyball team, for example, currently holds the titles of the World League, World Grand Champions Cup, World Championship and the World Cup.", "In auto racing, three Brazilian drivers have won the Formula One world championship eight times.", "The country has also produced significant achievements in other sports such as sailing, swimming, tennis, surfing, skateboarding, MMA, gymnastics, boxing, judo, athletics and table tennis.Some sport variations have their origins in Brazil: beach football, futsal (indoor football) and footvolley emerged in Brazil as variations of football.", "In martial arts, Brazilians developed Capoeira, Vale tudo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.Brazil has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, like the 1950 FIFA World Cup and recently has hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2019 Copa América and 2021 Copa América .", "The São Paulo circuit, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, hosts the annual Grand Prix of Brazil.", "São Paulo organized the IV Pan American Games in 1963, and Rio de Janeiro hosted the XV Pan American Games in 2007.On 2 October 2009, Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games and 2016 Paralympic Games, making it the first South American city to host the games and second in Latin America, after Mexico City.", "Furthermore, the country hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cups in 1954 and 1963.At the 1963 event, the Brazil national basketball team won one of its two world championship titles." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Brazil" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* Azevedo, Aroldo.", "''O Brasil e suas regiões''.", "São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 1971* Barman, Roderick J.", "''Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891''.", "Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.", "* * Boxer, Charles R. ''The Portuguese Seaborne Empire'' (1969)** ''O império marítimo português 1415–1825''.", "São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2002.", "* Bueno, Eduardo.", "''Brasil: uma História''.", "São Paulo: Ática, 2003.", "* Calmon, Pedro.", "''História da Civilização Brasileira''.", "Brasília: Senado Federal, 2002* Carvalho, José Murilo de.", "''D.", "Pedro II''.", "São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007* Coelho, Marcos Amorim.", "''Geografia do Brasil''.", "4th ed.", "São Paulo: Moderna, 1996* Diégues, Fernando.", "''A revolução brasílica''.", "Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2004* ''Enciclopédia Barsa''.", "Volume 4: Batráquio – Camarão, Filipe.", "Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopædia Britannica do Brasil, 1987* * Fausto, Boris and Devoto, Fernando J.", "''Brasil e Argentina: Um ensaio de história comparada (1850–2002)'', 2nd ed.", "São Paulo: Editoria 34, 2005.", "* Gaspari, Elio.", "''A ditadura envergonhada''.", "São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2002.", "* Janotti, Aldo.", "''O Marquês de Paraná: inícios de uma carreira política num momento crítico da história da nacionalidade''.", "Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1990* Lyra, Heitor.", "''História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Ascenção (1825–1870).", "v. 1''.", "Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977* Lyra, Heitor.", "''História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Declínio (1880–1891).", "v. 3''.", "Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977* Lustosa, Isabel.", "''D.", "Pedro I: um herói sem nenhum caráter''.", "São Paulo: Companhia das letras, 2006.", "* Moreira, Igor A. G. ''O Espaço Geográfico, geografia geral e do Brasil''.", "18.Ed.", "São Paulo: Ática, 1981* Munro, Dana Gardner.", "''The Latin American Republics; A History''.", "New York: D. Appleton, 1942.", "* Peres, Damião (1949) ''O Descobrimento do Brasil por Pedro Álvares Cabral: antecedentes e intencionalidade'' Porto: Portucalense.", "* Scheina, Robert L. ''Latin America: A Naval History, 1810–1987''.", "Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987.", "* * Stuart B. Schwartz ''Sovereignty and Society in Colonial Brazil'' (1973) ''Early Latin America'' (1983) ''Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society'' (1985)* Skidmore, Thomas E. ''Brazil: Five Centuries of Change'' (Oxford University Press, 1999)** ''Uma História do Brasil''.", "4th ed.", "São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2003.", "* Souza, Adriana Barreto de.", "''Duque de Caxias: o homem por trás do monumento''.", "Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2008..* * Vainfas, Ronaldo.", "''Dicionário do Brasil Imperial''.", "Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2002.", "* Vesentini, José William.", "''Brasil, sociedade e espaço – Geografia do Brasil''.", "7th Ed.", "São Paulo: Ática, 1988* Vianna, Hélio.", "''História do Brasil: período colonial, monarquia e república'', 15th ed.", "São Paulo: Melhoramentos, 1994* Zirin, Dave.", "''Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy'' Haymarket Books 2014." ], [ "Further reading", "* Alencastro Felipe, Luiz Felipe de.", "''The Trade in the Living: The Formation of Brazil in the South Atlantic, Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries'' (SUNY Press, 2019) * * * * * * * * * * * Levine, Robert M. ''Historical Dictionary of Brazil'' (2019)* * * * * " ], [ "External links", "'''Government''' Brazilian Federal Government* Official Tourist Guide of Brazil* Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics* *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Black Forest" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Black Forest''' ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland.", "It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers.Its highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of above sea level.", "Roughly oblong in shape, with a length of and breadth of up to , it has an area of about .Historically, the area was known for forestry and the mining of ore deposits, but tourism has now become the primary industry, accounting for around 300,000 jobs.", "There are several ruined military fortifications dating back to the 17th century." ], [ "History", "The Black Forest on the : a mountain chain with fantastically formed trees as a symbol of an unsettled and virtually inaccessible terrainBlack Forest farmhouse, 1898An unmarried Black Forest woman wearing a red , 1898In ancient times, the Black Forest was known as , after the Celtic deity, Abnoba.", "In Roman times (Late antiquity), it was given the name (\"Marcynian Forest\", from the Germanic word ''marka'' = \"border\").", "The Black Forest probably represented the border area of the Marcomanni (\"border people\") who were settled east of the Roman .", "They, in turn, were part of the Germanic tribe of Suebi, who subsequently gave their name to the historic state of Swabia.", "With the exception of Roman settlements on the perimeter (e.g.", "the baths in Badenweiler, and mines near Badenweiler and Sulzburg) and the construction of the Roman road of Kinzigtalstraße, the colonization of the Black Forest was not carried out by the Romans but by the Alemanni.", "They settled and first colonized the valleys, crossing the old settlement boundary, the so-called \"red sandstone border\", for example, from the region of Baar.", "Soon afterwards, increasingly higher areas and adjacent forests were colonized, so that by the end of the 10th century, the first settlements could be found in the red (bunter) sandstone region.", "These include, for example, Rötenbach, which was first mentioned in 819.Some of the uprisings (including the Bundschuh movement) that preceded the 16th century German Peasants' War, originated in the Black Forest.", "Further peasant unrest, in the shape of the saltpetre uprisings, took place over the next two centuries in Hotzenwald.Remnants of military fortifications dating from the 17th and 18th centuries can be found in the Black Forest, especially on the mountain passes.", "Examples include the multiple baroque fieldworks of Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden or individual defensive positions such as the Alexanderschanze (Alexander's Redoubt), the Röschenschanze and the Schwedenschanze (Swedish Redoubt).Originally, the Black Forest was a mixed forest of deciduous trees and firs.", "At the higher elevations spruce also grew.", "In the middle of the 19th century, the Black Forest was almost completely deforested by intensive forestry and was subsequently replanted, mostly with spruce monocultures.In 1990, extensive damage to the forest was caused by a series of windstorms.", "On 26 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar raged across the Black Forest and caused even greater damage, especially to the spruce monocultures.", "As had happened following the 1990 storms, large quantities of fallen logs were kept in provisional wet-storage areas for years.", "The effects of the storm are demonstrated by the Lothar Path, a forest educational and adventure trail at the nature centre in Ruhestein on a highland timber forest of about 10 hectares that was destroyed by a hurricane.", "Several areas of storm damage, both large and small, were left to nature and have developed today into a natural mixed forest again." ], [ "Geography", "Woods and pastures of the High Black Forest near BreitnauThe Black Forest stretches from the High Rhine in the south to the Kraichgau in the north.", "In the west it is bounded by the Upper Rhine Plain (which, from a natural region perspective, also includes the low chain of foothills); in the east it transitions to the Gäu, Baar and hill country west of the Klettgau.", "From north to south, the Black Forest extends for over , attaining a width of up to in the south and in the north.", "The Black Forest is the highest part of the South German Scarplands, and much of it is densely wooded, a fragment of the Hercynian Forest of antiquity.Administratively, the Black Forest belongs completely to the state of Baden-Württemberg and comprises the cities of Freiburg, Pforzheim and Baden-Baden as well as the following districts (''Kreise'').", "In the north: Enz, Rastatt and Calw; in the middle: Freudenstadt, Ortenaukreis and Rottweil; in the south: Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Lörrach and Waldshut.=== Natural regions ===The natural regions of the Black Forest are separated by various features.Geomorphologically, the main division is between the gentle eastern slopes with their mostly rounded hills and broad plateaux (so-called Danubian relief, especially prominent in the north and east on the Bunter Sandstone) and the deeply incised, steeply falling terrain in the west that drops into the Upper Rhine Graben; the so-called Valley Black Forest ('''') with its Rhenanian relief.", "It is here, in the west, where the highest mountains and the greatest local differences in height (of up to 1000 metres) are found.", "The valleys are often narrow and ravine-like.", "The summits are rounded, and there are remnants of plateaux and -like landforms.Geologically the clearest division is also between east and west.", "Large areas of the eastern Black Forest, the lowest layer of the South German Scarplands composed of Bunter Sandstone, are covered by seemingly endless coniferous forest with their island clearings.", "The exposed basement in the west, predominantly made up of metamorphic rocks and granites, was, despite its rugged topography, easier to settle and appears much more open and inviting today with its varied meadow valleys.Feldberg, the highest mountain in the Black Forest, SE of FreiburgThe most common way of dividing the regions of the Black Forest is, however, from north to south.", "Until the 1930s, the Black Forest was divided into the Northern and Southern Black Forest, the boundary being the line of the Kinzig valley.", "Later the Black Forest was divided into the heavily forested Northern Black Forest, the lower, central section, predominantly used for agriculture in the valleys, was the Central Black Forest and the much higher Southern Black Forest with its distinctive highland economy and ice age glacial relief.", "The term High Black Forest referred to the highest areas of the South and southern Central Black Forest.The boundaries drawn were, however, quite varied.", "In 1931, Robert Gradmann called the Central Black Forest the catchment area of the Kinzig and in the west the section up to the lower Elz and Kinzig tributary of the Gutach.", "A pragmatic division, which is oriented not just on natural and cultural regions, uses the most important transverse valleys.", "Based on that, the Central Black Forest is bounded by the Kinzig in the north and the line from Dreisam to Gutach in the south, corresponding to the Bonndorf Graben zone and the course of the present day B 31.In 1959, Rudolf Metz combined the earlier divisions and proposed a modified tripartite division, which combined natural and cultural regional approaches and was widely used.", "His Central Black Forest is bounded in the north by the watershed between the Acher and Rench and subsequently between the Murg and Kinzig or Forbach and Kinzig, in the south by the Bonndorf Graben zone, which restricts the Black Forest in the east as does the Freudenstadt Graben further north by its transition into the Northern Black Forest.==== Work of the Institute of Applied Geography ====The Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany published by the Federal Office of Regional Geography ('''') since the early 1950s names the Black Forest as one of six tertiary-level major landscape regions within the secondary-level region of the South German Scarplands and, at the same time, one of nine new major landscape unit groups.", "It is divided into six so-called major units (level 4 landscapes).", "This division was refined and modified in several successor publications (1:200,000 individual map sheets) up to 1967, each covering individual sections of the map.", "The mountain range was also divided into three regions.", "The northern boundary of the Central Black Forest in this classification runs south of the Rench Valley and the Kniebis to near Freudenstadt.", "Its southern boundary varied with each edition.In 1998, the Baden-Württemberg State Department for Environmental Protection (today the Baden-Württemberg State Department for the Environment, Survey and Nature Conservation) published a reworked Natural Region Division of Baden-Württemberg.", "It is restricted to the level of the natural regional major units and has been used since for the state's administration of nature conservation: No.", "Natural region Areain km2 Population Pop./km2 Settlementareain % Open landin % Forestin % Majorcentres ofpopulation Middle-sizedcentres ofpopulation 150 Black Forest Foothills 930 268,000 289 7.69 29.33 62.92 Pforzheim Calw,Freudenstadt 151 Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills 699 60,000 86 1.92 6.39 91.51 152 Northern Black Forest Valleys 562 107,000 190 4.12 19.48 76.41 Baden-Baden,Gaggenau/Gernsbach153 Central Black Forest 1,422 188,000 133 3.35 30.25 66.39 Haslach/Hausach/Wolfach,Waldkirch, Schramberg154 Southeastern Black Forest 558 80,923 112 3.03 32.44 64.49 Villingen-Schwenningen 155 High Black Forest 1,990 213,000 107 2.44 26.93 70.31 Schopfheim,Titisee-NeustadtSlopes of the Northern Black Forest to the Upper Rhine Plain (Northern Black Forest Valleys)The Black Forest Foothills ('''', 150) geomorphologically form plateaux on the north and northeast periphery of the mountain range that descend to the Kraichgau in the north and the Heckengäu landscapes in the east.", "They are incised by valleys, especially those of the Nagold river system, into individual interfluves; a narrow northwestern finger extends to beyond the Enz near Neuenbürg and also borders the middle reaches of the Alb to the west as far as a point immediately above Ettlingen.", "To the southwest it is adjoined by the Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills (, 151), along the upper reaches of the Enz and Murg, forming the heart of the Northern Black Forest.", "The west of the Northern Black Forest is formed by the Northern Black Forest Valleys (, 152) with the middle reaches of the Murg around Gernsbach, the middle course of the Oos to Baden-Baden, the middle reaches of the Bühlot above Bühls and the upper reaches of the Rench around Oppenau.", "Their exit valleys from the mountain range are all oriented towards the northwest.Grassland economy in side valleys of the Kinzig, Central Black ForestThe Central Black Forest (153) is mainly restricted to the catchment area of the River Kinzig above Offenburg as well as the Schutter and the low hills north of the Elz.The Southeastern Black Forest (, 154) consists mainly of the catchment areas of the upper reaches of the Danube headstreams, the Brigach and Breg as well as the left side valleys of the Wutach north of Neustadt – and thus draining from the northeast of the Southern Black Forest.", "To the south and west it is adjoined by the High Black Forest (, 155) with the highest summits in the whole range around the Feldberg and the Belchen.", "Its eastern part, the Southern Black Forest Plateau, is oriented towards the Danube, but drained over the Wutach and the Alb into the Rhine.", "The southern crest of the Black Forest in the west is deeply incised by the Rhine into numerous ridges.", "Immediately right of the Wiese above Lörrach rises the relatively small Bunter Sandstone-Rotliegendes table of the Weintenau Uplands () in the extreme southwest of the Black Forest; morphologically, geologically and climatically it is separate from the other parts of the Southern Black Forest and, in this classification, is also counted as part of the High Black Forest.Belchen in the Southern Black Forest with its bare dome, seen from Münstertal=== Mountains ===At the Feldberg in the Southern Black Forest is the range's highest summit.", "Also in the same area are the Herzogenhorn (1,415 m) and the Belchen (1,414 m).", "In general the mountains of the Southern or High Black Forest are higher than those in the Northern Black Forest.", "The highest Black Forest peak north of the Freiburg–Höllental–Neustadt line is the Kandel (1,241.4 m).", "Like the highest point of the Northern Black Forest, the Hornisgrinde (1,163 m), or the Southern Black Forest lookout mountains, the Schauinsland (1,284.4 m) and Blauen (1,164.7 m) it lies near the western rim of the range.=== Rivers and lakes ===Schiltach in SchiltachThe Schluchsee, north of St. BlasienRivers in the Black Forest include the Danube (which originates in the Black Forest as the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers), the Enz, the Kinzig, the Murg, the Nagold, the Neckar, the Rench, and the Wiese.", "The Black Forest occupies part of the continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin (drained by the Rhine) and the Black Sea drainage basin (drained by the Danube).The longest Black Forest rivers are (length includes stretches outside the Black Forest):* Enz ()* Kinzig ()* Elz ()* Wutach ()* Nagold (), hydrological main artery of the Nagold-Enz systems* Danube (), headstreams: Breg () Brigach ()* Murg ()* Rench ()* Schutter ()* Wiese ()* Acher ()* Dreisam (incl.", "Rotbach )* Alb (incl.", "Menzenschwander Alb )* Glatt ()* Möhlin ()* Wolf ()* Schiltach ()* Wehra (incl.", "Rüttebach )* Oos ()* Glasbach (), hydrological main artery of the Neckar systemImportant lakes of natural, glacial origin in the Black Forest include the Titisee, the Mummelsee and the Feldsee.", "Especially in the Northern Black Forest are a number of other, smaller tarns.", "Numerous reservoirs like the – formerly natural but much smaller – Schluchsee with the other lakes of the ''Schluchseewerk'', the Schwarzenbach Reservoir, the Kleine Kinzig Reservoir or the Nagold Reservoir are used for electricity generation, flood protection or drinking water supply." ], [ "Geology", "Topography of the Black ForestThe Black Forest consists of a cover of sandstone on top of a core of gneiss and granite.", "Formerly it shared tectonic evolution with the nearby Vosges Mountains.", "Later during the Middle Eocene a rifting period affected the area and caused formation of the Upper Rhine Plain.", "During the last glacial period of the Würm glaciation, the Black Forest was covered by glaciers; several tarns (or lakes) such as the Mummelsee are remains of this period.=== Basement ===The geological foundation of the Black Forest is formed by the crystalline bedrock of the Variscan basement.", "This is covered in the east and northeast by Bunter Sandstone slabs, the so-called platforms.", "On the western edge a descending, step-fault-like, foothill zone borders the Upper Rhine Graben consisting of rocks of the Triassic and Jurassic periods.The dominant rocks of the basement are gneiss (ortho- and paragneisses, in the south also migmatites and diatexites, for example on the Schauinsland and Kandel).", "These gneisses were penetrated by a number of granitic bodies during the Carboniferous period.", "Among the bigger ones are the Triberg Granite and the Forbach Granite, the youngest is the Bärhalde Granite.", "In the south lies the zone of Badenweiler-Lenzkirch, in which Palaeozoic rocks have been preserved (volcanite and sedimentary rocks), which are interpreted as the intercalated remains of a microcontinental collision.", "Still further in the southeast (around Todtmoos) is a range of exotic inclusions: gabbro from Ehrsberg, serpentinites and pyroxenites near Todtmoos, norite near Horbach), which are possibly the remnants of an accretionary wedge from a continental collision.", "Also noteworthy are the basins in the Rotliegend, for example the Schramberg or the Baden-Baden Basin with thick quartz-porphyry and tuff plates (exposed, for example, on the rock massif of Battert near Baden-Baden).", "Thick rock, covered by bunter, also occurs in the north of the Dinkelberg block (several hundred metres thick in the Basel geothermal borehole).", "Even further to the southeast, under the Jura, lies the North Swiss Permocarboniferous Basin.=== Uplift of the mountains ===Since the downfaulting of the Upper Rhine Graben during the Eocene epoch, the two shoulders on either side have been uplifted: the Black Forest to the east and the Vosges to the west.", "In the centre lies the Kaiserstuhl volcano, which dates to the Miocene.", "In the times that followed, the Mesozoic platform on the uplands was largely eroded, apart from remains of Bunter Sandstone and Rotliegend Group, but it has survived within the graben itself.", "During the Pliocene a pronounced but uneven bulge especially affected the southern Black Forest, including the Feldberg.", "As a result, the upper surface of the basement in the northern part of the forest around the Hornisgrinde is considerably lower.", "In the central Black Forest, the tectonic syncline of the Kinzig and Murg emerged.Geomorphologist Walther Penck regarded the Black Forest as an uplifted geologic dome and modeled his theory of piedmonttreppen (piedmont benchlands) on it.=== Platform ===Above the crystalline basement of the Northern Black Forest and the adjacent parts of the Central Black Forest, the bunter sandstone platforms rise in prominent steps.", "The most resistant surface strata on the stepped terrain of the uplands and the heights around the upper reaches of the Enz, which have been heavily eroded by the tributaries of the Murg, is the silicified main conglomerate (Middle Bunter).", "To the east and north are the nappes of the Upper Bunter (platten sandstones and red clays).", "South of the Kinzig the Bunter Sandstone zone narrows to a fringe in the east of the mountain range.=== Ice age and topography ===It is considered proven that the Black Forest was heavily glaciated during the peak periods of at least the Riss and Würm glaciations (up to about 10,000 years ago).", "This glacial geomorphology characterizes almost all of the High Black Forest as well as the main ridge of the Northern Black Forest.", "Apart from that, it is only discernible from a large number of cirques mainly facing northeast.", "Especially in this direction snow accumulated on the shaded and leeward slopes of the summit plateau to form short cirque glaciers that made the sides of these funnel-shaped depressions.", "There are still tarns in some of these old cirques, partly a result of the anthropogenic elevation of the low-side lip of the cirque, such as the Mummelsee, Wildsee, Schurmsee, Glaswaldsee, Buhlbachsee, Nonnenmattweiher, and Feldsee.", "The Titisee formed as glacial lake behind a glacial moraine." ], [ "Culture", "The Black Forest is mainly rural, with many scattered villages and a few large towns.", "Tradition and custom are celebrated in many places in the form of annual festivities.", "The main dialect spoken in the Black Forest area is Alemannic.", "The forest is best known for its typical farmhouses with their sweeping half-hipped roofs, its Black Forest gâteaus, Black Forest ham, Black Forest gnomes, Kirschwasser and the cuckoo clock.=== Traditional costume ===Traditional costume or Tracht is still sometimes worn today, usually at festive occasions.", "The appearance of such costume varies from region to region, sometimes markedly.", "One of the best-known Black Forest costumes is that of the villages of Kirnbach, Reichenbach and Gutach im Kinzigtal with the characteristic ''Bollenhut'' headdress.", "Unmarried women wear the hats with red bobbles or ''Bollen''; married women wear black.", "Engaged women sometimes wear a bridal crown (''Schäppel'') before and on the day of their wedding, whose largest examples from the town of St. Georgen weigh up to 5 kilograms.File:Bollenhut-Gutach.jpg\|Traditionally, the ''Bollenhut'' is worn by unmarried women as part of the tracht.File:Angelo Jank - Jugend Nr.", "36, 1904.jpg=== Art ===Its rural beauty as well as the sense of tradition of its inhabitants attracted many artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries, whose works made the Black Forest famous the world over.", "Notable were Hans Thoma from Bernau and his fellow student, Rudolf Epp, who was sponsored by the Grand Duke of Baden, Frederick I.", "Both artists painted motifs from the Black Forest throughout their lives.", "Artist J. Metzler from Düsseldorf travelled through the Black Forest to paint his landscapes.", "The works of the Gutach artist colony around Wilhelm Hasemann were widely admired, their landscape and genre motifs capturing the character of the Black Forest.", "Like local author Heinrich Hansjakob, they were part of a Baden folk costume movement.File:Arnold Lyongrün, Frühling im Schwarzwald, 1912.jpg\|Arnold Lyongrün: \"Frühling im Schwarzwald\" (1912)File:Hans Thoma - Kinderreigen (1872).jpg\|\"Kinderreigen\" (1872) by Black Forest artist Hans ThomaFile:J.metzler-schwarzwaldlandschaft.jpg\|Black Forest landscape by J. MetzlerFile:J. Metzler - Schwarzwaldlandschaft.jpg\|Black Forest landscape by J. MetzlerFile:Bauernhaus (Hasemann).jpg\|Black Forest farmhouse, painted by Wilhelm HasemannFile:Gutacher Familie (Hasemann).jpg\|A Gutach family, painted by Wilhelm Hasemann ()=== Crafts ===In the field of handicrafts, wood carving produces folk art like the Longinus crosses along with sculptors like Matthias Faller.", "Wood carving is a traditional cottage industry in the region, and carved ornaments now are produced in substantial numbers as souvenirs for tourists.", "Cuckoo clocks are a popular example.Glassblowing is another notable craft of the Black Forest region.", "At the beginning of the 15th century, the art of glassmaking took hold in the Bavarian-Bohemian border mountains, especially since the necessary raw materials such as quartz and wood were abundant here.", "With the permission of the manor, glassblowers operated simple glass production facilities as \"wandering huts\" (''Wanderhütten''), the locations of which were relocated when the local resources were available.", "They needed huge amounts of firewood and wood for potash.", "In the second half of the 18th century, the huts had to close due to a shortage of wood and sales difficulties.", "Only after 1800, when the demand for luxury glass increased enormously, when a few decades of regulated forestry had ensured the regrowth of the raw material wood and when the forest-destroying potash extraction had become unnecessary due to the new glass flux soda, some glass huts (''Glashütten'') revived.", "Some glassblowing factories still testify to this today, for example in Höllental, near Todtnau and in Wolfach.File:Du200613.png\|German cuckoo clock=== Cuisine ===Black Forest ham originated from this region, as did the Black Forest gâteau, which is also known as \"Black Forest Cherry Cake\" or \"Black Forest Cake\" and is made with chocolate cake, cream, sour cherries and Kirsch.", "The Black Forest variety of ''Flammekueche'' is a Baden specialty made with ham, cheese and cream.", "''Pfannkuchen'', a crêpe or crêpe-like (''Eierkuchen'' or ''Palatschinken'') pastry, is also common.The Black Forest is known for its long tradition in gourmet cuisine.", "No fewer than 17 Michelin starred restaurants are located in the region, among them two restaurants with three stars (Restaurants Bareiss and Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn) as well as the only restaurant in Germany that has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 1966.At ''Schwarzwald Hotel Adler'' in Häusern, three generations of chefs from the same family have defended the award from the first year the Michelin Guide selected restaurants in Germany until today.File:Schwarzwaelderspeck.jpg\|Black Forest ham with German breadFile:Black Forest cake 5.jpg\|A Black Forest cakeFile:Bryan's Grocery Black Forest Cake (33577971241).jpg\|Slice of a Black Forest Cake=== ''Fasnet'' ===The German holiday of Fastnacht, or ''Fasnet'', as it is known in the Black Forest region, occurs in the time leading up to Lent.", "On ''Fasnetmendig'', or the Monday before Ash Wednesday, crowds of people line the streets, wearing wooden, mostly hand-carved masks.", "One prominent style of mask is called the Black Forest Style, originating from the Black Forest Region.File:Fastnacht im Schwarzwald - panoramio (4).jpg\|Fastnacht in the Black ForestFile:Fastnachtsvergnügen im Schwarzwald 1890.jpg\|Carnival pleasure in the Black Forest (1890)File:Gernsbacher Fastnacht - panoramio.jpg\|Fastnacht in Gernsbach (Black Forest)=== Cego ===One of two patterns of Cego trump cardsThe Black Forest is home to an unusual tarot card game called Cego, that is part of the region's cultural heritage.", "After the defeat of Further Austria in 1805, much of its territory was allocated to the Grand Duchy of Baden.", "During the ensuing Napoleonic Wars, soldiers from Baden deployed with Napoleon's troops to Spain where, among other things, they learned a new card game, Ombre.", "They took this back to Baden and adapted it to be played with Tarot cards which were then in common use in southern Germany.Cego soon developed into the national game of Baden and Hohenzollern, and these are the only regions of Germany where tarot cards are still used for playing games.", "The game has grown organically, and there are many regional variations, but in recent years the establishment of a Cego Black Forest Championship has led to official tournament rules being defined.", "In addition, regular courses and local tournaments are held and it is a permanent feature of Alemannic Week, held annually in the Black Forest at the end of September." ], [ "Nature", "=== Conservation areas ===Central/North Black Forest Nature Park: view from the Hornisgrinde (highest mountain of the Northern Black Forest)There are two nature parks and one national park named after the Black Forest that cover the region: the '''Southern Black Forest Nature Park''', the '''Central/North Black Forest''' and the '''Black Forest National Park'''.", "The difference between a nature park and a national park is that a nature park's aim is to strive for environmentally sustainable land use, to preserve the countryside as a cultural landscape, to market local produce more effectively, to make the area more suitable for sustainable tourism and to practice environmental education.", "A national park's aims are to protect the country's natural heritage, to practice environmental education, to serve purposes of scientific environmental observation and to prevent the area from being commercially exploited.The '''Southern Black Forest Nature Park''' (''Naturpark Südschwarzwald'') was founded in 1999.It comprises 394,000 ha and is therefore Germany's largest nature park (as of 2020).", "It encloses the southern part of the Central Black Forest, the Southern Black Forest and adjacent areas.The '''Central/North Black Forest Nature Park''' (''Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord'') was founded in 2000.It covers 375,000 ha and is thus the second-largest in Germany (as of 2020).", "It begins in the southern part of the Central Black Forest, bordering on the Southern Black Forest Nature Park and covers the rest of the Black Forest to the north.The '''Black Forest National Park''', established in 2014, is the first national park in Baden-Württemberg.", "It lies completely within the Central/North Black Forest Nature Park between the cities of Freudenstadt and Baden-Baden and covers an area of 10,062 ha.", "Its motto is \"Natur Natur sein lassen\" (let nature be nature).Two Black Forest Horses pulling a sled in the winter===Fauna===In addition to the characteristic range of fauna found in Central European forests, the following less common animals may be observed in the Black Forest:* '''Black Forest cattle''' which belong to the rare breed of Hinterwälder cattle,* the giant earthworm ''Lumbricus badensis'', which is found only in the Black Forest region,* the '''Black Forest Horse''', a draft horse once indispensable for heavy field work and nowadays an endangered breed, and* the endangered '''Western capercaillie'''.=== Climate ===The mountain range has lower temperatures and higher rainfall than its surrounding countryside.", "The highlands of the Black Forest are characterized by regular rainfall throughout the year.", "However, temperatures do not fall evenly with increasing elevation, nor does the rainfall increase uniformly.", "Rather, the precipitation rises quickly even in the lower regions and is disproportionately heavy on the rainier western side of the mountains.Winter on the Schauinsland.", "In the background are the Vosges.The wettest areas are the highlands around the Hornisgrinde in the north and around the Belchen and Feldberg in the south, where annual rainfall reaches 1,800–2,100 mm.", "Moisture-laden Atlantic westerlies dump about as much rain in the Northern Black Forest, despite its lower elevation, than in the higher area of the Southern Black Forest.", "There, the Vosges act as a rain shield in the face of the prevailing winds.", "On the exposed east side of the Central Black Forest, it is much drier; the annual rainfall there is about 750 L/m2.The higher elevations of the Black Forest are characterized by relatively small annual fluctuations and steamed extreme values.", "This is the result of the frequent light winds and greater cloud cover in summer.", "During the winter months, frequent high pressure means that the summits are often bathed in sunshine, while the valleys disappear under a thick blanket of fog as a result of pockets of cold air (temperature inversion)." ], [ "Tourism and transport", "Hinterzarten in the Southern Black Forest: church and Adler ski jumpThe main industry of the Black Forest is tourism.", "Black Forest Tourism (''Schwarzwald Tourismus'') assesses that there are around 140,000 direct full-time jobs in the tourist sector and around 34.8 million tourist overnight stays in 2009.In spring, summer and autumn an extensive network of hiking trails and mountain bike routes enable different groups of people to use the natural region.", "In winter, it is the various types of winter sport that come to the fore.", "There are facilities for both downhill and Nordic skiing in many places.=== Tourist attractions ===The ''Altstadt'' of Altensteig in the Northern Black ForestThe most heavily frequented tourist destinations and resorts in the Black Forest are the Titisee and the Schluchsee.", "Both lakes offer opportunities for water sports like diving and windsurfing.", "The Mummelsee is a recreational lake and a starting point for a number of hiking trails including the Kunstpfad am Mummelsee (\"sculpture trail at the Mummelsee\").", "The Murg valley, the Kinzig valley, the Triberg Waterfalls and the Open Air Museum at Vogtsbauernhof are also popular.", "Lookout mountains include the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel and the Schauinsland in the Southern Black Forest; and the Hornisgrinde, the Schliffkopf, the Hohloh, the Merkur and the Teufelsmühle in the Northern Black Forest.", "The height differences in the mountains are used in many places for hang gliding and paragliding.One often visited town is Baden-Baden with its thermal baths and festival hall.", "Other thermal baths are found in the spa resorts of Badenweiler, Bad Herrenalb, Bad Wildbad, Bad Krozingen, Bad Liebenzell and Bad Bellingen.", "From the beginning of the 19th century, the desire for spa and bathing resorts arose in all of Central Europe because of the increasing economic potential, increasing mobility and the use of advertising.", "The Neo-renaissance style Friedrichsbad and the Palais Thermal are examples for spas built in this era.Other tourist destinations are the old imperial town of Gengenbach, the former county towns of Wolfach, Schiltach and Haslach im Kinzigtal and the flower and wine village of Sasbachwalden at the foot of the Hornisgrinde.", "Picturesque old towns may be visited in Altensteig, Dornstetten, Freiburg im Breisgau, Gernsbach, Villingen and Zell am Harmersbach.", "Baiersbronn is a centre of gastronomic excellence, Freudenstadt is built around the largest market place in Germany.", "Gersbach's floral displays have won awards as the German Golden Village of 2004 and the European Golden Village of 2007.Noted for their fine interiors are the former monastery of St. Blasien as well as the abbeys of Sankt Trudpert, St. Peter and St. Märgen.Alpirsbach Abbey and the ruined Hirsau Abbey were built of red sandstone in the Hirsau style.", "Another idyllic rural edifice is Wittichen Abbey near Schenkenzell.The Mummelsee along the Black Forest High RoadThere are well known winter sports areas around the Feldberg, near Todtnau with its FIS downhill ski run of ''Fahler Loch'' and in Hinterzarten, a centre and talent forge for German ski jumpers.", "In the Northern Black Forest, the winter-sports areas are concentrated along the Black Forest High Road and on the ridge between the Murg and Enz rivers around Kaltenbronn.=== Hiking trails ===The Black Forest has a great number of very varied trails; some of pan-regional significance.", "The European long-distance path E1 crosses the Black Forest following the routes of some of the local long-distance paths.", "Their framework is a network of long-distance paths with main routes and side branches, many of which were laid out in the early 20th century by the Black Forest Club (''Schwarzwaldverein'').", "The best known of these is the challenging West Way (''Westweg'') with its many steep inclines.", "After 1950, circular walks were constructed to meet the changing demand, initially from the relatively dense railway network and, later, mainly from locally established hiking car parks.", "Currently, special, more experience-oriented themed paths are being laid out, such as the Dornstetten Barefoot Park (''Barfußpark Dornstetten''), the Park of All Senses (''Park mit allen Sinnen'') in Gutach (Black Forest Railway), as well as those designed to bring the walker more directly in contact with nature (e.g.", "the ''Schluchtensteig'').", "Roads and wide forest tracks are thus less often used than hitherto.There are numerous shorter paths suitable for day walks, as well as mountain biking and cross-country skiing trails.", "The total network of tracks amounts to around , and is maintained and overseen by volunteers of the Black Forest Club (figures from Bremke, 1999, p. 9), which is the second largest German hiking association.", "As of 2021, the club counts 65,000 members.+Notable hiking trails* West Way (''Westweg'') Pforzheim–Basel* Middle Way (''Mittelweg'') Pforzheim-Waldshut* East Way (''Ostweg'') Pforzheim-Schaffhausen* Rottweil-Lahr Trail (''Querweg Rottweil-Lahr'') (4 days)* Gengenbach-Alpirsbach Trail (''Querweg Gengenbach-Alpirsbach'') (2–3 days)* Hansjakob Way I (''Hansjakobweg I'', circular walk, 3 days)* Hansjakob Way II (circular walk, 4 days)* Murgleiter (5 days, premium trail)* Gernsbach Circular Walk (''Gernsbacher Runde'', 2–3 days, premium trail)* Schluchtensteig (long-distance path, 5–6 days)* Baiersbronn Lake Trail (''Baiersbronner Seensteig'') (circular walk, 5 days)* Freiburg-Lake Constance Trail (''Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee'') (6–7 days)* Kandel Ridgway (''Kandelhöhenweg''), Oberkirch–Freiburg (5 days)* Two Valleys Trail (''Zweitälersteig'') (5 days)* Black Forest-Swabian Jura-Allgäu Way (''Schwarzwald-Schwäbische-Alb-Allgäu-Weg''), also Main Path (''Hauptwanderweg'') 5, runs for over 311 kilometres into the Allgäu=== Museums in the Black Forest ======= Culture and crafts ====The ''Vogtsbauernhof'' (1612) of the Black Forest Open Air Museum in the Gutach valleyThe Black Forest Open Air Museum at the Vogtsbauernhof farm in Gutach has original Black Forest houses offering insights into farming life of the 16th and 17th centuries.", "The buildings were dismantled at their original sites, the individual pieces numbered and then re-erected to exactly the same plan in the museum.", "The open-air museum shows the life of 16th and 17th century farmers in the region featuring the ''Vogtsbauernhof'' which dates back to 1612.The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen gives a comprehensive cross-section of the history of the watchmaking and clockmaking industries.From this early precision engineering a formerly important phonographic industry developed in the 20th century; the history of leisure electronics is presented in the German Phono Museum in St. Georgen.The Schüttesäge Museum in Schiltach has information and living history demonstrations covering the themes of lumbering and timber rafting in the Kinzig valley as well as tanning.The Black Forest Costume Museum in Haslach im Kinzigtal offers an overview of the traditional costume of the whole of the Black Forest and its peripheral regions.", "Also located in Haslach: the Hansjakob Museum and the Hansjakob Archive with numerous works of the writer, priest, politician, historian and chronicler, Heinrich Hansjakob.==== Nature and science ====The MiMa Mineralogy and Mathematics Museum in Oberwolfach houses minerals and mining exhibits from the whole of the Black Forest and links them to mathematical explanations.=== Infrastructure ======= Road transport ====Several tourist routes run through the Black Forest.", "Well known holiday routes are the Black Forest High Road (B 500) and the German Clock Road.Thanks to its winding country roads, the Black Forest is a popular destination for motorcyclists.", "This arm of tourism is controversial due to the high number of accidents and the wide-ranging noise pollution and has been restricted through the introduction of speed limits and by placing certain roads out of bounds.", "For example, since 1984, motorcyclists have been banned from using the mountain-racing route on the Schauinsland during summer weekends.==== Railway transport ====Höllental RailwayThe whole of the Black Forest was once linked by railway.", "In the eastern part of the Northern Black Forest by the Enz Valley Railway from Pforzheim to Bad Wildbad, by the Nagold Valley Railway from Pforzheim via Calw and Nagold to Horb am Neckar, by the Württemberg Black Forest Railway from Stuttgart to Calw and the Gäu Railway from Stuttgart to Freudenstadt or its present-day section from Eutingen to Freudenstadt.Many railway lines run from the Rhine Plain up the valleys into the Black Forest: the Alb Valley Railway runs from Karlsruhe to Bad Herrenalb, the Murg Valley Railway from Rastatt to Freudenstadt, the Acher Valley Railway from Achern to Ottenhöfen im Schwarzwald and the Rench Valley Railway from Appenweier to Bad Griesbach.", "The Baden Black Forest Railway has linked Offenburg with Konstanz on Lake Constance since 1873, running via Hausach, Triberg, St. Georgen, Villingen and Donaueschingen.", "In Hausach the Kinzig Valley Railway branches off to Freudenstadt, in Denzlingen the Elz Valley Railway peels off towards Elzach, the Höllental Railway runs from Freiburg im Breisgau through the Höllental valley to Donaueschingen, the Münstertal Railway from Bad Krozingen to Münstertal, the Kander Valley Railway from Haltingen near Basel through the Kander valley to Kandern and the Wiesen Valley Railway from Basel to Zell im Wiesental.The Three Lakes Railway branches off at the Titisee from the Höllental Railway and runs to the Windgfällweiher and the Schluchsee.", "The Wutach Valley Railway runs along the border between Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland, linking Waldshut-Tiengen with Immendingen on the Black Forest Railway.Most of these routes are still busy today, whilst some are popular heritage lines.=== Administration ===Since January 2006, the Black Forest Tourist organisation, ''Schwarzwald Tourismus'', whose head office is in Freiburg, has been responsible for the administration of tourism in the 320 municipalities of the region.", "Hitherto there had been four separate tourist associations.=== Points of interest ===Winter on Schauinsland: famous \"Windbuchen\" Beeches bent by the windThere are many historic towns in the Black Forest.", "Popular tourist destinations include Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Calw (the birth town of Hermann Hesse), Gengenbach, Staufen, Schiltach, Haslach and Altensteig.", "Other popular destinations include such mountains as the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel, and the Schauinsland; the Titisee and Schluchsee lakes; the All Saints Waterfalls; the Triberg Waterfalls, not the highest, but the most famous waterfalls in Germany; and the gorge of the River Wutach.For drivers, the main route through the region is the fast A 5 (E35) motorway, but a variety of signposted scenic routes such as the Schwarzwaldhochstraße (, Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt), Schwarzwald Tälerstraße (, the Murg and Kinzig valleys) or Badische Weinstraße (Baden Wine Street, , a wine route from Baden-Baden to Weil am Rhein) offers calmer driving along high roads.", "The last is a picturesque trip starting in the south of the Black Forest going north and includes numerous old wineries and tiny villages.", "Another, more specialized route is the German Clock Route, a circular route that traces the horological history of the region.Black Forest trackDue to the rich mining history dating from medieval times (the Black Forest was one of the most important mining regions of Europe ) there are many mines re-opened to the public.", "Such mines may be visited in the Kinzig valley, the Suggental, the Muenster valley, and around Todtmoos.The Black Forest was visited on several occasions by Count Otto von Bismarck during his years as Prussian and later German chancellor (1862–1890).", "Allegedly, he was especially interested in the Triberg Waterfalls.", "There is now a monument in Triberg dedicated to Bismarck, who apparently enjoyed the tranquility of the region as an escape from his day-to-day political duties in Berlin.The Black Forest featured in the philosophical development of Martin Heidegger.", "Heidegger wrote and edited some of his philosophical works in a small hut in the Black Forest, and would receive visitors there for walks, including his former pupil Hannah Arendt.", "This hut features explicitly in his essay ''Building, Dwelling, Thinking''.", "His walks in the Black Forest are supposed to have inspired the title of his collection of essays ''Holzwege'', translated as ''Off The Beaten Track''." ], [ "Economy and craftsmanship", "=== Mining ===Hornisgrinde plateau and raised bog (2004).", "Behind: transmission mast and wind generatorsMining developed in the Black Forest due to its ore deposits, which were often lode-shaped.", "The formation of these deposits (Schauinsland Pit: zinc, lead, about 700–1000 g silver/ton of lead; baryte, fluorite, less lead and zinc in the Kinzig valley; BiCoNi ores near Wittichen, uranium discovered in the Krunkelbach valley near Menzenschwand but never officially mined) often used to be linked to the intrusion of Carboniferous granite in the para- and orthogneisses.", "More recent research has revealed that most of these lode fillings are much younger (Triassic to Tertiary).", "Economic deposits of other minerals included: fluorite in the Northern Black Forest near Pforzheim, baryte in the central region near Freudenstadt, fluorite along with lead and silver near Wildschapbach, baryte and fluorite in the Rankach valley and near Ohlsbach, in the Southern Black Forest near Todtnau, Wieden and Urberg.Small liquid magmatic deposits of nickel-magnetite gravel in norite were mined or prospected in the Hotzenwald forest near Horbach and Todtmoos.", "Strata-bound deposits include iron ores in the Dogger layer of the foothill zone and uranium near Müllenbach/Baden-Baden.", "Stone coal is only found near Berghaupten and Diersburg, but was always only of local importance.Chronology: Stone Age mining of haematite (as red pigment) near Sulzburg.", "By the 5th and 6th centuries B.C.", "iron ore was being mined by the Celts in the Northern Black Forest (for example in Neuenbürg).", "Especially in the Middle Black Forest, but also in the south (for example in the Münster valley) ore mining was already probably taking place in Roman times (mining of silver and lead ore; evidence of this at Sulzburg and possibly Badenweiler).", "Until the High Middle Ages the High Black Forest was practically unsettled.", "In the course of inland colonisation in the Late High Middle Ages even the highlands were cultivated by settlers from the abbeys (St. Peter's, St. Märgen's).", "In the Late High Middle Ages (from about 1100) mining experienced another boom, especially around Todtnau, in the Münster and Suggen valleys and, later, on the Schauinsland too.", "It is believed that around 800–1,000 miners lived and worked in the Münster valley until the end of the Middle Ages.", "After the Plague, which afflicted the valley in 1516, the German Peasants' War (1524–26) and the Thirty Years' War, mining in the region declined until just a few pits remained.An important mining area was the Kinzig valley and its side valleys.", "The small mining settlement of Wittichen near Schenkenzell in the upper Kinzig valley had many pits from which miners dug baryte, cobalt and silver of many kinds.", "A circular, geological footpath runs today past the old pits and tips.Another boom began in the early 18th century after the loss of the Alsace to France.", "It lasted until the 19th century.", "Many pits from this period may be visited today as show mines; for example the Teufelsgrund Pit (Münstertal), the Finstergrund Pit near Wieden, the Hoffnungsstollen (\"Hope Gallery\") at Todtmoos, the mine in the Schauinsland, the formerly especially silver-rich Wenzel Pit in Oberwolfach and Gr.", "Segen Gottes (\"God's Great Blessing\") in Haslach-Schnellingen.Non-ferrous metal mining in the Black Forest continued until the middle of the 20th century near Wildschapbach and on the Schauinsland (to 1954); fluorite and baryte are still mined today at the Clara Pit in the Rankach valley in Oberwolfach.", "Iron ores of the Dogger formation was worked until the 1970s near Ringsheim and was smelted in Kehl.Compared with the Harz and Ore Mountains the quantities of silver extracted in the Black Forest were rather modest and reached only about ten percent of that produced in the other silver-mining regions.There are many show mines in the Black Forest.", "These include:the Frischglück Pit near Neuenbürg, the Hella Glück Pit near Neubulach, the Silbergründle Pit near Seebach, the Himmlich Heer Pit near Hallwangen, the Heilige Drei Könige Pit near Freudenstadt, the Segen Gottes Pit near Haslach, the Wenzel Pit near Oberwolfach, the Caroline Pit near Sexau, the Suggental Silver Mine near Waldkirch, the Schauinsland Pit near Freiburg, the Teufelsgrund Pit near Münstertal, the Finstergrund Pit near Wieden and the Hoffnungsstollen Pit near Todtmoos.=== Forestry ===Trunks of White Fir from Gersbach hold up the largest unsupported wooden roof in the world at Expo 2000.For several centuries logs from the Black Forest were rafted down the Enz, Kinzig, Murg, Nagold and Rhine rivers for use in the shipping industry, as construction timber and for other purposes.", "This branch of industry boomed in the 18th century and led to large-scale clearances.", "As most of the long, straight pine logs were transported downriver for shipbuilding in the Netherlands, they were referred to as \"Dutchmen\".", "The logs were used in the Netherlands, above all, as piles for house construction in the sandy and wet ground.", "Even today in Amsterdam large numbers of historic building are built on these posts and the reforestation of the Black Forest with spruce monocultures testifies to the destruction of the original mixed forest.", "With the expansion of the railway and road network as alternative transportation, rafting largely came to an end in the late 19th century.Today, loggers harvest fir trees—especially very tall and branchless ones—mainly to ship to Japan.", "The global advertising impact of Expo 2000 fuelled a resurgence of timber exports.", "The importance of the timber resources of the Black Forest has also increased sharply recently due to the increasing demand for wood pellets for heating.=== Glass-making, charcoal-burning and potash-mining ===The timber resources of the Black Forest provided the basis for other sectors of the economy that have now largely disappeared.", "Charcoal burners (''Köhler'') built their wood piles (''Meiler'') in the woods and produced charcoal, which, like the products of the potash boilers—further processed ''inter alia'' for the glassmaking industry.", "The Black Forest supplied raw materials and energy for the manufacture of forest glass.", "This is evidenced today by a number of glassblowing houses e.g.", "in the Hoellental in Todtnau and Wolfach and the Forest Glass Centre in Gersbach (Schopfheim), which is open to visitors.=== Precision-engineering, clock and jewellery manufacture ===Clockmaker's workshop in a sitting room (postcard from around 1900)In the relatively inaccessible Black Forest valleys, industrialization did not arrive until late in the day.", "In winter, many farmers made wooden cuckoo clocks to supplement their income.", "This developed in the 19th century into the precision engineering and watch industry, which boomed with the arrival of the railway in many of the Black Forest valleys.", "The initial disadvantage of their remote location, which led to the development of precision-engineered wooden handicrafts, became a competitive advantage because of their access to raw materials: timber from the forest and metal from the mines.", "As part of a structural support programme the Baden State Government founded the first clockmaking school in 1850 in Furtwangen to ensure that small artisans were given good training and thus better sales opportunities.", "Due to the increasing demand for mechanical devices, large companies such as Junghans and Kienzle became established.", "In the 20th century, the production of consumer electronics was developed by companies such as SABA, Dual and Becker.", "In the 1970s, the industry declined due to Far Eastern competition.", "Nevertheless, the Black Forest remains a centre for the metalworking industry and is home to many high-tech companies.Since the start of industrialisation there have been numerous firms in Pforzheim that manufacture jewellery and work with precious metals and stones.", "There is also a goldsmith's school in Pforzheim.=== Hydropower ===The Straßerhof Mill in Hornberg, a typical Black Forest farming millThe Hornberg Basin near Herrischried, upper reservoir of the Wehr pumped storage station (emptied, May 2008)Due to the large amounts of precipitation and elevation changes the Black Forest has significant hydropower potential.", "This was used until the 19th century especially for operating numerous mills, including sawmills and hammer mills and was one of the local factors in the industrialization of some Black Forest valleys.Since the 20th century, the Black Forest has seen the large-scale generation of electrical power using run-of-the-river power plants and pumped storage power stations.", "From 1914 to 1926, the Rudolf Fettweis Company was established in the Murg valley in the Northern Black Forest with the construction of the Schwarzenbach Dam.", "In 1932, the Schluchsee reservoir, with its new dam, became the upper basin of a pumped-storage power plant.", "In 2013 the association of the Southern Black Forest's ''Schluchseewerk'' owned five power plants with 14 storage tanks.", "At the Hornberg Basin topographical conditions allow an average head of water of 625 m to drive the turbines before it flows into the Wehra Reservoir.In the 21st century, in the wake of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, numerous smaller run-of-the-river power stations were re-opened or newly constructed." ], [ "Notable people and residents", "* Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621/22–1676), German novelist; in 1665–67, he kept an inn in Gaisbach in the Black Forest while writing his famous picaresque novel ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' (1669)* Hans Thoma, born in Bernau (1839–1924), German painter* Hermann Hesse, born in Calw (1877–1962), German poet and novelist* Jürgen Klopp, football manager, who grew up in village of Glatten* Martin Heidegger, German philosopher, who spent much of his time in Todtnauberg, where he wrote most of ''Being and Time.''" ], [ "Gallery", "File:Luftaufnahme-Feldberg-Seebuck-30122004.jpg\|The FeldbergFile:Belchen - Gipfel.JPG\|View from the Belchen towards the AlpsFile:Zweitaelersteig Eckleberg04.jpg\|Cattle near SimonswaldFile:Titisee winter.jpg\|The Titisee, popular year-roundFile:Münster Freiburg.jpg\|The Minster in Freiburg, the region's biggest cityFile:Kinzig.jpg\|The River Kinzig passing through the Black ForestFile:Mummelsee.jpg\|The MummelseeFile:Jugendherberge Schloss Ortenberg.jpg\|Ortenberg Castle near Offenburg (now a youth hostel)File:Murgtalbahn Tennetschluchtbruecke Stadtbahn-dvdb.jpg\|The Murg Valley RailwayFile:Clock forest.jpg\|The Black Forest is known for its native clockmakersFile:Vogtsbauernhof klein.jpg\|Traditional farmhouse of the Black ForestFile:Hausach 4.jpg\|HausachFile:Schiltach Altstadt 3.JPG\|SchiltachFile:Paragleiter.JPG\|Paragliding above Baden-BadenFile:Palais thermal aussenansicht.jpg\|The former ''Graf-Eberhard-Bad'' (now: Palais Thermal) in Bad Wildbad" ], [ "See also", "* Hercynian Forest (historic)* Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Association)* German Clock Museum* Black Forest gateau" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "=== Geography ===* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .=== Economy, geology and mining ===* .", "* Eberhard Gothein: ''Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Schwarzwaldes und der angrenzenden Landschaften.", "Erster Band: Städte- und Gewerbegeschichte'', Verlag Karl J. Trübner, Strassburg 1892 ( digitalised).", "* .", "* .", "* .=== Art history ===* Richard Schmidt: ''Schwarzwald'' (Deutsche Lande – Deutsche Kunst).", "Munich/Berlin, 1965.=== Nature ===* Adolf Hanle: ''Nordschwarzwald'' (Meyers Naturführer).", "Mannheim/Vienna/Zurich, 1989.", "* Adolf Hanle: ''Südschwarzwald'' (Meyers Naturführer).", "Mannheim/Vienna/Zurich, 1989.", "* Ulrike Klugmann (Hrsg.", "): ''Südschwarzwald, Feldberg und Wutachschlucht'' (Naturmagazin Draußen).", "Hamburg, 1983.", "* Hans-Peter Schaub: ''Der Schwarzwald.", "Naturvielfalt in einer alten Kulturlandschaft.''", "Mannheim, 2001.=== Fiction ===* Jürgen Lodemann (ed.", "): ''Schwarzwaldgeschichten''.", "Klöpfer & Mayer, Tübingen, 2007, .", "* Herbert Schnierle-Lutz (ed.", "): ''Schwarzwald-Lesebuch.", "Geschichten aus 6 Jahrhunderten mit zahlreichen Bildern'', 224 pages, Hohenheim Verlag, Stuttgart, 2011, .=== General ===* Bremke, N. (1999).", "''Schwarzwald quer''.", "Karlsruhe: Braun.", ".", "* Lamparski, F. (1985).", "Der Einfluß der Regenwurmart Lumbricus badensis auf Waldböden im Südschwarzwald.", "''Schriftenreihe des Institut für Bodenkunde und Waldernährungslehre der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i.", "Br., 15''.", ".", "English summary* Barnes, K. J.", "(2007).", "''A Rough Passage: Memories of an Empire''* ." ], [ "External links", "* * *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Black Sea" ], [ "Introduction", "The estuary of the Veleka in the Black Sea.", "Longshore drift has deposited sediment along the shoreline which has led to the formation of a spit (Sinemorets, Bulgaria).", "Georgia, with the skyline of Batumi on the horizon Swallow's Nest in CrimeaCoastline of Samsun in Turkeysanatorium in Sochi, RussiaThe '''Black Sea''' is a marginal mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia.", "It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.", "The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester.", "Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe.The Black Sea covers (not including the Sea of Azov), has a maximum depth of , and a volume of .", "Most of its coasts ascend rapidly.These rises are the Pontic Mountains to the south, bar the southwest-facing peninsulas, the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and the Crimean Mountains to the mid-north.In the west, the coast is generally small floodplains below foothills such as the Strandzha; Cape Emine, a dwindling of the east end of the Balkan Mountains; and the Dobruja Plateau considerably farther north.The longest east–west extent is about .Important cities along the coast include (clockwise from the Bosporus) Burgas, Varna, Constanța, Odesa, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Sochi, Batumi, Trabzon and Samsun.The Black Sea has a positive water balance, with an annual net outflow of per year through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles into the Aegean Sea.", "While the net flow of water through the Bosporus and Dardanelles (known collectively as the Turkish Straits) is out of the Black Sea, water generally flows in both directions simultaneously: Denser, more saline water from the Aegean flows into the Black Sea underneath the less dense, fresher water that flows out of the Black Sea.", "This creates a significant and permanent layer of deep water that does not drain or mix and is therefore anoxic.", "This anoxic layer is responsible for the preservation of ancient shipwrecks which have been found in the Black Sea.The Black Sea ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea, via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea.", "The Bosporus strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the strait of the Dardanelles.", "To the north, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait.The water level has varied significantly over geological time.", "Due to these variations in the water level in the basin, the surrounding shelf and associated aprons have sometimes been dry land.", "At certain critical water levels, connections with surrounding water bodies can become established.", "It is through the most active of these connective routes, the Turkish Straits, that the Black Sea joins the World Ocean.", "During geological periods when this hydrological link was not present, the Black Sea was an endorheic basin, operating independently of the global ocean system (similar to the Caspian Sea today).", "Currently, the Black Sea water level is relatively high; thus, water is being exchanged with the Mediterranean.", "The Black Sea undersea river is a current of particularly saline water flowing through the Bosporus Strait and along the seabed of the Black Sea, the first of its kind discovered.", "The Black Sea is discussed in amongst others in world issues including trade routes." ], [ "Name", "Coast of the Black Sea at OrduKapchik Cape in CrimeaThe Black Sea near Constanța, Romania===Modern names===Current names of the sea are usually equivalents of the English name \"Black Sea\", including these given in the countries bordering the sea:* , * , * , * , * , * , * , * Laz and , , or simply , , \"Sea\"* , * , * , * , Such names have not yet been shown conclusively to predate the 13th century.In Greece, the historical name \"Euxine Sea\", which holds a different literal meaning (see below), is still widely used:, ; the name , , is used, but is much less common.===Historical names and etymology===The earliest known name of the Black Sea is the Sea of Zalpa, so called by both the Hattians and their conquerors the Hittites.", "The Hattic city of Zalpa was \"situated probably at or near the estuary of the Marrassantiya River, the modern Kızıl Irmak, on the Black Sea coast.", "\"The principal Greek name ''Póntos Áxeinos'' is generally accepted to be a rendering of the Iranian word (\"dark colored\").", "Ancient Greek voyagers adopted the name as , identified with the Greek word (inhospitable).", "The name (Inhospitable Sea), first attested in Pindar (), was considered an ill omen and was euphemized to its opposite, (Hospitable Sea), also first attested in Pindar.", "This became the commonly used designation in Greek, although in mythological contexts the \"true\" name remained favoured.Strabo's ''Geographica'' (1.2.10) reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often simply called \"the Sea\" ( ).", "He thought that the sea was called the \"Inhospitable Sea by the inhabitants of the Pontus region of the southern shoreline before Greek colonisation due to its difficult navigation and hostile barbarian natives (7.3.6), and that the name was changed to \"hospitable\" after the Milesians colonised the region, bringing it into the Greek world.Popular supposition derives \"Black Sea\" from the dark color of the water or climatic conditions.", "Some scholars understand the name to be derived from a system of colour symbolism representing the cardinal directions, with black or dark for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east.", "Hence \"Black Sea\" meant \"Northern Sea\".", "According to this scheme, the name could only have originated with a people living between the northern (black) and southern (red) seas: this points to the Achaemenids (550–330 BC).In the Greater Bundahishn, a Middle Persian Zoroastrian scripture, the Black Sea is called .", "In the tenth-century Persian geography book , the Black Sea is called ''Georgian Sea'' ().", "''The Georgian Chronicles'' use the name (Sea of Speri) after the Kartvelian tribe of Speris or Saspers.", "Other modern names such as and (both meaning Black Sea) originated during the 13th century.", "A 1570 map from Abraham Ortelius's labels the sea (Great Sea), compare Latin .English writers of the 18th century often used ''Euxine Sea'' ( or ).", "During the Ottoman Empire, it was called either or , both meaning \"Black Sea\" in Ottoman Turkish, with the former consisting of Perso-Arabic." ], [ "Geography", "The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Black Sea as follows:The area surrounding the Black Sea is commonly referred to as the ''Black Sea Region''.", "Its northern part lies within the ''Chernozem belt'' (black soil belt) which goes from eastern Croatia (Slavonia), along the Danube (northern Serbia, northern Bulgaria (Danubian Plain) and southern Romania (Wallachian Plain)) to northeast Ukraine and further across the Central Black Earth Region and southern Russia into Siberia.The littoral zone of the Black Sea is often referred to as the '''Pontic littoral''' or '''Pontic zone'''.The largest bays of the Black Sea are Karkinit Bay in Ukraine; the Gulf of Burgas in Bulgaria; Dnieprovski Bay and Dniestrovski Bay, both in Ukraine; and Sinop Bay and Samsun Bay, both in Turkey.===Coastline and exclusive economic zones===+ Coastline length and area of exclusive economic zones Country Coastline length (km) Exclusive economic zones area (km2) 1,329 172,484 2,782 132,414 800 67,351 354 35,132 310 22,947 225 29,756 Total 5,800 460,084=== Drainage basin ===The largest rivers flowing into the Black Sea are:# Danube# Dnieper# Don# Dniester# Kızılırmak# Kuban# Sakarya# Southern Bug# Çoruh/Chorokhi# Yeşilırmak# Rioni# Yeya# Mius# Kamchiya# Enguri# Kalmius# Molochna# Tylihul# Velykyi Kuialnyk# Veleka# Rezovo# Kodori# Bzyb/Bzipi# Supsa# MzymtaThese rivers and their tributaries comprise a Black Sea drainage basin that covers wholly or partially 24 countries:# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # === Islands ===Some islands in the Black Sea belong to Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine: St. Thomas Island – Bulgaria* St. Anastasia Island – Bulgaria* St. Cyricus Island – Bulgaria* St. Ivan Island – Bulgaria* St. Peter Island – Bulgaria* Sacalinu Mare Island – Romania* Sacalinu Mic Island – Romania* Misura / Novaya Zemliya – Romania and Ukraine* Utrish Island* Krupinin Island* Sudiuk Island* Kefken Island* Oreke Island* Giresun Island - Turkey* Dzharylgach Island – Ukraine* Zmiinyi (Snake) Island – Ukraine=== Climate ===Ice on the Gulf of OdesaShort-term climatic variation in the Black Sea region is significantly influenced by the operation of the North Atlantic oscillation, the climatic mechanisms resulting from the interaction between the north Atlantic and mid-latitude air masses.", "While the exact mechanisms causing the North Atlantic Oscillation remain unclear, it is thought the climate conditions established in western Europe mediate the heat and precipitation fluxes reaching Central Europe and Eurasia, regulating the formation of winter cyclones, which are largely responsible for regional precipitation inputs and influence Mediterranean sea surface temperatures (SSTs).The relative strength of these systems also limits the amount of cold air arriving from northern regions during winter.", "Other influencing factors include the regional topography, as depressions and storm systems arriving from the Mediterranean are funneled through the low land around the Bosporus, with the Pontic and Caucasus mountain ranges acting as waveguides, limiting the speed and paths of cyclones passing through the region." ], [ "Geology and bathymetry", "The bay of Sudak, CrimeaThe Black Sea is divided into two depositional basins—the Western Black Sea and Eastern Black Sea—separated by the Mid-Black Sea High, which includes the Andrusov Ridge, Tetyaev High, and Archangelsky High, extending south from the Crimean Peninsula.", "The basin includes two distinct relict back-arc basins which were initiated by the splitting of an Albian volcanic arc and the subduction of both the Paleo- and Neo-Tethys oceans, but the timings of these events remain uncertain.", "Arc volcanism and extension occurred as the Neo-Tethys Ocean subducted under the southern margin of Laurasia during the Mesozoic.", "Uplift and compressional deformation took place as the Neotethys continued to close.", "Seismic surveys indicate that rifting began in the Western Black Sea in the Barremian and Aptian followed by the formation of oceanic crust 20 million years later in the Santonian.", "Since its initiation, compressional tectonic environments led to subsidence in the basin, interspersed with extensional phases resulting in large-scale volcanism and numerous orogenies, causing the uplift of the Greater Caucasus, Pontides, southern Crimean Peninsula and Balkanides mountain ranges.The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, crosses the Bosporus strait near its entrance to the Black Sea.", "Connecting Europe and Asia, it is one of the tallest suspension bridges in the world.During the Messinian salinity crisis in the neighboring Mediterranean Sea, water levels fell but without drying up the sea.", "The collision between the Eurasian and African plates and the westward escape of the Anatolian block along the North Anatolian and East Anatolian faults dictates the current tectonic regime, which features enhanced subsidence in the Black Sea basin and significant volcanic activity in the Anatolian region.", "These geological mechanisms, in the long term, have caused the periodic isolations of the Black Sea from the rest of the global ocean system.The large shelf to the north of the basin is up to wide and features a shallow apron with gradients between 1:40 and 1:1000.The southern edge around Turkey and the eastern edge around Georgia, however, are typified by a narrow shelf that rarely exceeds in width and a steep apron that is typically 1:40 gradient with numerous submarine canyons and channel extensions.", "The Euxine abyssal plain in the centre of the Black Sea reaches a maximum depth of just south of Yalta on the Crimean Peninsula.=== Chronostratigraphy ===The Paleo-Euxinian is described by the accumulation of eolian silt deposits (related to the Riss glaciation) and the lowering of sea levels (MIS 6, 8 and 10).", "The Karangat marine transgression occurred during the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e).", "This may have been the highest sea levels reached in the late Pleistocene.", "Based on this some scholars have suggested that the Crimean Peninsula was isolated from the mainland by a shallow strait during the Eemian Interglacial.The Neoeuxinian transgression began with an inflow of waters from the Caspian Sea.", "Neoeuxinian deposits are found in the Black Sea below water depth in three layers.", "The upper layers correspond with the peak of the Khvalinian transgression, on the shelf shallow-water sands and coquina mixed with silty sands and brackish-water fauna, and inside the Black Sea Depression hydrotroilite silts.", "The middle layers on the shelf are sands with brackish-water mollusc shells.", "Of continental origin, the lower level on the shelf is mostly alluvial sands with pebbles, mixed with less common lacustrine silts and freshwater mollusc shells.", "Inside the Black Sea Depression they are terrigenous non-carbonate silts, and at the foot of the continental slope turbidite sediments." ], [ "Hydrology", "This SeaWiFS view reveals the colorful interplay of currents on the sea's surface.The Black Sea is the world's largest body of water with a meromictic basin.", "The deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive oxygen from the atmosphere.", "As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water.", "The Black Sea's circulation patterns are primarily controlled by basin topography and fluvial inputs, which result in a strongly stratified vertical structure.", "Because of the extreme stratification, it is classified as a salt wedge estuary.The Black Sea experiences water transfer only with the Mediterranean Sea, so all inflow and outflow occurs through the Bosporus and Dardanelles.", "Inflow from the Mediterranean has a higher salinity and density than the outflow, creating the classic estuarine circulation.", "This means that the inflow of dense water from the Mediterranean occurs at the bottom of the basin while the outflow of fresher Black Sea surface-water into the Sea of Marmara occurs near the surface.", "According to Gregg (2002), the outflow is or around , and the inflow is or around .", "The following water budget can be estimated:* Water in: Total river discharge: Precipitation: ** Inflow via Bosporus: * Water out: Evaporation: (reduced greatly since the 1970s) Outflow via Bosporus: The southern sill of the Bosporus is located at below present sea level (deepest spot of the shallowest cross-section in the Bosporus, located in front of Dolmabahçe Palace) and has a wet section of around .", "Inflow and outflow current speeds are averaged around , but much higher speeds are found locally, inducing significant turbulence and vertical shear.", "This allows for turbulent mixing of the two layers.", "Surface water leaves the Black Sea with a salinity of 17 practical salinity units (PSU) and reaches the Mediterranean with a salinity of 34 PSU.", "Likewise, an inflow of the Mediterranean with salinity 38.5 PSU experiences a decrease to about 34 PSU.Mean surface circulation is cyclonic; waters around the perimeter of the Black Sea circulate in a basin-wide shelfbreak gyre known as the Rim Current.", "The Rim Current has a maximum velocity of about .", "Within this feature, two smaller cyclonic gyres operate, occupying the eastern and western sectors of the basin.", "The Eastern and Western Gyres are well-organized systems in the winter but dissipate into a series of interconnected eddies in the summer and autumn.", "Mesoscale activity in the peripheral flow becomes more pronounced during these warmer seasons and is subject to interannual variability.Outside of the Rim Current, numerous quasi-permanent coastal eddies are formed as a result of upwelling around the coastal apron and \"wind curl\" mechanisms.", "The intra-annual strength of these features is controlled by seasonal atmospheric and fluvial variations.", "During the spring, the Batumi eddy forms in the southeastern corner of the sea.Beneath the surface waters—from about —there exists a halocline that stops at the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL).", "This layer is composed of cool, salty surface waters, which are the result of localized atmospheric cooling and decreased fluvial input during the winter months.", "It is the remnant of the winter surface mixed layer.", "The base of the CIL is marked by a major pycnocline at about , and this density disparity is the major mechanism for isolation of the deep water.Black Sea coast in Ordu, TurkeyBelow the pycnocline is the Deep Water mass, where salinity increases to 22.3 PSU and temperatures rise to around .", "The hydrochemical environment shifts from oxygenated to anoxic, as bacterial decomposition of sunken biomass utilizes all of the free oxygen.", "Weak geothermal heating and long residence time create a very thick convective bottom layer.The Black Sea undersea river is a current of particularly saline water flowing through the Bosporus Strait and along the seabed of the Black Sea.", "The discovery of the river, announced on August 1, 2010, was made by scientists at the University of Leeds and is the first of its kind to be identified.", "The undersea river stems from salty water spilling through the Bosporus Strait from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea, where the water has a lower salt content." ], [ "Hydrochemistry", "Because of the anoxic water at depth, organic matter, including anthropogenic artifacts such as boat hulls, are well preserved.", "During periods of high surface productivity, short-lived algal blooms form organic rich layers known as sapropels.", "Scientists have reported an annual phytoplankton bloom that can be seen in many NASA images of the region.", "As a result of these characteristics the Black Sea has gained interest from the field of marine archaeology, as ancient shipwrecks in excellent states of preservation have been discovered, such as the Byzantine wreck Sinop D, located in the anoxic layer off the coast of Sinop, Turkey.Modelling shows that, in the event of an asteroid impact on the Black Sea, the release of hydrogen sulfide clouds would pose a threat to health—and perhaps even life—for people living on the Black Sea coast.There have been isolated reports of flares on the Black Sea occurring during thunderstorms, possibly caused by lightning igniting combustible gas seeping up from the sea depths." ], [ "Ecology", "===Marine===The port of Poti, GeorgiaThe Black Sea supports an active and dynamic marine ecosystem, dominated by species suited to the brackish, nutrient-rich, conditions.", "As with all marine food webs, the Black Sea features a range of trophic groups, with autotrophic algae, including diatoms and dinoflagellates, acting as primary producers.", "The fluvial systems draining Eurasia and central Europe introduce large volumes of sediment and dissolved nutrients into the Black Sea, but the distribution of these nutrients is controlled by the degree of physiochemical stratification, which is, in turn, dictated by seasonal physiographic development.During winter, strong wind promotes convective overturning and upwelling of nutrients, while high summer temperatures result in a marked vertical stratification and a warm, shallow mixed layer.", "Day length and insolation intensity also control the extent of the photic zone.", "Subsurface productivity is limited by nutrient availability, as the anoxic bottom waters act as a sink for reduced nitrate, in the form of ammonia.", "The benthic zone also plays an important role in Black Sea nutrient cycling, as chemosynthetic organisms and anoxic geochemical pathways recycle nutrients which can be upwelled to the photic zone, enhancing productivity.In total, the Black Sea's biodiversity contains around one-third of the Mediterranean's and is experiencing natural and artificial invasions or \"Mediterranizations\".====Phytoplankton====Phytoplankton blooms and plumes of sediment form the bright blue swirls that ring the Black Sea in this 2004 image.The main phytoplankton groups present in the Black Sea are dinoflagellates, diatoms, coccolithophores and cyanobacteria.", "Generally, the annual cycle of phytoplankton development comprises significant diatom and dinoflagellate-dominated spring production, followed by a weaker mixed assemblage of community development below the seasonal thermocline during summer months, and surface-intensified autumn production.", "This pattern of productivity is augmented by an ''Emiliania huxleyi'' bloom during the late spring and summer months.", "* Dinoflagellates: Annual dinoflagellate distribution is defined by an extended bloom period in subsurface waters during the late spring and summer.", "In November, subsurface plankton production is combined with surface production, due to vertical mixing of water masses and nutrients such as nitrite.", "The major bloom-forming dinoflagellate species in the Black Sea is ''Gymnodinium'' sp.", "Estimates of dinoflagellate diversity in the Black Sea range from 193 to 267 species.", "This level of species richness is relatively low in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea, which is attributable to the brackish conditions, low water transparency and presence of anoxic bottom waters.", "It is also possible that the low winter temperatures below of the Black Sea prevent thermophilous species from becoming established.", "The relatively high organic matter content of Black Sea surface water favor the development of heterotrophic (an organism that uses organic carbon for growth) and mixotrophic dinoflagellates species (able to exploit different trophic pathways), relative to autotrophs.", "Despite its unique hydrographic setting, there are no confirmed endemic dinoflagellate species in the Black Sea.", "* Diatoms: The Black Sea is populated by many species of the marine diatom, which commonly exist as colonies of unicellular, non-motile auto- and heterotrophic algae.", "The life-cycle of most diatoms can be described as 'boom and bust' and the Black Sea is no exception, with diatom blooms occurring in surface waters throughout the year, most reliably during March.", "In simple terms, the phase of rapid population growth in diatoms is caused by the in-wash of silicon-bearing terrestrial sediments, and when the supply of silicon is exhausted, the diatoms begin to sink out of the photic zone and produce resting cysts.", "Additional factors such as predation by zooplankton and ammonium-based regenerated production also have a role to play in the annual diatom cycle.", "Typically, blooms during spring and blooms during the autumn.", "* Coccolithophores: Coccolithophores are a type of motile, autotrophic phytoplankton that produce CaCO3 plates, known as coccoliths, as part of their life cycle.", "In the Black Sea, the main period of coccolithophore growth occurs after the bulk of the dinoflagellate growth has taken place.", "In May, the dinoflagellates move below the seasonal thermocline into deeper waters, where more nutrients are available.", "This permits coccolithophores to utilize the nutrients in the upper waters, and by the end of May, with favorable light and temperature conditions, growth rates reach their highest.", "The major bloom-forming species is , which is also responsible for the release of dimethyl sulfide into the atmosphere.", "Overall, coccolithophore diversity is low in the Black Sea, and although recent sediments are dominated by and , Holocene sediments have been shown to also contain Helicopondosphaera and Discolithina species.", "* Cyanobacteria: Cyanobacteria are a phylum of picoplanktonic (plankton ranging in size from 0.2 to 2.0 µm) bacteria that obtain their energy via photosynthesis, and are present throughout the world's oceans.", "They exhibit a range of morphologies, including filamentous colonies and biofilms.", "In the Black Sea, several species are present, and as an example, ''Synechococcus'' spp.", "can be found throughout the photic zone, although concentration decreases with increasing depth.", "Other factors which exert an influence on distribution include nutrient availability, predation, and salinity.====Animal species====* Zebra mussel: The Black Sea along with the Caspian Sea is part of the zebra mussel's native range.", "The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world and become an invasive species where it has been introduced.", "* Common carp: The common carp's native range extends to the Black Sea along with the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea.", "Like the zebra mussel, the common carp is an invasive species when introduced to other habitats.", "* Round goby: Another native fish that is also found in the Caspian Sea.", "It preys upon zebra mussels.", "Like the mussels and common carp, it has become invasive when introduced to other environments, like the Great Lakes in North America.", "* porpoising with a ferry at Batumi portMarine mammals and marine megafauna: Marine mammals present within the basin include two species of dolphin (common and bottlenose) and the harbour porpoise, although all of these are endangered due to pressures and impacts by human activities.", "All three species have been classified as distinct subspecies from those in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and are endemic to the Black and Azov seas, and are more active during nights in the Turkish Straits.", "However, construction of the Crimean Bridge has caused increases in nutrients and planktons in the waters, attracting large numbers of fish and more than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins.", "However, others claim that construction may cause devastating damages on the ecosystem, including dolphins.", ": Mediterranean monk seals, now critically endangered, were historically abundant in the Black Sea, and are regarded to have become extinct from the basin in 1997.Monk seals were present at Snake Island, near the Danube Delta, until the 1950s, and several locations such as the and Doğankent were the last of the seals' hauling-out sites post-1990.Very few animals still thrive in the Sea of Marmara.", ": Ongoing Mediterranizations may or may not boost cetacean diversity in the Turkish Straits and hence in the Black and Azov basins.", ": Various species of pinnipeds, sea otter, and beluga whale were introduced into the Black Sea by mankind and later escaped either by accidental or purported causes.", "Of these, grey seals and beluga whales have been recorded with successful, long-term occurrences.", ": Great white sharks are known to reach into the Sea of Marmara and Bosporus Strait and basking sharks into the Dardanelles, although it is unclear whether or not these sharks may reach into the Black and Azov basins.====Ecological effects of pollution====Since the 1960s, rapid industrial expansion along the Black Sea coastline and the construction of a major dam has significantly increased annual variability in the N:P:Si ratio in the basin.", "In coastal areas, the biological effect of these changes has been an increase in the frequency of monospecific phytoplankton blooms, with diatom bloom frequency increasing by a factor of 2.5 and non-diatom bloom frequency increasing by a factor of 6.The non-diatoms, such as the prymnesiophytes (coccolithophore), sp., and the Euglenophyte , are able to out-compete diatom species because of the limited availability of silicon, a necessary constituent of diatom frustules.", "As a consequence of these blooms, benthic macrophyte populations were deprived of light, while anoxia caused mass mortality in marine animals.The decline in macrophytes was further compounded by overfishing during the 1970s, while the invasive ctenophore ''Mnemiopsis'' reduced the biomass of copepods and other zooplankton in the late 1980s.", "Additionally, an alien species—the warty comb jelly ()—was able to establish itself in the basin, exploding from a few individuals to an estimated biomass of one billion metric tons.", "The change in species composition in Black Sea waters also has consequences for hydrochemistry, as calcium-producing coccolithophores influence salinity and pH, although these ramifications have yet to be fully quantified.", "In central Black Sea waters, silicon levels were also significantly reduced, due to a decrease in the flux of silicon associated with advection across isopycnal surfaces.", "This phenomenon demonstrates the potential for localized alterations in Black Sea nutrient input to have basin-wide effects.Pollution reduction and regulation efforts have led to a partial recovery of the Black Sea ecosystem during the 1990s, and an EU monitoring exercise, 'EROS21', revealed decreased nitrogen and phosphorus values, relative to the 1989 peak.", "Recently, scientists have noted signs of ecological recovery, in part due to the construction of new sewage treatment plants in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria in connection with membership in the European Union.", "populations have been checked with the arrival of another alien species which feeds on them.File:black sea fauna jelly 01.jpg\|JellyfishFile:black sea fauna actinia 01.jpg\|ActiniaFile:black sea fauna actinia 02.JPG\|ActiniaFile:black sea fauna goby 01.jpg\|GobyFile:black sea fauna stingray 01.jpg\|StingrayFile:Black sea mullus barbatus ponticus 01.jpg\|Goat fishFile:Black sea fauna hermit crab 01.jpg\|Hermit crab, ''Diogenes pugilator''File:Black sea fauna blue sponge.jpg\|Blue spongeFile:Squalus acanthias2.jpg\|Spiny dogfishFile:Black Sea fauna Seahorse.JPG\|SeahorseFile:Kitesurfer and Dolphins Cropped.jpg\|Black Sea common dolphins with a kite-surfer off Sochi" ], [ "History", "===Mediterranean connection during the Holocene===The Bosporus, taken from the International Space StationMap of the DardanellesThe Black Sea is connected to the World Ocean by a chain of two shallow straits, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus.", "The Dardanelles is deep, and the Bosporus is as shallow as .", "By comparison, at the height of the last ice age, sea levels were more than lower than they are now.There is evidence that water levels in the Black Sea were considerably lower at some point during the post-glacial period.", "Some researchers theorize that the Black Sea had been a landlocked freshwater lake (at least in upper layers) during the last glaciation and for some time after.In the aftermath of the last glacial period, water levels in the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea rose independently until they were high enough to exchange water.", "The exact timeline of this development is still subject to debate.", "One possibility is that the Black Sea filled first, with excess freshwater flowing over the Bosporus sill and eventually into the Mediterranean Sea.", "There are also catastrophic scenarios, such as the \"Black Sea deluge hypothesis\" put forward by William Ryan, Walter Pitman and Petko Dimitrov.====Deluge hypothesis====The '''Black Sea deluge''' is a hypothesized catastrophic rise in the level of the Black Sea due to waters from the Mediterranean Sea breaching a sill in the Bosporus Strait.", "The hypothesis was headlined when ''The New York Times'' published it in December 1996, shortly before it was published in an academic journal.", "While it is agreed that the sequence of events described did occur, there is debate over the suddenness, dating, and magnitude of the events.", "Relevant to the hypothesis is that its description has led some to connect this catastrophe with prehistoric flood myths.===Archaeology===Ivan Aivazovsky.", "''Black Sea Fleet in the Bay of Theodosia'', just before the Crimean WarThe Black Sea was sailed by Hittites, Carians, Colchians, Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Varangians, Crusaders, Venetians, Genoese, Georgians, Bulgarians, Tatars and Ottomans.The concentration of historical powers, combined with the preservative qualities of the deep anoxic waters of the Black Sea, has attracted increased interest from marine archaeologists who have begun to discover a large number of ancient ships and organic remains in a high state of preservation.===Recorded history===A 16th-century map of the Black Sea by Diogo HomemGreek colonies (8th–3rd century BCE) of the Black Sea (Euxine, or \"hospitable\" sea)The Black Sea was a busy waterway on the crossroads of the ancient world: the Balkans to the west, the Eurasian steppes to the north, the Caucasus and Central Asia to the east, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the south, and Greece to the southwest.The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, Colchis (in present-day Georgia), marked for the ancient Greeks the edge of the known world.The Pontic–Caspian steppe to the north of the Black Sea is seen by several researchers as the pre-historic original homeland() of the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE).Greek presence in the Black Sea began at least as early as the 9th century BC with colonies scattered along the Black Sea's southern coast, attracting traders and colonists due to the grain grown in the Black Sea hinterland.By 500 BC, permanent Greek communities existed all around the Black Sea, and a lucrative trade-network connected the entirety of the Black Sea to the wider Mediterranean.", "While Greek colonies generally maintained very close cultural ties to their founding polis, Greek colonies in the Black Sea began to develop their own ''Black Sea Greek'' culture, known today as Pontic.", "The coastal communities of Black Sea Greeks remained a prominent part of the Greek world for centuries, and the realms of Mithridates of Pontus, Rome and Constantinople spanned the Black Sea to include Crimean territories.The Black Sea became a virtual Ottoman Navy lake within five years of the Republic of Genoa losing control of the Crimean Peninsula in 1479, after which the only Western merchant vessels to sail its waters were those of Venice's old rival Ragusa.", "The Black Sea became a trade route of slaves between Crimea and Ottoman Anatolia via the Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe.", "The destruction of the Ottoman fleet in Battle of Sinop Imperial Russia became a significant Black Sea power in the late-18th century,occupying the littoral of Novorossiya in 1764 and of Crimea in 1783.Ottoman restrictions on Black Sea navigation were challenged by the Black Sea Fleet (founded in 1783) of the Imperial Russian Navy, and the Ottomans relaxed export controls after the outbreak in 1789 of the French Revolution.===Modern history===The Crimean War, fought between 1853 and 1856, saw naval engagements between the French and British allies and the forces of Nicholas I of Russia.", "On the 2 March 1855 death of Nicholas I, Alexander II became Tsar.", "On 15 January 1856, the new tsar took Russia out of the war on the very unfavourable terms of the Treaty of Paris (1856), which included the loss of a naval fleet on the Black Sea, and the provision that the Black Sea was to be a demilitarized zone similar to a contemporaneous region of the Baltic Sea.====World Wars====The Black Sea was a significant naval theatre of World War I (1914–1918) and saw both naval and land battles between 1941 and 1945 during World War II.", "For example, Sevastopol was obliterated by the Nazis, who even brought Schwerer Gustav to the Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942).", "The Soviet naval base was one of the strongest fortifications in the world.", "Its site, on a deeply eroded, bare limestone promontory at the southwestern tip of the Crimea, made an approach by land forces exceedingly difficult.", "The high-level cliffs overlooking Severnaya Bay protected the anchorage, making an amphibious landing just as dangerous.", "The Soviet Navy had built upon these natural defenses by modernizing the port and installing heavy coastal batteries consisting of 180mm and 305mm re-purposed battleship guns which were capable of firing inland as well as out to sea.", "The artillery emplacements were protected by reinforced concrete fortifications and 9.8-inch thick armored turrets.====21st century====During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Snake Island was a source of contention.", "On 24 February 2022, two Russian navy warships attacked and captured Snake Island.", "It was subsequently bombarded heavily by Ukraine.", "On 30 June 2022, Ukraine announced that it had driven Russian forces off the island.On 14 April 2022, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, Russian cruiser Moskva was sunk by Ukrainian missiles.As early as 29 April 2022 submarines of the Black Sea Fleet were used by Russia to bombard Ukrainian cities with Kalibr SLCMs.", "The Kalibr missile was so successful that on 10 March 2023 Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced plans to broaden the type of ship which carried it, to include the corvette Steregushchiy and the nuclear-powered cruiser Admiral Nakhimov.On the morning of 14 March 2023, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted and damaged an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing the latter to crash into the Black Sea.", "At 13:20 on 5 May 2023 a Russian Su-35 fighter jet intercepted and threatened the safety of a Polish L-140 Turbolet on a \"routine Frontex patrol mission.. and performed 'aggressive and dangerous' manoeuvres\".", "The incident, which occurred \"in international airspace over the Black Sea about 60km\" east of Romanian airspace, \"caused the crew of five Polish border guards to lose control of the plane and lose altitude.\"" ], [ "Economy and politics", "Yalta, CrimeaAmasra, Turkey, is located on a small island in the Black Sea.The Black Sea plays an integral part in the connection between Asia and Europe.", "In addition to sea ports and fishing, key activities include hydrocarbons exploration for oil and natural gas, and tourism.According to NATO, the Black Sea is a strategic corridor that provides smuggling channels for moving legal and illegal goods including drugs, radioactive materials, and counterfeit goods that can be used to finance terrorism.===Navigation===According to an International Transport Workers' Federation 2013 study, there were at least 30 operating merchant seaports in the Black Sea (including at least 12 in Ukraine).", "There were also around 2,400 commercial vessels operating in the Black Sea.===Fishing===The Turkish commercial fishing fleet catches around 300,000 tons of anchovies per year.", "The fishery is carried out mainly in winter, and the highest portion of the stock is caught between November and December.===Hydrocarbon exploration===In the 1980s, the Soviet Union started offshore drilling for petroleum in the sea's western portion (adjoining Ukraine's coast).", "Independent Ukraine continued and intensified that effort within its exclusive economic zone, inviting major international oil companies for exploration.", "Discovery of the new, massive oilfields in the area stimulated an influx of foreign investments.", "It also provoked a short-term peaceful territorial dispute with Romania which was resolved in 2011 by an international court redefining the exclusive economic zones between the two countries.The Black Sea contains oil and natural gas resources but exploration in the sea is incomplete.", ", 20 wells are in place.", "Throughout much of its existence, the Black Sea has had significant oil and gas-forming potential because of significant inflows of sediment and nutrient-rich waters.", "However, this varies geographically.", "For example, prospects are poorer off the coast of Bulgaria because of the large influx of sediment from the Danube which obscured sunlight and diluted organic-rich sediments.", "Many of the discoveries to date have taken place offshore of Romania in the Western Black Sea and only a few discoveries have been made in the Eastern Black Sea.During the Eocene, the Paratethys Sea was partially isolated and sea levels fell.", "During this time sand shed off the rising Balkanide, Pontide and Caucasus mountains trapped organic material in the Maykop Suite of rocks through the Oligocene and early Miocene.", "Natural gas appears in rocks deposited in the Miocene and Pliocene by the paleo-Dnieper and paleo-Dniester rivers, or in deep-water Oligocene-age rocks.", "Serious exploration began in 1999 with two deep-water wells, Limanköy-1 and Limanköy-2, drilled in Turkish waters.", "Next, the HPX (Hopa)-1 deepwater well targeted late Miocene sandstone units in Achara-Trialet fold belt (also known as the Gurian fold belt) along the Georgia-Turkey maritime border.", "Although geologists inferred that these rocks might have hydrocarbons that migrated from the Maykop Suite, the well was unsuccessful.", "No more drilling happened for five years after the HPX-1 well.", "Then in 2010, Sinop-1 targeted carbonate reservoirs potentially charged from the nearby Maykop Suite on the Andrusov Ridge, but the well-struck only Cretaceous volcanic rocks.", "Yassihöyük-1 encountered similar problems.", "Other Turkish wells, Sürmene-1 and Sile-1 drilled in the Eastern Black Sea in 2011 and 2015 respectively tested four-way closures above Cretaceous volcanoes, with no results in either case.", "A different Turkish well, Kastamonu-1 drilled in 2011 did successfully find thermogenic gas in Pliocene and Miocene shale-cored anticlines in the Western Black Sea.", "A year later in 2012, Romania drilled Domino-1 which struck gas prompting the drilling of other wells in the Neptun Deep.", "In 2016, the Bulgarian well Polshkov-1 targeted Maykop Suite sandstones in the Polshkov High and Russia is in the process of drilling Jurassic carbonates on the Shatsky Ridge as of 2018.In August 2020, Turkey found of natural gas in the biggest ever discovery in the Black Sea, and hoped to begin production in the Sakarya Gas Field by 2023.The sector is near where Romania has also found gas reserves.=== Trans-sea cooperation ======Urban areas ===+Most populous urban areas along the Black Sea City Image Country Region/county Population (urban) Odesa 135px Odesa1,003,705 Samsun 135px Samsun639,930 Varna 135px Varna500,076 Constanța 135px Constanța491,498 Sevastopol 135px disputed: (''de facto'') / (''de jure'') Federal city /City with special status379,200 Sochi 135px Krasnodar Krai343,334 Trabzon 135px Trabzon293,661 Novorossiysk 135px Krasnodar Krai241,952 Burgas 135px Burgas223,902 Batumi 135px Adjara204,156 Ordu 135px Ordu190,425=== Tourism ===Black Sea beach in Zatoka, UkraineIn the years following the end of the Cold War, the popularity of the Black Sea as a tourist destination steadily increased.", "Tourism at Black Sea resorts became one of the region's growth industries.The following is a list of notable Black Sea resort towns:* 2 Mai (Romania)* Agigea (Romania)* Ahtopol (Bulgaria)* Amasra (Turkey)* Anaklia (Georgia)* Anapa (Russia)* Albena (Bulgaria)* Alupka (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Alushta (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Balchik (Bulgaria)* Batumi (Georgia)* Burgas (Bulgaria)* Byala (Bulgaria)* Cap Aurora (Romania)* Chakvi (Georgia)* Constanța (Romania)* Constantine and Helena (Bulgaria)* Corbu (Romania)* Costinești (Romania)* Eforie (Romania)* Emona (Bulgaria)* Eupatoria (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Feodosiya (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Foros (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Gagra (Abkhazia, Georgia)* Gelendzhik (Russia)* Giresun (Turkey)* Golden Sands (Bulgaria)* Gonio (Georgia)* Gudauta (Abkhazia, Georgia) and subsequently the Gudauta Bay* Gurzuf (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Hopa (Artvin, Turkey)* Jupiter (Romania)* Kamchia (Bulgaria)* Kavarna (Bulgaria)* Kiten (Bulgaria)* Kobuleti (Georgia)* Koktebel (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Lozenetz (Bulgaria)* Mamaia (Romania)* Mangalia (Romania)* Năvodari (Romania)* Neptun (Romania)* Nesebar (Bulgaria)* Novorossiysk (Russia)* Obzor (Bulgaria)* Odesa (Ukraine)* Olimp (Romania)* Ordu (Turkey)* Pitsunda (Abkhazia, Georgia)* Pomorie (Bulgaria)* Primorsko (Bulgaria)* Rize (Turkey)* Rusalka (Bulgaria)* Samsun (Turkey)* Saturn (Romania)* Şile (Turkey)* Sinop (Turkey)* Skadovsk (Ukraine)* Sochi (Russia)* Sozopol (Bulgaria)* Sudak (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Sulina (Romania)* Sunny Beach (Bulgaria)* Sveti Vlas (Bulgaria)* Trabzon (Turkey)* Tsikhisdziri (Georgia)* Tuapse (Russia)* Ureki (Georgia)* Vama Veche (Romania)* Varna (Bulgaria)* Venus (Romania)* Yalta (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia (disputed))* Zonguldak (Turkey)=== Modern military use ===Bezzavetny'' (right) bumping the USS ''Yorktown'' during the 1988 Black Sea bumping incidentUkrainian Navy artillery boat U170 in the Bay of SevastopolThe 1936 Montreux Convention provides for free passage of civilian ships between the international waters of the Black and the Mediterranean seas.", "However, a single country (Turkey) has complete control over the straits connecting the two seas.", "Military ships are categorised separately from civilian vessels and can pass through the straits only if the ship belongs to a Black Sea country.", "Other military ships have the right to pass through the straits if they are not in a war against Turkey and if they stay in the Black Sea basin for a limited time.", "The 1982 amendments to the Montreux Convention allow Turkey to close the straits at its discretion in both war and peacetime.The Montreux Convention governs the passage of vessels between the Black, the Mediterranean and Aegean seas and the presence of military vessels belonging to non-littoral states in the Black Sea waters.The Russian Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities in the city of Sevastopol (Sevastopol Naval Base).The Soviet hospital ship was sunk on 7 November 1941 by German aircraft while evacuating civilians and wounded soldiers from Crimea.", "It has been estimated that approximately 5,000 to 7,000 people were killed during the sinking, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history.", "There were only eight survivors.In December 2018, the Kerch Strait incident occurred, in which the Russian navy and coast guard took control of three Ukrainian vessels as the ships were trying to enter the Black Sea.In April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian cruiser Moskva was sunk in the western Black Sea by sea-skimming Neptune missiles of the Ukrainian armed forces while the Russians claimed that an onboard fire had caused munitions to explode and damage the ship extensively.", "She was the largest ship to be lost in naval combat in Europe since World War II.In late 2023, Russia announced plans to build a naval base on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, a Russian-backed breakaway territory of Georgia." ], [ "See also", "* 1927 Crimean earthquakes* Kerch Strait* Regions of Europe* Sea of Azov" ], [ "Notes and references", "===Informational notes======Citations====== General and cited references ===* * Stella Ghervas, \"Odessa et les confins de l'Europe: un éclairage historique\", in Stella Ghervas et François Rosset (ed), ''Lieux d'Europe.", "Mythes et limites'' (Paris: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, 2008), pp. 107–124.", "* Charles King, ''The Black Sea: A History'', 2004, * William Ryan and Walter Pitman, ''Noah's Flood'', 1999, * Neal Ascherson, ''Black Sea'' (Vintage 1996), * * Rüdiger Schmitt, \"Considerations on the Name of the Black Sea\", in: ''Hellas und der griechische Osten'' (Saarbrücken 1996), pp.", "219–224* * * Dimitrov, D.", "2010.''", "Geology and Non-traditional resources of the Black Sea ''.", "LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.", ".", "244p." ], [ "External links", "* Space Monitoring of the Black Sea Coastline and Waters* Pictures of the Black sea coast all along the Crimean peninsula* Black Sea Environmental Internet Node* Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor during the last 30 ky: UNESCO IGCP 521 WG12" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bible" ], [ "Introduction", "The Gutenberg Bible, published in the mid-15th century by Johannes Gutenberg, is the first published Bible.The '''Bible''' (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures, some, all, or a variant of which, are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, the Baha'i Faith, and many other Abrahamic religions.", "The Bible is an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms, originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek.", "These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, and other genres.", "The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon.", "Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies.The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections.", "The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible, called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning ''five books'') in Greek.", "The second oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im).", "The third collection (the Ketuvim) contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories.", "\"Tanakh\" is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible composed of the first letters of those three parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah (\"Teaching\"), the Nevi'im (\"Prophets\"), and the Ketuvim (\"Writings\").", "The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh, in Hebrew and Aramaic, that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism.", "The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BC; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible.Christianity began as an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism, using the Septuagint as the basis of the Old Testament.", "The early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books.", "The gospels, Pauline epistles, and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament.With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, the Bible is the best-selling publication of all time.", "It has had a profound influence both on Western culture and history and on cultures around the globe.", "The study of it through biblical criticism has indirectly impacted culture and history as well.", "The Bible is currently translated or is being translated into about half of the world's languages." ], [ "Etymology", "The term \"Bible\" can refer to the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Bible, which contains both the Old and New Testaments.The English word ''Bible'' is derived from , meaning \"the books\" (singular ).The word itself had the literal meaning of \"scroll\" and came to be used as the ordinary word for \"book\".", "It is the diminutive of ''byblos'', \"Egyptian papyrus\", possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece.The Greek ''ta biblia'' (\"the books\") was \"an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books\".", "The biblical scholar F. F. Bruce notes that John Chrysostom appears to be the first writer (in his ''Homilies on Matthew'', delivered between 386 and 388 CE) to use the Greek phrase ''ta biblia'' (\"the books\") to describe both the Old and New Testaments together.Latin ''biblia sacra'' \"holy books\" translates Greek (''tà biblía tà hágia'', \"the holy books\").", "Medieval Latin is short for ''biblia sacra'' \"holy book\".", "It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (, gen. ) in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe." ], [ "Development and history", "The Book of Genesis in a Hebrew BibleThe Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa), one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is the oldest complete copy of the Book of Isaiah.The Bible is not a single book; it is a collection of books whose complex development is not completely understood.", "The oldest books began as songs and stories orally transmitted from generation to generation.", "Scholars of the twenty-first century are only in the beginning stages of exploring \"the interface between writing, performance, memorization, and the aural dimension\" of the texts.", "Current indications are that writing and orality were not separate so much as ancient writing was learned in a context of communal oral performance.", "The Bible was written and compiled by many people, whom many scholars say are mostly unknown, from a variety of disparate cultures and backgrounds.British biblical scholar John K. Riches wrote:The books of the Bible were initially written and copied by hand on papyrus scrolls.", "No originals have survived.", "The age of the original composition of the texts is therefore difficult to determine and heavily debated.", "Using a combined linguistic and historiographical approach, Hendel and Joosten date the oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible (the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 and the Samson story of Judges 16 and 1 Samuel) to having been composed in the premonarchial early Iron Age ().", "The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the caves of Qumran in 1947, are copies that can be dated to between 250 BCE and 100 CE.", "They are the oldest existing copies of the books of the Hebrew Bible of any length that are not fragments.The earliest manuscripts were probably written in paleo-Hebrew, a kind of cuneiform pictograph similar to other pictographs of the same period.", "The exile to Babylon most likely prompted the shift to square script (Aramaic) in the fifth to third centuries BCE.", "From the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hebrew Bible was written with spaces between words to aid in reading.", "By the eighth century CE, the Masoretes added vowel signs.", "Levites or scribes maintained the texts, and some texts were always treated as more authoritative than others.", "Scribes preserved and changed the texts by changing the script and updating archaic forms while also making corrections.", "These Hebrew texts were copied with great care.Considered to be scriptures (sacred, authoritative religious texts), the books were compiled by different religious communities into various biblical canons (official collections of scriptures).", "The earliest compilation, containing the first five books of the Bible and called the Torah (meaning \"law\", \"instruction\", or \"teaching\") or Pentateuch (\"five books\"), was accepted as Jewish canon by the fifth century BCE.", "A second collection of narrative histories and prophesies, called the Nevi'im (\"prophets\"), was canonized in the third century BCE.", "A third collection called the Ketuvim (\"writings\"), containing psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories, was canonized sometime between the second century BCE and the second century CE.", "These three collections were written mostly in Biblical Hebrew, with some parts in Aramaic, which together form the Hebrew Bible or \"TaNaKh\" (an abbreviation of \"Torah\", \"Nevi'im\", and \"Ketuvim\").=== Hebrew Bible ===There are three major historical versions of the Hebrew Bible: the Septuagint, the Masoretic Text, and the Samaritan Pentateuch (which contains only the first five books).", "They are related but do not share the same paths of development.", "The Septuagint, or the LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and some related texts, into Koine Greek, and is believed to have been carried out by approximately seventy or seventy-two scribes and elders who were Hellenic Jews, begun in Alexandria in the late third century BCE and completed by 132 BCE.", "Probably commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt, it addressed the need of the primarily Greek-speaking Jews of the Graeco-Roman diaspora.", "Existing complete copies of the Septuagint date from the third to the fifth centuries CE, with fragments dating back to the second century BCE.", "Revision of its text began as far back as the first century BCE.", "Fragments of the Septuagint were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls; portions of its text are also found on existing papyrus from Egypt dating to the second and first centuries BCE and to the first century CE.The Masoretes began developing what would become the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible in Rabbinic Judaism near the end of the Talmudic period (–), but the actual date is difficult to determine.", "In the sixth and seventh centuries, three Jewish communities contributed systems for writing the precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the ''mas'sora'' (from which we derive the term \"masoretic\").", "These early Masoretic scholars were based primarily in the Galilean cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, and in Babylonia (modern Iraq).", "Those living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee (–950), made scribal copies of the Hebrew Bible texts without a standard text, such as the Babylonian tradition had, to work from.", "The canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible (called Tiberian Hebrew) that they developed, and many of the notes they made, therefore differed from the Babylonian.", "These differences were resolved into a standard text called the Masoretic text in the ninth century.", "The oldest complete copy still in existence is the Leningrad Codex dating to c. 1000 CE.The Samaritan Pentateuch is a version of the Torah maintained by the Samaritan community since antiquity, which was rediscovered by European scholars in the 17th century; its oldest existing copies date to c. 1100 CE.", "Samaritans include only the Pentateuch (Torah) in their biblical canon.", "They do not recognize divine authorship or inspiration in any other book in the Jewish Tanakh.", "A Samaritan Book of Joshua partly based upon the Tanakh's Book of Joshua exists, but Samaritans regard it as a non-canonical secular historical chronicle.In the seventh century, the first codex form of the Hebrew Bible was produced.", "The codex is the forerunner of the modern book.", "Popularized by early Christians, it was made by folding a single sheet of papyrus in half, forming \"pages\".", "Assembling multiples of these folded pages together created a \"book\" that was more easily accessible and more portable than scrolls.", "In 1488, the first complete printed press version of the Hebrew Bible was produced.=== New Testament ===Paul the Apostle depicted in ''Saint Paul Writing His Epistles'', a portrait by Valentin de BoulogneThe Rylands fragment P52 verso is the oldest existing fragment of New Testament papyrus, including phrases from the 18th chapter of the Gospel of John.During the rise of Christianity in the first century CE, new scriptures were written in Koine Greek.", "Christians eventually called these new scriptures the \"New Testament\", and began referring to the Septuagint as the \"Old Testament\".", "The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work.", "Most early Christian copyists were not trained scribes.", "Many copies of the gospels and Paul's letters were made by individual Christians over a relatively short period of time very soon after the originals were written.", "There is evidence in the Synoptic Gospels, in the writings of the early church fathers, from Marcion, and in the Didache that Christian documents were in circulation before the end of the first century.", "Paul's letters were circulated during his lifetime, and his death is thought to have occurred before 68 during Nero's reign.", "Early Christians transported these writings around the Empire, translating them into Old Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Latin, and other languages.Bart Ehrman explains how these multiple texts later became grouped by scholars into categories:during the early centuries of the church, Christian texts were copied in whatever location they were written or taken to.", "Since texts were copied locally, it is no surprise that different localities developed different kinds of textual tradition.", "That is to say, the manuscripts in Rome had many of the same errors, because they were for the most part \"in-house\" documents, copied from one another; they were not influenced much by manuscripts being copied in Palestine; and those in Palestine took on their own characteristics, which were not the same as those found in a place like Alexandria, Egypt.", "Moreover, in the early centuries of the church, some locales had better scribes than others.", "Modern scholars have come to recognize that the scribes in Alexandria – which was a major intellectual center in the ancient world – were particularly scrupulous, even in these early centuries, and that there, in Alexandria, a very pure form of the text of the early Christian writings was preserved, decade after decade, by dedicated and relatively skilled Christian scribes.", "These differing histories produced what modern scholars refer to as recognizable \"text types\".", "The four most commonly recognized are Alexandrian, Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine.The list of books included in the Catholic Bible was established as canon by the Council of Rome in 382, followed by those of Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397.Between 385 and 405 CE, the early Christian church translated its canon into Vulgar Latin (the common Latin spoken by ordinary people), a translation known as the Vulgate.", "Since then, Catholic Christians have held ecumenical councils to standardize their biblical canon.", "The Council of Trent (1545–63), held by the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation, authorized the Vulgate as its official Latin translation of the Bible.", "A number of biblical canons have since evolved.", "Christian biblical canons range from the 73 books of the Catholic Church canon, and the 66-book canon of most Protestant denominations, to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon, among others.", "Judaism has long accepted a single authoritative text, whereas Christianity has never had an official version, instead having many different manuscript traditions.===Variants===All biblical texts were treated with reverence and care by those that copied them, yet there are transmission errors, called variants, in all biblical manuscripts.", "A variant is any deviation between two texts.", "Textual critic Daniel B. Wallace explains that \"Each deviation counts as one variant, regardless of how many MSS manuscripts attest to it.\"", "Hebrew scholar Emanuel Tov says the term is not evaluative; it is a recognition that the paths of development of different texts have separated.Medieval handwritten manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible were considered extremely precise: the most authoritative documents from which to copy other texts.", "Even so, David Carr asserts that Hebrew texts still contain some variants.", "The majority of all variants are accidental, such as spelling errors, but some changes were intentional.", "In the Hebrew text, \"memory variants\" are generally accidental differences evidenced by such things as the shift in word order found in 1 Chronicles 17:24 and 2 Samuel 10:9 and 13.Variants also include the substitution of lexical equivalents, semantic and grammar differences, and larger scale shifts in order, with some major revisions of the Masoretic texts that must have been intentional.Intentional changes in New Testament texts were made to improve grammar, eliminate discrepancies, harmonize parallel passages, combine and simplify multiple variant readings into one, and for theological reasons.", "Bruce K. Waltke observes that one variant for every ten words was noted in the recent critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, the ''Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia,'' leaving 90% of the Hebrew text without variation.", "The fourth edition of the United Bible Society's ''Greek New Testament'' notes variants affecting about 500 out of 6900 words, or about 7% of the text." ], [ "Content and themes", "===Themes===''Creation of Light'' by Gustave Doré.The narratives, laws, wisdom sayings, parables, and unique genres of the Bible provide opportunity for discussion on most topics of concern to human beings: The role of women, sex, children, marriage, neighbors, friends, the nature of authority and the sharing of power, animals, trees and nature, money and economics, work, relationships, sorrow and despair and the nature of joy, among others.", "Philosopher and ethicist Jaco Gericke adds: \"The meaning of good and evil, the nature of right and wrong, criteria for moral discernment, valid sources of morality, the origin and acquisition of moral beliefs, the ontological status of moral norms, moral authority, cultural pluralism, as well as axiological and aesthetic assumptions about the nature of value and beauty.", "These are all implicit in the texts.", "\"However, discerning the themes of some biblical texts can be problematic.", "Much of the Bible is in narrative form and in general, biblical narrative refrains from any kind of direct instruction, and in some texts the author's intent is not easy to decipher.", "It is left to the reader to determine good and bad, right and wrong, and the path to understanding and practice is rarely straightforward.", "God is sometimes portrayed as having a role in the plot, but more often there is little about God's reaction to events, and no mention at all of approval or disapproval of what the characters have done or failed to do.", "The writer makes no comment, and the reader is left to infer what they will.", "Jewish philosophers Shalom Carmy and David Schatz explain that the Bible \"often juxtaposes contradictory ideas, without explanation or apology\".The Hebrew Bible contains assumptions about the nature of knowledge, belief, truth, interpretation, understanding and cognitive processes.", "Ethicist Michael V. Fox writes that the primary axiom of the book of Proverbs is that \"the exercise of the human mind is the necessary and sufficient condition of right and successful behavior in all reaches of life\".", "The Bible teaches the nature of valid arguments, the nature and power of language, and its relation to reality.", "According to Mittleman, the Bible provides patterns of moral reasoning that focus on conduct and character.In the biblical metaphysic, humans have free will, but it is a relative and restricted freedom.", "Beach says that Christian ''voluntarism'' points to the ''will'' as the core of the self, and that within human nature, \"the core of who we are is defined by what we love\".", "Natural law is in the Wisdom literature, the Prophets, Romans 1, Acts 17, and the book of Amos (Amos 1:3–2:5), where nations other than Israel are held accountable for their ethical decisions even though they don't know the Hebrew god.", "Political theorist Michael Walzer finds politics in the Hebrew Bible in covenant, law, and prophecy, which constitute an early form of ''almost'' democratic political ethics.", "Key elements in biblical criminal justice begin with the belief in God as the source of justice and the judge of all, including those administering justice on earth.Carmy and Schatz say the Bible \"depicts the character of God, presents an account of creation, posits a metaphysics of divine providence and divine intervention, suggests a basis for morality, discusses many features of human nature, and frequently poses the notorious conundrum of how God can allow evil.", "\"=== Hebrew Bible ===The authoritative Hebrew Bible is taken from the masoretic text (called the Leningrad Codex) which dates from 1008.The Hebrew Bible can therefore sometimes be referred to as the Masoretic Text.The Hebrew Bible is also known by the name Tanakh (Hebrew: ).", "This reflects the threefold division of the Hebrew scriptures, Torah (\"Teaching\"), Nevi'im (\"Prophets\") and Ketuvim (\"Writings\") by using the first letters of each word.", "It is not until the Babylonian Talmud () that a listing of the contents of these three divisions of scripture are found.The Tanakh was mainly written in Biblical Hebrew, with some small portions (Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, Jeremiah 10:11, Daniel 2:4–7:28) written in Biblical Aramaic, a language which had become the ''lingua franca'' for much of the Semitic world.==== Torah ====A Torah scroll recovered from Glockengasse Synagogue in CologneHebrew text, currently housed in the British Museum in LondonThe Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the \"Five Books of Moses\" or the Pentateuch, meaning \"five scroll-cases\".", "Traditionally these books were considered to have been dictated to Moses by God himself.", "Since the 17th century, scholars have viewed the original sources as being the product of multiple anonymous authors while also allowing the possibility that Moses first assembled the separate sources.", "There are a variety of hypotheses regarding when and how the Torah was composed, but there is a general consensus that it took its final form during the reign of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (probably 450–350 BCE), or perhaps in the early Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE).The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the first words in the respective texts.", "The Torah consists of the following five books:* Genesis, ''Beresheeth'' (בראשית)* Exodus, ''Shemot'' (שמות)* Leviticus, ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)* Numbers, ''Bamidbar'' (במדבר)* Deuteronomy, ''Devarim'' (דברים)The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the creation (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity.", "The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's covenant with the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel) and Jacob's children, the \"Children of Israel\", especially Joseph.", "It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of Ur, eventually to settle in the land of Canaan, and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt.The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of Moses, who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs.", "He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in ancient Egypt to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan.", "The Torah ends with the death of Moses.The commandments in the Torah provide the basis for Jewish religious law.", "Tradition states that there are 613 commandments (''taryag mitzvot'').==== Nevi'im ====Nevi'im (, \"Prophets\") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the Torah and Ketuvim.", "It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ( , the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ( , the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets).The Nevi'im tell a story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in \"the God\" (Yahweh) and believers in foreign gods, and the criticism of unethical and unjust behaviour of Israelite elites and rulers; in which prophets played a crucial and leading role.", "It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the neo-Babylonian Empire and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.===== Former Prophets =====The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings.", "They contain narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the Promised Land, and end with the release from imprisonment of the last king of Judah.", "Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:* Joshua's conquest of the land of Canaan (in the Book of Joshua),* the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the Book of Judges),* the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the Books of Samuel)* the possession of the land under the divinely appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile (Books of Kings)===== Latter Prophets =====The Latter Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets, counted as a single book.", "* Hosea, ''Hoshea'' (הושע) denounces the worship of gods other than Yehovah, comparing Israel to a woman being unfaithful to her husband.", "* Joel, ''Yoel'' (יואל) includes a lament and a promise from God.", "* Amos, ''Amos'' (עמוס) speaks of social justice, providing a basis for natural law by applying it to unbelievers and believers alike.", "* Obadiah, ''Ovadyah'' (עבדיה) addresses the judgment of Edom and restoration of Israel.", "* Jonah, ''Yonah'' (יונה) tells of a reluctant redemption of Ninevah.", "* Micah, ''Mikhah'' (מיכה) reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor, and looks forward to world peace.", "* Nahum, ''Nahum'' (נחום) speaks of the destruction of Nineveh.", "* Habakkuk, ''Havakuk'' (חבקוק) upholds trust in God over Babylon.", "* Zephaniah, ''Tsefanya'' (צפניה) pronounces coming of judgment, survival and triumph of remnant.", "* Haggai, ''Khagay'' (חגי) rebuild Second Temple.", "* Zechariah, ''Zekharyah'' (זכריה) God blesses those who repent and are pure.", "* Malachi, ''Malakhi'' (מלאכי) corrects lax religious and social behaviour.==== Ketuvim ====Hebrew text of Psalm 1:1–2Ketuvim or ''Kəṯûḇîm'' (in \"writings\") is the third and final section of the Tanakh.", "The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the inspiration of Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) but with one level less authority than that of prophecy.In Masoretic manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing their internal parallelism, which was found early in the study of Hebrew poetry.", "\"Stichs\" are the lines that make up a verse \"the parts of which lie parallel as to form and content\".", "Collectively, these three books are known as ''Sifrei Emet'' (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields ''Emet'' אמ\"ת, which is also the Hebrew for \"truth\").", "Hebrew cantillation is the manner of chanting ritual readings as they are written and notated in the Masoretic Text of the Bible.", "Psalms, Job and Proverbs form a group with a \"special system\" of accenting used only in these three books.===== The five scrolls =====''Song of Songs (Das Hohelied Salomos), No.", "11'' by Egon Tschirch, published in 1923The five relatively short books of Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Book of Esther are collectively known as the ''Hamesh Megillot''.", "These are the latest books collected and designated as authoritative in the Jewish canon even though they were not complete until the second century CE.===== Other books =====The Isaiah scroll, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, contains almost the whole Book of Isaiah and dates from the second century BCE.The books of Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles share a distinctive style that no other Hebrew literary text, biblical or extra-biblical, shares.", "They were not written in the normal style of Hebrew of the post-exilic period.", "The authors of these books must have chosen to write in their own distinctive style for unknown reasons.", "* Their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e., the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion).", "* The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.", "* Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in the Tanakh with significant portions in Aramaic.===== Book order =====The following list presents the books of Ketuvim in the order they appear in most current printed editions.", "* ''Tehillim'' (Psalms) תְהִלִּים is an anthology of individual Hebrew religious hymns.", "* ''Mishlei'' (Book of Proverbs) מִשְלֵי is a \"collection of collections\" on values, moral behavior, the meaning of life and right conduct, and its basis in faith.", "* ''Iyyôbh'' (Book of Job) אִיּוֹב is about faith, without understanding or justifying suffering.", "* ''Shīr Hashshīrīm'' (Song of Songs) or (Song of Solomon) שִׁיר הַשִׁירִים (Passover) is poetry about love and sex.", "* ''Rūth'' (Book of Ruth) רוּת (Shābhû‘ôth) tells of the Moabite woman Ruth, who decides to follow the God of the Israelites, and remains loyal to her mother-in-law, who is then rewarded.", "* ''Eikhah'' (Lamentations) איכה (Ninth of Av) Also called ''Kinnot'' in Hebrew.", "is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.", "* ''Qōheleth'' (Ecclesiastes) קהלת (Sukkôth) contains wisdom sayings disagreed over by scholars.", "Is it positive and life-affirming, or deeply pessimistic?", "* ''Estēr'' (Book of Esther) אֶסְתֵר (Pûrîm) tells of a Hebrew woman in Persia who becomes queen and thwarts a genocide of her people.", "* ''Dānî’ēl'' (Book of Daniel) דָּנִיֵּאל combines prophecy and eschatology (end times) in story of God saving Daniel just as He will save Israel.", "* ''‘Ezrā'' (Book of Ezra–Book of Nehemiah) עזרא tells of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.", "* ''Divrei ha-Yamim'' (Chronicles) דברי הימים contains genealogy.The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim.", "The Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 14b–15a) gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.One of the large scale differences between the Babylonian and the Tiberian biblical traditions is the order of the books.", "Isaiah is placed after Ezekiel in the Babylonian, while Chronicles opens the Ketuvim in the Tiberian, and closes it in the Babylonian.The Ketuvim is the last of the three portions of the Tanakh to have been accepted as canonical.", "While the Torah may have been considered canon by Israel as early as the fifth century BCE and the Former and Latter Prophets were canonized by the second century BCE, the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the second century CE.Evidence suggests, however, that the people of Israel were adding what would become the Ketuvim to their holy literature shortly after the canonization of the prophets.", "As early as 132 BCE references suggest that the Ketuvim was starting to take shape, although it lacked a formal title.", "''Against Apion'', the writing of Josephus in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which \"... no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable...\" For an extended period after 95CE, the divine inspiration of Esther, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes was often under scrutiny.=== Septuagint ===A gragment of a Septuagint: A column of uncial book from 1 Esdras in the ''Codex Vaticanus'' c. 325–350 CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and English translationThe contents page in a complete 80 book link=File:KJV_1769_Oxford_Edition,_vol._1.djvu%3Fpage=21The Septuagint (\"the Translation of the Seventy\", also called \"the LXX\"), is a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible begun in the late third century BCE.As the work of translation progressed, the Septuagint expanded: the collection of prophetic writings had various hagiographical works incorporated into it.", "In addition, some newer books such as the Books of the Maccabees and the Wisdom of Sirach were added.", "These are among the \"apocryphal\" books, (books whose authenticity is doubted).", "The inclusion of these texts, and the claim of some mistranslations, contributed to the Septuagint being seen as a \"careless\" translation and its eventual rejection as a valid Jewish scriptural text.The apocrypha are Jewish literature, mostly of the Second Temple period (c. 550 BCE – 70 CE); they originated in Israel, Syria, Egypt or Persia; were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, and attempt to tell of biblical characters and themes.", "Their provenance is obscure.", "One older theory of where they came from asserted that an \"Alexandrian\" canon had been accepted among the Greek-speaking Jews living there, but that theory has since been abandoned.", "Indications are that they were not accepted when the rest of the Hebrew canon was.", "It is clear the Apocrypha were used in New Testament times, but \"they are never quoted as Scripture.\"", "In modern Judaism, none of the apocryphal books are accepted as authentic and are therefore excluded from the canon.", "However, \"the Ethiopian Jews, who are sometimes called Falashas, have an expanded canon, which includes some Apocryphal books\".The rabbis also wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.", "Finally, the rabbis claimed a divine authority for the Hebrew language, in contrast to Aramaic or Greek – even though these languages were the ''lingua franca'' of Jews during this period (and Aramaic would eventually be given the status of a sacred language comparable to Hebrew).==== Incorporations from Theodotion ====The Book of Daniel is preserved in the 12-chapter Masoretic Text and in two longer Greek versions, the original Septuagint version, , and the later Theodotion version from .", "Both Greek texts contain three additions to Daniel: The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children; the story of Susannah and the Elders; and the story of Bel and the Dragon.", "Theodotion's translation was so widely copied in the Early Christian church that its version of the Book of Daniel virtually superseded the Septuagint's.", "The priest Jerome, in his preface to Daniel (407 CE), records the rejection of the Septuagint version of that book in Christian usage: \"I ... wish to emphasize to the reader the fact that it was not according to the Septuagint version but according to the version of Theodotion himself that the churches publicly read Daniel.\"", "Jerome's preface also mentions that the ''Hexapla'' had notations in it, indicating several major differences in content between the Theodotion Daniel and the earlier versions in Greek and Hebrew.Theodotion's Daniel is closer to the surviving Hebrew Masoretic Text version, the text which is the basis for most modern translations.", "Theodotion's Daniel is also the one embodied in the authorised edition of the Septuagint published by Sixtus V in 1587.==== Final form ====Textual critics are now debating how to reconcile the earlier view of the Septuagint as 'careless' with content from the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, scrolls discovered at Wadi Murabba'at, Nahal Hever, and those discovered at Masada.", "These scrolls are 1000–1300 years older than the Leningrad text, dated to 1008 CE, which forms the basis of the Masoretic text.", "The scrolls have confirmed much of the Masoretic text, but they have also differed from it, and many of those differences agree with the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch or the Greek Old Testament instead.Copies of some texts later declared apocryphal are also among the Qumran texts.", "Ancient manuscripts of the book of Sirach, the \"Psalms of Joshua\", Tobit, and the Epistle of Jeremiah are now known to have existed in a Hebrew version.", "The Septuagint version of some biblical books, such as the Book of Daniel and Book of Esther, are longer than those in the Jewish canon.", "In the Septuagint, Jeremiah is shorter than in the Masoretic text, but a shortened Hebrew Jeremiah has been found at Qumran in cave 4.The scrolls of Isaiah, Exodus, Jeremiah, Daniel and Samuel exhibit striking and important textual variants from the Masoretic text.", "The Septuagint is now seen as a careful translation of a different Hebrew form or recension (revised addition of the text) of certain books, but debate on how best to characterize these varied texts is ongoing.=== Pseudepigraphal books ===Pseudepigrapha are works whose authorship is wrongly attributed.", "A written work can be pseudepigraphical and not be a forgery, as forgeries are intentionally deceptive.", "With pseudepigrapha, authorship has been mistransmitted for any one of a number of reasons.Apocryphal and pseudepigraphic works are not the same.", "Apocrypha includes all the writings claiming to be sacred that are outside the canon because they are not accepted as authentically being what they claim to be.", "For example, the Gospel of Barnabas claims to be written by Barnabas the companion of the Apostle Paul, but both its manuscripts date from the Middle Ages.", "Pseudepigrapha is a literary category of all writings whether they are canonical or apocryphal.", "They may or may not be authentic in every sense except a misunderstood authorship.The term \"pseudepigrapha\" is commonly used to describe numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BCE to 300 CE.", "Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical.", "(It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is questioned.)", "The Old Testament pseudepigraphal works include the following:* 3 Maccabees* 4 Maccabees* Assumption of Moses* Ethiopic Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)* Slavonic Book of Enoch (2 Enoch)* Hebrew Book of Enoch (3 Enoch) (also known as \"The Revelation of Metatron\" or \"The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest\")* Book of Jubilees* Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch)* Letter of Aristeas (Letter to Philocrates regarding the translating of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek)* Life of Adam and Eve* Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah* Psalms of Solomon* Sibylline Oracles* Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch)* Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs==== Book of Enoch ====Notable pseudepigraphal works include the Books of Enoch such as 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, which survives only in Old Slavonic, and 3 Enoch, surviving in Hebrew of the CE.", "These are ancient Jewish religious works, traditionally ascribed to the prophet Enoch, the great-grandfather of the patriarch Noah.", "The fragment of Enoch found among the Qumran scrolls attest to it being an ancient work.", "The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300 BCE, and the latest part (Book of Parables) was probably composed at the end of the first century BCE.Enoch is not part of the biblical canon used by most Jews, apart from Beta Israel.", "Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance.", "Part of the Book of Enoch is quoted in the Epistle of Jude and the Book of Hebrews (parts of the New Testament), but Christian denominations generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical.", "The exceptions to this view are the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.The Ethiopian Bible is not based on the Greek Bible, and the Ethiopian Church has a slightly different understanding of canon than other Christian traditions.", "In Ethiopia, canon does not have the same degree of fixedness, (yet neither is it completely open).", "Enoch has long been seen there as inspired scripture, but being scriptural and being canon are not always seen the same.", "The official Ethiopian canon has 81 books, but that number is reached in different ways with various lists of different books, and the book of Enoch is sometimes included and sometimes not.", "Current evidence confirms Enoch as canonical in both Ethiopia and in Eritrea.=== Christian Bible ===A page from the Gutenberg BibleA Christian Bible is a set of books divided into the Old and New Testament that a Christian denomination has, at some point in their past or present, regarded as divinely inspired scripture by the holy spirit.", "The Early Church primarily used the Septuagint, as it was written in Greek, the common tongue of the day, or they used the Targums among Aramaic speakers.", "Modern English translations of the Old Testament section of the Christian Bible are based on the Masoretic Text.", "The Pauline epistles and the gospels were soon added, along with other writings, as the New Testament.==== Old Testament ====The Old Testament has been important to the life of the Christian church from its earliest days.", "Bible scholar N.T.", "Wright says \"Jesus himself was profoundly shaped by the scriptures.\"", "Wright adds that the earliest Christians searched those same Hebrew scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus.", "They regarded the \"holy writings\" of the Israelites as necessary and instructive for the Christian, as seen from Paul's words to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), as pointing to the Messiah, and as having reached a climactic fulfillment in Jesus generating the \"new covenant\" prophesied by Jeremiah.The Protestant Old Testament of the 21st century has a 39-book canon.", "The number of books (although not the content) varies from the Jewish Tanakh only because of a different method of division.", "The term \"Hebrew scriptures\" is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books.However, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books as its Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one), and the Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize 6 additional books.", "These additions are also included in the Syriac versions of the Bible called the ''Peshitta'' and the Ethiopian Bible.Because the canon of Scripture is distinct for Jews, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Western Protestants, the contents of each community's Apocrypha are unique, as is its usage of the term.", "For Jews, none of the apocryphal books are considered canonical.", "Catholics refer to this collection as \"Deuterocanonical books\" (second canon) and the Orthodox Church refers to them as \"Anagignoskomena\" (that which is read).", "Books included in the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Slavonic Bibles are: Tobit, Judith, Greek Additions to Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah (also called the Baruch Chapter 6), the Greek Additions to Daniel, along with 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees.The Greek Orthodox Church, and the Slavonic churches (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia) also add:* 3 Maccabees* 1 Esdras (called 2 Esdras in the Slavonic canon)* Prayer of Manasseh* Psalm 1512 Esdras (4 Ezra) and the Prayer of Manasseh are not in the Septuagint, and 2 Esdras does not exist in Greek, though it does exist in Latin.", "There is also 4 Maccabees which is only accepted as canonical in the Georgian Church.", "It is in an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it is therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.The Syriac Orthodox Church also includes:* Psalms 151–155* The Apocalypse of Baruch* The Letter of BaruchThe Ethiopian Old Testament Canon uses Enoch and Jubilees (that only survived in Ge'ez), 1–3 Meqabyan, Greek Ezra and the Apocalypse of Ezra, and Psalm 151.The Revised Common Lectionary of the Lutheran Church, Moravian Church, Reformed Churches, Anglican Church and Methodist Church uses the apocryphal books liturgically, with alternative Old Testament readings available.", "Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Lutheran Church and Anglican Church include the fourteen books of the Apocrypha, many of which are the deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, which were in the Vulgate appendix.The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches use most of the books of the Septuagint, while Protestant churches usually do not.", "After the Protestant Reformation, many Protestant Bibles began to follow the Jewish canon and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called ''apocryphal''.", "The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the King James Version of the Bible, the basis for the Revised Standard Version.", "The Orthodox Old TestamentGreek-based nameConventional English nameLaw Génesis Genesis Éxodos Exodus Leuitikón Leviticus Arithmoí Numbers Deuteronómion DeuteronomyHistory Iêsous Nauê Joshua Kritaí Judges Roúth Ruth I Reigns I Samuel II Reigns II Samuel III Reigns I Kings IV Reigns II Kings I Paralipomenon I Chronicles II Paralipomenon II Chronicles I Esdras 1 Esdras II Esdras Ezra–Nehemiah Tobit Tobit or Tobias Ioudith Judith Esther Esther with additions I Makkabaioi 1 Maccabees II Makkabaioi 2 Maccabees III Makkabaioi 3 MaccabeesWisdom Psalms Psalms Psalm 151 Psalm 151 Prayer of Manasseh Prayer of Manasseh Iōb Job Proverbs Proverbs Ekklesiastes Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Song of Solomon or Canticles Wisdom of Solomon Wisdom Wisdom of Jesus the son of Seirach Sirach or Ecclesiasticus Psalms of Solomon Psalms of SolomonProphets The Twelve Minor Prophets I. Osëe Hosea II.", "Amōs Amos III.", "Michaias Micah IV.", "Ioël Joel V. Obdias Obadiah VI.", "Ionas Jonah VII.", "Naoum Nahum VIII.", "Ambakum Habakkuk IX.", "Sophonias Zephaniah X. Angaios Haggai XI.", "Zacharias Zachariah XII.", "Messenger Malachi Hesaias Isaiah Hieremias Jeremiah Baruch Baruch Lamentations Lamentations Epistle of Jeremiah Letter of Jeremiah Iezekiêl Ezekiel Daniêl Daniel with additionsAppendix IV Makkabees 4 Maccabees==== New Testament ====''St.", "Jerome in His Study'', published in 1541 by Marinus van Reymerswaele.", "Jerome produced a fourth-century Latin edition of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, that became the Catholic Church's official translation.The New Testament is the name given to the second portion of the Christian Bible.", "While some scholars assert that Aramaic was the original language of the New Testament, the majority view says it was written in the vernacular form of Koine Greek.", "Still, there is reason to assert that it is a heavily Semitized Greek: its syntax is like conversational Greek, but its style is largely Semitic.", "Koine Greek was the common language of the western Roman Empire from the Conquests of Alexander the Great (335–323 BCE) until the evolution of Byzantine Greek () while Aramaic was the language of Jesus, the Apostles and the ancient Near East.", "The term \"New Testament\" came into use in the second century during a controversy over whether the Hebrew Bible should be included with the Christian writings as sacred scripture.It is generally accepted that the New Testament writers were Jews who took the inspiration of the Old Testament for granted.", "This is probably stated earliest in : \"All scripture is given by inspiration of God\".", "Scholarship on how and why ancient Jewish–Christians came to create and accept new texts as equal to the established Hebrew texts has taken three forms.", "First, John Barton writes that ancient Christians probably just continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what they believed were inspired, authoritative religious books.", "The second approach separates those various inspired writings based on a concept of \"canon\" which developed in the second century.", "The third involves formalizing canon.", "According to Barton, these differences are only differences in terminology; the ideas are reconciled if they are seen as three stages in the formation of the New Testament.The first stage was completed remarkably early if one accepts 's view that \"canon\" and \"scripture\" are separate things, with \"scripture\" having been recognized by ancient Christians long before \"canon\" was.", "Barton says Theodor Zahn concluded \"there was already a Christian canon by the end of the first century\", but this is not the canon of later centuries.", "Accordingly, Sundberg asserts that in the first centuries, there was no criterion for inclusion in the \"sacred writings\" beyond inspiration, and that no one in the first century had the idea of a closed canon.", "The gospels were accepted by early believers as handed down from those Apostles who had known Jesus and been taught by him.", "Later biblical criticism has questioned the authorship and datings of the gospels.At the end of the second century, it is widely recognized that a Christian canon similar to its modern version was asserted by the church fathers in response to the plethora of writings claiming inspiration that contradicted orthodoxy: (heresy).", "The third stage of development as the final canon occurred in the fourth century with a series of synods that produced a list of texts of the canon of the Old Testament and the New Testament that are still used today.", "Most notably the Synod of Hippo in 393 CE and that of ''c''.", "400.Jerome produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (the Vulgate), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods.", "This process effectively set the New Testament canon.New Testament books already had considerable authority in the late first and early second centuries.", "Even in its formative period, most of the books of the NT that were seen as scripture were already agreed upon.", "Linguistics scholar Stanley E. Porter says \"evidence from the apocryphal non-Gospel literature is the same as that for the apocryphal Gospelsin other words, that the text of the Greek New Testament was relatively well established and fixed by the time of the second and third centuries\".", "By the time the fourth century Fathers were approving the \"canon\", they were doing little more than codifying what was already universally accepted.The New Testament is a collection of 27 books of 4 different genres of Christian literature (Gospels, one account of the Acts of the Apostles, Epistles and an Apocalypse).", "These books can be grouped into:The Gospels are narratives of Jesus' last three years of life, his death and resurrection.", "* Synoptic Gospels Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark** Gospel of Luke* Gospel of JohnNarrative literature, provide an account and history of the very early Apostolic age.", "* Acts of the ApostlesPauline epistles are written to individual church groups to address problems, provide encouragement and give instruction.", "* Epistle to the Romans* First Epistle to the Corinthians* Second Epistle to the Corinthians* Epistle to the Galatians* Epistle to the Ephesians* Epistle to the Philippians* Epistle to the Colossians* First Epistle to the Thessalonians* Second Epistle to the ThessaloniansPastoral epistles discuss the pastoral oversight of churches, Christian living, doctrine and leadership.", "* First Epistle to Timothy* Second Epistle to Timothy* Epistle to Titus* Epistle to Philemon* Epistle to the HebrewsCatholic epistles, also called the general epistles or lesser epistles.", "* Epistle of James encourages a lifestyle consistent with faith.", "* First Epistle of Peter addresses trial and suffering.", "* Second Epistle of Peter more on suffering's purposes, Christology, ethics and eschatology.", "* First Epistle of John covers how to discern true Christians: by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love.", "* Second Epistle of John warns against docetism.", "* Third Epistle of John encourage, strengthen and warn.", "* Epistle of Jude condemns opponents.Apocalyptic literature (prophetical)* Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse, predicts end time events.Both Catholics and Protestants (as well as Greek Orthodox) currently have the same 27-book New Testament Canon.", "They are ordered differently in the Slavonic tradition, the Syriac tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.==== Canon variations ========= Peshitta =====The Peshitta ( ''or'' '''') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.", "The consensus within biblical scholarship, although not universal, is that the Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from biblical Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century CE, and that the New Testament of the Peshitta was translated from the Greek.", "This New Testament, originally excluding certain disputed books (2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation), had become a standard by the early 5th century.", "The five excluded books were added in the Harklean Version (616 CE) of Thomas of Harqel.===== Catholic Church canon =====The canon of the Catholic Church was affirmed by the Council of Rome (382), the Synod of Hippo (393), the Council of Carthage (397), the Council of Carthage (419), the Council of Florence (1431–1449) and finally, as an article of faith, by the Council of Trent (1545–1563) establishing the canon consisting of 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament for a total of 73 books in the Catholic Bible.===== Ethiopian Orthodox canon =====The canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches.", "There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.", "In addition to the books found in the Septuagint accepted by other Orthodox Christians, the Ethiopian Old Testament Canon uses Enoch and Jubilees (ancient Jewish books that only survived in Ge'ez, but are quoted in the New Testament), Greek Ezra and the Apocalypse of Ezra, 3 books of Meqabyan, and Psalm 151 at the end of the Psalter.", "The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees.", "The order of the books is somewhat different in that the Ethiopian Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order.===New Testament Apocryphal books===The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early professed Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his Apostles and of their activities.", "Some of these writings were cited as Scripture by some early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon.", "Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Western Protestant churches do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the inspired Bible.", "Although some Oriental Orthodox canons to some extent have.", "The Armenian Apostolic church at times has included the Third Epistle to the Corinthians, but does not always list it with the other 27 canonical New Testament books.", "The New Testament of the Coptic Bible, adopted by the Egyptian Church, includes the two Epistles of Clement." ], [ "Textual history", "The original autographs, that is, the original Greek writings and manuscripts written by the original authors of the New Testament, have not survived.", "But, historically, ''copies'' of those original autographs exist and were transmitted and preserved in a number of manuscript traditions.", "The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the Alexandrian text-type (generally minimalist), the Byzantine text-type (generally maximalist), and the Western text-type (occasionally wild).", "Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.", "Very early on, Christianity replaced scrolls with codexes, the forerunner of bound books, and by the 3rd century, collections of biblical books began being copied as a set.Since all ancient texts were written by hand, often by copying from another handwritten text, they are not exactly alike in the manner of printed works.", "The differences between them are considered generally minor and are called textual variants.", "A variant is simply any variation between two texts.", "The majority of variants are accidental, but some are intentional.", "Intentional changes were made to improve grammar, to eliminate discrepancies, to make Liturgical changes such as the doxology of the Lord's prayer, to harmonize parallel passages or to combine and simplify multiple variant readings into one." ], [ "Influence", "With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible is one of the most influential work ever written.", "From practices of personal hygiene to philosophy and ethics, the Bible has directly and indirectly influenced politics and law, war and peace, sexual morals, marriage and family life, letters and learning, the arts, economics, social justice, medical care and more.The Bible is the world's most published book, with estimated total sales of over five billion copies.", "As such, the Bible has had a profound influence, especially in the Western world, where the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Europe using movable type.", "It has contributed to the formation of Western law, art, literature, and education.===Criticism===Critics view certain biblical texts to be morally problematic.", "The Bible neither calls for nor condemns slavery outright, but there are verses that address dealing with it, and these verses have been used to support it.", "Some have written that supersessionism begins in the book of Hebrews where others locate its beginnings in the culture of the fourth century Roman empire.", "The Bible has been used to support the death penalty, patriarchy, sexual intolerance, the violence of total war, and colonialism.In the Christian Bible, the violence of war is addressed four ways: pacifism, non-resistance; just war, and preventive war which is sometimes called crusade.", "In the Hebrew Bible, there is ''just war'' and ''preventive war'' which includes the Amalekites, Canaanites, Moabites, and the record in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and both books of Kings.", "John J. Collins writes that people throughout history have used these biblical texts to justify violence against their enemies.", "Anthropologist Leonard B. Glick offers the modern example of Jewish fundamentalists in Israel, such as Shlomo Aviner a prominent theorist of the Gush Emunim movement, who considers the Palestinians to be like biblical Canaanites, and therefore suggests that Israel \"must be prepared to destroy\" the Palestinians if the Palestinians do not leave the land.Nur Masalha argues that genocide is inherent in these commandments, and that they have served as inspirational examples of divine support for slaughtering national opponents.", "However, the \"applicability of the term genocide to earlier periods of history\" is questioned by sociologists Frank Robert Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn.", "Since most societies of the past endured and practiced genocide, it was accepted at that time as \"being in the nature of life\" because of the \"coarseness and brutality\" of life; the moral condemnation associated with terms like genocide are products of modern morality.", "The definition of what constitutes violence has broadened considerably over time.", "The Bible reflects how perceptions of violence changed for its authors.Phyllis Trible, in her now famous work ''Texts of Terror,'' tells four Bible stories of suffering in ancient Israel where women are the victims.", "Tribble describes the Bible as \"a mirror\" that reflects humans, and human life, in all its \"holiness and horror\".John Riches, professor of divinity and biblical criticism at the University of Glasgow, provides the following view of the diverse historical influences of the Bible:===Politics and law===The Bible has been used to support and oppose political power.", "It has inspired revolution and \"a reversal of power\" because God is so often portrayed as choosing what is \"weak and humble...(the stammering Moses, the infant Samuel, Saul from an insignificant family, David confronting Goliath, etc.", ")....to confound the mighty\".", "Biblical texts have been the catalyst for political concepts like democracy, religious toleration and religious freedom.", "These have, in turn, inspired movements ranging from abolitionism in the 18th and 19th century, to the civil rights movement, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and liberation theology in Latin America.", "The Bible has been the source of many peace movements and efforts at reconciliation around the world .The roots of many modern laws can be found in the Bible's teachings on due process, fairness in criminal procedures, and equity in the application of the law.", "Judges are told not to accept bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19), are required to be impartial to native and stranger alike (Leviticus 24:22; Deuteronomy 27:19), to the needy and the powerful alike (Leviticus 19:15), and to rich and poor alike (Deuteronomy 1:16, 17; Exodus 23:2–6).", "The right to a fair trial, and fair punishment, are also found in the Bible (Deuteronomy 19:15; Exodus 21:23–25).", "Those most vulnerable in a patriarchal societychildren, women, and strangersare singled out in the Bible for special protection (Psalm 72:2, 4).===Social responsibility===The philosophical foundation of human rights is in the Bible's teachings of natural law.", "The prophets of the Hebrew Bible repeatedly admonish the people to practice justice, charity, and social responsibility.", "H. A. Lockton writes that \"The Poverty and Justice Bible (The Bible Society (UK), 2008) claims there are more than 2000 verses in the Bible dealing with the justice issues of rich-poor relations, exploitation and oppression\".", "Judaism practiced charity and healing the sick but tended to limit these practices to their own people.", "For Christians, the Old Testament statements are enhanced by multiple verses such as Matthew 10:8, Luke 10:9 and 9:2, and Acts 5:16 that say \"heal the sick\".", "Authors Vern and Bonnie Bullough write in ''The care of the sick: the emergence of modern nursing,'' that this is seen as an aspect of following Jesus' example, since so much of his public ministry focused on healing.In the process of following this command, monasticism in the third century transformed health care.", "This produced the first hospital for the poor in Caesarea in the fourth century.", "The monastic health care system was innovative in its methods, allowing the sick to remain within the monastery as a special class afforded special benefits; it destigmatized illness, legitimized the deviance from the norm that sickness includes, and formed the basis for future modern concepts of public health care.", "The biblical practices of feeding and clothing the poor, visiting prisoners, supporting widows and orphan children have had sweeping impact.The Bible's emphasis on learning has had formidable influence on believers and western society.", "For centuries after the fall of the western Roman Empire, all schools in Europe were Bible-based church schools, and outside of monastic settlements, almost no one had the ability to read or write.", "These schools eventually led to the West's first universities (created by the church) in the Middle Ages which have spread around the world in the modern day.", "Protestant Reformers wanted all members of the church to be able to read the Bible, so compulsory education for both boys and girls was introduced.", "Translations of the Bible into local vernacular languages have supported the development of national literatures and the invention of alphabets.Biblical teachings on sexual morality changed the Roman empire, the millennium that followed, and have continued to influence society.", "Rome's concept of sexual morality was centered on social and political status, power, and social reproduction (the transmission of social inequality to the next generation).", "The biblical standard was a \"radical notion of individual freedom centered around a libertarian paradigm of complete sexual agency\".", "Classicist Kyle Harper describes the change biblical teaching evoked as \"a revolution in the rules of behavior, but also in the very image of the human being\".===Literature and the arts===Salomé'', by Henri Regnault (1870)The Bible has directly and indirectly influenced literature: St Augustine's Confessions is widely considered the first autobiography in Western Literature.", "The ''Summa Theologica'', written 1265–1274, is \"one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature.\"", "These both influenced the writings of Dante's epic poetry and his ''Divine Comedy'', and in turn, Dante's creation and sacramental theology has contributed to influencing writers such as J. R. R. Tolkien and William Shakespeare.Many masterpieces of Western art were inspired by biblical themes: from Michelangelo's ''David'' and ''Pietà'' sculptures, to Leonardo da Vinci's ''Last Supper'' and Raphael's various ''Madonna'' paintings.", "There are hundreds of examples.", "Eve, the temptress who disobeys God's commandment, is probably the most widely portrayed figure in art.", "The Renaissance preferred the sensuous female nude, while the \"femme fatale\" Delilah from the nineteenth century onward demonstrates how the Bible and art both shape and reflect views of women.The Bible has many rituals of purification which speak of clean and unclean in both literal and metaphorical terms.", "The biblical toilet etiquette encourages washing after all instances of defecation, hence the invention of the bidet." ], [ "Interpretation and inspiration", "Lutheran altar, highlighting its importanceBiblical texts have always required interpretation, and this has given rise to multiple views and approaches according to the interplay between various religions and the book.The primary source of Jewish commentary and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible is the Talmud.", "The Talmud, (which means study and learning), is a summary of ancient oral law and commentary on it.", "It is the primary source of Jewish Law.", "Adin Steinsaltz writes that \"if the Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism, then the Talmud is the central pillar\".", "Seen as the backbone of Jewish creativity, it is \"a conglomerate of law, legend and philosophy, a blend of unique logic and shrewd pragmatism, of history and science, anecdotes and humor\" all aimed toward the purpose of studying biblical Torah.Christians often treat the Bible as a single book, and while John Barton says they are \"some of the most profound texts humanity has ever produced\", liberals and moderates see it as a collection of books that are not perfect.", "Conservative and fundamentalist Christians see the Bible differently and interpret it differently.", "Christianity interprets the Bible differently than Judaism does with Islam providing yet another view.", "How inspiration works and what kind of authority it means the Bible has are different for different traditions.The Second Epistle to Timothy claims, \"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness\" ().", "Various related but distinguishable views on divine inspiration include:* the view of the Bible as the inspired word of God: the belief that God, through the Holy Spirit, intervened and influenced the words, message, and collation of the Bible* the view that the Bible is also infallible, and incapable of error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in historic or scientific matters* the view that the Bible represents the inerrant word of God, without error in any aspect, spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humansWithin these broad beliefs many schools of hermeneutics operate.", "\"Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture.\"", "Fundamentalist Christians are associated with the doctrine of biblical literalism, where the Bible is not only inerrant, but the meaning of the text is clear to the average reader.Jewish antiquity attests to belief in sacred texts, and a similar belief emerges in the earliest of Christian writings.", "Various texts of the Bible mention divine agency in relation to its writings.", "In their book ''A General Introduction to the Bible'', Norman Geisler and William Nix write: \"The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record.\"", "Most evangelical biblical scholars associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy which asserted that inspiration applied only to the autographic text of scripture.", "Among adherents of biblical literalism, a minority, such as followers of the King-James-Only Movement, extend the claim of inerrancy only to a particular version.===Religious significance===Both Judaism and Christianity see the Bible as religiously and intellectually significant.", "It provides insight into its time and into the composition of the texts, and it represents an important step in the development of thought.", "It is used in communal worship, recited and memorized, provides personal guidance, a basis for counseling, church doctrine, religious culture (teaching, hymns and worship), and ethical standards.The Bible is centrally important to both Judaism and Christianity, but not as a holy text out of which entire religious systems can somehow be read.", "Its contents illuminate the origins of Christianity and Judaism, and provide spiritual classics on which both faiths can draw; but they do not constrain subsequent generations in the way that a written constitution would.", "They are simply not that kind of thing.", "They are a repository of writings, both shaping and shaped by the two religions...\" As a result, there are teachings and creeds in Christianity and laws in Judaism that are seen by those religions as derived from the Bible which are not directly in the Bible.For the Hebrew Bible, canonization is reserved for written texts, while sacralization reaches far back into oral tradition.", "When sacred stories, such as those that form the narrative base of the first five books of the Bible, were performed, \"not a syllable could be changed in order to ensure the magical power of the words to 'presentify' the divine\".", "Inflexibility protected the texts from a changing world.", "When sacred oral texts began the move to written transmission, commentary began being worked in, but once the text was closed by canonization, commentary needed to remain outside.", "Commentary still had significance.", "Sacred written texts were thereafter accompanied by commentary, and such commentary was sometimes written and sometimes orally transmitted, as is the case in the Islamic Madrasa and the Jewish Yeshiva.", "Arguing that Torah has had a definitive role in developing Jewish identity from its earliest days, John J. Collins explains that regardless of genetics or land, it has long been true that one could become Jewish by observing the laws in the Torah, and that remains true in the modern day.The Christian religion and its sacred book are connected and influence one another, but the significance of the written text has varied throughout history.", "For Christianity, holiness did not reside in the written text, or in any particular language, it resided in the Christ the text witnessed to.", "David M. Carr writes that this gave early Christianity a more 'flexible' view of the written texts.", "Wilfred Cantwell Smith points out that \"in the Islamic system, the Quran fulfills a function comparable to the role... played by the person of Jesus Christ, while a closer counterpart to Christian scriptures are the Islamic Hadith 'Traditions'.\"", "For centuries the written text had less significance than the will of the church as represented by the Pope, since the church saw the text as having been created by the church.", "One cause of the Reformation was the perceived need to reorient Christianity around its early text as authoritative.", "Some Protestant churches still focus on the idea of ''sola scriptura'', which sees scripture as the only legitimate religious authority.", "Some denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only infallible source of Christian teaching.", "Others, though, advance the concept of ''prima scriptura'' in contrast, meaning scripture primarily or scripture mainly.In the 21st century, attitudes towards the significance of the Bible continue to differ.", "Roman Catholics, High Church Anglicans, Methodists and Eastern Orthodox Christians stress the harmony and importance of both the Bible and sacred tradition in combination.", "United Methodists see Scripture as the major factor in Christian doctrine, but they also emphasize the importance of tradition, experience, and reason.", "Lutherans teach that the Bible is the sole source for Christian doctrine.", "Muslims view the Bible as reflecting the true unfolding revelation from God; but revelation which had been corrupted or distorted (in Arabic: ''tahrif''), and therefore necessitated correction by giving the Quran to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.", "The Rastafari view the Bible as essential to their religion, while the Unitarian Universalists view it as \"one of many important religious texts\"." ], [ "Versions and translations", "Welsh translation of the Bible, published in 1588, and translated by William Morgan)German translation of the Bible by Martin Luther, whose translation of the text into the vernacular was highly influential in the development of Lutheranism and the ReformationThe original texts of the Tanakh were almost entirely written in Hebrew with about one percent in Aramaic.", "The earliest translation of any Bible text is the Septuagint which translated the Hebrew into Greek.", "As the first translation of any biblical literature, the translation that became the Septuagint was an unparalleled event in the ancient world.", "This translation was made possible by a common Mediterranean culture where Semitism had been foundational to Greek culture.", "In the Talmud, Greek is the only language officially allowed for translation.", "The Targum Onkelos is the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible believed to have been written in the second century CE.", "These texts attracted the work of various scholars, but a standardized text was not available before the 9th century.There were different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew.", "These were copied and edited in three different locations producing slightly varying results.", "Masoretic scholars in Tiberias in ancient Palestine copied the ancient texts in Tiberian Hebrew.", "A copy was recovered from the \"Cave of Elijah\" (the synagogue of Aleppo in the Judean desert) and is therefore referred to as the Aleppo Codex which dates to around 920.This codex, which is over a thousand years old, was originally the oldest codex of the complete Tiberian Hebrew Bible.", "Babylonian masoretes had also copied the early texts, and the Tiberian and Babylonian were later combined, using the Aleppo Codex and additional writings, to form the Ben-Asher masoretic tradition which is the standardized Hebrew Bible of today.", "The Aleppo Codex is no longer the oldest complete manuscript because, during riots in 1947, the Aleppo Codex was removed from its location, and about 40% of it was subsequently lost.", "It must now rely on additional manuscripts, and as a result, the Aleppo Codex contains the most comprehensive collection of variant readings.", "The oldest complete version of the Masoretic tradition is the Leningrad Codex from 1008.It is the source for all modern Jewish and Christian translations.Levidas writes that, \"The Koine Greek New Testament is a non-translated work; most scholars agree on thisdespite disagreement on the possibility that some passages may have appeared initially in Aramaic...", "It is written in the Koine Greek of the first century CE\".", "Early Christians translated the New Testament into Old Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Latin, among other languages.", "The earliest Latin translation was the Old Latin text, or ''Vetus Latina'', which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time.Pope Damasus I (366–383) commissioned Jerome to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin.", "This translation became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible, in the 4th century CE (although Jerome expressed in his prologues to most deuterocanonical books that they were non-canonical).", "In 1546, at the Council of Trent, Jerome's Vulgate translation was declared by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the Latin Church.", "The Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament, and they had no need to translate the Greek New Testament.", "This contributed to the East-West Schism.Many ancient translations coincide with the invention of the alphabet and the beginning of vernacular literature in those languages.", "According to British Academy professor N. Fernández Marcos, these early translations represent \"pioneer works of enormous linguistic interest, as they represent the oldest documents we have for the study of these languages and literature\".Translations to English can be traced to the seventh century, Alfred the Great in the 9th century, the ''Toledo School of Translators'' in the 12th and 13th century, Roger Bacon (1220–1292), an English Franciscan friar of the 13th century, and multiple writers of the Renaissance.", "The Wycliffite Bible, which is \"one of the most significant in the development of a written standard\", dates from the late Middle English period.", "William Tyndale's translation of 1525 is seen by several scholars as having influenced the form of English Christian discourse as well as impacting the development of the English language itself.", "Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1522, and both Testaments with Apocrypha in 1534, thereby contributing to the multiple wars of the Age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation.", "Important biblical translations of this period include the Polish ''Jakub Wujek Bible'' (Biblia Jakuba Wujka) from 1535, and the English King James/Authorized Version (1604–1611).", "The King James Version was the most widespread English Bible of all time, but it has largely been superseded by modern translations.Some New Testaments verses found to be later additions to the text are not included in modern English translations, despite appearing in older English translations such as the King James Version.+Historically significant translations of the Bible in EnglishNameAbbreviationPublishedWycliffe BibleWYC1382Tyndale BibleTYN1526Geneva BibleGNV1560Douay–Rheims BibleDRB1610King James VersionKJV1611English Revised VersionRV1885Revised Standard VersionRSV1952New American BibleNAB1970New International VersionNIV1978New King James VersionNKJV1982New Revised Standard VersionNRSV1989English Standard VersionESV2001Some denominations have additional canonical texts beyond the Bible, including the Standard Works of the Latter Day Saints movement and ''Divine Principle'' in the Unification Church.Nearly all modern English translations of the Old Testament are based on a single manuscript, the Leningrad Codex, copied in 1008 or 1009.It is a complete example of the Masoretic Text, and its published edition is used by the majority of scholars.", "The Aleppo Codex is the basis of the Hebrew University Bible Project in Jerusalem.Since the Reformation era, Bible translations have been made into the common vernacular of many languages.", "The Bible continues to be translated to new languages, largely by Christian organizations such as Wycliffe Bible Translators, New Tribes Mission and Bible societies.", "Lamin Sanneh writes that tracing the impact on the local cultures of translating the Bible into local vernacular language shows it has produced \"the movements of indigenization and cultural liberation\".", "\"The translated scripture ... has become the benchmark of awakening and renewal\".+Bible translations, worldwide () Number Statistic 7,394 Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today 3,283 Number of translations into new languages in progress 1,264 Number of languages with some translated Bible portions 1,658 Number of languages with a translation of the New Testament 736 Number of languages with a full translation of the Bible (Protestant Canon) 3,658 Total number of languages with some Bible translation" ], [ "Archaeological and historical research", "The Tel Dan Stele at the Israel Museum.", "Highlighted in white: the sequence ''B Y T D W D''Biblical archaeology is a subsection of archaeology that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament.", "It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times.", "There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology.", "One broad division includes biblical maximalism, which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time.", "According to historian Lester L. Grabbe, there are \"few, if any\" maximalists in mainstream scholarship.", "It is considered to be the extreme opposite of biblical minimalism which considers the Bible to be a purely post-exilic (5th century BCE and later) composition.", "According to Mary-Joan Leith, professor of religious studies, many minimalists have ignored evidence for the antiquity of the Hebrew language in the Bible, and few take archaeological evidence into consideration.", "Most biblical scholars and archaeologists fall somewhere on a spectrum between these two.The biblical account of events of the Exodus from Egypt in the Torah, the migration to the Promised Land, and the period of Judges are sources of heated ongoing debate.", "There is an absence of evidence for the presence of Israel in Egypt from any Egyptian source, historical or archaeological.", "Yet, as William Dever points out, these biblical traditions were written long after the events they describe, and they are based in sources now lost and older oral traditions.The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, ancient non–biblical texts, and archaeology support the Babylonian captivity beginning around 586 BCE.", "Excavations in southern Judah show a pattern of destruction consistent with the Neo-Assyrian devastation of Judah at the end of the eighth century BCE and 2 Kings 18:13.In 1993, at Tel Dan, archaeologist Avraham Biran unearthed a fragmentary Aramaic inscription, the Tel Dan stele, dated to the late ninth or early eighth century that mentions a \"king of Israel\" as well as a \"house of David\" (bet David).", "This shows David could not be a late sixth-century invention, and implies that Judah's kings traced their lineage back to someone named David.", "However, there is no current archaeological evidence for the existence of King David and Solomon or the First Temple as far back as the tenth century BCE where the Bible places them.In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, surveys demonstrated that Acts of the Apostles (Acts) scholarship was divided into two traditions, \"a conservative (largely British) tradition which had great confidence in the historicity of Acts and a less conservative (largely German) tradition which had very little confidence in the historicity of Acts\".", "Subsequent surveys show that little has changed.", "Author Thomas E. Phillips writes that \"In this two-century-long debate over the historicity of Acts and its underlying traditions, only one assumption seemed to be shared by all: Acts was intended to be read as history\".", "This too is now being debated by scholars as: what genre does Acts actually belong to?", "There is a growing consensus, however, that the question of genre is unsolvable and would not, in any case, solve the issue of historicity: \"Is Acts history or fiction?", "In the eyes of most scholars, it is historybut not the kind of history that precludes fiction.\"", "says Phillips." ], [ "Biblical criticism", "Jean Astruc, often called the \"father of biblical criticism\", at Centre hospitalier universitaire de ToulouseBiblical criticism refers to the analytical investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as history, authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention.", "It is not the same as criticism of the Bible, which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance, nor is it criticism of possible translation errors.Biblical criticism made study of the Bible secularized, scholarly, and more democratic, while it also permanently altered the way people understood the Bible.", "The Bible is no longer thought of solely as a religious artifact, and its interpretation is no longer restricted to the community of believers.", "Michael Fishbane writes, \"There are those who regard the desacralization of the Bible as the fortunate condition for\" the development of the modern world.", "For many, biblical criticism \"released a host of threats\" to the Christian faith.", "For others biblical criticism \"proved to be a failure, due principally to the assumption that diachronic, linear research could master any and all of the questions and problems attendant on interpretation\".", "Still others believed that biblical criticism, \"shorn of its unwarranted arrogance,\" could be a reliable source of interpretation.", "Michael Fishbane compares biblical criticism to Job, a prophet who destroyed \"self-serving visions for the sake of a more honest crossing from the divine ''textus'' to the human one\".", "Or as Rogerson says: biblical criticism has been liberating for those who want their faith \"intelligently grounded and intellectually honest\"." ], [ "Bible museums", "* The Dunham Bible Museum is located at Houston Baptist University in Houston, Texas.", "It is known for its collection of rare Bibles from around the world and for having many different Bibles of various languages.", "* The Museum of the Bible opened in Washington, D.C. in November 2017.The museum states that its intent is to \"share the historical relevance and significance of the sacred scriptures in a nonsectarian way\", but this has been questioned.", "* The Bible Museum in St Arnaud, Victoria in Australia opened in 2009., it is closed for relocation.", "* There is a Bible Museum at ''The Great Passion Play'' in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.", "* The Bible Museum on the Square in Collierville, Tennessee opened in 1997.", "* Biedenharn Museum and Gardens in Monroe, Louisiana includes a Bible Museum." ], [ "Gallery", "File:Bibel Kloster Paleokastritsa.jpg\|An old Bible from a Greek monasteryFile:Imperial Bible.jpg\|The Imperial Bible, or Vienna Coronation Gospels from Wien, Austria, File:Kennicott Bible.jpg\|The Kennicott Bible in 1476File:A religious Baroque Bible - 7558.jpg\|A Baroque BibleFile:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpg\|The Bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his oath of office during his first inaugural in 1861File:Holy Bible The Improved Domestic Bible London Schuyler Smith & Co 1880 Maps.jpg\|American Civil War-era illustrated BibleFile:Bible and Key Divination.jpg\|A miniature BibleFile:Bibel-1.jpg\|An 1866 Victorian BibleFile:Bizzell Bible Collection.jpg\|Shelves of the Bizzell Bible Collection at Bizzell Memorial LibraryFile:Leonardo da Vinci - Annunciazione (dettaglio).jpg\|Leonardo da Vinci's ''Annunciation'' (–1475), showing the Virgin Mary reading the Bible" ], [ "Illustrations", "The grandest medieval Bibles were illuminated manuscripts in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders (marginalia) and miniature illustrations.", "Up to the 12th century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a commission from a wealthy patron.", "Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the monks who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a scriptorium, where \"separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk.\"", "By the 14th century, the cloisters of monks writing in the scriptorium started to employ laybrothers from the urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that the Monastic libraries were unable to meet with the demand, and began employing secular scribes and illuminators.", "These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day.", "A notable example of an illuminated manuscript is the Book of Kells, produced circa the year 800 containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables.The manuscript was \"sent to the rubricator, who added (in red or other colours) the titles, headlines, the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator.\"", "In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would \"undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent,) but by the time that the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator there was no longer any scope for innovation.", "\"File:Bible chartraine - BNF Lat116 f193.jpg\|Bible from 1150, from Scriptorium de Chartres, Christ with angelsFile:Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France.jpg\|Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France Bible, 13th centuryFile:Maciejowski Bible Leaf 37 3.jpg\|Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 37, the 3rd image, Abner (in the centre in green) sends Michal back to David.File:Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible.JPG\|Jephthah's daughter laments – Maciejowski Bible (France, ca.", "1250)File:Whore-babylon-luther-bible-1534.jpg\|Coloured version of the Whore of Babylon illustration from Martin Luther's 1534 translation of the BibleFile:Malnazar - Bible - Google Art Project.jpg\|An Armenian Bible, 17th century, illuminated by MalnazarFile:Foster Bible Pictures 0031-1.jpg\|Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, Foster Bible, 19th centuryFile:Kennicott Bible 305r.l.jpg\|Jonah being swallowed by the fish, Kennicott Bible, 1476" ], [ "See also", "* Additional and alternative scriptures relating to Christianity* Bible box* Bible case* Bible paper* Biblical software* Christian theology* Code of Hammurabi* Family Bible (book)* International Bible Contest* List of major biblical figures* List of nations mentioned in the Bible* Theodicy and the Bible* Typology (theology)" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "=== Works cited ===* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", "* \"The ''Bible'' collected news and commentary\" ''The New York Times''.", "* \"The ''Bible'' collected news and commentary\" ''The Guardian''.", "* The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts – Christianity* The National Library of Israel – Over 15,000 scanned manuscripts of the Old Testament* Trinity College Digital Collections images of complete manuscript of the Book of Kells.", "* Check out different versions of the Christian Bible" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "British Columbia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''British Columbia''' (commonly abbreviated as '''BC''') is the westernmost province of Canada.", "Situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains.", "British Columbia borders Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon to the north; the Northwest Territories to the northeast; the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south; and Alaska to the northwest.", "With an estimated population of over 5.5million as of 2023, it is Canada's third-most populous province.", "The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver.", "Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, with the 2021 census recording 2.6million people in Metro Vancouver.The first known human inhabitants of the area settled in British Columbia at least 10,000 years ago.", "Such groups include the Coast Salish, Tsilhqotʼin, and Haida peoples, among many others.", "One of the earliest British settlements in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island.", "The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded by Richard Clement Moody, and by the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.", "Moody selected the site for and founded the mainland colony's capital New Westminster.", "The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were incorporated in 1866, subsequent to which Victoria became the united colony's capital.", "In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province of Canada, in enactment of the ''British Columbia Terms of Union''.British Columbia is a diverse and cosmopolitan province, drawing on a plethora of cultural influences from its British Canadian, European, and Asian diasporas, as well as the Indigenous population.", "Though the province's ethnic majority originates from the British Isles, many British Columbians also trace their ancestors to continental Europe, East Asia, and South Asia.", "Indigenous Canadians constitute about 6 percent of the province's total population.", "Christianity is the largest religion in the region, though the majority of the population is non-religious.", "English is the common language of the province, although Punjabi, Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese also have a large presence in the Metro Vancouver region.", "The Franco-Columbian community is an officially recognized linguistic minority, and around one percent of British Columbians claim French as their mother tongue.", "British Columbia is home to at least 34 distinct Indigenous languages.Major sectors of British Columbia's economy include forestry, mining, filmmaking and video production, tourism, real estate, construction, wholesale, and retail.", "Its main exports include lumber and timber, pulp and paper products, copper, coal, and natural gas.", "British Columbia exhibits high property values and is a significant centre for maritime trade: the Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the most diversified port in North America.", "Although less than 5 percent of the province's territory is arable land, significant agriculture exists in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan due to the warmer climate.", "British Columbia is home to 45% of all publicly listed companies in Canada." ], [ "Etymology", "The province's name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866), i.e., \"the Mainland\", became a British colony in 1858.It refers to the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre-Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company.", "Queen Victoria chose ''British'' Columbia to distinguish what was the British sector of the Columbia District from the United States' (\"American Columbia\" or \"Southern Columbia\"), which became the Oregon Territory on August 8, 1848, as a result of the treaty.Ultimately, the ''Columbia'' in the name ''British Columbia'' is derived from the name of the ''Columbia Rediviva'', an American ship which lent its name to the Columbia River and later the wider region; the ''Columbia'' in the name ''Columbia Rediviva'' came from the name ''Columbia'' for the New World or parts thereof, a reference to Christopher Columbus.The governments of Canada and British Columbia recognize as the French name for the province." ], [ "Geography", "British Columbia's geography is epitomized by the variety and intensity of its physical relief, which has defined patterns of settlement and industry since colonization.British Columbia is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the American state of Alaska, to the north by Yukon and the Northwest Territories, to the east by the province of Alberta, and to the south by the American states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.", "The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, although its history is tied with lands as far south as California.", "British Columbia's land area is .", "British Columbia's rugged coastline stretches for more than , and includes deep, mountainous fjords and about 6,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited.", "It is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean.British Columbia's capital is Victoria, located at the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island.", "Only a narrow strip of Vancouver Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated.", "Much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by temperate rainforest.The province's most populous city is Vancouver, which is at the confluence of the Fraser River and Georgia Strait, in the mainland's southwest corner (an area often called the Lower Mainland).", "By land area, Abbotsford is the largest city.", "Vanderhoof is near the geographic centre of the province.Outline map of British Columbia with significant cities and townsThe Coast Mountains and the Inside Passage's many inlets provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry.", "75 percent of the province is mountainous (more than above sea level); 60 percent is forested; and only about 5 percent is arable.The province's mainland away from the coastal regions is somewhat moderated by the Pacific Ocean.", "Terrain ranges from dry inland forests and semi-arid valleys, to the range and canyon districts of the Central and Southern Interior, to boreal forest and subarctic prairie in the Northern Interior.", "High mountain regions both north and south have subalpine flora and subalpine climate.The Okanagan wine area, extending from Vernon to Osoyoos at the United States border, is one of several wine and cider-producing regions in Canada.", "Other wine regions in British Columbia include the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley.The Southern Interior cities of Kamloops and Penticton have some of the warmest and longest summer climates in Canada (while higher elevations are cold and snowy), although their temperatures are often exceeded north of the Fraser Canyon, close to the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers, where the terrain is rugged and covered with desert-type flora.", "Semi-desert grassland is found in large areas of the Interior Plateau, with land uses ranging from ranching at lower altitudes to forestry at higher ones.The northern, mostly mountainous, two-thirds of the province is largely unpopulated and undeveloped, except for the area east of the Rockies, where the Peace River Country contains BC's portion of the Canadian Prairies, centred at the city of Dawson Creek.British Columbia is considered part of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the American states of Alaska, Idaho, (western) Montana, Oregon, Washington, and (northern) California.===Climate===Köppen climate types in British ColumbiaThe Strait of Georgia, near VancouverBecause of the many mountain ranges and rugged coastline, British Columbia's climate varies dramatically across the province.Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild and rainy climate influenced by the North Pacific Current.", "Most of the region is classified as oceanic, though pockets of warm-summer Mediterranean climate also exist in the far-southern parts of the coast.", "Precipitation averages above in almost all of the coastal region, and Hucuktlis Lake on Vancouver Island receives an average of of rain annually.", "Due to the blocking presence of successive mountain ranges, the climate of some of the interior valleys of the province (such as the Thompson, parts of the Fraser Canyon, the southern Cariboo and parts of the Okanagan) is semi-arid with certain locations receiving less than in annual precipitation.", "The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province is up to , the mildest anywhere in Canada.The valleys of the Southern Interior have short winters with only brief bouts of cold or infrequent heavy snow, while those in the Cariboo, in the Central Interior, are colder because of increased altitude and latitude, but without the intensity or duration experienced at similar latitudes elsewhere in Canada.", "Outside of the driest valleys, the Southern and Central Interior generally have a humid continental climate with widely variable precipitation.", "For example, the average daily low in Prince George (roughly in the middle of the province) in January is .", "Small towns in the southern interior with high elevation such as Princeton are typically colder and snowier than cities in the valleys.Heavy snowfall occurs in all elevated mountainous terrain providing bases for skiers in both south and central British Columbia.", "Annual snowfall on highway mountain passes in the southern interior rivals some of the snowiest cities in Canada, and freezing rain and fog are sometimes present on such roads as well.", "This can result in hazardous driving conditions, as people are usually travelling between warmer areas such as Vancouver or Kamloops, and may be unaware that the conditions may be slippery and cold.Shuswap Lake as seen from SorrentoWinters are generally severe in the Northern Interior which is generally in the subarctic climate zone, but even there, milder air can penetrate far inland.", "The coldest temperature in British Columbia was recorded in Smith River, where it dropped to on January 31, 1947, one of the coldest readings recorded anywhere in North America.", "Atlin in the province's far northwest, along with the adjoining Southern Lakes region of Yukon, get midwinter thaws caused by the Chinook effect, which is also common (and much warmer) in more southerly parts of the Interior.During winter on the coast, rainfall, sometimes relentless heavy rain, dominates because of consistent barrages of cyclonic low-pressure systems from the North Pacific.", "Average snowfall on the coast during a normal winter is between , but on occasion (and not every winter) heavy snowfalls with more than and well below freezing temperatures arrive when modified arctic air reaches coastal areas, typically for short periods, and can take temperatures below , even at sea level.", "Arctic outflow winds can occasionally result in wind chill temperatures at or even below .", "While winters are very wet, coastal areas are generally milder and dry during summer under the influence of stable anti-cyclonic high pressure.Southern Interior valleys are hot in summer; for example, in Osoyoos, the July maximum temperature averages , making it the hottest month of any location in Canada; this hot weather sometimes spreads towards the coast or to the far north of the province.", "Temperatures often exceed in the lower elevations of valleys in the Interior during mid-summer, with the record high of being held in Lytton on June 29, 2021, during a record-breaking heat wave that year.The Okanagan region has a climate suitable to vineyards.The extended summer dryness often creates conditions that spark forest fires, from dry-lightning or man-made causes.", "Many areas of the province are often covered by a blanket of heavy cloud and low fog during the winter months, in contrast to abundant summer sunshine.", "Annual sunshine hours vary from 2200 near Cranbrook and Victoria to less than 1300 in Prince Rupert, on the North Coast just south of Southeast Alaska.The exception to British Columbia's wet and cloudy winters is during the El Niño phase.", "During El Niño events, the jet stream is much farther south across North America, making the province's winters milder and drier than normal.", "Winters are much wetter and cooler during the opposite phase, La Niña.+ Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in British Columbia Municipality January April July October Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Prince Rupert Tofino Nanaimo Victoria Vancouver Chilliwack Penticton Kamloops Osoyoos Princeton Cranbrook Prince George Fort Nelson ===Parks and protected areas===Mount Robson, Canadian RockiesOdaray Mountain and Lake O'HaraThere are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in the province that reflect the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context.", "There are 141 ecological reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 provincial heritage sites, 6 National Historic Sites of Canada, 4 national parks and 3 national park reserves.", "12.5 percent of the province's area () is considered protected under one of the 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas.British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks and National Park Reserves:* Glacier National Park* Gulf Islands National Park Reserve* Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site* Kootenay National Park* Mount Revelstoke National Park* Pacific Rim National Park Reserve* Yoho National ParkBritish Columbia contains a large number of provincial parks, run by BC Parks under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment.", "British Columbia's provincial parks system is the second largest parks system in Canada, the largest being Canada's National Parks system.Another tier of parks in British Columbia are regional parks, which are maintained and run by the province's regional districts.", "The Ministry of Forests operates forest recreation sites.In addition to these areas, over of arable land are protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve.===Fauna===Yoho National ParkMuch of the province is undeveloped, so populations of many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in British Columbia.", "Watching animals of various sorts, including a very wide range of birds, has long been popular.", "Bears (grizzly, black—including the Kermode bear or spirit bear) live here, as do deer, elk, moose, caribou, big-horn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, beavers, muskrats, coyotes, wolves, mustelids (such as wolverines, badgers and fishers), cougars, eagles, ospreys, herons, Canada geese, swans, loons, hawks, owls, ravens, harlequin ducks, and many other sorts of ducks.", "Smaller birds (robins, jays, grosbeaks, chickadees, and so on) also abound.", "Murrelets are known from Frederick Island, a small island off the coast of Haida Gwaii.Many healthy populations of fish are present, including salmonids such as several species of salmon, trout, steelhead, and char.", "Besides salmon and trout, sport-fishers in BC also catch halibut, bass, and sturgeon.", "On the coast, harbour seals and river otters are common.", "Cetacean species native to the coast include the orca, humpback whale, grey whale, harbour porpoise, Dall's porpoise, Pacific white-sided dolphin and minke whale.Cheakamus Lake in Garibaldi Provincial ParkHumpback whale in Sooke coastSome endangered species in British Columbia are: Vancouver Island marmot, spotted owl, American white pelican, and badgers.+ Endangered species in British Columbia Type of organism Red-listed species in BC Total number of species in BC Freshwater fish 24 80 Amphibians 5 19 Reptiles 6 16 Birds 34 465 Terrestrial mammals Marine mammals 3 29 Plants 257 2333 Butterflies 19 187 Dragonflies 9 87===Forests===White spruce or Engelmann spruce and their hybrids occur in 12 of the 14 biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia.", "Common types of trees present in BC's forests include western redcedar, yellow-cedar, Rocky Mountain juniper, lodgepole pine, ponderosa or yellow pine, whitebark pine, limber pine, western white pine, western larch, tamarack, alpine larch, white spruce, Engelmann spruce, Sitka spruce, black spruce, grand fir, Amabilis fir, subalpine fir, western hemlock, mountain hemlock, Douglas-fir, western yew, Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, Douglas maple, vine maple, arbutus, black hawthorn, cascara, Garry oak, Pacific crab apple, choke cherry, pin cherry, bitter cherry, red alder, mountain alder, paper birch, water birch, black cottonwood, balsam poplar, trembling aspen.===Traditional plant foods===First Nations peoples of British Columbia used plants for food, and to produce material goods like fuel and building products.", "Plant foods included berries, and roots like camas.===Ecozones===Environment Canada subdivides British Columbia into six ecozones:* Pacific Marine* Pacific Maritime* Boreal Cordillera* Montane Cordillera* Taiga Plains* Boreal Plains Ecozones." ], [ "History", "===Indigenous societies==='Namgis ''Thunderbird Transformation Mask'', 19th centuryThe area now known as British Columbia is home to First Nations groups that have a deep history with a significant number of indigenous languages.", "There are more than 200 First Nations in BC.", "Prior to contact (with non-Aboriginal people), human history is known from oral histories of First Nations groups, archaeological investigations, and from early records from explorers encountering societies early in the period.The arrival of Paleoindians from Beringia took place between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago.", "Hunter-gatherer families were the main social structure from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago.", "The nomadic population lived in non-permanent structures foraging for nuts, berries and edible roots while hunting and trapping larger and small game for food and furs.", "Around 5,000 years ago individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally.", "Coast Salish peoples had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience.", "Forest gardens on Canada's northwest coast included crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum, and wild cherry species.", "Thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization with a more sedentary lifestyle.", "These indigenous populations evolved over the next 5,000 years across a large area into many groups with shared traditions and customs.To the northwest of the province are the peoples of the Na-Dene languages, which include the Athapaskan-speaking peoples and the Tlingit, who lived on the islands of southern Alaska and northern British Columbia.", "The Na-Dene language group is believed to be linked to the Yeniseian languages of Siberia.", "The Dene of the western Arctic may represent a distinct wave of migration from Asia to North America.", "The Interior of British Columbia was home to the Salishan language groups such as the Shuswap (Secwepemc), Okanagan and Athabaskan language groups, primarily the Dakelh (Carrier) and the Tsilhqot'in.", "The inlets and valleys of the British Columbia coast sheltered large, distinctive populations, such as the Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth, sustained by the region's abundant salmon and shellfish.", "These peoples developed complex cultures dependent on the western red cedar that included wooden houses, seagoing whaling and war canoes and elaborately carved potlatch items and totem poles.Contact with Europeans brought a series of devastating epidemics of diseases from Europe the people had no immunity to.", "The result was a dramatic population collapse, culminating in the 1862 Smallpox outbreak in Victoria that spread throughout the coast.", "European settlement did not bode well for the remaining native population of British Columbia.", "Colonial officials deemed colonists could make better use of the land than the First Nations people, and thus the land territory be owned by the colonists.", "To ensure colonists would be able to settle properly and make use of the land, First Nations were forcibly relocated onto reserves, which were often too small to support their way of life.", "By the 1930s, British Columbia had over 1500 reserves.===Fur trade and colonial era===Lands now known as British Columbia were added to the British Empire during the 19th century.", "Colonies originally begun with the support of the Hudson's Bay Company (Vancouver Island, the mainland) were amalgamated, then entered Confederation as British Columbia in 1871 as part of the Dominion of Canada.During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30 percent of the Pacific Northwest First Nations.", "This devastating epidemic was the first in a series; the 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed about half to two-thirds of the native population of what became British Columbia.Fort San Miguel at Nootka in 1793Kwakwaka'wakw house pole, second half of the 19th centuryThe arrival of Europeans began around the mid-18th century, as fur traders entered the area to harvest sea otters.", "While it is thought Sir Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbian coast in 1579, it was Juan Pérez who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1774.Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra explored the coast in 1775.In doing so, Pérez and Quadra reasserted the Spanish claim for the Pacific coast, first made by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513.The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792 and 1793 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River.", "In 1793, Sir Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to journey across North America overland to the Pacific Ocean, inscribing a stone marking his accomplishment on the shoreline of Dean Channel near Bella Coola.", "His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific.", "Mackenzie and other explorers—notably John Finlay, Simon Fraser, Samuel Black, and David Thompson—were primarily concerned with extending the fur trade, rather than political considerations.", "In 1794, by the third of a series of agreements known as the Nootka Conventions, Spain conceded its claims of exclusivity in the Pacific.", "This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars, there was little British action on its claims in the region until later.The establishment of trading posts by the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region.", "The Columbia District was broadly defined as being south of 54°40 north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America), north of Mexican-controlled California, and west of the Rocky Mountains.", "It was, by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, under the \"joint occupancy and use\" of citizens of the United States and subjects of Britain (which is to say, the fur companies).", "This co-occupancy was ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846.The major supply route was the York Factory Express between Hudson Bay and Fort Vancouver.", "Some of the early outposts grew into settlements, communities, and cities.", "Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson's Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853).", "Fur company posts that became cities in what is now the United States include Vancouver, Washington (Fort Vancouver), formerly the \"capital\" of Hudson's Bay operations in the Columbia District, Colville, Washington and Walla Walla, Washington (old Fort Nez Percés).Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island, 1851With the amalgamation of the two fur trading companies in 1821, modern-day British Columbia existed in three fur trading departments.", "The bulk of the central and northern interior was organized into the New Caledonia district, administered from Fort St. James.", "The interior south of the Thompson River watershed and north of the Columbia was organized into the Columbia District, administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River.", "The northeast corner of the province east of the Rockies, known as the Peace River Block, was attached to the much larger Athabasca District, headquartered in Fort Chipewyan, in present-day Alberta.Until 1849, these districts were a wholly unorganized area of British North America under the de facto jurisdiction of HBC administrators; however, unlike Rupert's Land to the north and east, the territory was not a concession to the company.", "Rather, it was simply granted a monopoly to trade with the First Nations inhabitants.", "All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in the southern Columbia Basin (within present day Washington and Oregon).", "In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, with the area south of this boundary (excluding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands) transferred to sole American sovereignty.", "The Colony of Vancouver Island was created in 1849, with Victoria designated as the capital.", "New Caledonia, as the whole of the mainland rather than just its north-central Interior came to be called, continued to be an unorganized territory of British North America, \"administered\" by individual HBC trading post managers.===Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)===With the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858, an influx of Americans into New Caledonia prompted the colonial office to designate the mainland as the Colony of British Columbia.", "When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, Richard Clement Moody was hand-picked by the Colonial Office, under Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, to establish British order and to transform the newly established Colony of British Columbia into the British Empire's \"bulwark in the farthest west\" and \"found a second England on the shores of the Pacific\".", "Lytton desired to send to the colony \"representatives of the best of British culture, not just a police force\": he sought men who possessed \"courtesy, high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world\" and he decided to send Moody, whom the government considered to be the \"English gentleman and British Officer\" to lead the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment.Moody and his family arrived in British Columbia in December 1858, commanding the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment.", "He was sworn in as the first lieutenant governor of British Columbia and appointed Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia.", "On the advice of Lytton, Moody hired Robert Burnaby as his personal secretary.", "''Cattle near the Maas'' by Dutch painter Aelbert Cuyp.", "Moody likened his vision of the nascent Colony of British Columbia to the pastoral scenes painted by Cuyp.In British Columbia, Moody \"wanted to build a city of beauty in the wilderness\" and planned his city as an iconic visual metaphor for British dominance, \"styled and located with the objective of reinforcing the authority of the crown and of the robe\".", "Subsequent to the enactment of the ''Pre-emption Act'' of 1860, Moody settled the Lower Mainland.", "He selected the site and founded the new capital, New Westminster.", "He selected the site due to the strategic excellence of its position and the quality of its port.", "He was also struck by the majestic beauty of the site, writing in his letter to Blackwood,Victoria, 1864Lord Lytton \"forgot the practicalities of paying for clearing and developing the site and the town\" and the efforts of Moody's engineers were continuously hampered by insufficient funds, which, together with the continuous opposition of Governor James Douglas, whom Sir Thomas Frederick Elliot (1808 - 1880) described as 'like any other fraud', 'made it impossible for Moody's design to be fulfilled'.Moody and the Royal Engineers also built an extensive road network, including what would become Kingsway, connecting New Westminster to False Creek, the North Road between Port Moody and New Westminster, and the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park.", "He named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and named Port Coquitlam's 400-foot \"Mary Hill\" after his wife.", "As part of the surveying effort, several tracts were designated \"government reserves\", which included Stanley Park as a military reserve (a strategic location in case of an American invasion).", "The ''Pre-emption Act'' did not specify conditions for distributing the land, so large parcels were snapped up by speculators, including by Moody himself.", "For this he was criticized by local newspapermen for land grabbing.", "Moody designed the first coat of arms of British Columbia.", "Port Moody is named after him.", "It was established at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster with Burrard Inlet to defend New Westminster from potential attack from the US.By 1862, the Cariboo Gold Rush, attracting an additional 5000 miners, was underway, and Douglas hastened construction of the Great North Road (commonly known now as the Cariboo Wagon Road) up the Fraser Canyon to the prospecting region around Barkerville.", "By the time of this gold rush, the character of the colony was changing, as a more stable population of British colonists settled in the region, establishing businesses, opening sawmills, and engaging in fishing and agriculture.", "With this increased stability, objections to the colony's absentee governor and the lack of responsible government began to be vocalized, led by the influential editor of the New Westminster ''British Columbian'' and future premier, John Robson.", "A series of petitions requesting an assembly were ignored by Douglas and the colonial office until Douglas was eased out of office in 1864.Finally, the colony would have both an assembly and a resident governor.===Later gold rushes===A series of gold rushes in various parts of the province followed, the largest being the Cariboo Gold Rush in 1862, forcing the colonial administration into deeper debt as it struggled to meet the extensive infrastructure needs of far-flung boom communities like Barkerville and Lillooet, which sprang up overnight.", "The Vancouver Island colony was facing financial crises of its own, and pressure to merge the two eventually succeeded in 1866, when the colony of British Columbia was amalgamated with the Colony of Vancouver Island to form the Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871), which was, in turn, succeeded by the present day province of British Columbia following the Canadian Confederation of 1871.===Rapid growth and development (1860s to 1910s)===Lord Strathcona drives the Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, at Craigellachie, November 7, 1885.Completion of the transcontinental railroad was a condition of British Columbia's entry into Confederation.The Confederation League, including such figures as Amor De Cosmos, John Robson, and Robert Beaven, led the chorus pressing for the colony to join Canada, which had been created out of three British North American colonies in 1867 (the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).", "Several factors motivated this agitation, including the fear of annexation to the United States, the overwhelming debt created by rapid population growth, the need for government-funded services to support this population, and the economic depression caused by the end of the gold rush.Memorial to the \"last spike\" in CraigellachieWith the agreement by the Canadian government to extend the Canadian Pacific Railway to British Columbia and to assume the colony's debt, British Columbia became the sixth province to join Confederation on July 20, 1871.The borders of the province were not completely settled at this point.", "The Treaty of Washington sent the Pig War San Juan Islands Border dispute to arbitration in 1871 and in 1903, the province's territory shrank again after the Alaska boundary dispute settled the vague boundary of the Alaska Panhandle.Population in British Columbia continued to expand as the province's mining, forestry, agriculture, and fishing sectors were developed.", "Mining activity was notable throughout the Mainland, particularly in: Boundary Country, Slocan, West Kootenay around Trail, East Kootenay (the southeast corner of the province), the Fraser Canyon, Cariboo, Omineca and the Cassiar.", "The mining activity was notable enough that a common epithet for the Mainland, even after provincehood, was \"the Gold Colony\".", "Agriculture attracted settlers to the fertile Fraser Valley.", "Cattle ranchers and later fruit growers came to the drier grasslands of the Thompson Rivers, the Cariboo, the Chilcotin, and the Okanagan.", "Forestry drew workers to the temperate rainforests of the coast, which was also the locus of a growing fishery.The completion of the railway in 1885 contributed to the province's economy, facilitating the transportation of the region's considerable resources to the east.", "The milltown of Granville, also known as Gastown (near the mouth of the Burrard Inlet) was selected as the terminus of the railway.", "This promped the incorporation of the city of Vancouver in 1886.The completion of the Port of Vancouver spurred rapid growth, and in less than fifty years the city surpassed Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the largest in Western Canada.", "The early decades of the province were ones in which issues of land use—specifically, its settlement and development—were paramount.", "This included expropriation from First Nations people of their land, control over its resources, as well as the ability to trade in some resources (such as fishing).Statue of Queen Victoria outside the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in VictoriaEstablishing a labour force to develop the province was problematic from the start, and British Columbia was a destination of immigration from Europe, China, Japan and India.", "The influx of a non-European population stimulated resentment from the dominant ethnic groups, resulting in agitation and an attempt to restrict the ability of Asian people to immigrate to British Columbia through the imposition of a head tax.", "This resentment culminated in mob attacks against Chinese and Japanese immigrants in Vancouver in 1887 and 1907.The subsequent Komagata Maru incident in 1914, where hundreds of Indians were denied entry into Vancouver, was also a direct result of the anti-Asian resentment at the time.", "By 1923, almost all Chinese immigration had been blocked except for merchants, professionals, students and investors.In 1914 the last spike of a second transcontinental rail line, the Grand Trunk Pacific, linked north-central British Columbia from the Yellowhead Pass through Prince George to Prince Rupert and driven at Fort Fraser.", "This opened up the North Coast and the Bulkley Valley region to new economic opportunities.", "What had previously been an almost exclusively fur trading and subsistence economy soon became an area for forestry, farming, and mining.In World War I, the province responded strongly to the call to assist the British Empire against its German foes in French and Belgian battlefields.", "About 55,570 of the 400,000 British Columbian residents, the highest per-capita rate in Canada, responded to the military needs.", "Horseriders from the province's Interior region and First Nations soldiers made contributions to Vimy Ridge and other battles.", "About 6,225 men from the province died in combat.===1920s to 1940s===When men returned from the First World War, they discovered the recently enfranchised women of the province voted for the prohibition of liquor in an effort to end the social problems associated with the hard-core drinking in the province.", "However, with pressure from veterans, prohibition was quickly relaxed so the \"soldier and the working man\" could enjoy a drink.", "Widespread unemployment among veterans was hardened by many of the available jobs being taken by European immigrants and disgruntled veterans organized a range of \"soldier parties\" to represent their interests.", "These were variously named Soldier-Farmer, Soldier-Labour, and Farmer-Labour Parties.", "These formed the basis of the fractured labour-political spectrum that would generate a host of fringe political parties, including those who would eventually form the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the early Social Credit splinter groups.Internment camp for Japanese Canadians during World War IIThe advent of prohibition in the United States created economic opportunities, and many found employment or profit in cross-border liquor smuggling.", "The end of the 1920s and the end of prohibition in the U.S., combined with the onset of the Great Depression, plunged the province into economic destitution during the 1930s.", "Compounding the already dire local economic situation, tens of thousands of men from colder parts of Canada moved into Vancouver, creating huge hobo jungles around False Creek and the Burrard Inlet rail yards.", "This included the old Canadian Pacific Railway mainline right-of-way through the heart of Downtown Vancouver.", "Increasingly desperate times led to intense political efforts, an occupation of the main Post Office at Granville and Hastings which was violently put down by the police and an effective imposition of martial law on the docks for almost three years due to the Battle of Ballantyne Pier.", "A Vancouver contingent for the On-to-Ottawa Trek was organized and seized a train, which was loaded with thousands of men bound for the capital but was met by a Gatling gun straddling train tracks at Mission.", "All the men were arrested and sent to work camps for the duration of the Depression.", "There were signs of an economic return towards the end of the 1930s, and the onset of World War II transformed the national economy, ending the Depression.British Columbia's location on the Pacific Ocean has resulted in closer relations with East Asia and South Asia.", "These relations have often caused friction between cultures which has sometimes escalated into racist animosity towards those of Asian descent.", "This was manifest during the Second World War when many people of Japanese descent were relocated or interned in the Interior region of the province.===Coalition and the post-war boom===BC Regiment (DCOR), marching in New Westminster, 1940\|alt=The BC Regiment marching in New Westminster, 1940.This image is called \"Wait for me daddy\".\|238x238pxDuring the Second World War the mainstream BC Liberal and BC Conservative parties united in a formal coalition government under new Liberal leader John Hart, who replaced Duff Pattullo when the latter failed to win a majority in the 1941 election.", "While the Liberals won the most seats, they actually received fewer votes than the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).", "Pattullo was unwilling to form a coalition with the rival Conservatives led by Royal Maitland and was replaced by Hart, who formed a coalition cabinet made up of five Liberal and three Conservative ministers.", "The CCF was invited to join the coalition but refused.The pretext for continuing the coalition after the end of the Second World War was to prevent the CCF, which had won a surprise victory in Saskatchewan in 1944, from ever coming to power in British Columbia.", "The CCF's popular vote was high enough in the 1945 election that they were likely to have won three-way contests and could have formed government; however, the coalition prevented that by uniting the anti-socialist vote.", "In the post-war environment the government initiated a series of infrastructure projects, notably the completion of Highway 97 north of Prince George to the Peace River Block, including a section called the John Hart Highway.", "They also introduced public hospital insurance.In 1947, Byron Ingemar Johnson became leader of the Coalition.", "The Conservatives had wanted their new leader Herbert Anscomb to be premier, but the Liberals in the Coalition refused.", "Johnson led the coalition to the highest percentage of the popular vote in British Columbia history (61 percent) in the 1949 election.", "This victory was attributable to the popularity of his government's spending programs, despite rising criticism of corruption and abuse of power.", "During his tenure, major infrastructure continued to expand, such as the agreement with Alcan Aluminum to build the town of Kitimat with an aluminum smelter, and the large Kemano Hydro Project.", "Johnson achieved popularity for flood relief efforts during the 1948 flooding of the Fraser Valley, which was a major blow to that region and to the province's economy.On February 13, 1950, a Convair B-36B crashed in northern British Columbia after jettisoning a Mark IV atomic bomb.", "This was the first such nuclear weapon loss in history.Increasing tension between the Liberal and Conservative coalition partners led the Liberal Party executive to vote to instruct Johnson to terminate the arrangement.", "Johnson ended the coalition and dropped his Conservative cabinet ministers, including Deputy Premier and Finance minister Herbert Anscomb, precipitating the general election of 1952.A referendum on electoral reform prior to this election had instigated an elimination ballot (similar to a preferential ballot), where voters could select second and third choices.", "The intent of the ballot, as campaigned for by Liberals and Conservatives, was that their supporters would list the rival party in lieu of the CCF, but this plan backfired when a large group of voters from all major parties, including the CCF, voted for the Social Credit Party, who won the largest number of seats in the House (19), only one seat ahead of the CCF, despite the CCF having 34.3 percent of the vote to Social Credit's 30.18 percent.The Social Credit Party, led by rebel former Conservative MLA W. A. C. Bennett, formed a minority government backed by the Liberals and Conservatives (with 6 and 4 seats respectively).", "Bennett began a series of fiscal reforms, laying the groundwork for a second election in 1953 in which the new Bennett administration secured a majority of seats.", "Bennett then returned the province to the first-past-the-post system thereafter, which is still in use.===1952–1960s===With the election of the Social Credit Party, British Columbia embarked on a phase of rapid economic development.", "Bennett and his party governed the province for the next twenty years, during which time the government initiated an ambitious program of infrastructure development.", "This was fuelled by a sustained economic boom in the forestry, mining, and energy sectors.During these two decades, the government nationalized British Columbia Electric and the British Columbia Power Company, as well as smaller electric companies, renaming the entity BC Hydro.", "West Kootenay Power and Light remained independent of BC Hydro, being owned and operated by Cominco, though tied into the regional power grid.", "By the end of the 1960s, several major dams had been begun or were completed in—among others—the Peace, Columbia, and Nechako River watersheds.", "Major transmission deals were concluded, most notably the Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the United States.", "The province's economy was also boosted by unprecedented growth in the forestry sector, as well as oil and gas development in the province's northeast.The 1950s and 1960s were also marked by development of the province's transportation infrastructure.", "In 1960, the government established BC Ferries as a crown corporation to provide a marine extension of the provincial highway system.", "This was also supported by federal grants as being part of the Trans-Canada Highway system.", "That system was improved and expanded through the construction of new highways and bridges, and paving of existing highways and provincial roads.Vancouver and Victoria became cultural centres as poets, authors, artists, musicians, as well as dancers, actors, and ''haute cuisine'' chefs flocked to its scenery and warmer temperatures, with the cultural and entrepreneurial community bolstered by many Draft dodgers from the United States.", "Tourism also played a role in the economy.", "The rise of Japan and other Pacific economies was a boost to British Columbia's economy, primarily because of exports of lumber products, minerals, and metallurgical coal.Politically and socially, the 1960s brought a period of social volatility.", "The divide between the political left and right, which had prevailed in the province since the Depression and the rise of the labour movement, sharpened as free enterprise parties coalesced into the de facto coalition represented by Social Credit—in opposition to the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP), the successor to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.", "As the province's economy blossomed, so did labour-management tensions.", "Tensions emerged, also, from the counterculture movement of the late 1960s, of which Vancouver and Nanaimo were centres.", "The conflict between hippies and Vancouver mayor Tom Campbell culminated in the Gastown riots of 1971.===1970s and 1980s===On August 27, 1969, the Social Credit Party was re-elected in a general election for what would be Bennett's final term in power.", "At the start of the 1970s, the economy was strong because of rising coal prices and an increase in the size of the forestry sector; however, BC Hydro reported its first loss since founding.", "The Social Credit Party was forced from power in the August 1972 election, paving the way for a provincial NDP government under Dave Barrett.", "Under Barrett, the large provincial surplus soon became a deficit, although changes to the accounting system makes it likely some of the deficit was carried over from the previous Social Credit regime and its \"two sets of books\", as W.A.C.", "Bennett had once referred to his system of fiscal management.", "The brief three-year period of NDP governance brought several lasting changes to the province, most notably the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve, intended to protect farmland from redevelopment, and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, a crown corporation charged with providing single-payer basic automobile insurance.Perceptions the government had instituted reforms either too swiftly or that were too far-reaching, coupled with growing labour disruptions, led to the defeat of the NDP in the 1975 general election.", "Social Creditunder W.A.C.", "Bennett's son, Bill Bennettwas returned to office.", "Under the younger Bennett's government, 85 percent of the province's land base was transferred from government reserve to management by the Ministry of Forests, reporting of deputy ministers was centralized to the Premier's Office, and NDP-instigated social programs were rolled back.British Columbia's pavilion for Expo 86, VancouverDuring the 1975 Social Credit administration, certain money-losing Crown-owned assets were privatized in a selling of shares in the British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, with the \"Brick shares\" soon becoming near-worthless.", "Towards the end of his tenure in power, Bennett oversaw the completion of several megaprojects meant to stimulate the economy.", "Most notable of these was the winning of a world's fair for Vancouver, which came in the form of Expo 86; to which was tied the construction of the Coquihalla Highway and Vancouver's SkyTrain system.", "The Coquihalla Highway project became the subject of a scandal after revelations that the premier's brother bought large tracts of land needed for the project before it was announced to the public.", "This was also because of graft investigations of the huge cost overruns on the project.", "Both investigations were derailed in the media by a still further scandal, the Doman Scandal, in which the premier and millionaire backer Herb Doman were investigated for insider-trading and securities fraud.", "The Social Credit Party was re-elected in 1979 under Bennett, who led the party until 1986.The Coquihalla Highway was one of the legacies of the Expo 86 world's fair, though creation of the toll highway sparked controversy.", "Tolling was removed in 2008.As the province entered a sustained recession, Bennett's popularity and media image were in decline.", "On April 1, 1983, Premier Bennett overstayed his constitutional limits of power by exceeding the legal tenure of a government, and the lieutenant governor, Henry Pybus Bell-Irving, was forced to call Bennett to Government House to resolve the impasse.", "An election was called for April 30, 1983.In the meantime, government cheques were covered by special emergency warrants as the Executive Council no longer had signing authority because of the crisis.", "Campaigning on a platform of moderation, Bennett won a majority in the election.After several weeks of silence in the aftermath, a sitting of the House was finally called.", "In the speech from the throne, the Social Credit Party announced a program of fiscal cutbacks.", "The program contained controversial budget cuts, which sparked public demonstrations which, through the course of a summer, drew large demonstrations of up to 100,000 people.", "This became known as the 1983 Solidarity Crisis.", "A grassroots opposition movement mobilized, consisting of organized labour and community groups, with the British Columbia Federation of Labour forming a separate organization of unions, Operation Solidarity.", "This was directed by Jack Munro, then-president of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), the most powerful of the province's resource unions.", "The movement collapsed after an apparent deal was struck by Munro and Premier Bennett.A tense winter of blockades at various job sites around the province ensued, as among the new laws were those enabling non-union labour to work on large projects.", "There were other sensitive labour issues, such as companies from Alberta and other provinces being allowed to compete with unionized British Columbia companies.", "Despite the tension, Bennett's last few years in power were relatively peaceful.", "Economic and political momentum grew because of the mega-projects associated with Expo 86, and Bennett was to end his career by hosting Prince Charles and Lady Diana on their visit to open Expo 86.After his retirement was announced, a Social Credit Party convention was scheduled at Whistler Resort, which would decide the leader of the party after his retirement.Entrepreneur and former mayor of Surrey Bill Vander Zalm became the new Social Credit Party leader, and led the party to victory in the election later that year.", "A series of scandals forced Vander Zalm's resignation, and Rita Johnston became premier of the province.", "Johnston presided over the end of Social Credit power, calling an election which reduced the party's caucus to only two seats.", "This caused the revival of the long-defunct British Columbia Liberal Party as Opposition to the victorious NDP under former Vancouver mayor Mike Harcourt.In 1988, David Lam was appointed as British Columbia's twenty-fifth lieutenant governor, and was the province's first lieutenant governor of Chinese origin.===1990s to present===The cauldron of the 2010 Winter Olympics in VancouverThe New Democratic Party (NDP) won the 1991 general election under the leadership of Mike Harcourt, a former mayor of Vancouver.", "The NDP's creation of new parkland and protected areas was popular and helped boost the province's growing tourism sector, although the economy continued to struggle against the backdrop of a weak resource economy.", "Housing starts and an expanded service sector saw growth overall through the decade, despite political turmoil.", "Harcourt ended up resigning over \"Bingogate\"—a political scandal involving the funnelling of charity bingo receipts into party coffers in certain ridings.", "Glen Clark, a former president of the BC Federation of Labour, was chosen as the new leader of the NDP, which won a second term in 1996.More scandals damaged the party, most notably the fast ferry scandal involving the province trying to develop the shipbuilding industry of British Columbia.", "Glen Clark was succeeded on an interim basis by Dan Miller, who was in turn followed by Ujjal Dosanjh following a leadership convention.In the 2001 provincial election, Gordon Campbell's Liberals defeated the NDP, gaining 77 out of 79 total seats in the provincial legislature.", "Campbell instituted various reforms and removed some of the NDP's policies including scrapping the \"fast ferries\" project, lowering income taxes, and the controversial sale of BC Rail to Canadian National Railway.", "Campbell was also the subject of criticism after he was arrested for driving under the influence during a vacation in Hawaii, but he still managed to lead his party to victory in the 2005 provincial election against a substantially strengthened NDP opposition.", "Campbell won a third term in the 2009 provincial election, marking the first time in 23 years a premier has been elected to a third term.The province won a bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler.", "As promised in his 2002 re-election campaign, Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell staged a non-binding civic referendum regarding the hosting of the Olympics.", "In February 2003, Vancouver's residents voted in a referendum accepting the responsibilities of the host city should it win its bid.", "Sixty-four percent of residents voted in favour of hosting the games.After the Olympic joy had faded, Campbell's popularity started to fall.", "His management style, the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) against election promises, and the cancelling of the BC Rail corruption trial led to low approval ratings and loss of caucus support.", "He resigned in November 2010 and called on the party to elect a new leader.In early 2011, former deputy premier Christy Clark became leader of the Liberal Party.", "Though she was not a sitting MLA, she went on to win the seat left vacant by Campbell.", "For the next two years, she attempted to distance herself from the unpopularity of Campbell and forge an image for the upcoming 2013 election.", "Among her early accomplishments were raising the minimum wage, creating a new statutory holiday in February called \"Family Day\", and pushing the development of BC's liquefied natural gas industry.", "In the lead-up to the 2013 election, the Liberals lagged behind the NDP by a double-digit gap in the polls, but were able to achieve a surprise victory on election night, winning a majority and making Clark the first woman to lead a party to victory in a general election in BC.", "While Clark lost her seat to NDP candidate David Eby, she later won a by-election in the riding of Westside-Kelowna.", "Her government went on to balance the budget, implement changes to liquor laws and continue with the question of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines.In the 2017 election, the NDP formed a minority government with the support of the Green Party through a confidence and supply agreement.", "The NDP and Green caucuses together controlled 44 seats, compared to the Liberals' 43.On July 18, 2017, NDP leader John Horgan was sworn in as the premier of British Columbia.", "He was the province's first NDP premier in 16 years.", "Clark resigned shortly thereafter, and Andrew Wilkinson was voted to become leader of the BC Liberals.", "In late 2020, Horgan called an early election.", "In the 2020 British Columbia general election, the NDP won 57 seats and formed a majority government, making Horgan the first NDP premier to be re-elected in the province.", "Wilkinson resigned as the leader of the BC Liberals two days later.British Columbia was significantly affected by demographic changes within Canada and around the world.", "Vancouver (and to a lesser extent some other parts of British Columbia) was a major destination for many of the immigrants from Hong Kong who left the former UK colony (either temporarily or permanently) in the years immediately prior to its handover to China.", "British Columbia has also been a significant destination for internal Canadian migrants.", "This has been the case throughout recent decades, because of its natural environment, mild climate, relaxed lifestyle, and strong economy.", "British Columbia has moved from approximately 10 percent of Canada's population in 1971 to approximately 13 percent in 2006.Trends of urbanization mean the Greater Vancouver area now includes 51 percent of the province's population, followed by Greater Victoria with 8 percent.", "These two metropolitan regions have traditionally dominated the demographics of BC.By 2018, housing prices in Vancouver were the second-least affordable in the world, behind only Hong Kong.", "Many experts point to evidence of money-laundering from mainland China as a contributing factor.", "The high price of residential real estate has led to the implementation of an empty homes tax, a housing speculation and vacancy tax, and a foreign buyers' tax on housing.The net number of people coming to BC from other provinces in 2016 was almost four times larger than in 2012.BC was the largest net recipient of interprovincial migrants in Canada in the first quarter of 2016 with half of the 5,000 people coming from Alberta.By 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had had a major effect on the province, with over 2,000 deaths and 250,000 confirmed cases.", "However, the COVID-19 vaccine reduced the spread of the virus, with 78 percent of people in BC over the age of five having been fully vaccinated.In 2021, the unmarked gravesites of hundreds of Indigenous children were discovered at three former Indian residential schools (Kamloops, St. Eugene's Mission, Kuper Island)." ], [ "Demographics", "===Population===Population density map of British ColumbiaStatistics Canada's 2021 Canadian census recorded a population of 5,000,879 — making British Columbia Canada's third-most populous province after Ontario and Quebec.====Cities====The Vancouver skylineHalf of all British Columbians live in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, which includes Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Langley (district municipality), Delta, North Vancouver (district municipality), Maple Ridge, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, North Vancouver (city), West Vancouver, Port Moody, Langley (city), White Rock, Pitt Meadows, Bowen Island, Anmore, Lions Bay, and Belcarra, with adjacent unincorporated areas (including the University Endowment Lands) represented in the regional district as the electoral area known as Greater Vancouver Electoral Area A.", "The metropolitan area has seventeen Indian reserves, but they are outside of the regional district's jurisdiction and are not represented in its government.The second largest concentration of British Columbia population is at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is made up of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria, Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay, View Royal, Highlands, Colwood, Langford, Central Saanich/Saanichton, North Saanich, Sidney, Metchosin, Sooke, which are part of the Capital Regional District.", "The metropolitan area also includes several Indian reserves (the governments of which are not part of the regional district).", "Almost half of the Vancouver Island population is in Greater Victoria.+ Ten largest metropolitan areas by population#Metropolitan area202120162011 1Vancouver2,642,8252,463,4312,313,328 2Victoria397,237367,770344,615 3Kelowna222,162194,882179,839 4Abbotsford195,726180,518170,191 5Nanaimo115,459104,93698,021 6Kamloops114,142103,81198,754 7Chilliwack113,767101,51292,308 8Prince George89,49086,62284,232 9Vernon67,08661,33458,584 10Courtenay63,28254,15755,213+ Ten largest municipalities by population#Municipality202120162011 1 Vancouver 662,248 631,486 603,502 2 Surrey 568,322 517,887 468,251 3 Burnaby 249,125 232,755 223,218 4 Richmond 209,937 198,309 190,473 5 Abbotsford 153,524 141,397 133,497 6 Coquitlam 148,625 139,284 126,456 7 Kelowna 144,576 127,380 117,312 8 Langley 132,603 117,285 104,177 9 Saanich 117,735 114,148 109,752 10 Delta 108,455 102,238 99,863===Cultural origins===British Columbia is the most diverse province in Canada; as of 2021, the province had the highest proportion of visible minorities in the country.", "The five largest pan-ethnic groups in the province are Europeans (60 percent), East Asians (14 percent), South Asians (10 percent), Indigenous (6 percent) and Southeast Asians (5 percent).+ Top ethnic origins in BC (2016 census)#Ethnic originPopulationPercent 1 English 1,203,540 26.39% 2 Canadian 866,530 19% 3 Scottish 860,775 18.88% 4 Irish 675,135 14.80% 5 German 603,265 13.23% 6 Chinese 540,155 11.84% 7 French 388,815 8.53% 8 Indian 309,315 6.78% 9 Ukrainian 229,205 5.03% 10 Indigenous Canadian 220,245 4.83%=== Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples ===In 2021, 34.4 percent of the population consisted of visible minorities and 5.9 percent of the population was Indigenous, mostly of First Nations and Métis descent.", "Visible minority and Indigenous population (2021 Canadian census) Population group Population % '''European''' '''2,936,245''' '''59.7%''' Visible minority group South Asian 473,965 9.6% Chinese 550,590 11.2% Black 61,760 1.3% Filipino 174,280 3.5% Arab 28,010 0.6% Latin American 65,970 1.3% Southeast Asian 71,785 1.5% West Asian 69,270 1.4% Korean 72,815 1.5% Japanese 44,120 0.9% Visible minority, 18,080 0.4% Multiple visible minorities 58,840 1.2% '''Total visible minority population''' '''1,689,490''' '''34.4%''' Indigenous groupFirst Nations (North American Indian) 180,085 3.7%Métis 97,860 2.0%Inuk (Inuit) 1,720 0.0% Multiple Indigenous responses 5,980 0.1% Indigenous responses 4,560 0.1%'''Total Indigenous population''''''290,210''''''5.9%''''''''Total population''''''''''4,915,945''''''''''100.0%'''''===Religion===According to the 2021 census, religious groups in British Columbia included:Irreligion (2,559,250 persons or 52.1%)Christianity (1,684,870 persons or 34.3%)Sikhism (290,870 persons or 5.9%)Islam (125,915 persons or 2.6%)Buddhism (83,860 persons or 1.7%)Hinduism (81,320 persons or 1.7%)Judaism (26,850 persons or 0.5%)Indigenous spirituality (11,570 persons or 0.2%)Other (51,440 persons or 1.0%)===Language===A Vancouver welcome sign in both English and FrenchAs of the 2021 Canadian Census, the ten most spoken languages in the province included English (4,753,280 or 96.69%), French (327,350 or 6.66%), Punjabi (315,000 or 6.41%), Mandarin (312,625 or 6.36%), Cantonese (246,045 or 5.01%), Spanish (143,900 or 2.93%), Hindi (134,950 or 2.75%), Tagalog (133,780 or 2.72%), German (84,325 or 1.72%), and Korean (69,935 or 1.42%).", "The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses.Of the 4,648,055 population counted by the 2016 census, 4,598,415 people completed the section about language.", "Of these, 4,494,995 gave singular responses to the question regarding their first language.", "The languages most commonly reported were the following:+ Most common reported mother tongue in BC (2016)#LanguagePopulationPercent 1 English 3,170,110 70.52% 2 Punjabi 198,805 4.42% 3 Cantonese 193,530 4.31% 4 Mandarin 186,325 4.15% 5 Tagalog (Filipino) 78,770 1.75% 6 German 66,885 1.49% 7 French 55,325 1.23% 8 Korean 52,160 1.17% 9 Spanish 47,010 1.05% 10 Persian 43,470 0.97%While these languages all reflect the last centuries of colonialism and recent immigration, British Columbia is home to 34 Indigenous languages.", "They are spoken by about 6000 people in total, with 4000 people fluent in their Indigenous languages.", "They are members of the province's First Nations.", "One of the main Indigenous languages in BC is Kwakʼwala, the language of the Kwakwakaʼwakw First Nations." ], [ "Economy", "Canada Place in Downtown VancouverEntrance to Telus GardenBC's economy is diverse, with service-producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the province's GDP.", "It is the terminus of two transcontinental railways, and the site of 27 major marine cargo and passenger terminals.", "Though less than 5 percent of its vast land is arable, the province is agriculturally rich (particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan valleys), because of milder weather near the coast and in certain sheltered southern valleys.", "Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining.", "Vancouver, the province's largest city, serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies.", "It also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average.", "While the coast of British Columbia and some valleys in the south-central part of the province have mild weather, the majority of its land mass experiences a cold-winter-temperate climate similar to the rest of Canada.", "The Northern Interior region has a subarctic climate with very cold winters.", "The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, with nighttime January temperatures averaging above the freezing point.British Columbia has a history of being a resource dominated economy, centred on the forestry industry but also with fluctuating importance in mining.", "Employment in the resource sector has fallen steadily as a percentage of employment, and new jobs are mostly in the construction and retail/service sectors.", "It now has the highest percentage of service industry jobs in the west, constituting 72 percent of industry (compared to 60 percent Western Canadian average).", "The largest section of this employment is in finance, insurance, real estate and corporate management; however, many areas outside of metropolitan areas are still heavily reliant on resource extraction.", "With its film industry known as Hollywood North, the Vancouver region is the third-largest feature film production location in North America, after Los Angeles and New York City.The economic history of British Columbia is replete with tales of dramatic upswings and downswings, and this boom and bust pattern has influenced the politics, culture and business climate of the province.", "Economic activity related to mining in particular has widely fluctuated with changes in commodity prices over time, with documented costs to community health.In 2020, British Columbia had the third-largest GDP in Canada, with a GDP of $309 billion and a GDP per capita of $60,090.British Columbia's debt-to-GDP ratio is edging up to 15.0 percent in fiscal year 2019–20, and it is expected to reach 16.1 percent by 2021–22.British Columbia's economy experienced strong growth in recent years with a total growth rate of 9.6% from 2017 to 2021, a growth rate that was second in the country." ], [ "Government and politics", "Victoriaescutcheon of the current lieutenant governorThe lieutenant governor, Janet Austin, is the Crown's representative in the province.", "During the absence of the lieutenant governor, the Governor in Council (federal Cabinet) may appoint an administrator to execute the duties of the office.", "This is usually the chief justice of British Columbia.", "British Columbia is divided into ''regional districts'' as a means to better enable municipalities and rural areas to work together at a regional level.British Columbia has an 87-member elected Legislative Assembly, elected by the plurality voting system, though from 2003 to 2009 there was significant debate about switching to a single transferable vote system called BC-STV.", "The government of the day appoints ministers for various portfolios, what are officially part of the Executive Council, of whom the premier is chair.David Eby is premier, BC's head of government.The province is currently governed by the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) under Premier David Eby.", "The 2017 provincial election saw the Liberal Party take 43 seats, the NDP take 41, and the British Columbia Green Party take 3.No party met the minimum of 44 seats for a majority, therefore leading to the first minority government since 1953.Following the election, the Greens entered into negotiations with both the Liberals and NDP, eventually announcing they would support an NDP minority government.", "Previously, the right-of-centre British Columbia Liberal Party governed the province for 16 years between 2001 and 2017, and won the largest landslide election in British Columbia history in 2001, with 77 of 79 seats.", "The legislature became more evenly divided between the Liberals and NDP following the 2005 (46 Liberal seats of 79) and 2009 (49 Liberal seats of 85) provincial elections.", "The NDP and its predecessor the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) have been the main opposition force to right-wing parties since the 1930s and have ruled with majority governments in 1972–1975 and 1991–2001.The Green Party plays a larger role in the politics of British Columbia than Green parties do in most other jurisdictions in Canada.", "After a breakthrough election in 2001 (12.39 percent), the party's vote share declined (2005 – 9.17 percent, 2009 – 8.09 percent, 2013 – 8.13 percent) before increasing again to a record high of 16.84 percent at the 2017 election.The British Columbia Liberal Party is not related to the federal Liberal Party and does not share the same ideology.", "Instead, the BC Liberal party is a rather diverse coalition, made up of the remnants of the Social Credit Party, many federal Liberals, federal Conservatives, and those who would otherwise support right-of-centre or free enterprise parties.", "In 2022, Kevin Falcon was elected leader of the BC Liberals, promising to rename the party in an effort to distance themselves from their federal counterparts.", "In 2023, the party rebranded as BC United.", "Historically, there have commonly been third parties present in the legislature (including the Liberals themselves from 1952 to 1975); the BC Green Party is the current third party in British Columbia, with three seats in the legislature.Prior to the rise of the Liberal Party, British Columbia's main political party was the BC Social Credit Party, which governed the province for 20 years.", "While sharing some ideology with the subsequent Liberal government, they were more right-wing, although they undertook nationalization of various important monopolies, notably BC Hydro and BC Ferries.The meeting chamber of the Legislative AssemblyBritish Columbia is known for having politically active labour unions who have traditionally supported the NDP or its predecessor, the CCF.British Columbia's political history is typified by scandal and a cast of colourful characters, beginning with various colonial-era land scandals and abuses of power by early officials (such as those that led to McGowan's War in 1858–59).", "Notable scandals in Social Credit years included the Robert Bonner Affair and the Fantasy Gardens scandal which forced Premier Bill Vander Zalm to resign and ended the Social Credit era.", "NDP scandals included Bingogate, which brought down NDP Premier Mike Harcourt, and the alleged scandal named Casinogate which drove NDP Premier Glen Clark to resign.", "A variety of scandals plagued the 2001–2017 Liberal government, including Premier Gordon Campbell's arrest for drunk driving in Maui and the resignation of various cabinet ministers because of conflict-of-interest allegations.", "A raid on the Parliament Buildings on December 28, 2003, in Victoria, including the Premier's Office, resulted in charges only for ministerial aides, although key cabinet members from the time resigned.", "Campbell eventually resigned in late 2010 due to opposition to his government's plan to introduce a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and was replaced by Christy Clark as premier in the 2011 BC Liberal leadership election.British Columbia is underrepresented in the Senate of Canada, leading Premier Christy Clark to refuse to cooperate with the federal government's reforms for senate appointments to be made based on the recommendations of an advisory board that would use non-partisan criteria.", "Hours after that plan was unveiled in Ottawa on December 3, 2015, Clark issued a statement that it did \"not address what's been wrong with the Senate since the beginning\".The imbalance in representation in that House is apparent when considering population size.", "The six senators from BC constitute only one for every 775,000 people vs. one for every 75,000 in Prince Edward Island, which has four senators.", "Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have much smaller populations than BC, yet each has ten senators according to a Global News summary.", "Correcting this imbalance would require a constitutional amendment, but that is unlikely to be supported by the Atlantic provinces.===Official symbols===The flower of the Pacific dogwood is often associated with British Columbia.The government of British Columbia has designated several official symbols: Flag: Flag of British Columbia* Coat of arms: Coat of arms of British Columbia* Floral emblem: Pacific dogwood* Mineral emblem: Jade* Tree emblem: Western red cedar* Bird emblem: Steller's jay* Mammal emblem: \"Spirit\" or Kermode bear* Fish emblem: Pacific salmon* Tartan emblem: British Columbia Tartan" ], [ "Transportation", "Transportation played a huge role in British Columbia's history.", "The Rocky Mountains and the ranges west of them constituted a significant obstacle to overland travel until the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1885.The Peace River Canyon through the Rocky Mountains was the route the earliest explorers and fur traders used.", "Fur trade routes were only marginally used for access to British Columbia through the mountains.", "Travel from the rest of Canada before 1885 meant the difficulty of overland travel via the United States, around Cape Horn or overseas from Asia.", "Nearly all travel and freight to and from the region occurred via the Pacific Ocean, primarily through the ports of Victoria and New Westminster.Until the 1930s, rail was the only means of overland travel to and from the rest of Canada; travellers using motor vehicles needed to journey through the United States.", "With the construction of the Inter-Provincial Highway in 1932 (now known as the Crowsnest Pass Highway), and later the Trans-Canada Highway, road transportation evolved into the preferred mode of overland travel to and from the rest of the country., the number of electric vehicles sold in British Columbia (as a percentage of total vehicle sales) was the highest of any Canadian province or U.S. state.===Roads and highways===The Alex Fraser Bridge on Highway 91 between Richmond and DeltaBecause of its size and rugged, varying topography, British Columbia requires thousands of kilometres of provincial highways to connect its communities.", "British Columbia's roads systems were notoriously poorly maintained and dangerous until a concentrated program of improvement was initiated in the 1950s and 1960s.", "There are now freeways in Greater Victoria, the Lower Mainland, and Central Interior of the province.", "Much of the rest of the province, where traffic volumes are generally low, is accessible by well-maintained generally high-mobility two-lane arterial highways with additional passing lanes in mountainous areas and usually only a few stop-controlled intersections outside the main urban areas.British Columbia Highway 1 near Brentwood, BurnabyA couple of busy intercity corridors outside Greater Vancouver feature more heavily signalized limited-mobility arterial highways that are mostly four-lane and often divided by portable median traffic barriers.", "Highway 1 on Vancouver Island and Highway 97 through the Okanagan Valley are medium- to high-volume roadways with variable posted speeds that range from to maximums just slightly lower than the principal grade-separated highways.", "Numerous traffic lights operate in place of interchanges on both arterials as long-term cost-cutting measures.", "Signalization along both these highways is heaviest through urban areas and along inter-urban sections where traffic volumes are similar to and sometimes higher than the freeways, but where funding is not available for upgrades to interchanges or construction of high-mobility alternative routes or bypasses.", "The building and maintenance of provincial highways is the responsibility of the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.There are only five major routes to the rest of Canada.", "From south to north they are: BC Highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass, the Vermilion Pass (Highway 93 in both British Columbia and Alberta), the Kicking Horse Pass, the latter being used by the Trans-Canada Highway entering Alberta through Banff National Park, the Yellowhead Highway (16) through Jasper National Park, and Highway 2 through Dawson Creek.", "There are also several highway crossings to the adjoining American states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana.", "The longest highway is Highway 97, running from the British Columbia-Washington border at Osoyoos north to Watson Lake, Yukon and which includes the British Columbia portion of the Alaska Highway.===Public transit===SkyTrain is the rail rapid transit system that serves Metro Vancouver.Trolley buses in VancouverPrior to 1979, surface public transit in the Vancouver and Victoria metropolitan areas was administered by BC Hydro, the provincially owned electricity utility.", "Subsequently, the province established BC Transit to oversee and operate all municipal transportation systems.", "In 1998, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, now TransLink, a separate authority for routes within the Greater Vancouver Regional District, was established.", "Some smaller island communities, such as Gabriola Island and, formerly, Pender Island operate routes independent of BC Transit or TransLink.", "BC Transit has recently expanded to provide intercity routes, particularly in the Northern region of British Columbia.", "Other intercity routes were introduced connecting southern communities in preparation of the cancellation of Greyhound Canada's pullout from Western Canada, though options for intercity bus travel are still extremely limited.Public transit in British Columbia consists mainly of diesel buses, although Vancouver is also serviced by a fleet of trolley buses.", "Several experimental buses are being tested such as hybrid buses that have both gasoline and electric engines.", "Additionally, there are CNG-fuelled buses being tested and used in Nanaimo and Kamloops systems.", "British Columbia also tested a fleet of Hydrogen-fuelled buses for the Vancouver-Whistler Winter Olympics in 2010.TransLink operates SkyTrain, an automated metro system serving the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, and Port Moody.", "In 2009, the Canada Line SkyTrain was completed, linking Vancouver International Airport and the city of Richmond to downtown Vancouver bringing the total to three operating metro lines.A new extension to Coquitlam and Port Moody (the Evergreen Extension of the Millennium Line) was completed in December 2016.Construction of an extension of the Millennium Line westwards through Vancouver to Arbutus Street began in February 2021, with future plans to extend the line farther west from Arbutus station to the University of British Columbia.", "Fare gates have been added to all existing stations, though in the past, SkyTrain used a proof of payment honour system.", "In the capital city of Victoria, BC Transit and the provincial government's infrastructure ministry are working together to create a bus rapid transit from the Westshore communities to downtown Victoria.", "In Kamloops, there is a bus rapid transit GPS trial underway to see how bus rapid transit affects smaller cities, rather than larger ones, like Victoria and Vancouver.===Rail===CPR train traversing the Stoney Creek BridgeRail development expanded greatly in the decades after the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, in 1885, and was the chief mode of long-distance surface transportation until the expansion and improvement of the provincial highways system began in the 1950s.", "Two major routes through the Yellowhead Pass competed with the Canadian Pacific Railway – the Grand Trunk Pacific, terminating at Prince Rupert, and the Canadian Northern Railway, terminating at Vancouver.The British Columbia Electric Railway provided rail services in Victoria and Vancouver between the nineteenth century and mid twentieth century.The Pacific Great Eastern line supplemented this service, providing a north–south route between interior resource communities and the coast.", "The Pacific Great Eastern (later known as British Columbia Railway and now owned by Canadian National Railway) connects Fort St James, Fort Nelson, and Tumbler Ridge with North Vancouver.", "The E&N Railway, rebranded as Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, formerly served the commercial and passenger train markets of Vancouver Island.", "Service along the route is now minimal.", "Vancouver Island was also host to the last logging railway in North America until its closure in 2017.Current passenger services in British Columbia are limited.", "Via Rail Canada operates 10 long-distance trains per week on two lines.", "Local services are limited to two regions, with TransLink providing rapid transit and commuter services in the Lower Mainland and by the Seton Lake Indian Band South of Lillooet with the Kaoham Shuttle.", "Amtrak runs international passenger service between Vancouver, Seattle, and intermediate points.Several heritage railways operate within the province, including the White Pass & Yukon Route that runs between Alaska and the Yukon via British Columbia.===Water===''Spirit of Vancouver Island'' S-class ferryBC Ferries was established as a provincial crown corporation in 1960 to provide passenger and vehicle ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland as a cheaper and more reliable alternative to the service operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway and other private operators.", "It now operates 25 routes among the islands of British Columbia, as well as between the islands and the mainland.", "Ferry service to Washington is offered by the Washington State Ferries (between Sidney and Anacortes) and Black Ball Transport (between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington).", "Ferry service over inland lakes and rivers is provided by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.", "Various other coastal ferries are operated privately.Commercial ocean transport is of vital importance.", "Major ports are at Vancouver, Roberts Bank (near Tsawwassen), Prince Rupert, and Victoria.Vancouver, Victoria, and Prince Rupert are also major ports of call for cruise ships.", "In 2007, a large maritime container port was opened in Prince Rupert with an inland sorting port in Prince George.===Air===There are over 200 airports throughout British Columbia, the major ones being the Vancouver International Airport, the Victoria International Airport, the Kelowna International Airport, and the Abbotsford International Airport, the first three of which each served over 1,000,000 passengers in 2005., Vancouver International Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the country and the second biggest International Gateway on the west coast (after Los Angeles) with an estimated 26.4 million travellers passing through in 2019." ], [ "Arts and culture", "===Visual arts===''Church at Yuquot Village'' by Emily Carr (1929)The earliest known visual art produced in the Pacific Northwest, and what would become British Columbia, was by First Nations such as the Coast Salish, Haida, Heiltsuk, and Tsimshian, among others.", "Such Indigenous work comes particularly in the form of woodcarving, as seen in totem poles, transformation masks, and canoes, as well as textile arts like Chilkat weaving and button blankets.", "Traditional Indigenous art of the Pacific Northwest is typically distinguished by the formline style, which is defined as \"continuous, flowing, curvilinear lines that turn, swell and diminish in a prescribed manner.", "They are used for figure outlines, internal design elements and in abstract compositions.", "\"Western styles and forms were introduced to the region through the establishment of British North American settlements in the late 18th century.", "Notable English-Canadian artists of 19th and early 20th century British Columbia include architect Francis Rattenbury, designer James Blomfield, and painter Emily Carr.Vancouver's art scene was dominated by lyrical abstraction and surrealist landscape painting in the mid-20th century through such artists as B. C. Binning, Jack Shadbolt, Gordon A. Smith, Takao Tanabe, Don Jarvis, and Toni Onley.", "In the following decades, the city would undergo more artistic diversification with the emergence of conceptual art, communication art, video art, and performance art.The Vancouver School of conceptual photography encompasses a cohort of Vancouver-based artists who gained notoriety in the 1980s.", "This school is generally considered to include artists Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Ken Lum, Roy Arden, Stan Douglas, and Rodney Graham.Vancouver maintains roughly 350 works of outdoor public art.", "Some notable works include ''A-maze-ing Laughter'', ''Digital Orca'', ''Girl in a Wetsuit'', ''Angel of Victory'', ''The Birds'', and the Brockton Point totem poles.===Performing arts===The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum concert hall (2019)British Columbia is home to the Vancouver Opera, the City Opera of Vancouver, Ballet BC, contemporary dance companies Holy Body Tattoo, Kidd Pivot, Mascall Dance Society, and butoh dance troupe Kokoro Dance.", "It is also the home province for a plethora of independent theatre companies, including the Arts Club Theatre Company, the Shakespearean Bard on the Beach, and Theatre Under the Stars.", "Performing arts venues include the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Orpheum Theatre, and the Royal Theatre, among others.====Music====British Columbia is the third largest music-producing province in Canada and the local music industry generates an estimated yearly revenue of $265million.", "The province is home to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony.", "Some important popular music acts include bands such as Spirit of the West, Theory of a Deadman, Trooper, Gob, and The New Pornographers, and solo artists such as Bryan Adams, Carly Rae Jepsen, Mac DeMarco, Michael Bublé, Nelly Furtado, and Diana Krall.", "Music festivals in BC have included the Squamish Valley Music Festival, Shambhala Music Festival, and Pemberton Music Festival.===Cuisine===The B.C.", "Roll is a kind of sushi containing barbecued salmon and cucumberBritish Columbian cuisine is commonly associated with healthy living, fusion, fresh local ingredients, and innovation.", "It can be divided into two broadly-defined traditions: cuisine associated with the west coast, which incorporates a variety of seafood elements, and cuisine associated with the interior of the province, which embraces local game meat, farm-to-table produce, and methods of curing and smoking.", "Seafood is an important staple of the province's local food culture due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, as well as the region's numerous rivers and lakes.", "BC is known for several unique dishes and is a producer of fruit, wine, and cheese.Seafoods of British Columbia include sushi (BC roll, dynamite roll, California roll), dungeness crab (boiled, tacos), spot prawns, wild pacific salmon (smoked, candied, teriyaki, chowder, sandwich) , and halibut (baked, lemon ginger), as well as delicacies like white sturgeon caviar and geoduckNanaimo bars originate from the city of Nanaimo and consist of a crumb and nut base, custard middle, and ganache top layer\|thumbBritish Columbia is also home to numerous unique non-seafood culinary staples.", "Some dishes include Doukhobour borscht, Salt Spring Island lamb, Japadog street food, and Butter chicken pizza.", "Some unique pastries include apple cranberry cinnamon buns, Nanaimo bars, and Victoria creams.", "British Columbia also produces several distinct local cheeses, such as kabritt, Castle Blue, and Comox Brie.", "The London Fog tea latte was invented in Vancouver and remains a popular beverage among coffee shops in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada; it is referred to as a \"Vancouver Fog\" in Scotland.The Okanagan produces many unique fruits originating from the region, including Ambrosia and Spartan apples, Stella and Skeena cherries, and Corontation grapes.", "Other fruits grown in the province include peaches, pears, plums, apricots, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, and loganberries.British Columbia is renowned for its wine production.", "The primary wine-producing regions include the Okanagan, the Similkameen Valley, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Fraser Valley.", "As of November 2014, there are 280 licensed grape wineries and 929 vineyards." ], [ "Outdoor life and athletics", "WhistlerShoreline Trail in VictoriaGiven its varied mountainous terrain and its coasts, lakes, rivers, and forests, British Columbia has long been enjoyed for pursuits like hiking and camping, rock climbing and mountaineering, hunting and fishing.Water sports, both motorized and non-motorized, are enjoyed in many places.", "Sea kayaking opportunities abound on the British Columbia coast with its fjords.", "Whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular on many inland rivers.", "Sailing and sailboarding are widely enjoyed.In winter, cross-country and telemark skiing are much enjoyed, and in recent decades high-quality downhill skiing has been developed in the Coast Mountain range and the Rockies, as well as in the southern areas of the Shuswap Highlands and the Columbia Mountains.", "Snowboarding has mushroomed in popularity since the early 1990s.", "The 2010 Winter Olympics downhill events were held in Whistler Blackcomb area of the province, while the indoor events were conducted in the Vancouver area.In Vancouver and Victoria (as well as some other cities), opportunities for joggers and bicyclists have been developed.", "Cross-country bike touring has been popular since the ten-speed bike became available many years ago.", "Since the advent of the more robust mountain bike, trails in more rugged and wild places have been developed for them.", "A 2016 poll on global biking website Pinkbike rated BC as the top destination mountain bikers would like to ride.", "Some of the province's retired rail beds have been converted and maintained for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing.", "Longboarding is also a popular activity because of the hilly geography of the region.Horseback riding is enjoyed by many British Columbians.", "Opportunities for trail riding, often into especially scenic areas, have been established for tourists in numerous areas of the province.British Columbia also has strong participation levels in many other sports, including golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, Canadian football, rugby union, lacrosse, baseball, softball, basketball, curling, disc golf, Ultimate and figure skating.", "British Columbia has produced many outstanding athletes, especially in aquatic and winter sports.Consistent with both increased tourism and increased participation in diverse recreations by British Columbians has been the proliferation of lodges, chalets, bed and breakfasts, motels, hotels, fishing camps, and park-camping facilities in recent decades.In certain areas, there are businesses, non-profit societies, or municipal governments dedicated to promoting ecotourism in their region.", "A number of British Columbia farmers offer visitors to combine tourism with farm work, for example, through the WWOOF Canada program.===Sports===+ List of sport teams in British Columbia Team City League Stadium/arenaAbbotsford Canucks Abbotsford American Hockey LeagueAbbotsford Centre BC Lions Vancouver Canadian Football LeagueBC PlaceBC ThunderRichmondNational Ringette LeagueRichmond Ice CentreKamloops Blazers Kamloops Canadian Hockey LeagueSandman CentreKelowna Rockets Kelowna Canadian Hockey LeagueProspera PlacePacific FC Langford Canadian Premier LeagueStarlight StadiumPrince George Cougars Prince George Canadian Hockey LeagueCN CentreVancouver Bandits Langley Canadian Elite Basketball LeagueLangley Events CentreVancouver Canucks Vancouver National Hockey LeagueRogers ArenaVancouver FC Langley Canadian Premier LeagueWilloughby Community Park StadiumVancouver Giants Langley Canadian Hockey LeagueLangley Events CentreVancouver Warriors Vancouver National Lacrosse LeagueRogers ArenaVancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Major League SoccerBC PlaceVictoria Royals Victoria Canadian Hockey LeagueSave-On-Foods Memorial Centre" ], [ "Education", "Hatley Castle on the campus of Royal Roads University===K-12 education===British Columbia is home to a comprehensive education system consisting of public schools and independent schools that is overseen by the provincial Ministry of Education.", "The public school system is divided in 59 anglophone school districts and one francophone school district, the ''Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique,'' which operates French-language public schools throughout the province.", "The anglophone school districts are governed by school board trustees who are directly elected by the school district's residents.", "Although 86 percent of students are enrolled in the public school system, British Columbia has one of the highest shares of independent school enrolment among Canadian province, at 14 percent of the student population, due to its relatively generous funding model; most independent schools receive 50 percent of the operating funding that their public counterparts receive from the government.", "A very small percentage (less than 1 percent) of students are home schooled.Like most other provinces in Canada, education is compulsory from ages 6 to 16 (grades 1–10), although the vast majority of students remain in school until they graduate from high school (grade 12) at the age of 18.In order to graduate with a graduation certificate, known as a Dogwood Diploma in BC, students must take a minimum of 80 course credits during grades 10 to 12.These credits include a variety of required courses (e.g.", "in language arts, social studies, mathematics, and science), as well as elective courses.Academic achievement in British Columbia is relatively good, although it has been slipping in recent years by some measures.", "In 2020, 86 percent of students in British Columbia graduated from high school within six years of entering grade 8.According to the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, students in British Columbia scored the second highest in reading ability, fourth highest in mathematic prowess, and fourth highest in science knowledge of the 10 Canadian provinces, although these scores have declined significantly since the 2000 and 2015 assessments.====International students====In September 2014, there were 11,000 international students in BC public K-12 schools and about 3,000 international students in other BC K-12 schools.", "Aerial view of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby===Higher education===Quest University Canada Academic Building, aerial viewBritish Columbia has diverse array of higher educational institutions, ranging from publicly funded universities, colleges, and institutes, to private universities, colleges, seminaries, and career institutes.", "Public institutions receive approximately half of their funding from grants from the provincial government, with the remaining revenue stemming from tuition charges and philanthropic donations.", "Each post-secondary institution sets its own admission requirements, although the standard requirement is the completion of high school.Public universities and colleges include:* University of British Columbia* Simon Fraser University* University of Victoria* University of Northern British Columbia* Vancouver Island University* British Columbia Institute of Technology* Kwantlen Polytechnic University* Thompson Rivers University* Emily Carr University of Art and Design* Royal Roads University* Capilano University* University of the Fraser Valley* Douglas College* Camosun College* Langara College* Selkirk College* College of New Caledonia* College of the Rockies* Okanagan College* Coast Mountain College* Justice Institute of BCBritish Columbia is also home to 11 private colleges and universities located throughout the province, including:* Quest University* Trinity Western University* Alexander College* University Canada West* Columbia College* Coquitlam College* Tamwood International College* Ashton College* Blanche Macdonald* Vanwest CollegeTwo American universities (Fairleigh Dickinson University and Northeastern University) also have degree-granting campuses located in Vancouver." ], [ "See also", "* Index of British Columbia–related articles* Outline of British Columbia* Symbols of British Columbia" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "===Citations======Sources===* * " ], [ "Further reading", " * * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", " * Tourism British Columbia official website* BC Weathercams: Webcams showing realtime conditions across the province * BC government news* * * * * BC government online map archive" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "The Buddha" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Siddhartha Gautama''', most commonly referred to as '''the Buddha''' ('the awakened'), was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic ().", "After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India.", "The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order.", "He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering.", "His teachings are summarized in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes ethical training and kindness toward others, and meditative practices such as sense restraint, mindfulness, and (meditation proper).", "He died in Kushinagar, attaining ''parinirvana''.", "The Buddha has since been venerated by numerous religions and communities across Asia.A couple of centuries after his death, he came to be known by the title Buddha, which means 'Awakened One' or 'Enlightened One'.", "His teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice, and the Sutta Piṭaka, a compilation of teachings based on his discourses.", "These were passed down in Middle Indo-Aryan dialects through an oral tradition.", "Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as ''Abhidharma'', biographies of the Buddha, collections of stories about his past lives known as ''Jataka tales'', and additional discourses, i.e., the Mahayana sutras." ], [ "Etymology, names and titles", "The Buddha, Tapa Shotor monastery in Hadda, Afghanistan, 2nd century CE===Siddhārtha Gautama and Buddha Shakyamuni===According to Donald Lopez Jr., \"... he tended to be known as either Buddha or Sakyamuni in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, and as either Gotama Buddha or Samana Gotama ('the ascetic Gotama') in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.", "\"''Buddha'', \"Awakened One\" or \"Enlightened One\", is the masculine form of ''budh'' (बुध् ), \"to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again\", \"to awaken\" to open up' (as does a flower)\", \"one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge\".", "It is not a personal name, but a title for those who have attained bodhi (awakening, enlightenment).", "''Buddhi'', the power to \"form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand\", is the faculty which discerns truth (''satya'') from falsehood.The name of his clan was Gautama (Pali: Gotama).", "His given name, \"Siddhārtha\" (the Sanskrit form; the Pali rendering is \"Siddhattha\"; in Tibetan it is \"Don grub\"; in Chinese \"Xidaduo\"; in Japanese \"Shiddatta/Shittatta\"; in Korean \"Siltalta\") means \"He Who Achieves His Goal\".", "The clan name of Gautama means \"descendant of Gotama\", \"Gotama\" meaning \"one who has the most light\", and comes from the fact that Kshatriya clans adopted the names of their house priests.While the term \"Buddha\" is used in the Agamas and the Pali Canon, the oldest surviving written records of the term \"Buddha\" is from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, when several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned c. 269–232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism.", "Ashoka's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as the Buddha's birthplace, calling him the ''Buddha Shakyamuni'' (Brahmi script: 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 ''Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī'', \"Buddha, Sage of the Shakyas\").Shakyamuni () means \"Sage of the Shakyas\".===Tathāgata===''Tathāgata'' (Pali; ) is a term the Buddha commonly used when referring to himself or other Buddhas in the Pāli Canon.", "The exact meaning of the term is unknown, but it is often thought to mean either \"one who has thus gone\" (''tathā-gata''), \"one who has thus come\" (''tathā-āgata''), or sometimes \"one who has thus not gone\" (''tathā-agata'').", "This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena.", "A ''tathāgata'' is \"immeasurable\", \"inscrutable\", \"hard to fathom\", and \"not apprehended\".===Other epithets===A list of other epithets is commonly seen together in canonical texts and depicts some of his perfected qualities:* ''Bhagavato (Bhagavan)'' – The Blessed one, one of the most used epithets, together with ''tathāgata''* ''Sammasambuddho'' – Perfectly self-awakened* ''Vijja-carana-sampano'' – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.", "* ''Sugata'' – Well-gone or Well-spoken.", "* ''Lokavidu'' – Knower of the many worlds.", "* ''Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi'' – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.", "* ''Satthadeva-Manussanam'' – Teacher of gods and humans.", "* ''Araham'' – Worthy of homage.", "An Arahant is \"one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge\".", "* ''Jina'' – Conqueror.", "Although the term is more commonly used to name an individual who has attained liberation in the religion Jainism, it is also an alternative title for the Buddha.The Pali Canon also contains numerous other titles and epithets for the Buddha, including: All-seeing, All-transcending sage, Bull among men, The Caravan leader, Dispeller of darkness, The Eye, Foremost of charioteers, Foremost of those who can cross, King of the Dharma (''Dharmaraja''), Kinsman of the Sun, Helper of the World (''Lokanatha''), Lion (''Siha''), Lord of the Dhamma, Of excellent wisdom (''Varapañña''), Radiant One, Torchbearer of mankind, Unsurpassed doctor and surgeon, Victor in battle, and Wielder of power.", "Another epithet, used at inscriptions throughout South and Southeast Asia, is ''Maha sramana'', \"great ''sramana''\" (ascetic, renunciate)." ], [ "Sources", "=== Historical sources =======Pali suttas====On the basis of philological evidence, Indologist and Pāli expert Oskar von Hinüber says that some of the Pāli suttas have retained very archaic place-names, syntax, and historical data from close to the Buddha's lifetime, including the ''Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta'' which contains a detailed account of the Buddha's final days.", "Hinüber proposes a composition date of no later than 350–320 BCE for this text, which would allow for a \"true historical memory\" of the events approximately 60 years prior if the Short Chronology for the Buddha's lifetime is accepted (but he also points out that such a text was originally intended more as hagiography than as an exact historical record of events).John S. Strong sees certain biographical fragments in the canonical texts preserved in Pāli, as well as Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit as the earliest material.", "These include texts such as the \"Discourse on the Noble Quest\" (''Ariyapariyesanā-sutta'') and its parallels in other languages.====Pillar and rock inscriptions====No written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or from the one or two centuries thereafter.", "But from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned c. 268 to 232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism.", "Particularly, Ashoka's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as the Buddha's birthplace, calling him the ''Buddha Shakyamuni'' (Brahmi script: 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 ''Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī'', \"Buddha, Sage of the Shakyas\").", "Another one of his edicts (Minor Rock Edict No.", "3) mentions the titles of several ''Dhamma'' texts (in Buddhism, \"dhamma\" is another word for \"dharma\"), establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era.", "These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon.", "\"Sakamuni\" is also mentioned in a relief of Bharhut, dated to , in relation with his illumination and the Bodhi tree, with the inscription ''Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho'' (\"The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni\").====Oldest surviving manuscripts====The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, found in Gandhara (corresponding to modern northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) and written in Gāndhārī, they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.=== Biographical sources ===Early canonical sources include the ''Ariyapariyesana Sutta'' (MN 26), the ''Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta'' (DN 16), the ''Mahāsaccaka-sutta'' (MN 36), the ''Mahapadana Sutta'' (DN 14), and the ''Achariyabhuta Sutta'' (MN 123), which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies.", "The Jātaka tales retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts.", "The ''Mahāpadāna Sutta'' and ''Achariyabhuta Sutta'' both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.The sources which present a complete picture of the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies from a later date.", "These include the ''Buddhacarita'', ''Lalitavistara Sūtra'', ''Mahāvastu'', and the ''Nidānakathā''.", "Of these, the ''Buddhacarita'' is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE.", "The ''Lalitavistara Sūtra'' is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.", "The ''Mahāvastu'' from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE.", "The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the ''Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra'', and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE.", "The ''Nidānakathā'' is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa." ], [ "Historical person", "===Understanding the historical person===Scholars are hesitant to make claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life.", "Most of them accept that the Buddha lived, taught, and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada, and during the reign of Bimbisara (his friend, protector, and ruler of the Magadha empire); and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatashatru (who was the successor of Bimbisara) thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara.There is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies, as \"Buddhist scholars ... have mostly given up trying to understand the historical person.\"", "The earliest versions of Buddhist biographical texts that we have already contain many supernatural, mythical or legendary elements.", "In the 19th century some scholars simply omitted these from their accounts of the life, so that \"the image projected was of a Buddha who was a rational, socratic teacher—a great person perhaps, but a more or less ordinary human being\".", "More recent scholars tend to see such demythologisers as remythologisers, \"creating a Buddha that appealed to them, by eliding one that did not\".===Dating===The dates of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain.", "Within the Eastern Buddhist tradition of China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, the traditional date for Buddha's death was 949 BCE, but according to the Ka-tan system of the Kalachakra tradition, Buddha's death was about 833 BCE.Buddhist texts present two chronologies which have been used to date the lifetime of the Buddha.", "The \"long chronology\", from Sri Lankese chronicles, states the Buddha was born 298 years before Asoka's coronation and died 218 years before the coronation, thus a lifespan of about 80 years.", "According to these chronicles, Asoka was crowned in 326 BCE, which gives Buddha's lifespan as 624 – 544 BCE, and are the accepted dates in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.", "Alternatively, most scholars who also accept the long chronology but date Asoka's coronation around 268 BCE (based on Greek evidence) put the Buddha's lifespan later at 566 – 486 BCE.However, the \"short chronology\", from Indian sources and their Chinese and Tibetan translations, place the Buddha's birth at 180 years before Asoka's coronation and death 100 years before the coronation, still about 80 years.", "Following the Greek sources of Asoka's coronation as 268 BCE, this dates the Buddha's lifespan even later as 448 – 368 BCE.Most historians in the early 20th century use the earlier dates of 563 – 483 BCE, differing from the long chronology based on Greek evidence by just three years.", "More recently, there are attempts to put his death midway between the long chronology's 480s BCE and the short chronology's 360s BCE, so circa 410 BCE.", "At a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.", "These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians.The dating of Bimbisara and Ajatashatru also depends on the long or short chronology.", "In the long chrononology, Bimbisara reigned , and died 492 BCE, while Ajatashatru reigned .", "In the short chronology Bimbisara reigned , while Ajatashatru died between and 330 BCE.", "According to historian K. T. S. Sarao, a proponent of the Short Chronology wherein the Buddha's lifespan was c.477–397 BCE, it can be estimated that Bimbisara was reigning c.457–405 BCE, and Ajatashatru was reigning c.405–373 BCE.=== Historical context ===Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha ()====Shakyas====According to the Buddhist tradition, Shakyamuni Buddha was a Shakya, a sub-Himalayan ethnicity and clan of north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent.", "The Shakya community was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE.", "The community, though describable as a small republic, was probably an oligarchy, with his father as the elected chieftain or oligarch.", "The Shakyas were widely considered to be non-Vedic (and, hence impure) in Brahminic texts; their origins remain speculative and debated.", "Bronkhorst terms this culture, which grew alongside Aryavarta without being affected by the flourish of Brahminism, as Greater Magadha.The Buddha's tribe of origin, the Shakyas, seems to have had non-Vedic religious practices which persist in Buddhism, such as the veneration of trees and sacred groves, and the worship of tree spirits (yakkhas) and serpent beings (nagas).", "They also seem to have built burial mounds called stupas.", "Tree veneration remains important in Buddhism today, particularly in the practice of venerating Bodhi trees.", "Likewise, yakkas and nagas have remained important figures in Buddhist religious practices and mythology.====Shramanas====The Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential śramaṇa schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana.", "The ''Brahmajala Sutta'' records sixty-two such schools of thought.", "In this context, a śramaṇa refers to one who labours, toils or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose).", "It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira, Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, as recorded in Samaññaphala Sutta, with whose viewpoints the Buddha must have been acquainted.", "Śāriputra and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the sceptic.", "The Pāli canon frequently depicts Buddha engaging in debate with the adherents of rival schools of thought.", "There is philological evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Rāmaputta, were historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques.", "Thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time.", "In an era where holiness of person was judged by their level of asceticism, Buddha was a reformist within the śramaṇa movement, rather than a reactionary against Vedic Brahminism.Coningham and Young note that both Jains and Buddhists used stupas, while tree shrines can be found in both Buddhism and Hinduism.====Urban environment and egalitarianism====The rise of Buddhism coincided with the Second Urbanisation, in which the Ganges Basin was settled and cities grew, in which egalitarianism prevailed.", "According to Thapar, the Buddha's teachings were \"also a response to the historical changes of the time, among which were the emergence of the state and the growth of urban centres\".", "While the Buddhist mendicants renounced society, they lived close to the villages and cities, depending for alms-givings on lay supporters.According to Dyson, the Ganges basin was settled from the north-west and the south-east, as well as from within, \"coming together in what is now Bihar (the location of Pataliputra)\".", "The Ganges basin was densely forested, and the population grew when new areas were deforestated and cultivated.", "The society of the middle Ganges basin lay on \"the outer fringe of Aryan cultural influence\", and differed significantly from the Aryan society of the western Ganges basin.", "According to Stein and Burton, \"the gods of the brahmanical sacrificial cult were not rejected so much as ignored by Buddhists and their contemporaries.\"", "Jainism and Buddhism opposed the social stratification of Brahmanism, and their egalitarism prevailed in the cities of the middle Ganges basin.", "This \"allowed Jains and Buddhists to engage in trade more easily than Brahmans, who were forced to follow strict caste prohibitions.\"" ], [ "Semi-legendary biography", "Brahma (left) and Śakra (right).", "Bimaran Casket, mid-1st century CE, British Museum.=== Nature of traditional depictions ===Māyā miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha.", "Sanskrit, palm-leaf manuscript.", "Nālandā, Bihar, India.", "Pāla periodIn the earliest Buddhist texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience (''sabbaññu'') nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (''lokottara'') being.", "According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the ''Mahāvastu''.", "In the ''Sandaka Sutta'', the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the ''Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta'' the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the \"higher knowledges\" (abhijñā).", "The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty-five-year career as a teacher.Traditional biographies of Gautama often include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events.", "The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt.", "''lokottara'') and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world.", "In the ''Mahāvastu'', over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such \"in conformity with the world\"; omniscience, and the ability to \"suppress karma\".", "As noted by Andrew Skilton, the Buddha was often described as being superhuman, including descriptions of him having the 32 major and 80 minor marks of a \"great man\", and the idea that the Buddha could live for as long as an aeon if he wished (see DN 16).The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy.", "Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life.", "These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist.", "British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure.", "Michael Carrithers goes further, stating that the most general outline of \"birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death\" must be true.=== Previous lives ===Legendary biographies like the Pali ''Buddhavaṃsa'' and the Sanskrit ''Jātakamālā'' depict the Buddha's (referred to as \"bodhisattva\" before his awakening) career as spanning hundreds of lifetimes before his last birth as Gautama.", "Many of these previous lives are narrated in the Jatakas, which consists of 547 stories.", "The format of a Jataka typically begins by telling a story in the present which is then explained by a story of someone's previous life.Besides imbuing the pre-Buddhist past with a deep karmic history, the Jatakas also serve to explain the bodhisattva's (the Buddha-to-be) path to Buddhahood.", "In biographies like the ''Buddhavaṃsa'', this path is described as long and arduous, taking \"four incalculable ages\" (''asamkheyyas'').In these legendary biographies, the bodhisattva goes through many different births (animal and human), is inspired by his meeting of past Buddhas, and then makes a series of resolves or vows (''pranidhana'') to become a Buddha himself.", "Then he begins to receive predictions by past Buddhas.", "One of the most popular of these stories is his meeting with Dipankara Buddha, who gives the bodhisattva a prediction of future Buddhahood.Another theme found in the Pali Jataka Commentary (''Jātakaṭṭhakathā'') and the Sanskrit ''Jātakamālā'' is how the Buddha-to-be had to practice several \"perfections\" (''pāramitā'') to reach Buddhahood.", "The Jatakas also sometimes depict negative actions done in previous lives by the bodhisattva, which explain difficulties he experienced in his final life as Gautama.=== Birth and early life ===A map showing Lumbini and other major Buddhist sites in India.", "Lumbini (present-day Nepal), is the birthplace of the Buddha, and is a holy place also for many non-Buddhists.Mayadevi Temple marking the Buddha's birthplace in LumbiniLumbini pillar contains an inscription stating that this is the Buddha's birthplace.According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal, and raised in Kapilavastu.", "The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown.", "It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, in present-day India, or Tilaurakot, in present-day Nepal.", "Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only apart.In the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbini was Gautama's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there with the inscription: \"...this is where the Buddha, sage of the Śākyas (''Śākyamuni''), was born.\"", "According to later biographies such as the ''Mahavastu'' and the ''Lalitavistara'', his mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a princess from Devdaha, the ancient capital of the Koliya Kingdom (what is now the Rupandehi District of Nepal).", "Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born.", "As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilavastu for her father's kingdom to give birth.", "Her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.", "The earliest Buddhist sources state that the Buddha was born to an aristocratic Kshatriya (Pali: ''khattiya'') family called Gotama (Sanskrit: Gautama), who were part of the Shakyas, a tribe of rice-farmers living near the modern border of India and Nepal.", "His father Śuddhodana was \"an elected chief of the Shakya clan\", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime.The early Buddhist texts contain very little information about the birth and youth of Gotama Buddha.", "Later biographies developed a dramatic narrative about the life of the young Gotama as a prince and his existential troubles.", "They depict his father Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of (Pāli: Okkāka).", "This is unlikely, as many scholars think that Śuddhodana was merely a Shakya aristocrat (''khattiya''), and that the Shakya republic was not a hereditary monarchy.", "The more egalitarian form of government, as a political alternative to Indian monarchies, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.The day of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak and the day he got conceived as Poson.", "Buddha's Birthday is called ''Buddha Purnima'' in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day.According to later biographical legends, during the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode, analyzed the child for the \"32 marks of a great man\" and then announced that he would either become a great king (''chakravartin'') or a great religious leader.", "Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future.", "All gave similar predictions.", "Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition.", "According to the early Buddhist Texts of several schools, and numerous post-canonical accounts, Gotama had a wife, Yasodhara, and a son, named Rāhula.", "Besides this, the Buddha in the early texts reports that \"I lived a spoilt, a very spoilt life, monks (in my parents' home).", "\"The legendary biographies like the ''Lalitavistara'' also tell stories of young Gotama's great martial skill, which was put to the test in various contests against other Shakyan youths.=== Renunciation ===halo, he is accompanied by numerous guards and devata who have come to pay homage; Gandhara, Kushan period.While the earliest sources merely depict Gotama seeking a higher spiritual goal and becoming an ascetic or ''śramaṇa'' after being disillusioned with lay life, the later legendary biographies tell a more elaborate dramatic story about how he became a mendicant.The earliest accounts of the Buddha's spiritual quest is found in texts such as the Pali ''Ariyapariyesanā-sutta'' (\"The discourse on the noble quest\", MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204.These texts report that what led to Gautama's renunciation was the thought that his life was subject to old age, disease and death and that there might be something better.", "The early texts also depict the Buddha's explanation for becoming a sramana as follows: \"The household life, this place of impurity, is narrow – the ''samana'' life is the free open air.", "It is not easy for a householder to lead the perfected, utterly pure and perfect holy life.\"", "MN 26, MĀ 204, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Mahāvastu all agree that his mother and father opposed his decision and \"wept with tearful faces\" when he decided to leave.Prince Siddhartha shaves his hair and becomes a śramaṇa.", "Borobudur, 8th centuryLegendary biographies also tell the story of how Gautama left his palace to see the outside world for the first time and how he was shocked by his encounter with human suffering.", "These depict Gautama's father as shielding him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering, so that he would become a great king instead of a great religious leader.", "In the ''Nidanakatha'' (5th century CE), Gautama is said to have seen an old man.", "When his charioteer Chandaka explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace.", "On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic that inspired him.", "This story of the \"four sights\" seems to be adapted from an earlier account in the ''Digha Nikaya'' (DN 14.2) which instead depicts the young life of a previous Buddha, Vipassi.The legendary biographies depict Gautama's departure from his palace as follows.", "Shortly after seeing the four sights, Gautama woke up at night and saw his female servants lying in unattractive, corpse-like poses, which shocked him.", "Therefore, he discovered what he would later understand more deeply during his enlightenment: ''dukkha'' (\"standing unstable\", \"dissatisfaction\") and the end of ''dukkha''.", "Moved by all the things he had experienced, he decided to leave the palace in the middle of the night against the will of his father, to live the life of a wandering ascetic.", "Accompanied by Chandaka and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama leaves the palace, leaving behind his son Rahula and Yaśodhara.", "He travelled to the river Anomiya, and cut off his hair.", "Leaving his servant and horse behind, he journeyed into the woods and changed into monk's robes there, though in some other versions of the story, he received the robes from a ''Brahma'' deity at Anomiya.According to the legendary biographies, when the ascetic Gautama first went to Rajagaha (present-day Rajgir) to beg for alms in the streets, King Bimbisara of Magadha learned of his quest, and offered him a share of his kingdom.", "Gautama rejected the offer but promised to visit his kingdom first, upon attaining enlightenment.=== Ascetic life and awakening ===The gilded \"Emaciated Buddha statue\" in Wat Suthat in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticismThe Mahabodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh GayaEnlightenment Throne'' of the Buddha at Bodh Gaya, as recreated by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCEMiracle of the Buddha walking on the River Nairañjanā.", "The Buddha is not visible (aniconism), only represented by a path on the water, and his empty throne bottom right.", "Sanchi.Majjhima Nikaya 4 mentions that Gautama lived in \"remote jungle thickets\" during his years of spiritual striving and had to overcome the fear that he felt while living in the forests.", "The Nikaya-texts narrate that the ascetic Gautama practised under two teachers of yogic meditation.", "According to the ''Ariyapariyesanā-sutta'' (MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204, after having mastered the teaching of Ārāḍa Kālāma (), who taught a meditation attainment called \"the sphere of nothingness\", he was asked by Ārāḍa to become an equal leader of their spiritual community.", "Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice because it \"does not lead to revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to knowledge, to awakening, to Nibbana\", and moved on to become a student of Udraka Rāmaputra ().", "With him, he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness (called \"The Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception\") and was again asked to join his teacher.", "But, once more, he was not satisfied for the same reasons as before, and moved on.According to some sutras, after leaving his meditation teachers, Gotama then practiced ascetic techniques.", "The ascetic techniques described in the early texts include very minimal food intake, different forms of breath control, and forceful mind control.", "The texts report that he became so emaciated that his bones became visible through his skin.", "The ''Mahāsaccaka-sutta'' and most of its parallels agree that after taking asceticism to its extremes, Gautama realized that this had not helped him attain nirvana, and that he needed to regain strength to pursue his goal.", "One popular story tells of how he accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.", "His break with asceticism is said to have led his five companions to abandon him, since they believed that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined.", "At this point, Gautama remembered a previous experience of ''dhyana'' (\"meditation\") he had as a child sitting under a tree while his father worked.", "This memory leads him to understand that ''dhyana'' is the path to liberation, and the texts then depict the Buddha achieving all four dhyanas, followed by the \"three higher knowledges\" (''tevijja''), culminating in complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining liberation from ''samsara'', the endless cycle of rebirth.", "According to the ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'' (SN 56), the Tathagata, the term Gautama uses most often to refer to himself, realized \"the Middle Way\"—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path.", "In later centuries, Gautama became known as the ''Buddha'' or \"Awakened One\".", "The title indicates that unlike most people who are \"asleep\", a Buddha is understood as having \"woken up\" to the true nature of reality and sees the world 'as it is' (''yatha-bhutam'').", "A Buddha has achieved liberation (''vimutti''), also called Nirvana, which is seen as the extinguishing of the \"fires\" of desire, hatred, and ignorance, that keep the cycle of suffering and rebirth going.Following his decision to leave his meditation teachers, MĀ 204 and other parallel early texts report that Gautama sat down with the determination not to get up until full awakening (''sammā-sambodhi'') had been reached; the ''Ariyapariyesanā-sutta'' does not mention \"full awakening\", but only that he attained nirvana.", "This event was said to have occurred under a pipal tree—known as \"the Bodhi tree\"—in Bodh Gaya, Bihar.As reported by various texts from the Pali Canon, the Buddha sat for seven days under the bodhi tree \"feeling the bliss of deliverance\".", "The Pali texts also report that he continued to meditate and contemplated various aspects of the Dharma while living by the River Nairañjanā, such as Dependent Origination, the Five Spiritual Faculties and suffering (''dukkha'').The legendary biographies like the ''Mahavastu, Nidanakatha'' and the ''Lalitavistara'' depict an attempt by Mara, the ruler of the desire realm, to prevent the Buddha's nirvana.", "He does so by sending his daughters to seduce the Buddha, by asserting his superiority and by assaulting him with armies of monsters.", "However the Buddha is unfazed and calls on the earth (or in some versions of the legend, the earth goddess) as witness to his superiority by touching the ground before entering meditation.", "Other miracles and magical events are also depicted.=== First sermon and formation of the saṅgha ===Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, India, site of the first teaching of the Buddha in which he taught the Four Noble Truths to his first five disciplesAccording to MN 26, immediately after his awakening, the Buddha hesitated on whether or not he should teach the ''Dharma'' to others.", "He was concerned that humans were overpowered by ignorance, greed, and hatred that it would be difficult for them to recognise the path, which is \"subtle, deep and hard to grasp\".", "However, the god Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some \"with little dust in their eyes\" will understand it.", "The Buddha relented and agreed to teach.", "According to Anālayo, the Chinese parallel to MN 26, MĀ 204, does not contain this story, but this event does appear in other parallel texts, such as in an ''Ekottarika-āgama'' discourse, in the ''Catusparisat-sūtra'', and in the ''Lalitavistara''.According to MN 26 and MĀ 204, after deciding to teach, the Buddha initially intended to visit his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to teach them his insights, but they had already died, so he decided to visit his five former companions.", "MN 26 and MĀ 204 both report that on his way to Vārānasī (Benares), he met another wanderer, an Ājīvika ascetic named Upaka in MN 26.The Buddha proclaimed that he had achieved full awakening, but Upaka was not convinced and \"took a different path\".MN 26 and MĀ 204 continue with the Buddha reaching the Deer Park (Sarnath) (''Mrigadāva'', also called ''Rishipatana'', \"site where the ashes of the ascetics fell\") near Vārānasī, where he met the group of five ascetics and was able to convince them that he had indeed reached full awakening.", "According to MĀ 204 (but not MN 26), as well as the Theravāda Vinaya, an ''Ekottarika-āgama'' text, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, and the ''Mahāvastu'', the Buddha then taught them the \"first sermon\", also known as the \"Benares sermon\", i.e.", "the teaching of \"the noble eightfold path as the middle path aloof from the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification\".", "The Pali text reports that after the first sermon, the ascetic Koṇḍañña (Kaundinya) became the first arahant (liberated being) and the first Buddhist bhikkhu or monastic.", "The Buddha then continued to teach the other ascetics and they formed the first , the company of Buddhist monks.Various sources such as the ''Mahāvastu,'' the ''Mahākhandhaka'' of the Theravāda Vinaya and the ''Catusparisat-sūtra'' also mention that the Buddha taught them his second discourse, about the characteristic of \"not-self\" (''Anātmalakṣaṇa Sūtra''), at this time or five days later.", "After hearing this second sermon the four remaining ascetics also reached the status of ''arahant.", "''The Theravāda Vinaya and the ''Catusparisat-sūtra'' also speak of the conversion of Yasa, a local guild master, and his friends and family, who were some of the first laypersons to be converted and to enter the Buddhist community.", "The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, who brought with them five hundred converts who had previously been \"matted hair ascetics\", and whose spiritual practice was related to fire sacrifices.", "According to the Theravāda Vinaya, the Buddha then stopped at the Gayasisa hill near Gaya and delivered his third discourse, the ''Ādittapariyāya Sutta'' (The Discourse on Fire), in which he taught that everything in the world is inflamed by passions and only those who follow the Eightfold path can be liberated.At the end of the rainy season, when the Buddha's community had grown to around sixty awakened monks, he instructed them to wander on their own, teach and ordain people into the community, for the \"welfare and benefit\" of the world.=== Travels and growth of the saṅgha ===Kosala and Magadha in the post-Vedic periodThe chief disciples of the Buddha, Mogallana (chief in psychic power) and Sariputta (chief in wisdom)For the remaining 40 or 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have travelled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, ascetics and householders, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka.", "According to Schumann, the Buddha's travels ranged from \"Kosambi on the Yamuna (25 km south-west of Allahabad )\", to Campa (40 km east of Bhagalpur)\" and from \"Kapilavatthu (95 km north-west of Gorakhpur) to Uruvela (south of Gaya)\".", "This covers an area of 600 by 300 km.", "His sangha enjoyed the patronage of the kings of Kosala and Magadha and he thus spent a lot of time in their respective capitals, Savatthi and Rajagaha.Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it is likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardisation.The sangha wandered throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vassa rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely travelled.", "One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to flora and animal life.", "The health of the ascetics might have been a concern as well.", "At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed.", "According to the Pali texts, shortly after the formation of the sangha, the Buddha travelled to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, and met with King Bimbisara, who gifted a bamboo grove park to the sangha.The Buddha's sangha continued to grow during his initial travels in north India.", "The early texts tell the story of how the Buddha's chief disciples, Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna, who were both students of the skeptic sramana Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta, were converted by Assaji.", "They also tell of how the Buddha's son, Rahula, joined his father as a bhikkhu when the Buddha visited his old home, Kapilavastu.", "Over time, other Shakyans joined the order as bhikkhus, such as Buddha's cousin Ananda, Anuruddha, Upali the barber, the Buddha's half-brother Nanda and Devadatta.", "Meanwhile, the Buddha's father Suddhodana heard his son's teaching, converted to Buddhism and became a stream-enterer.The early texts also mention an important lay disciple, the merchant Anāthapiṇḍika, who became a strong lay supporter of the Buddha early on.", "He is said to have gifted Jeta's grove (''Jetavana'') to the sangha at great expense (the Theravada Vinaya speaks of thousands of gold coins).=== Formation of the bhikkhunī order ===Mahāprajāpatī, the first bhikkuni and Buddha's stepmother, ordainsThe formation of a parallel order of female monastics (bhikkhunī) was another important part of the growth of the Buddha's community.", "As noted by Anālayo's comparative study of this topic, there are various versions of this event depicted in the different early Buddhist texts.According to all the major versions surveyed by Anālayo, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, Buddha's step-mother, is initially turned down by the Buddha after requesting ordination for her and some other women.", "Mahāprajāpatī and her followers then shave their hair, don robes and begin following the Buddha on his travels.", "The Buddha is eventually convinced by Ānanda to grant ordination to Mahāprajāpatī on her acceptance of eight conditions called gurudharmas which focus on the relationship between the new order of nuns and the monks.According to Anālayo, the only argument common to all the versions that Ananda uses to convince the Buddha is that women have the same ability to reach all stages of awakening.", "Anālayo also notes that some modern scholars have questioned the authenticity of the eight gurudharmas in their present form due to various inconsistencies.", "He holds that the historicity of the current lists of eight is doubtful, but that they may have been based on earlier injunctions by the Buddha.", "Anālayo notes that various passages indicate that the reason for the Buddha's hesitation to ordain women was the danger that the life of a wandering sramana posed for women that were not under the protection of their male family members, such as dangers of sexual assault and abduction.", "Due to this, the gurudharma injunctions may have been a way to place \"the newly founded order of nuns in a relationship to its male counterparts that resembles as much as possible the protection a laywoman could expect from her male relatives\".=== Later years ===Ajatashatru worships the Buddha, relief from the Bharhut Stupa at the Indian Museum, KolkataAccording to J.S.", "Strong, after the first 20 years of his teaching career, the Buddha seems to have slowly settled in Sravasti, the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala, spending most of his later years in this city.As the sangha grew in size, the need for a standardized set of monastic rules arose and the Buddha seems to have developed a set of regulations for the sangha.", "These are preserved in various texts called \"Pratimoksa\" which were recited by the community every fortnight.", "The Pratimoksa includes general ethical precepts, as well as rules regarding the essentials of monastic life, such as bowls and robes.In his later years, the Buddha's fame grew and he was invited to important royal events, such as the inauguration of the new council hall of the Shakyans (as seen in MN 53) and the inauguration of a new palace by Prince Bodhi (as depicted in MN 85).", "The early texts also speak of how during the Buddha's old age, the kingdom of Magadha was usurped by a new king, Ajatashatru, who overthrew his father Bimbisara.", "According to the ''Samaññaphala Sutta,'' the new king spoke with different ascetic teachers and eventually took refuge in the Buddha.", "However, Jain sources also claim his allegiance, and it is likely he supported various religious groups, not just the Buddha's sangha exclusively.As the Buddha continued to travel and teach, he also came into contact with members of other śrāmana sects.", "There is evidence from the early texts that the Buddha encountered some of these figures and critiqued their doctrines.", "The ''Samaññaphala Sutta'' identifies six such sects.The early texts also depict the elderly Buddha as suffering from back pain.", "Several texts depict him delegating teachings to his chief disciples since his body now needed more rest.", "However, the Buddha continued teaching well into his old age.One of the most troubling events during the Buddha's old age was Devadatta's schism.", "Early sources speak of how the Buddha's cousin, Devadatta, attempted to take over leadership of the order and then left the sangha with several Buddhist monks and formed a rival sect.", "This sect is said to have been supported by King Ajatashatru.", "The Pali texts depict Devadatta as plotting to kill the Buddha, but these plans all fail.", "They depict the Buddha as sending his two chief disciples (Sariputta and Moggallana) to this schismatic community in order to convince the monks who left with Devadatta to return.All the major early Buddhist Vinaya texts depict Devadatta as a divisive figure who attempted to split the Buddhist community, but they disagree on what issues he disagreed with the Buddha on.", "The Sthavira texts generally focus on \"five points\" which are seen as excessive ascetic practices, while the Mahāsaṅghika Vinaya speaks of a more comprehensive disagreement, which has Devadatta alter the discourses as well as monastic discipline.At around the same time of Devadatta's schism, there was also war between Ajatashatru's Kingdom of Magadha, and Kosala, led by an elderly king Pasenadi.", "Ajatashatru seems to have been victorious, a turn of events the Buddha is reported to have regretted.=== Last days and ''parinirvana'' ===This East Javanese relief depicts the Buddha in his final days, and alt=Metal reliefThe main narrative of the Buddha's last days, death and the events following his death is contained in the ''Mahaparinibbana Sutta'' (DN 16) and its various parallels in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan.", "According to Anālayo, these include the Chinese Dirgha Agama 2, \"Sanskrit fragments of the ''Mahaparinirvanasutra\"'', and \"three discourses preserved as individual translations in Chinese\".The ''Mahaparinibbana sutta'' depicts the Buddha's last year as a time of war.", "It begins with Ajatashatru's decision to make war on the Vajjika League, leading him to send a minister to ask the Buddha for advice.", "The Buddha responds by saying that the Vajjikas can be expected to prosper as long as they do seven things, and he then applies these seven principles to the Buddhist Sangha, showing that he is concerned about its future welfare.", "The Buddha says that the Sangha will prosper as long as they \"hold regular and frequent assemblies, meet in harmony, do not change the rules of training, honour their superiors who were ordained before them, do not fall prey to worldly desires, remain devoted to forest hermitages, and preserve their personal mindfulness\".", "He then gives further lists of important virtues to be upheld by the Sangha.The early texts depict how the Buddha's two chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana, died just before the Buddha's death.", "The ''Mahaparinibbana'' depicts the Buddha as experiencing illness during the last months of his life but initially recovering.", "It depicts him as stating that he cannot promote anyone to be his successor.", "When Ānanda requested this, the ''Mahaparinibbana'' records his response as follows:Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara, 3rd or 4th century CE, gray schistMahaparinibbana scene, from the Ajanta cavesAfter travelling and teaching some more, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda.", "Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his death and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.", "Bhikkhu Mettanando and Oskar von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms.", "The Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom.", "These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.", "Modern scholars also disagree on this topic, arguing both for pig's flesh or some kind of plant or mushroom that pigs like to eat.", "Whatever the case, none of the sources which mention the last meal attribute the Buddha's sickness to the meal itself.As per the ''Mahaparinibbana sutta,'' after the meal with Cunda, the Buddha and his companions continued travelling until he was too weak to continue and had to stop at Kushinagar, where Ānanda had a resting place prepared in a grove of Sala trees.", "After announcing to the sangha at large that he would soon be passing away to final Nirvana, the Buddha ordained one last novice into the order personally.", "His name was Subhadda.", "He then repeated his final instructions to the sangha, which was that the Dhamma and Vinaya was to be their teacher after his death.", "Then he asked if anyone had any doubts about the teaching, but nobody did.", "The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: \"All ''saṅkhāras'' decay.", "Strive for the goal with diligence (''appamāda'')\" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā').He then entered his final meditation and died, reaching what is known as ''parinirvana'' (final nirvana, the end of rebirth and suffering achieved after the death of the body).", "The ''Mahaparinibbana'' reports that in his final meditation he entered the four dhyanas consecutively, then the four immaterial attainments and finally the meditative dwelling known as ''nirodha-samāpatti,'' before returning to the fourth dhyana right at the moment of death.Buddha's cremation stupa, Kushinagar (Kushinara)Piprahwa vase with relics of the Buddha.", "The inscription reads: ''...salilanidhane Budhasa Bhagavate...'' (Brahmi script: ...𑀲𑀮𑀺𑀮𑀦𑀺𑀥𑀸𑀦𑁂 𑀩𑀼𑀥𑀲 𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀢𑁂...) \"Relics of the Buddha Lord\".=== Posthumous events ===According to the ''Mahaparinibbana sutta,'' the Mallians of Kushinagar spent the days following the Buddha's death honouring his body with flowers, music and scents.", "The sangha waited until the eminent elder Mahākassapa arrived to pay his respects before cremating the body.The Buddha's body was then cremated and the remains, including his bones, were kept as relics and they were distributed among various north Indian kingdoms like Magadha, Shakya and Koliya.", "These relics were placed in monuments or mounds called stupas, a common funerary practice at the time.", "Centuries later they would be exhumed and enshrined by Ashoka into many new stupas around the Mauryan realm.", "Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.According to various Buddhist sources, the First Buddhist Council was held shortly after the Buddha's death to collect, recite and memorize the teachings.", "Mahākassapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the council.", "However, the historicity of the traditional accounts of the first council is disputed by modern scholars." ], [ "Teachings and views", "=== Core teachings ===Gandharan Buddhist birchbark scroll fragmentsA number of teachings and practices are deemed essential to Buddhism, including: the samyojana (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the sankharas (\"formations\"), the kleshas (uwholesome mental states), including the three poisons, and the āsavas (\"influx, canker\"), that perpetuate sasāra, the repeated cycle of becoming; the six sense bases and the five aggregates, which describe the process from sense contact to consciousness which lead to this bondage to sasāra; dependent origination, which describes this process, and its reversal, in detail; and the Middle Way, with the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which prescribes how this bondage can be reversed.According to N. Ross Reat, the Theravada Pali texts and the Mahasamghika school's ''Śālistamba Sūtra'' sharethese basic teachings and practices.", "Bhikkhu Analayo concludes that the Theravada ''Majjhima Nikaya'' and Sarvastivada ''Madhyama Agama'' contain mostly the same major doctrines.", "Likewise, Richard Salomon has written that the doctrines found in the Gandharan Manuscripts are \"consistent with non-Mahayana Buddhism, which survives today in the Theravada school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but which in ancient times was represented by eighteen separate schools\".==== Samsara ====All beings have deeply entrenched samyojana (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the sankharas (\"formations\"), kleshas (unwholesome mental states), including the three poisons, and āsavas (\"influx, canker\"), that perpetuate sasāra, the repeated cycle of becoming and rebirth.", "According to the Pali suttas, the Buddha stated that \"this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning.", "A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.\"", "In the ''Dutiyalokadhammasutta sutta'' (AN 8:6) the Buddha explains how \"eight worldly winds\" \"keep the world turning around ... Gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain\".", "He then explains how the difference between a noble (''arya'') person and an uninstructed worldling is that a noble person reflects on and understands the impermanence of these conditions.This cycle of becoming is characterized by ''dukkha'', commonly referred to as \"suffering\", ''dukkha'' is more aptly rendered as \"unsatisfactoriness\" or \"unease\".", "It is the unsatisfactoriness and unease that comes with a life dictated by automatic responses and habituated selfishness, and the unsatifacories of expecting enduring happiness from things which are impermanent, unstable and thus unreliable.", "The ultimate noble goal should be liberation from this cycle.", "''Samsara'' is dictated by karma, which is an impersonal natural law, similar to how certain seeds produce certain plants and fruits.", "''Karma'' is not the only cause for one's conditions, as the Buddha listed various physical and environmental causes alongside karma.", "The Buddha's teaching of karma differed to that of the Jains and Brahmins, in that on his view, karma is primarily mental intention (as opposed to mainly physical action or ritual acts).", "The Buddha is reported to have said \"By karma I mean intention.\"", "Richard Gombrich summarizes the Buddha's view of karma as follows: \"all thoughts, words, and deeds derive their moral value, positive or negative, from the intention behind them.", "\"==== The six sense bases and the five aggregates ====The āyatana (six sense bases) and the five skandhas (aggregates) describe how sensory contact leads to attachment and ''dukkha''.", "The six sense bases are eye and sight, ear and sound, nose and odour, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and thoughts.", "Together they create the input from which we create our world or reality, \"the all\".", "This process takes place through the five skandhas, \"aggregates\", \"groups\", \"heaps\", five groups of physical and mental processes, anmely form (or material image, impression) (), sensations (or feelings, received from form) (), perceptions (), mental activity or formations (), consciousness ().", "They form part of other Buddhist teachings and lists, such as dependent origination, and explain how sensory input ultimately leads to bondage to samsara by the mental defilements.==== Dependent Origination ====Schist Buddha statue with the famed Ye Dharma Hetu dhāraṇī around the head, which was used as a common summary of Dependent Origination.", "It states: \"Of those experiences that arise from a cause, The Tathāgata has said: 'this is their cause, And this is their cessation': This is what the Great Śramaṇa teaches.", "\"In the early texts, the process of the arising of dukkha is explicated through the teaching of dependent origination, which says that everything that exists or occurs is dependent on conditioning factors.", "The most basic formulation of dependent origination is given in the early texts as: 'It being thus, this comes about' (Pali: ''evam sati idam hoti'').", "This can be taken to mean that certain phenomena only arise when there are other phenomena present, thus their arising is \"dependent\" on other phenomena.The philosopher Mark Siderits has outlined the basic idea of the Buddha's teaching of Dependent Origination of dukkha as follows:In numerous early texts, this basic principle is expanded with a list of phenomena that are said to be conditionally dependent, as a result of later elaborations, including Vedic cosmogenies as the basis for the first four links.", "According to Boisvert, nidana 3-10 correlate with the five skandhas.", "According to Richard Gombrich, the twelve-fold list is a combination of two previous lists, the second list beginning with ''tanha'', \"thirst\", the cause of suffering as described in the second noble truth\".", "According to Gombrich, the two lists were combined, resulting in contradictions in its reverse version.===== Anatta =====The Buddha saw his analysis of dependent origination as a \"Middle Way\" between \"eternalism\" (''sassatavada'', the idea that some essence exists eternally) and \"annihilationism\" (''ucchedavada'', the idea that we go completely out of existence at death).", "in this view, persons are just a causal series of impermanent psycho-physical elements, which are ''anatta'', without an independent or permanent self.", "The Buddha instead held that all things in the world of our experience are transient and that there is no unchanging part to a person.", "According to Richard Gombrich, the Buddha's position is simply that \"everything is process\".The Buddha's arguments against an unchanging self rely on the scheme of the five skandhas, as can be seen in the Pali ''Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta'' (and its parallels in Gandhari and Chinese)''.''", "In the early texts the Buddha teaches that all five aggregates, including consciousness (''viññana'', which was held by Brahmins to be eternal), arise due to dependent origination.", "Since they are all impermanent, one cannot regard any of the psycho-physical processes as an unchanging self.", "Even mental processes such as consciousness and will (''cetana'') are seen as being dependently originated and impermanent and thus do not qualify as a self (''atman'').The Buddha saw the belief in a self as arising from our grasping at and identifying with the various changing phenomena, as well as from ignorance about how things really are.", "Furthermore, the Buddha held that we experience suffering because we hold on to erroneous self views.", "As Rupert Gethin explains, for the Buddha, a person isDue to this view (termed ), the Buddha's teaching was opposed to all soul theories of his time, including the Jain theory of a ''\"jiva\"'' (\"life monad\") and the Brahmanical theories of atman (Pali: ''atta'') and purusha.", "All of these theories held that there was an eternal unchanging essence to a person, which was separate from all changing experiences, and which transmigrated from life to life.", "The Buddha's anti-essentialist view still includes an understanding of continuity through rebirth, it is just the rebirth of a process (karma), not an essence like the atman.==== The path to liberation ====Gandharan sculpture depicting the Buddha in the full lotus seated meditation posture, 2nd–3rd century CEBuddha Statues from Gal Vihara.", "The Early Buddhist texts also mention meditation practice while standing and lying down.The Buddha taught a path (''marga'') of training to undo the samyojana, kleshas and āsavas and attain ''vimutti'' (liberation).", "This path taught by the Buddha is depicted in the early texts (most famously in the Pali ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'' and its numerous parallel texts) as a \"Middle Way\" between sensual indulgence on one hand and mortification of the body on the other.A common presentation of the core structure of Buddha's teaching found in the early texts is that of the Four Noble Truths, which refers to the Noble Eightfold Path.", "According to Gethin, another common summary of the path to awakening wisely used in the early texts is \"abandoning the hindrances, practice of the four establishments of mindfulness and development of the awakening factors\".According to Rupert Gethin, in the Nikayas and Agamas, the Buddha's path is mainly presented in a cumulative and gradual \"step by step\" process, such as that outlined in the ''Samaññaphala Sutta''.", "Other early texts like the ''Upanisa sutta'' (SN 12.23), present the path as reversions of the process of Dependent Origination.", "''Bhāvanā'', cultivation of wholesome states, is central to the Buddha's path.", "Common practices to this goal, which are shared by most of these early presentations of the path, include ''sila'' (ethical training), restraint of the senses (''indriyasamvara''), ''sati'' (mindfulness) and ''sampajañña'' (clear awareness), and the practice of ''dhyana'', the cumulative development of wholesome states leading to a \"state of perfect equanimity and awareness (''upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi'')\".", "Dhyana is preceded and supported by various aspects of the path such as sense restraint and mindfulness, which is elaborated in the ''satipatthana''-scheme, as taught in the Pali ''Satipatthana Sutta'' and the sixteen elements of ''Anapanasati'', as taught in the ''Anapanasati Sutta''.==== Jain and Brahmanical influences ====The Bodhisattva meets with Alara Kalama, Borobudur relief.In various texts, the Buddha is depicted as having studied under two named teachers, Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta.", "According to Alexander Wynne, these were yogis who taught doctrines and practices similar to those in the Upanishads.", "According to Johannes Bronkhorst, the \"meditation without breath and reduced intake of food\" which the Buddha practiced before his awakening are forms of asceticism which are similar to Jain practices.According to Richard Gombrich, the Buddha's teachings on Karma and Rebirth are a development of pre-Buddhist themes that can be found in Jain and Brahmanical sources, like the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad''.", "Likewise, ''samsara'', the idea that we are trapped in cycles of rebirth and that we should seek liberation from them through non-harming (''ahimsa'') and spiritual practices, pre-dates the Buddha and was likely taught in early Jainism.", "According to K.R.", "Norman, the Buddhist teaching of the ''three marks of existence'' may also reflect Upanishadic or other influences .", "The Buddhist practice called ''Brahma-vihara'' may have also originated from a Brahmanic term; but its usage may have been common in the sramana traditions.==== Scholarly views on the earliest teachings ====Kushan ruler Kanishka I, CEOne method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest versions of the Pali Canon and other texts, such as the surviving portions of Sarvastivada, Mulasarvastivada, Mahisasaka, Dharmaguptaka, and the Chinese Agamas.", "The reliability of these sources, and the possibility of drawing out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute.", "According to Lambert Schmithausen, there are three positions held by modern scholars of Buddhism with regard to the authenticity of the teachings contained in the Nikayas:# \"Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials\".# \"Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism\".# \"Cautious optimism in this respect\".Scholars such as Richard Gombrich, Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne and A.K.", "Warder hold that these Early Buddhist Texts contain material that could possibly be traced to the Buddha.", "Richard Gombrich argues that since the content of the earliest texts \"presents such originality, intelligence, grandeur and—most relevantly—coherence...it is hard to see it as a composite work.\"", "Thus he concludes they are \"the work of one genius\".", "Peter Harvey also agrees that \"much\" of the Pali Canon \"must derive from his the Buddha's teachings\".", "Likewise, A. K. Warder has written that \"there is no evidence to suggest that it the shared teaching of the early schools was formulated by anyone other than the Buddha and his immediate followers.\"", "According to Alexander Wynne, \"the internal evidence of the early Buddhist literature proves its historical authenticity.", "\"Other scholars of Buddhist studies have disagreed with the mostly positive view that the early Buddhist texts reflect the teachings of the historical Buddha, arguing that some teachings contained in the early texts are the authentic teachings of the Buddha, but not others.", "According to Tilmann Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.", "According to Tilmann Vetter, the earliest core of the Buddhist teachings is the meditative practice of ''dhyāna'', but \"liberating insight\" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition only at a later date.", "He posits that the Fourth Noble Truths, the Eightfold path and Dependent Origination, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this \"liberating insight\".", "Lambert Schmithausen similarly argues that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting \"liberating insight\", which is attained after mastering the four ''dhyānas'', is a later addition.", "Johannes Bronkhorst also argues that the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of \"liberating insight\".Edward Conze argued that the attempts of European scholars to reconstruct the original teachings of the Buddha were \"all mere guesswork\".=== Homeless life ===The early Buddhist texts depict the Buddha as promoting the life of a homeless and celibate \"''sramana''\", or mendicant, as the ideal way of life for the practice of the path.", "He taught that mendicants or \"beggars\" (''bhikkhus'') were supposed to give up all possessions and to own just a begging bowl and three robes.", "As part of the Buddha's monastic discipline, they were also supposed to rely on the wider lay community for the basic necessities (mainly food, clothing, and lodging).The Buddha's teachings on monastic discipline were preserved in the various Vinaya collections of the different early schools.Buddhist monastics, which included both monks and nuns, were supposed to beg for their food, were not allowed to store up food or eat after noon and they were not allowed to use gold, silver or any valuables.===Society======= Critique of Brahmanism ====Buddha meets a Brahmin, at the Indian Museum, Kolkata.According to Bronkhorst, \"the bearers of the Brahmanical tradition, the Brahmins, did not occupy a dominant position in the area in which the Buddha preached his message.\"", "Nevertheless, the Buddha was acquainted with Brahmanism, and in the early Buddhist Texts, the Buddha references Brahmanical devices.", "For example, in Samyutta Nikaya 111, Majjhima Nikaya 92 and Vinaya i 246 of the Pali Canon, the Buddha praises the Agnihotra as the foremost sacrifice and the Gayatri mantra as the foremost meter.", "In general, the Buddha critiques the Brahmanical religion and social system on certain key points.The Brahmin caste held that the Vedas were eternal revealed (''sruti'') texts.", "The Buddha, on the other hand, did not accept that these texts had any divine authority or value.The Buddha also did not see the Brahmanical rites and practices as useful for spiritual advancement.", "For example, in the Udāna, the Buddha points out that ritual bathing does not lead to purity: only \"truth and morality\" lead to purity.", "He especially critiqued animal sacrifice as taught in Vedas.", "The Buddha contrasted his teachings, which were taught openly to all people, with that of the Brahmins', who kept their mantras secret.The Buddha also critiqued the Brahmins' claims of superior birth and the idea that different castes and bloodlines were inherently pure or impure, noble or ignoble.In the ''Vasettha sutta ''the Buddha argues that the main difference among humans is not birth but their actions and occupations.", "According to the Buddha, one is a \"Brahmin\" (i.e.", "divine, like Brahma) only to the extent that one has cultivated virtue.", "Because of this the early texts report that he proclaimed: \"Not by birth one is a Brahman, not by birth one is a non-Brahman; – by moral action one is a Brahman\"The ''Aggañña Sutta'' explains all classes or varnas can be good or bad and gives a sociological explanation for how they arose, against the Brahmanical idea that they are divinely ordained.", "According to Kancha Ilaiah, the Buddha posed the first contract theory of society.", "The Buddha's teaching then is a single universal moral law, one Dharma valid for everybody, which is opposed to the Brahmanic ethic founded on \"one's own duty\" (''svadharma'') which depends on caste.", "Because of this, all castes including untouchables were welcome in the Buddhist order and when someone joined, they renounced all caste affiliation.==== Socio-political teachings ====The early texts depict the Buddha as giving a deflationary account of the importance of politics to human life.", "Politics is inevitable and is probably even necessary and helpful, but it is also a tremendous waste of time and effort, as well as being a prime temptation to allow ego to run rampant.", "Buddhist political theory denies that people have a moral duty to engage in politics except to a very minimal degree (pay the taxes, obey the laws, maybe vote in the elections), and it actively portrays engagement in politics and the pursuit of enlightenment as being conflicting paths in life.In the ''Aggañña Sutta'', the Buddha teaches a history of how monarchy arose which according to Matthew J. Moore is \"closely analogous to a social contract\".", "The ''Aggañña Sutta'' also provides a social explanation of how different classes arose, in contrast to the Vedic views on social caste.Other early texts like the ''Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta'' and the ''Mahāsudassana Sutta'' focus on the figure of the righteous wheel turning leader (''Cakkavatti'').", "This ideal leader is one who promotes Dharma through his governance.", "He can only achieve his status through moral purity and must promote morality and Dharma to maintain his position.", "According to the ''Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta'', the key duties of a Cakkavatti are: \"establish guard, ward, and protection according to Dhamma for your own household, your troops, your nobles, and vassals, for Brahmins and householders, town and country folk, ascetics and Brahmins, for beasts and birds.", "let no crime prevail in your kingdom, and to those who are in need, give property.\"", "The sutta explains the injunction to give to the needy by telling how a line of wheel-turning monarchs falls because they fail to give to the needy, and thus the kingdom falls into infighting as poverty increases, which then leads to stealing and violence.In the ''Mahāparinibbāna Sutta,'' the Buddha outlines several principles that he promoted among the Vajjika tribal federation, which had a quasi-republican form of government.", "He taught them to \"hold regular and frequent assemblies\", live in harmony and maintain their traditions.", "The Buddha then goes on to promote a similar kind of republican style of government among the Buddhist Sangha, where all monks had equal rights to attend open meetings and there would be no single leader, since The Buddha also chose not to appoint one.", "Some scholars have argued that this fact signals that the Buddha preferred a republican form of government, while others disagree with this position.==== Worldly happiness ====As noted by Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Buddha as depicted in the Pali suttas does not exclusively teach a world-transcending goal, but also teaches laypersons how to achieve worldly happiness (''sukha'').According to Bodhi, the \"most comprehensive\" of the suttas that focus on how to live as a layperson is the ''Sigālovāda Sutta'' (DN 31).", "This sutta outlines how a layperson behaves towards six basic social relationships: \"parents and children, teacher and pupils, husband and wife, friend and friend, employer and workers, lay follower and religious guides.\"", "This Pali text also has parallels in Chinese and in Sanskrit fragments.In another sutta (''Dīghajāṇu Sutta'', AN 8.54) the Buddha teaches two types of happiness.", "First, there is the happiness visible in this very life.", "The Buddha states that four things lead to this happiness: \"The accomplishment of persistent effort, the accomplishment of protection, good friendship, and balanced living.\"", "Similarly, in several other suttas, the Buddha teaches on how to improve family relationships, particularly on the importance of filial love and gratitude as well as marital well-being.Regarding the happiness of the next life, the Buddha (in the ''Dīghajāṇu Sutta'') states that the virtues which lead to a good rebirth are: faith (in the Buddha and the teachings), moral discipline, especially keeping the five precepts, generosity, and wisdom (knowledge of the arising and passing of things).According to the Buddha of the suttas then, achieving a good rebirth is based on cultivating wholesome or skillful (''kusala'') karma, which leads to a good result, and avoiding unwholesome (''akusala'') karma.", "A common list of good karmas taught by the Buddha is the list of ten courses of action (''kammapatha'') as outlined in MN 41 ''Saleyyaka Sutta'' (and its Chinese parallel in SĀ 1042).Good karma is also termed merit (''puñña''), and the Buddha outlines three bases of meritorious actions: giving, moral discipline and meditation (as seen in AN 8:36)." ], [ "Physical characteristics", "Buddhist monks from Nepal.", "Early sources depict the Buddha's as similar to other Buddhist monks.", "Various discourses describe how he \"cut off his hair and beard\" when renouncing the world.", "Likewise, Digha Nikaya 3 has a Brahmin describe the Buddha as a shaved or bald (''mundaka'') man.", "Digha Nikaya 2 also describes how king Ajatashatru is unable to tell which of the monks is the Buddha when approaching the sangha and must ask his minister to point him out.", "Likewise, in MN 140, a mendicant who sees himself as a follower of the Buddha meets the Buddha in person but is unable to recognize him.The Buddha is also described as being handsome and with a clear complexion (Digha I:115; Anguttara I:181), at least in his youth.", "In old age, however, he is described as having a stooped body, with slack and wrinkled limbs.Various Buddhist texts attribute to the Buddha a series of extraordinary physical characteristics, known as \"the 32 Signs of the Great Man\" (Skt.", "''mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa'').According to Anālayo, when they first appear in the Buddhist texts, these physical marks were initially held to be imperceptible to the ordinary person, and required special training to detect.", "Later though, they are depicted as being visible by regular people and as inspiring faith in the Buddha.These characteristics are described in the Digha Nikaya's '''' (D, I:142)." ], [ "In other religions", "=== Hinduism ===Buddha incarnation of Vishnu, from Sunari, Medieval period.", "Gujari Mahal Archaeological MuseumThis Hindu synthesis emerged after the lifetime of the Buddha, between 500–200 BCE and , under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism.", "In response to the success of Buddhism, Gautama also came to be regarded as the 9th avatar of Vishnu.", "Many Hindus claim that Buddha was Hindu and cite a belief that the Buddha is the ninth avatar of Vishnu in support.", "The adoption of the Buddha as an incarnation began at approximately the same time as Hinduism began to predominate and Buddhism to decline in India, the co-option into a list of avatars seen to be an aspect of Hindu efforts to decisively weaken Buddhist power and appeal in India.However, Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and the concepts of Brahman-Atman.", "Consequently, Buddhism is generally classified as a ''nāstika'' school (heterodox, literally \"It is not so\") in contrast to the six orthodox schools of Hinduism.=== Islam ===Islamic prophet Dhu al-Kifl has been identified with the Buddha based on Surah 95:1 of the Qur'an, which references a fig tree – a symbol that does not feature prominently in the lives of any of the other prophets mentioned in the Qur'an.", "It has meanwhile been suggested that the name ''Al-Kifl'' could be a reference to Kapilavastu, the home of Siddartha Gautama as a boy.", "Classical Sunni scholar Tabari reports that Buddhist idols were brought from Afghanistan to Baghdad in the ninth century.", "Such idols had been sold in Buddhist temples next to a mosque in Bukhara, but he does not further discuss the role of Buddha.", "According to the works on Buddhism by Al-Biruni (973–after 1050), views regarding the exact identity of Buddha were diverse.", "Accordingly, some regarded him as the divine incarnate, others as an apostle of the angels or as an Ifrit and others as an apostle of God sent to the human race.", "By the 12th century, al-Shahrastani even compared Buddha to Khidr, described as an ideal human.", "Ibn Nadim, who was also familiar with Manichaean teachings, even identifies Buddha as a prophet, who taught a religion to \"banish Satan\", although he does not mention it explicitly.The Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the minority Ahmadiyya sect.=== Christianity ===''Christ and Buddha'' by Paul Ranson, 1880The Christian saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha.", "The name comes from the Sanskrit ''Bodhisattva'' via Arabic ''Būdhasaf'' and Georgian ''Iodasaph''.", "The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, ''Barlaam and Josaphat'', is based on the life of the Buddha.", "Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast-day 27 November)—though not in the Roman Missal—and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).=== Other religions ===In the Baháʼí Faith, Buddha is regarded as one of the Manifestations of God.Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Laozi.In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism, the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.In Sikhism, Buddha is mentioned as the 23rd avatar of Vishnu in the Chaubis Avtar, a composition in Dasam Granth traditionally and historically attributed to Guru Gobind Singh." ], [ "Artistic depictions", "The earliest artistic depictions of the Buddha found at Bharhut and Sanchi are aniconic and symbolic.", "During this early aniconic period, the Buddha is depicted by other objects or symbols, such as an empty throne, a riderless horse, footprints, a Dharma wheel or a Bodhi tree.", "Since aniconism precludes single devotional figures, most representations are of narrative scenes from his life.", "These continued to be very important after the Buddha's person could be shown, alongside larger statues.", "The art at Sanchi also depicts Jataka tales, narratives of the Buddha in his past lives.Other styles of Indian Buddhist art depict the Buddha in human form, either standing, sitting crossed legged (often in the Lotus Pose) or lying down on one side.", "Iconic representations of the Buddha became particularly popular and widespread after the first century CE.", "Some of these depictions, particularly those of Gandharan Buddhism and Central Asian Buddhism, were influenced by Hellenistic art, a style known as Greco-Buddhist art.", "The subsequently influenced the art of East Asian Buddhist images, as well as those of Southeast Asian Theravada Buddhism.=== Gallery showing different Buddha styles ===File:A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BC, Bharhut, Madhya Pradesh, India, sandstone - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05134.JPG\|A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BC.File:Adoration of the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi Tree Bharhut relief.jpg\|Adoration of the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi Tree, Bharhut.File:Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg\|Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven, Sanchi Stupa No.", "1.File:Miracle at Kapilavastu Suddhodana praying as his son the Buddha rises in the air with only path visible Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg\|The Buddha's Miracle at Kapilavastu, Sanchi Stupa 1.File:Bamboo garden (Venuvana) at Rajagriha, the visit of Bimbisara.jpg\|Bimbisara visiting the Buddha (represented as empty throne) at the Bamboo garden in RajagrihaFile:Andhra pradesh, la grande dipartita, da regione di amaravati, II sec.JPG\|The great departure with riderless horse, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.File:MaraAssault.jpg\|The Assault of Mara, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.File:Isapur Buddha.jpg\|Isapur Buddha, one of the earliest physical depictions of the Buddha, .", "Art of MathuraFile:The Buddha attended by Indra at Indrasala Cave, Mathura 50-100 CE.jpg\|The Buddha attended by Indra at Indrasala Cave, Mathura 50-100 CE.File:Buddha Preaching in Tushita Heaven.", "Amaravati, Satavahana period, 2d century AD.", "Indian Museum, Calcutta.jpg\|Buddha Preaching in Tushita Heaven.", "Amaravati, Satavahana period, 2nd century CE.", "Indian Museum, Kolkata.File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg\|Standing Buddha from Gandhara.File:Berenike Buddha (drawing).jpg\|The ''Berenike Buddha'', discovered in Berenice, Egypt, 2nd century CE.File:Buddha-Vajrapani-Herakles.JPG\|Gandharan Buddha with Vajrapani-Herakles.File:BuddhaTriadAndKushanCouple.JPG\|Kushan period Buddha Triad.File:Buddha Statue, Sanchi 01.jpg\|Buddha statue from Sanchi.File:Four Scenes from the Life of the Buddha - Birth of the Buddha - Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century AD, Gandhara, schist - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05128.JPG\|Birth of the Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE.File:InfantBuddhaTakingABathGandhara2ndCenturyCE.jpg\|The infant Buddha taking a bath, Gandhara 2nd century CE.File:Buddha with radiate halo and mandorla.Gandhara.Met.jpg\|6th century Gandharan Buddha.File:Upper Floor, Cave No.", "6, Ajanta Caves - 1.jpg\|Buddha at Cave No.", "6, Ajanta Caves.File:Standing Buddha Installed by Buddist Monk Yasadinna - Circa 5th Century CE - Jamalpur Mound - ACCN 00-A-5 - Government Museum Mathura Golden background.jpg\|Standing Buddha, .File:Sarnath standing Buddha 5th century CE.jpg\|Sarnath standing Buddha, 5th century CE.File:British Museum - Seated Buddha (Gupta period).JPG\|Seated Buddha, Gupta period.File:Gal Viharaya 02.jpg\|Seated Buddha at Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka.File:Clevelandart 1914.567.jpg\|Chinese Stele with Sakyamuni and Bodhisattvas, Wei period, 536 CE.File:Asuka dera daibutsu.jpg\|The Shakyamuni Daibutsu Bronze, , Nara, Japan.File:Buddha Seguntang Palembang.jpg\|Amaravati style Buddha of Srivijaya period, Palembang, Indonesia, 7th century.File:Seokguram Buddha.JPG\|Korean Seokguram Cave Buddha, .File:Buddha Mendut.jpg\|Seated Buddha Vairocana flanked by Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani of Mendut temple, Central Java, Indonesia, early 9th century.File:Stupa Borobudur.jpg\|Buddha in the exposed stupa of Borobudur mandala, Central Java, Indonesia, .File:023 Vairocana Buddha, 9c, Srivijaya (35212721926).jpg\|Vairocana Buddha of Srivijaya style, Southern Thailand, 9th century.File:Seated Shaka Nyorai (Sakyamuni, Gautama Buddha).jpg\|Seated Buddha, Japan, Heian period, 9th－10th century.File:FireLanceAndGrenade10thCenturyDunhuang.jpg\|Attack of Mara, 10th century, Dunhuang.File:Naga-enthroned Buddha - Beyond Angkor - Cleveland Museum of Art (40887945882).jpg\|Cambodian Buddha with Mucalinda Nāga, , Banteay Chhmar, CambodiaFile:Thai - Buddha at the Moment of Victory - Walters 542775.jpg\|15th century Sukhothai Buddha.File:Thai - Walking Buddha - Walters 542765.jpg\|15th century Sukhothai Walking Buddha.File:Sakyamuni, Lao Tzu, and Confucius - Google Art Project.jpg\|Sakyamuni, Lao Tzu, and Confucius, c. from 1368 until 1644.File:Shakyamuni detail, Clevelandart 1991.9 (cropped).jpg\|Chinese depiction of Shakyamuni, 1600.File:Sakyamuni Buddha on Snowy Mount, Tay Phuong pagoda, Ha Tay province, 1794 AD, lacquered wood - Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts - Hanoi, Vietnam - DSC05083.JPG\|Buddha on the snowy mountain, Vietnam, 18th century File:Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes - Google Art Project.jpg\|Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes, Tibetan, 19th centuryFile:Bodh Gaya - Wat Thai - Main Buddha Statue (9228460504).jpg\|Golden Thai Buddha statue, Bodh Gaya.File:Gautama Buddha-1.jpg\|Gautama statue, Shanyuan Temple, Liaoning Province, China.File:P1040704.JPG\|Burmese style Buddha, Shwedagon pagoda, Yangon.File:Large Gautama Buddha statue in Buddha Park of Ravangla, Sikkim.jpg\|Large Gautama Buddha statue in Buddha Park of Ravangla.File:MET DP264118 (cropped).jpg\|Head of Buddha, from Hadda, Afghanistan, ca.", "5th–6th century.", "Metropolitan Museum of Art.=== In other media ===; Films* ''Buddha Dev'' (''Life of Lord Buddha''), a 1923 Indian silent film by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, first depiction of the Buddha on film with Bhaurao Datar in the title role.", "* ''Prem Sanyas'' (''The Light of Asia''), a 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai based on Arnold's epic poem with Rai also portraying the Buddha.", "* ''Dedication of the Great Buddha'' (大仏開眼 or Daibutsu Kaigen), a 1952 Japanese feature film representing the life of Buddha.", "* ''Gotoma the Buddha'', a 1957 Indian documentary film directed by Rajbans Khanna and produced by Bimal Roy.", "* ''Siddhartha'', a 1972 drama film by Conrad Rooks, an adaptation Hesse's novel.", "It stars Shashi Kapoor as Siddhartha, a contemporary of the Buddha.", "* ''Little Buddha'', a 1994 film by Bernardo Bertolucci, the film stars Keanu Reeves as Prince Siddhartha.", "* ''The Legend of Buddha'', a 2004 Indian animated film by Shamboo Falke.", "* ''The Life of Buddha'', or Prawat Phra Phuttajao, a 2007 Thai animated feature film about the life of Gautama Buddha, based on the Tipitaka.", "* ''Tathagatha Buddha'', a 2008 Indian film by Allani Sridhar.", "Based on Sadguru Sivananda Murthy's book ''Gautama Buddha'', it stars Sunil Sharma as the Buddha.", "* ''Sri Siddhartha Gautama'', a 2013 Sinhalese epic biographical film based on the life of Lord Buddha.", "* ''A Journey of Samyak Buddha'', a 2013 Indian film by Praveen Damle, based on B. R. Ambedkar's 1957 Navayana book ''The Buddha and His Dhamma'' with Abhishek Urade in the title role.", "; Television* ''Buddha'', a 1996 Indian series which aired on Sony TV.", "It stars Arun Govil as the Buddha.", "* '' The Buddha'' 2010 PBS documentary by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere.", "* ''Buddha'', a 2013 Indian drama series on Zee TV starring Himanshu Soni in the title role.", "; Literature* ''The Light of Asia'', an 1879 epic poem by Edwin Arnold* ''The Buddha and His Dhamma'', a treatise on Buddha's life and philosophy, by B. R. Ambedkar* ''Before He Was Buddha: The Life of Siddhartha'', by Hammalawa Saddhatissa* ''Buddha'', a manga series that ran from 1972 to 1983 by Osamu Tezuka* ''Siddhartha'' novel by Hermann Hesse, written in German in 1922* ''Lord of Light'', a novel by Roger Zelazny depicts a man in a far future Earth Colony who takes on the name and teachings of the Buddha* ''Creation'', a 1981 novel by Gore Vidal, includes the Buddha as one of the religious figures that the main character encounters; Music* ''The Light of Asia'', an 1886 oratorio by Dudley Buck based on Arnold's poem* ''Karuna Nadee'', a 2010 oratorio by Dinesh Subasinghe" ], [ "See also", "* Buddhist pilgrimage sites* Family of Gautama Buddha* List of Indian philosophers* List of places where Gautama Buddha stayed* Miracles of Gautama Buddha" ], [ "References", "===Notes======Citations======Sources===* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , 1120 pp.", "* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * .", "* * .", "* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * in * in * * * * * * * " ], [ "Further reading", " * * * * * * * * * * * * * * '''The Buddha'''* * * * '''Early Buddhism'''* * '''Buddhism general'''* " ], [ "External links", " * * * *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bridge" ], [ "Introduction", "A temporary wooden footbridge leading to Luang Prabang in LaosA '''bridge''' is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the way underneath.", "It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross.", "There are many different designs of bridges, each serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations.", "Designs of bridges vary depending on factors such as the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it.The earliest bridges were likely made with fallen trees and stepping stones.", "The Neolithic people built boardwalk bridges across marshland.", "The Arkadiko Bridge, dating from the 13th century BC, in the Peloponnese is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use." ], [ "Etymology", "The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' traces the origin of the word ''bridge'' to an Old English word ''brycg'', of the same meaning.The Oxford English Dictionary also notes that there is some suggestion that the word can be traced directly back to Proto-Indo-European ''bʰrēw-.''", "However, they also note that \"this poses semantic problems.\"", "The origin of the word for the card game of the same name is unknown." ], [ "History", "Seasonal bridge north of Jispa in Himachal Pradesh, IndiaThe covered bridge in West Montrose, Ontario, CanadaThe Albertus L. Meyers Bridge in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S., \"one of the earliest surviving examples of monumental, reinforced concrete construction,\" according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.The simplest and earliest types of bridges were stepping stones.", "Neolithic people also built a form of boardwalk across marshes; examples of such bridges include the Sweet Track and the Post Track in England, approximately 6000 years old.", "Ancient people would also have used log bridges consisting of logs that fell naturally or were intentionally felled or placed across streams.", "Some of the first human-made bridges with significant span were probably intentionally felled trees.", "Among the oldest timber bridges is the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden bridge that crossed upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland; prehistoric timber pilings discovered to the west of the Seedamm causeway date back to 1523 BC.", "The first wooden footbridge there led across Lake Zürich; it was reconstructed several times through the late 2nd century AD, when the Roman Empire built a wooden bridge to carry transport across the lake.", "Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake that was used until 1878; it was approximately long and wide.", "On April 6, 2001, a reconstruction of the original wooden footbridge was opened; it is also the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland.The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges part of a former network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots, between the fort of Tiryns and town of Epidauros in the Peloponnese, in southern Greece.", "Dating to the Greek Bronze Age (13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use.", "Several intact arched stone bridges from the Hellenistic era can be found in the Peloponnese.The greatest bridge builders of antiquity were the ancient Romans.", "The Romans built arch bridges and aqueducts that could stand in conditions that would damage or destroy earlier designs.", "Some stand today.", "An example is the Alcántara Bridge, built over the river Tagus, in Spain.", "The Romans also used cement, which reduced the variation of strength found in natural stone.", "One type of cement, called pozzolana, consisted of water, lime, sand, and volcanic rock.", "Brick and mortar bridges were built after the Roman era, as the technology for cement was lost (then later rediscovered).In India, the ''Arthashastra'' treatise by Kautilya mentions the construction of dams and bridges.", "A Mauryan bridge near Girnar was surveyed by James Princep.", "The bridge was swept away during a flood, and later repaired by Puspagupta, the chief architect of emperor Chandragupta I.", "The use of stronger bridges using plaited bamboo and iron chain was visible in India by about the 4th century.", "A number of bridges, both for military and commercial purposes, were constructed by the Mughal administration in India.Although large bridges of wooden construction existed in China at the time of the Warring States period, the oldest surviving stone bridge in China is the Zhaozhou Bridge, built from 595 to 605 AD during the Sui dynasty.", "This bridge is also historically significant as it is the world's oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge.", "European segmental arch bridges date back to at least the Alconétar Bridge (approximately 2nd century AD), while the enormous Roman era Trajan's Bridge (105 AD) featured open-spandrel segmental arches in wooden construction.Rope bridges, a simple type of suspension bridge, were used by the Inca civilization in the Andes mountains of South America, just prior to European colonization in the 16th century.The Ashanti built bridges over streams and rivers.", "They were constructed by pounding four large forked tree trunks into the stream bed, placing beams along these forked pillars, then positioning cross-beams that were finally covered with four to six inches of dirt.During the 18th century, there were many innovations in the design of timber bridges by Hans Ulrich Grubenmann, Johannes Grubenmann, as well as others.", "The first book on bridge engineering was written by Hubert Gautier in 1716.A major breakthrough in bridge technology came with the erection of the Iron Bridge in Shropshire, England in 1779.It used cast iron for the first time as arches to cross the river Severn.", "With the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems of wrought iron were developed for larger bridges, but iron does not have the tensile strength to support large loads.", "With the advent of steel, which has a high tensile strength, much larger bridges were built, many using the ideas of Gustave Eiffel.In Canada and the United States, numerous timber covered bridges were built in the late 1700s to the late 1800s, reminiscent of earlier designs in Germany and Switzerland.", "Some covered bridges were also built in Asia.", "In later years, some were partly made of stone or metal but the trusses were usually still made of wood; in the United States, there were three styles of trusses, the Queen Post, the Burr Arch and the Town Lattice.", "Hundreds of these structures still stand in North America.", "They were brought to the attention of the general public in the 1990s by the novel, movie and play ''The Bridges of Madison County''.In 1927, welding pioneer Stefan Bryła designed the first welded road bridge in the world, the Maurzyce Bridge which was later built across the river Słudwia at Maurzyce near Łowicz, Poland in 1929.In 1995, the American Welding Society presented the Historic Welded Structure Award for the bridge to Poland." ], [ "Types of bridges", "Bridges can be categorized in several different ways.", "Common categories include the type of structural elements used, by what they carry, whether they are fixed or movable, and by the materials used.===Structure types===Bridges may be classified by how the actions of tension, compression, bending, torsion and shear are distributed through their structure.", "Most bridges will employ all of these to some degree, but only a few will predominate.", "The separation of forces and moments may be quite clear.", "In a suspension or cable-stayed bridge, the elements in tension are distinct in shape and placement.", "In other cases the forces may be distributed among a large number of members, as in a truss.200px'''Beam bridge'''Beam bridges are horizontal beams supported at each end by substructure units and can be either ''simply supported'' when the beams only connect across a single span, or ''continuous'' when the beams are connected across two or more spans.", "When there are multiple spans, the intermediate supports are known as piers.", "The earliest beam bridges were simple logs that sat across streams and similar simple structures.", "In modern times, beam bridges can range from small, wooden beams to large, steel boxes.", "The vertical force on the bridge becomes a shear and flexural load on the beam which is transferred down its length to the substructures on either side They are typically made of steel, concrete or wood.", "Girder bridges and plate girder bridges, usually made from steel, are types of beam bridges.", "Box girder bridges, made from steel, concrete, or both, are also beam bridges.", "Beam bridge spans rarely exceed long, as the flexural stresses increase proportionally to the square of the length (and deflection increases proportionally to the 4th power of the length).", "However, the main span of the Rio–Niteroi Bridge, a box girder bridge, is .The world's longest beam bridge is Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in southern Louisiana in the United States, at , with individual spans of .", "Beam bridges are the simplest and oldest type of bridge in use today, and are a popular type.200px'''Truss bridge''' A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss.", "This truss is a structure of connected elements forming triangular units.", "The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads.", "Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges.", "The basic types of truss bridges shown in this article have simple designs which could be easily analyzed by nineteenth and early twentieth-century engineers.", "A truss bridge is economical to construct owing to its efficient use of materials.200px'''Cantilever bridge'''Cantilever bridges are built using cantilevers—horizontal beams supported on only one end.", "Most cantilever bridges use a pair of continuous spans that extend from opposite sides of the supporting piers to meet at the center of the obstacle the bridge crosses.", "Cantilever bridges are constructed using much the same materials and techniques as beam bridges.", "The difference comes in the action of the forces through the bridge.Some cantilever bridges also have a smaller beam connecting the two cantilevers, for extra strength.The largest cantilever bridge is the Quebec Bridge in Quebec, Canada.200px'''Arch bridge'''Arch bridges have abutments at each end.", "The weight of the bridge is thrust into the abutments at either side.", "The earliest known arch bridges were built by the Greeks, and include the Arkadiko Bridge.With the span of , the Solkan Bridge over the Soča River at Solkan in Slovenia is the second-largest stone bridge in the world and the longest railroad stone bridge.", "It was completed in 1905.Its arch, which was constructed from over of stone blocks in just 18 days, is the second-largest stone arch in the world, surpassed only by the Friedensbrücke (Syratalviadukt) in Plauen, and the largest railroad stone arch.", "The arch of the Friedensbrücke, which was built in the same year, has the span of and crosses the valley of the Syrabach River.", "The difference between the two is that the Solkan Bridge was built from stone blocks, whereas the Friedensbrücke was built from a mixture of crushed stone and cement mortar.The world's largest arch bridge is the Chaotianmen Bridge over the Yangtze River with a length of and a span of .", "The bridge was opened April 29, 2009, in Chongqing, China.200px'''Tied arch bridge'''Tied-arch bridges have an arch-shaped superstructure, but differ from conventional arch bridges.", "Instead of transferring the weight of the bridge and traffic loads into thrust forces into the abutments, the ends of the arches are restrained by tension in the bottom chord of the structure.", "They are also called bowstring arches.200px'''Suspension bridge'''Suspension bridges are suspended from cables.", "The earliest suspension bridges were made of ropes or vines covered with pieces of bamboo.", "In modern bridges, the cables hang from towers that are attached to caissons or cofferdams.", "The caissons or cofferdams are implanted deep into the bed of the lake, river or sea.", "Sub-types include the simple suspension bridge, the stressed ribbon bridge, the underspanned suspension bridge, the suspended-deck suspension bridge, and the self-anchored suspension bridge.", "There is also what is sometimes called a \"semi-suspension\" bridge, of which the Ferry Bridge in Burton-upon-Trent is the only one of its kind in Europe.The longest suspension bridge in the world is the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey.200px'''Cable-stayed bridge'''Cable-stayed bridges, like suspension bridges, are held up by cables.", "However, in a cable-stayed bridge, less cable is required and the towers holding the cables are proportionately higher.", "The first known cable-stayed bridge was designed in 1784 by C. T. (or C.", "J.)", "Löscher.The longest cable-stayed bridge since 2012 is the Russky Bridge in Vladivostok, Russia.200px'''Ford bridge'''A ford bridge is designed to allow the flow of water over the way.Some Engineers sub-divide 'beam' bridges into slab, beam-and-slab and box girder on the basis of their cross-section.", "A slab can be solid or voided (though this is no longer favored for inspectability reasons) while beam-and-slab consists of concrete or steel girders connected by a concrete slab.", "A box-girder cross-section consists of a single-cell or multi-cellular box.", "In recent years, integral bridge construction has also become popular.===Fixed or movable bridges===U.S.", "ArmyMost bridges are fixed bridges, meaning they have no moving parts and stay in one place until they fail or are demolished.", "Temporary bridges, such as Bailey bridges, are designed to be assembled, taken apart, transported to a different site, and re-used.", "They are important in military engineering and are also used to carry traffic while an old bridge is being rebuilt.", "Movable bridges are designed to move out of the way of boats or other kinds of traffic, which would otherwise be too tall to fit.", "These are generally electrically powered.The Tank bridge transporter (TBT) has the same cross-country performance as a tank even when fully loaded.", "It can deploy, drop off and load bridges independently, but it cannot recover them.===Double-decked bridges===The double-decked George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City and Bergen County, New Jersey, is the world's busiest bridge, carrying 106 million vehicles annually.Double-decked (or double-decker) bridges have two levels, such as the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to Bergen County, New Jersey, US, as the world's busiest bridge, carrying 102 million vehicles annually; truss work between the roadway levels provided stiffness to the roadways and reduced movement of the upper level when the lower level was installed three decades after the upper level.", "The Tsing Ma Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge in Hong Kong have six lanes on their upper decks, and on their lower decks there are two lanes and a pair of tracks for MTR metro trains.", "Some double-decked bridges only use one level for street traffic; the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis reserves its lower level for automobile and light rail traffic and its upper level for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (predominantly students at the University of Minnesota).", "Likewise, in Toronto, the Prince Edward Viaduct has five lanes of motor traffic, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks on its upper deck; and a pair of tracks for the Bloor–Danforth subway line on its lower deck.", "The western span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge also has two levels.Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge across the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne, completed in 1849, is an early example of a double-decked bridge.", "The upper level carries a railway, and the lower level is used for road traffic.", "Other examples include Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and Craigavon Bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland.", "The Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö consists of a four-lane highway on the upper level and a pair of railway tracks at the lower level.", "Tower Bridge in London is different example of a double-decked bridge, with the central section consisting of a low-level bascule span and a high-level footbridge.===Viaducts===A viaduct is made up of multiple bridges connected into one longer structure.", "The longest and some of the highest bridges are viaducts, such as the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and Millau Viaduct.===Multi-way bridge===Tridge, a multi-way bridge in Midland, Michigan, U.S.A multi-way bridge has three or more separate spans which meet near the center of the bridge.", "Multi-way bridges with only three spans appear as a \"T\" or \"Y\" when viewed from above.", "Multi-way bridges are extremely rare.", "The Tridge, Margaret Bridge, and Zanesville Y-Bridge are examples.===Bridge types by use===A bridge can be categorized by what it is designed to carry, such as trains, pedestrian or road traffic ('''road bridge'''), a pipeline ('''Pipe bridge''') or waterway for water transport or barge traffic.", "An aqueduct is a bridge that carries water, resembling a viaduct, which is a bridge that connects points of equal height.", "A road-rail bridge carries both road and rail traffic.", "Overway is a term for a bridge that separates incompatible intersecting traffic, especially road and rail.", "A bridge can carry overhead power lines as does the Storstrøm Bridge.Some bridges accommodate other purposes, such as the tower of Nový Most Bridge in Bratislava, which features a restaurant, or a bridge-restaurant which is a bridge built to serve as a restaurant.", "Other suspension bridge towers carry transmission antennas.Conservationists use wildlife overpasses to reduce habitat fragmentation and animal-vehicle collisions.", "The first animal bridges sprung up in France in the 1950s, and these types of bridges are now used worldwide to protect both large and small wildlife.Bridges are subject to unplanned uses as well.", "The areas underneath some bridges have become makeshift shelters and homes to homeless people, and the undertimbers of bridges all around the world are spots of prevalent graffiti.", "Some bridges attract people attempting suicide, and become known as suicide bridges.===Bridge types by material===The Iron Bridge in Shropshire, England, completed in 1781, the first cast iron bridgeKrämerbrücke in Erfurt, Germany, a bridge with half timbered buildingsA small stone bridge in Othonoi, GreeceThe materials used to build the structure are also used to categorize bridges.", "Until the end of the 18th century, bridges were made out of timber, stone and masonry.", "Modern bridges are currently built in concrete, steel, fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), stainless steel or combinations of those materials.", "Living bridges have been constructed of live plants such as ''Ficus elastica'' tree roots in India and wisteria vines in Japan.", "Bridge type Materials used Cantilever For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete.", "Suspension The cables are usually made of steel cables galvanised with zinc, along with most of the bridge, but some bridges are still made with steel-reinforced concrete.", "Arch Stone, brick and other such materials that are strong in compression and somewhat so in shear.", "Beam Beam bridges can use pre-stressed concrete, an inexpensive building material, which is then embedded with rebar.", "The resulting bridge can resist both compression and tension forces.", "Truss The triangular pieces of truss bridges are manufactured from straight and steel bars, according to the truss bridge designs." ], [ "Analysis and design", "A highway overpass over construction on Interstate 5 in Burbank, California, in 2021Unlike buildings whose design is led by architects, bridges are usually designed by engineers.", "This follows from the importance of the engineering requirements; namely spanning the obstacle and having the durability to survive, with minimal maintenance, in an aggressive outdoor environment.", "Bridges are first analysed; the bending moment and shear force distributions are calculated due to the applied loads.", "For this, the finite element method is the most popular.", "The analysis can be one-, two-, or three-dimensional.", "For the majority of bridges, a two-dimensional plate model (often with stiffening beams) is sufficient or an upstand finite element model.", "On completion of the analysis, the bridge is designed to resist the applied bending moments and shear forces, section sizes are selected with sufficient capacity to resist the stresses.", "Many bridges are made of prestressed concrete which has good durability properties, either by pre-tensioning of beams prior to installation or post-tensioning on site.In most countries, bridges, like other structures, are designed according to Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) principles.", "In simple terms, this means that the load is factored up by a factor greater than unity, while the resistance or capacity of the structure is factored down, by a factor less than unity.", "The effect of the factored load (stress, bending moment) should be less than the factored resistance to that effect.", "Both of these factors allow for uncertainty and are greater when the uncertainty is greater." ], [ "Aesthetics", "The Prins Clausbrug across the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in Utrecht, NetherlandsThe World Heritage Site of Stari Most (Old Bridge) gives its name to the city of Mostar in Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe bridge at Gatwick Airport in London, under which planes passMost bridges are utilitarian in appearance, but in some cases, the appearance of the bridge can have great importance.", "Often, this is the case with a large bridge that serves as an entrance to a city, or crosses over a main harbor entrance.", "These are sometimes known as signature bridges.", "Designers of bridges in parks and along parkways often place more importance on aesthetics, as well.", "Examples include the stone-faced bridges along the Taconic State Parkway in New York.Bridges are typically more aesthetically pleasing if they are simple in shape, the deck is thinner in proportion to its span, the lines of the structure are continuous, and the shapes of the structural elements reflect the forces acting on them.", "To create a beautiful image, some bridges are built much taller than necessary.", "This type, often found in east-Asian style gardens, is called a Moon bridge, evoking a rising full moon.", "Other garden bridges may cross only a dry bed of stream-washed pebbles, intended only to convey an impression of a stream.", "Often in palaces, a bridge will be built over an artificial waterway as symbolic of a passage to an important place or state of mind.", "A set of five bridges cross a sinuous waterway in an important courtyard of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.", "The central bridge was reserved exclusively for the use of the Emperor and Empress, with their attendants." ], [ "Bridge maintenance", "A highway bridge treated with high-frequency impact treatmentThe estimated life of bridges varies between 25 and 80 years depending on location and material.", "Bridges may age hundred years with proper maintenance and rehabilitation.", "Bridge maintenance consisting of a combination of structural health monitoring and testing.", "This is regulated in country-specific engineer standards and includes an ongoing monitoring every three to six months, a simple test or inspection every two to three years and a major inspection every six to ten years.", "In Europe, the cost of maintenance is considerable and is higher in some countries than spending on new bridges.", "The lifetime of welded steel bridges can be significantly extended by aftertreatment of the weld transitions.", "This results in a potential high benefit, using existing bridges far beyond the planned lifetime." ], [ "Bridge traffic loading", "While the response of a bridge to the applied loading is well understood, the applied traffic loading itself is still the subject of research.", "This is a statistical problem as loading is highly variable, particularly for road bridges.", "Load Effects in bridges (stresses, bending moments) are designed for using the principles of Load and Resistance Factor Design.", "Before factoring to allow for uncertainty, the load effect is generally considered to be the maximum characteristic value in a specified return period.", "Notably, in Europe, it is the maximum value expected in 1000 years.Bridge standards generally include a load model, deemed to represent the characteristic maximum load to be expected in the return period.", "In the past, these load models were agreed by standard drafting committees of experts but today, this situation is changing.", "It is now possible to measure the components of bridge traffic load, to weigh trucks, using weigh-in-motion (WIM) technologies.", "With extensive WIM databases, it is possible to calculate the maximum expected load effect in the specified return period.", "This is an active area of research, addressing issues of opposing direction lanes, side-by-side (same direction) lanes, traffic growth, permit/non-permit vehicles and long-span bridges (see below).", "Rather than repeat this complex process every time a bridge is to be designed, standards authorities specify simplified notional load models, notably HL-93, intended to give the same load effects as the characteristic maximum values.", "The Eurocode is an example of a standard for bridge traffic loading that was developed in this way.=== Traffic loading on long span bridges ===Traffic on Forth Road Bridge in Scotland prior to its opening to general traffic; traffic has now been moved to the Queensferry Crossing (on left)Most bridge standards are only applicable for short and medium spans - for example, the Eurocode is only applicable for loaded lengths up to 200 m. Longer spans are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.", "It is generally accepted that the intensity of load reduces as span increases because the probability of many trucks being closely spaced and extremely heavy reduces as the number of trucks involved increases.", "It is also generally assumed that short spans are governed by a small number of trucks traveling at high speed, with an allowance for dynamics.", "Longer spans on the other hand, are governed by congested traffic and no allowance for dynamics is needed.", "Calculating the loading due to congested traffic remains a challenge as there is a paucity of data on inter-vehicle gaps, both within-lane and inter-lane, in congested conditions.", "Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems provide data on inter-vehicle gaps but only operate well in free flowing traffic conditions.", "Some authors have used cameras to measure gaps and vehicle lengths in jammed situations and have inferred weights from lengths using WIM data.", "Others have used microsimulation to generate typical clusters of vehicles on the bridge." ], [ "Bridge vibration", "Bridges vibrate under load and this contributes, to a greater or lesser extent, to the stresses.", "Vibration and dynamics are generally more significant for slender structures such as pedestrian bridges and long-span road or rail bridges.", "One of the most famous examples is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that collapsed shortly after being constructed due to excessive vibration.", "More recently, the Millennium Bridge in London vibrated excessively under pedestrian loading and was closed and retrofitted with a system of dampers.", "For smaller bridges, dynamics is not catastrophic but can contribute an added amplification to the stresses due to static effects.", "For example, the Eurocode for bridge loading specifies amplifications of between 10% and 70%, depending on the span, the number of traffic lanes and the type of stress (bending moment or shear force).=== Vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction ===There have been many studies of the dynamic interaction between vehicles and bridges during vehicle crossing events.", "Fryba did pioneering work on the interaction of a moving load and an Euler-Bernoulli beam.", "With increased computing power, vehicle-bridge interaction (VBI) models have become ever more sophisticated.", "The concern is that one of the many natural frequencies associated with the vehicle will resonate with the bridge first natural frequency.", "The vehicle-related frequencies include body bounce and axle hop but there are also pseudo-frequencies associated with the vehicle's speed of crossing and there are many frequencies associated with the surface profile.", "Given the wide variety of heavy vehicles on road bridges, a statistical approach has been suggested, with VBI analyses carried out for many statically extreme loading events." ], [ "Bridge failures", "Mississippi Highway 33 bridge over the Homochitto River failed due to flood-induced erosion.The failure of bridges is of special concern for structural engineers in trying to learn lessons vital to bridge design, construction and maintenance.The failure of bridges first assumed national interest in Britain during the Victorian era when many new designs were being built, often using new materials, with some of them failing catastrophically.In the United States, the National Bridge Inventory tracks the structural evaluations of all bridges, including designations such as \"structurally deficient\" and \"functionally obsolete\"." ], [ "Bridge health monitoring", "There are several methods used to monitor the condition of large structures like bridges.", "Many long-span bridges are now routinely monitored with a range of sensors, including strain transducers, accelerometers, tiltmeters, and GPS.", "Accelerometers have the advantage that they are inertial, i.e., they do not require a reference point to measure from.", "This is often a problem for distance or deflection measurement, especially if the bridge is over water.", "Crowdsourcing bridge conditions by accessing data passively captured by cell phones, which routinely include accelerometers and GPS sensors, has been suggested as an alternative to including sensors during bridge construction and an augment for professional examinations.An option for structural-integrity monitoring is \"non-contact monitoring\", which uses the Doppler effect (Doppler shift).", "A laser beam from a Laser Doppler Vibrometer is directed at the point of interest, and the vibration amplitude and frequency are extracted from the Doppler shift of the laser beam frequency due to the motion of the surface.", "The advantage of this method is that the setup time for the equipment is faster and, unlike an accelerometer, this makes measurements possible on multiple structures in as short a time as possible.", "Additionally, this method can measure specific points on a bridge that might be difficult to access.", "However, vibrometers are relatively expensive and have the disadvantage that a reference point is needed to measure from.Snapshots in time of the external condition of a bridge can be recorded using Lidar to aid bridge inspection.", "This can provide measurement of the bridge geometry (to facilitate the building of a computer model) but the accuracy is generally insufficient to measure bridge deflections under load.While larger modern bridges are routinely monitored electronically, smaller bridges are generally inspected visually by trained inspectors.", "There is considerable research interest in the challenge of smaller bridges as they are often remote and do not have electrical power on site.", "Possible solutions are the installation of sensors on a specialist inspection vehicle and the use of its measurements as it drives over the bridge to infer information about the bridge condition.", "These vehicles can be equipped with accelerometers, gyrometers, Laser Doppler Vibrometers and some even have the capability to apply a resonant force to the road surface in order to dynamically excite the bridge at its resonant frequency." ], [ "Visual index" ], [ "See also", " Air draft* Architectural engineering* Bridge chapel* Bridge tower* Bridge to nowhere* Bridges Act* BS 5400* Causeway* Coal trestle* Covered bridges* Cross-sea traffic ways* Culvert* Deck* Devil's Bridge* Footbridge* Jet bridge* Landscape architecture* Megaproject* Military bridges* Orphan bridge* Outline of bridges* Overpass* Pontoon bridge* Rigid-frame bridge* Structure gauge* Transporter bridge* Tensegrity* Trestle bridge* Tunnel" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* * * * Whitney, Charles S. ''Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction''.", "Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003.", "(Unabridged republication of ''Bridges : a study in their art, science, and evolution''.", "1929.)" ], [ "External links", "* Digital Bridge: Bridges of the Nineteenth Century , a collection of digitized books at Lehigh University* Structurae – International Database and Gallery of Engineerings Structures with over 10000 Bridges.", "* U.S. Federal Highway Administration Bridge Technology* The Museum of Japanese Timber Bridges Fukuoka University* \"bridge-info.org\": site for bridges" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Beadwork" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Beadwork''' is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth.", "Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary by the kind of art produced.", "Most often, beadwork is a form of personal adornment (e.g.", "jewelry), but it also commonly makes up other artworks.Beadwork in progress on a bead weaving loom.", "Black, orange and transparent seed beads are being used to make a bracelet.Beadwork techniques are broadly divided into several categories, including loom and off-loom weaving, stringing, bead embroidery, bead crochet, bead knitting, and bead tatting." ], [ "Ancient beading", "A string of blue faience beads from north Lisht, a village in the Memphite region of Egypt, c. 1802–1450 B.C.The art of creating and utilizing beads is ancient, and ostrich shell beads discovered in Africa can be carbon-dated to 10,000 BC.", "Faience beads, a type of ceramic created by mixing powdered clays, lime, soda, and silica sand with water until a paste forms, then molding it around a stick or straw and firing until hard, were notably used in ancient Egyptian jewelry from the First Dynasty (beginning in the early Bronze Age) onward.", "Faience and other ceramic beads with vitrified quartz coatings predate pure glass beads.Beads and work created with them were found near-ubiquitously across the ancient world, often made of locally available materials.", "For example, the Athabaskan peoples of Alaska used tusk shells (scaphopod mollusks), which are naturally hollow, as beads and incorporated them into elaborate jewelry.Beadwork has historically been used for religious purposes, as good luck talismans, for barter and trade, and for ritual exchange." ], [ "Modern beading", "Today, beadwork is commonly practiced by jewelers, hobbyists, and contemporary artists; artists known for using beadwork as a medium include Liza Lou, Ran Hwang, Hew Locke, Jeffery Gibson, and Joyce J. Scott.Some ancient stitches have become especially popular among contemporary artists.", "The off-loom peyote stitch, for example, is used in Native American Church members' beadwork." ], [ "European beadwork", "Modern beaded flowers, yellow made in the French beading technique and pink in the Victorian beading technique.Russian Countess Olga Orlova-Davydova wearing a heavily beaded kokoshnik at the Masquerade Costume Ball of 1903Beadwork in Europe, much like in Egypt and the Americas, can be traced to the use of bone and shell as adornments amongst early modern humans.", "As glassmaking increased in popularity through the Middle Ages, glass beads began to appear extensively in bead embroidery, beaded necklaces, and similar wares.By 1291, artists in Murano, Italy had begun production of intricate glass Murano beads inspired by Venetian glassware.", "With the advent of lampwork glass, Europeans started producing seed beads for embroidery, crochet, and other, mostly off-loom techniques.", "Czech seed beads are among the most popular contemporary bead styles.One technique of European beadwork is beaded \"immortal\" flowers.", "The technique's origins, though indistinct, are generally agreed to range at least several centuries back, as far back as at least the 16th if not 14th century.", "Two mayor styles were developed: French beading, in which the wire only goes through each bead once and the wires are arranged vertically, and Victorian (also called English or Russian) beading, in which the wires go through each bead twice and are arranged horizontally.", "In the late 19th and early 20th century, the beaded flowers were used to create long lasting funeral wreaths, called (French for \"immortals\").", "In the mid-20th century, the art was introduced to United States with sales of flower beading kits.", "In 1960s to 1970s, books by emerging beaded flower designers emerged.", "In the 1990s and 2000s, there was another revival of interest in the craft, exemplified for example by the funeral wreaths made to commemorate September 11 attacks victims.Beadwork is a central component of the traditional dress of many European peoples.", "In Northern Russia, for example, the Kokoshnik headdress typically includes river pearl netting around the forehead in addition to traditional bead embroidery." ], [ "Native American beadwork", "Examples of contemporary Native American beadworkNative American beadwork, already established via the use of materials like shells, dendrite, claws, and bone, evolved to incorporate glass beads as Europeans brought them to the Americas beginning in the early 17th century.Native beadwork today heavily utilizes small glass beads, but artists also continue to use traditionally important materials.", "Wampum shells, for instance, are ceremonially and politically important to a range of Eastern Woodlands tribes, and are used to depict important events.Several Native American artists from a wide range of nations are considered to be at the forefront of modern American bead working.", "These artists include Teri Greeves (Kiowa, known for beaded commentaries on Native voting rights), Marcus Amerman (Choctaw, known for realistic beaded portraits of historical figures and celebrities), and Jamie Okuma (Luiseño-Shoshone-Bannock, known for beaded dolls).=== Great Lakes tribes ===Ursuline nuns in the Great Lakes introduced floral patterns to young Indigenous women, who quickly applied them to beadwork.", "Ojibwe women in the area created ornately decorated shoulder bags known as ''gashkibidaagan'' (bandolier bags).=== Eastern Woodlands tribes ===Innu, Mi'kmaq, Penobscot, and Haudenosaunee peoples developed, and are known for, beading symmetrical scroll motifs, most often in white beads.", "Tribes of the Iroqouis Confederacy practice raised beading, where threads are pulled taut to force beads into a bas-relief, which creates a three-dimensional effect.=== Southeastern tribes ===Southeastern tribes pioneered a beadwork style that features images with white outlines, a visual reference to the shells and pearls coastal Southeasterners used pre-contact.", "This style was nearly lost during the Trail of Tears, as many beadworkers died during their forced removal to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.", "Roger Amerman (Choctaw, brother of Marcus Amerman) and Martha Berry (Cherokee) have effectively revived the style, however.=== Sierra Madre tribes ===Huichol communities in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit uniquely attach their beads to objects and surfaces via the use of a resin-beeswax mixture (in lieu of wire or waxed thread)." ], [ "African beadwork", "Bamileke people in Bandjoun, Cameroon c. 1910–1930Several African nations outside of Egypt have beadwork traditions.", "Aggry (also spelled aggri or aggrey) beads, a type of decorated glass bead, are used by Ghanaians and other West Africans to make necklaces and bracelets that may be traded for other goods.", "These beads are often believed to have magical medicinal of fertility powers.", "In Mauritania, powder-glass Kiffa beads represent a beading tradition that may date as far back as 1200 CE; a group of women have been revitalizing the craft after the last traditional Kiffa artisans died in the 1970s.", "Cameroonian women are known for crafting wooden sculptures covered in beadwork." ], [ "See also", "Glass beadmakingMurano beadsBead embroideryBeadweaving" ], [ "References", "** Dubin, Lois Sherr (1999).", "''North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present.''", "New York: Harry N. Abrams.", "* Dubin, Lois Sherr (2009).", "''The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C.", "to the Present''.", "New York: Harry N. Abrams.", ".", "* Beads and beadwork.", "(1996).", "''In Encyclopedia of north american indians, Houghton Mifflin.''", "Retrieved 27 January 2014, from http://search.credoreference.com/" ], [ "External links" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Board game" ], [ "Introduction", "Monopoly'' is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages.Young girls playing a board game in the Iisalmi library in Finland, 2016'''Board games''' are tabletop games that typically use .", "These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.Many board games feature a competition between two or more players.", "To show a few examples: in checkers (British English name 'draughts'), a player wins by capturing all opposing pieces, while Eurogames often end with a calculation of final scores.", "''Pandemic'' is a cooperative game where players all win or lose as a team, and peg solitaire is a puzzle for one person.There are many varieties of board games.", "Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, such as checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, such as ''Cluedo''.", "Rules can range from the very simple, such as in snakes and ladders; to deeply complex, as in ''Advanced Squad Leader''.", "Play components now often include custom figures or shaped counters, and distinctively shaped player pieces commonly known as as well as traditional cards and dice.The time required to learn or master varies greatly from game to game, but is not necessarily related to the number or complexity of rules; for example, chess or Go possess relatively simple but have great strategic depth." ], [ "History", "===Ancient===Classical board games are divided into four categories: race games (such as pachisi), space games (such as noughts and crosses), chase games (such as hnefatafl), and games of displacement (such as chess).Board games have been played, traveled, and evolved in most cultures and societies throughout history.", "Several important historical sites, artifacts, and documents shed light on early board games such as Jiroft civilization game boards in Iran.", "Senet, found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, and 3100 BC respectively, is the oldest board game known to have existed.", "Senet was pictured in a fresco painting found in Merknera's tomb (3300–2700 BC).", "Also from predynastic Egypt is mehen.Hounds and jackals, another ancient Egyptian board game, appeared around 2000 BC.", "The first complete set of this game was discovered from a Theban tomb that dates to the 13th dynasty.", "This game was also popular in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.Backgammon originated in ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago.", "Ashtapada, chess, pachisi and chaupar originated in India.", "Go and liubo originated in China.", "Patolli originated in Mesoamerica played by the ancient Aztecs and the royal game of Ur was found in the royal tombs of Ur, dating to Mesopotamia 4,600 years ago.File:Maler der Grabkammer der Nefertari 003.jpg\|Senet, one of the oldest known board gamesFile:Game of Hounds and Jackals MET DP264105.jpg\|Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty)File:Men Playing Board Games.jpg\|'' Men Playing Board Games'', from The Sougandhika Parinaya ManuscriptFile:British Museum Royal Game of Ur.jpg\|Royal game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600–2400 BCEFile:Macuilxochitl Patolli.png\|Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex MagliabechianoFile:Han Pottery Figures Playing Liubo, a Lost Game (10352729936).jpg\|Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board ===European===Board games have a long tradition in Europe.", "The oldest records of board gaming in Europe date back to Homer's Iliad (written in the 8th century BC), in which he mentions the Ancient Greek game of ''petteia''.", "This game of ''petteia'' would later evolve into the Roman ''ludus latrunculorum''.", "Board gaming in ancient Europe was not unique to the Greco-Roman world, with records estimating that the ancient Norse game of ''hnefatafl'' was developed sometime before 400AD.", "In ancient Ireland, the game of ''fidchell'' or ''ficheall'', is said to date back to at least 144 AD, though this is likely an anachronism.", "A fidchell board dating from the 10th century has been uncovered in Co. Westmeath, Ireland.The association of dice and cards with gambling led to all dice games except backgammon being treated as lotteries by dice in the gaming acts of 1710 and 1845.Early board game producers in the second half of the eighteenth century were mapmakers.", "The global popularization of Board Games, with special themes and branding, coincided with the formation of the global dominance of the British Empire.", "John Wallis was an English board game publisher, bookseller, map/chart seller, printseller, music seller, and cartographer.", "With his sons John Wallis Jr. and Edward Wallis, he was one of the most prolific publishers of board games of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.", "John Betts' ''A Tour of the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions'' and William Spooner's ''A Voyage of Discovery'' were popular in the British empire.", "is a genre of wargaming developed in 19th century Prussia to teach battle tactics to officers.File:Attic Black-Figure Neck Amphora - Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena.jpg\|Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena, Attic black-figure neck amphora, File:German - Box for Board Games - Walters 7193 - Bottom.jpg\|''Box for Board Games'', c. 15th century, Walters Art MuseumFile:Gaming table with chessboard.jpg\|An early games table desk (Germany, 1735) featuring chess/draughts () and nine men's morris ()File:'Game of Skittles', copy of painting by Pieter de Hooch, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG\|'Game of Skittles', copy of 1660–68 painting by Pieter de Hooch in the Saint Louis Art Museum===American===''The Mansion of Happiness'' (1843)The board game ''Traveller's Tour Through the United States'' and its sister game ''Traveller's Tour Through Europe'' were published by New York City bookseller F. & R. Lockwood in 1822 and claim the distinction of being the first board games published in the United States.Margaret Hofer described the period of the 1880s–1920s as \"The Golden Age\" of board gaming in America.", "Board game popularity was boosted, like that of many items, through mass production, which made them cheaper and more easily available.===Chinese, Arabic, and Indian===Outside of Europe and the U.S., many traditional board games are popular.", "In China, Go and many variations of chess are popular.", "In Africa and the Middle East, mancala is a popular board game archetype with many regional variations.", "In India, a community game called Carrom is popular.===Modern===The number of board games published by year (1944–2017), as listed on BoardGameGeek.", "Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange.In the late 1990s, companies began producing more new games to serve a growing worldwide market.", "In the 2010s, several publications said board games were amid a new Golden Age or \"renaissance\".", "Board game venues also grew in popularity; in 2016 alone, more than 5,000 board game cafés opened in the U.S., and they were reported to be very popular in China as well.", "Board games have been used as a mechanism for science communication." ], [ "Luck, strategy, and diplomacy", "Some games, such as chess, depend completely on player skill, while many children's games such as ''Candy Land'' and ''snakes and ladders'' require no decisions by the players and are decided purely by luck.damah''Many games require some level of both skill and luck.", "A player may be hampered by bad luck in backgammon, ''Monopoly'', or ''Risk''; but over many games, a skilled player will win more often.", "The elements of luck can also make for more excitement at times, and allow for more diverse and multifaceted strategies, as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered.Luck may be introduced into a game by several methods.", "The use of dice of various sorts goes back to the earliest board games.", "These can decide everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in ''Monopoly'', to how their forces fare in battle, as in ''Risk'', or which resources a player gains, as in ''Catan''.", "Other games such as ''Sorry!''", "use a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness.", "''Scrabble'' does something similar with randomly picked letters.", "Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness.", "German-style board games are notable for often having fewer elements of luck than many North American board games.", "Luck may be reduced in favour of skill by introducing symmetry between players.", "For example, in a dice game such as ''Ludo'', by giving each player the choice of rolling the dice or using the previous player's roll.Another important aspect of some games is diplomacy, that is, players, making deals with one another.", "Negotiation generally features only in games with three or more players, cooperative games being the exception.", "An important facet of ''Catan'', for example, is convincing players to trade with you rather than with opponents.", "In ''Risk'', two or more players may team up against others.", "''Easy'' diplomacy involves convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against.", "''Advanced'' diplomacy (e.g., in the aptly named game ''Diplomacy'') consists of making elaborate plans together, with the possibility of betrayal.In perfect information games, such as chess, each player has complete information on the state of the game, but in other games, such as ''Tigris and Euphrates'' or ''Stratego'', some information is hidden from players.", "This makes finding the best move more difficult and may involve estimating probabilities by the opponents." ], [ "Software", "Many board games are now available as video games.", "These are aptly termed digital board games, and their distinguishing characteristic compared to traditional board games is they can now be played online against a computer or other players.", "Some websites (such as boardgamearena.com, yucata.de, etc.)", "allow play in real time and immediately show the opponents' moves, while others use email to notify the players after each move.", "The Internet and cheaper home printing has also influenced board games via print-and-play games that may be purchased and printed.", "Some games use external media such as audio cassettes or DVDs in accompaniment to the game.There are also virtual tabletop programs that allow online players to play a variety of existing and new board games through tools needed to manipulate the game board but do not necessarily enforce the game's rules, leaving this up to the players.", "There are generalized programs such as ''Vassal'', ''Tabletop Simulator'' and ''Tabletopia'' that can be used to play any board or card game, while programs like ''Roll20'' and ''Fantasy Grounds'' that are more specialized for role-playing games.", "Some of these virtual tabletops have worked with the license holders to allow for use of their game's assets within the program; for example, ''Fantasy Grounds'' has licenses for both ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''Pathfinder'' materials, while ''Tabletop Simulator'' allows game publishers to provide paid downloadable content for their games.", "However, as these games offer the ability to add in the content through user modifications, there are also unlicensed uses of board game assets available through these programs." ], [ "Market", "The modern German board game ''Catan'' is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009.While the board gaming market is estimated to be smaller than that for video games, it has also experienced significant growth from the late 1990s.", "A 2012 article in ''The Guardian'' described board games as \"making a comeback\".", "Other expert sources suggest that board games never went away, and that board games have remained a popular leisure activity which has only grown over time.", "Another from 2014 gave an estimate that put the growth of the board game market at \"between 25% and 40% annually\" since 2010, and described the current time as the \"golden era for board games\".", "The rise in board game popularity has been attributed to quality improvement (more elegant mechanics, , artwork, and graphics) as well as increased availability thanks to sales through the Internet.", "Crowd-sourcing for board games is a large facet of the market, with $233 million raised on Kickstarter in 2020.A 1991 estimate for the global board game market was over $1.2 billion.", "A 2001 estimate for the United States \"board games and puzzle\" market gave a value of under $400 million, and for United Kingdom, of about £50 million.", "A 2009 estimate for the Korean market was put at 800 million won, and another estimate for the American board game market for the same year was at about $800 million.", "A 2011 estimate for the Chinese board game market was at over 10 billion yuan.", "A 2013 estimate put the size of the German toy market at 2.7 billion euros (out of which the board games and puzzle market is worth about 375 million euros), and Polish markets at 2 billion and 280 million zlotys, respectively.", "In 2009, Germany was considered to be the best market per capita, with the highest number of games sold per individual.=== Hobby board games ===Some academics, such as Erica Price and Marco Arnaudo, have differentiated \"hobby\" board games and gamers from other board games and gamers.", "A 2014 estimate placed the U.S. and Canada market for hobby board games (games produced for a \"gamer\" market) at only $75 million, with the total size of what it defined as the \"hobby game market\" (\"the market for those games regardless of whether they’re sold in the hobby channel or other channels,\") at over $700 million.", "A similar 2015 estimate suggested a hobby game market value of almost $900 million." ], [ "Research", "A dedicated field of research into gaming exists, known as game studies or ludology.While there has been a fair amount of scientific research on the psychology of older board games (e.g., chess, Go, mancala), less has been done on contemporary board games such as ''Monopoly'', ''Scrabble'', and ''Risk'', and especially modern board games such as ''Catan'', ''Agricola'', and ''Pandemic''.", "Much research has been carried out on chess, partly because many tournament players are publicly ranked in national and international lists, which makes it possible to compare their levels of expertise.", "The works of Adriaan de Groot, William Chase, Herbert A. Simon, and Fernand Gobet have established that knowledge, more than the ability to anticipate moves, plays an essential role in chess-playing ability.Linearly arranged board games have improved children's spatial numerical understanding.", "This is because the game is similar to a number line in that they promote a linear understanding of numbers rather than the innate logarithmic one.Research studies show that board games such as ''Snakes and Ladders'' result in children showing significant improvements in aspects of basic number skills such as counting, recognizing numbers, numerical estimation, and number comprehension.", "They also practice fine motor skills each time they grasp a game piece.", "Playing board games has also been tied to improving children's executive functions and help reduce risks of dementia for the elderly.", "Related to this is a growing academic interest in the topic of game accessibility, culminating in the development of guidelines for assessing the accessibility of modern tabletop games and the extent to which they are playable for people with disabilities.Additionally, board games can be therapeutic.", "Bruce Halpenny, a games inventor said when interviewed about his game, ''The Great Train Robbery'':With crime you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama.", "The player's imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train.", "Because of the gamble, they take in the early stage of the game there is a build-up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed.", "Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society because most jobs are boring and repetitive.Playing games has been suggested as a viable addition to the traditional educational curriculum if the content is appropriate and the gameplay informs students on the curriculum content." ], [ "Categories", "There are several ways in which board games can be classified, and considerable overlap may exist, so that a game belongs to several categories.H.", "J. R. Murray's ''A History of Board Games Other Than Chess'' (1952) has been called the first attempt to develop a \"scheme for the classification of board games\".", "David Parlett's ''Oxford History of Board Games'' (1999) defines four primary categories: race games (where the goal is to be the first to move all one's pieces to the final destination), space games (in which the object is to arrange the pieces into some special configuration), chase games (asymmetrical games, where players start the game with different sets of pieces and objectives) and displace games (where the main objective is the capture the opponents' pieces).", "Parlett also distinguishes between abstract and thematic games, the latter having a specific theme or frame narrative (ex.", "regular chess versus, for example, Star Wars-themed chess).The following is a list of some of the most common game categories:* Abstract strategy games – e.g.", "chess, checkers, Go, reversi, tafl games, or modern games such as ''Abalone'', ''Dameo'', ''Stratego'', ''Hive'', or ''GIPF''* Alignment games – e.g.", "renju, gomoku, Connect6, Nine men's morris, or tic-tac-toe* Auction games – e.g.", "''Hoity Toity'', ''Power Grid''* Chess variants – traditional variants e.g.", "shogi, xiangqi, or janggi; modern variants e.g.", "Chess960, Grand Chess, Hexagonal chess, or Alice Chess* Configuration games – e.g.", "Lines of Action, Hexade, or ''Entropy''* Connection games – e.g.", "TwixT, Hex, or Havannah* Cooperative games – e.g.", "''Max the Cat'', ''Caves and Claws'', or ''Pandemic''* Count and capture games – e.g.", "mancala games* Cross and circle games – e.g.", "Yut, Ludo, or ''Aggravation''* Deduction games – e.g.", "''Mastermind'' or ''Black Box''* Dexterity games – e.g.", "''Tumblin' Dice'' or ''Pitch Car''* Economic simulation games – e.g.", "''The Business Game'', ''Monopoly'', ''The Game of Life'', ''Power Grid'', or ''Food Chain Magnate''* Educational games – e.g.", "''Arthur Saves the Planet'', ''Cleopatra and the Society of Architects'', or ''Shakespeare: The Bard Game''* Elimination games – e.g.", "draughts, Alquerque, Fanorona, Yoté, or Surakarta* Family games – e.g.", "''Roll Through the Ages'', ''Birds on a Wire'', or ''For Sale''* Fantasy games – e.g.", "''Shadows Over Camelot''* German-style board games or ''Eurogames'' – e.g.", "''Catan'', ''Carcassonne'', Decatur • The Game, Carson City, or ''Puerto Rico''* Guessing games – e.g.", "''Pictionary'' or Battleship* Hidden-movement games – e.g.", "''Clue'' or Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space* Hidden-role games – e.g.", "''Mafia'' or ''The Resistance''* Historical simulation games – e.g.", "''Through the Ages'' or ''Railways of the World''* Horror games – e.g.", "''Arkham Horror''* Large multiplayer games – e.g.", "''Take It Easy'' or ''Swat'' (2010)* Learning/communication non-competitive games – e.g.", "The Ungame (1972)* Mancala games – e.g.", "Wari, Oware, or The Glass Bead Game* Multiplayer games – e.g.", "''Risk'', ''Monopoly'', or Four-player chess* Musical games – e.g.", "''Spontuneous''* Negotiation games – e.g.", "''Diplomacy''* Paper-and-pencil games – e.g.", "Tic-tac-toe or Dots and Boxes* Physical skill games – e.g.", "''Camp Granada''* Position games (no captures; win by leaving the opponent unable to move) – e.g.", "kōnane, mū tōrere, or the L game* Race games – e.g.", "Pachisi, backgammon, snakes and ladders, hyena chase, or ''Worm Up''* Role-playing games – e.g.", "Dungeons & Dragons* Roll-and-move games – e.g.", "''Monopoly'' or ''Life''* Running-fight games – e.g.", "bul* Share-buying games (games in which players buy stakes in each other's positions) – typically longer economic-management games, e.g.", "''Acquire'' or ''Panamax''* Single-player puzzle games – e.g.", "''peg solitaire'' or ''Sudoku''* Space games - e.g.", "''Terraforming Mars (board game)''* Spiritual development games (games with no winners or losers) – e.g.", "''Transformation Game'' or ''Psyche's Key''* Stacking games – e.g.", "Lasca or ''DVONN''* Storytelling games – e.g.", "''Dixit'' or ''Tales of the Arabian Nights''* Territory games – e.g.", "Go or Reversi* Tile-based games – e.g.", "''Carcassonne'', ''Scrabble'', ''Tigris and Euphrates'', or ''Evo''* Train games – e.g.", "''Ticket to Ride'', ''Steam'', or 18xx* Trivia games – e.g.", "''Trivial Pursuit''* Two-player-only themed games – e.g.", "''En Garde'' or ''Dos de Mayo''* Two-player-only abstract games - e.g.", "''Checkers''* Unequal forces (or \"hunt\") games – e.g.", "fox and geese or tablut* Wargames – ranging from ''Risk'', ''Diplomacy'', or ''Axis & Allies'', to ''Attack!''", "or ''Conquest of the Empire''* Word games – e.g.", "''Scrabble'', ''Boggle'', Anagrams, or ''What's My Word?''", "(2010)" ], [ "Glossary {{anchor\|Common terms}}", "Although many board games have a jargon all their own, there is a generalized terminology to describe concepts applicable to basic game mechanics and attributes common to nearly all board games." ], [ "See also", "* Board game awards* BoardGameGeek—a website for board game enthusiasts* ''Going Cardboard''—a documentary movie* History of games* Interactive movie—DVD games* List of board games* List of game manufacturers* Mind sport" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Austin, Roland G. \"Greek Board Games.\"", "''Antiquity'' 14.September 1940: 257–271* * * * * Fiske, Willard.", "''Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic Literature—with historical notes on other table-games''.", "Florentine Typographical Society, 1905.", "* * Golladay, Sonja Musser, \"Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games\" (PhD diss., University of Arizona, 2007)* * * * * * * * * * Rollefson, Gary O., \"A Neolithic Game Board from Ain Ghazal, Jordan\", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No.", "286.", "(May 1992), pp. 1–5.", "* " ], [ "External links", " * BoardGameGeek* BoardGameTheories* International Board Game Studies Association" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bead" ], [ "Introduction", "A selection of glass beadsMerovingian beadTrade beads, 18th centuryTrade beads, 18th centuryA '''bead''' is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing.", "Beads range in size from under to over in diameter.Beads represent some of the earliest forms of jewellery, with a pair of beads made from ''Nassarius'' sea snail shells dating to approximately 100,000 years ago thought to be the earliest known example.", "Beadwork is the art or craft of making things with beads.", "Beads can be woven together with specialized thread, strung onto thread or soft, flexible wire, or adhered to a surface (e.g.", "fabric, clay)." ], [ "Types of beads", "Cloisonné beadsBeads can be divided into several types of overlapping categories based on different criteria such as the materials from which they are made, the process used in their manufacturing, the place or period of origin, the patterns on their surface, or their general shape.", "In some cases, such as millefiori and cloisonné beads, multiple categories may overlap in an interdependent fashion." ], [ "Components", "Beads can be made of many different materials.", "The earliest beads were made of a variety of natural materials which, after they were gathered, could be readily drilled and shaped.", "As humans became capable of obtaining and working with more difficult materials, those materials were added to the range of available substances.In modern manufacturing, the most common bead materials are wood, plastic, glass, metal, and stone.=== Natural materials ===Beads are still made from many naturally occurring materials, both organic (i.e., of animal- or plant-based origin) and inorganic (purely mineral origin).", "However, some of these materials now routinely undergo some extra processing beyond mere shaping and drilling such as color enhancement via dyes or irradiation.The natural organics include bone, coral, horn, ivory, seeds (such as tagua nuts), animal shell, and wood.", "For most of human history pearls were the ultimate precious beads of natural origin because of their rarity; the modern pearl-culturing process has made them far more common.", "Amber and jet are also of natural organic origin although both are the result of partial fossilization.The natural inorganics include various types of stones, ranging from gemstones to common minerals, and metals.", "Of the latter, only a few precious metals occur in pure forms, but other purified base metals may as well be placed in this category along with certain naturally occurring alloys such as electrum.=== Synthetic materials ===Swarovski crystal beads (), pendant Swedish patent 217875: The plastic bead pegboard (1962).The oldest-surviving synthetic materials used for bead making have generally been ceramics: pottery and glass.", "Beads were also made from ancient alloys such as bronze and brass, but as those were more vulnerable to oxidation they have generally been less well-preserved at archaeological sites.Many different subtypes of glass are now used for beadmaking, some of which have their own component-specific names.", "Lead crystal beads have a high percentage of lead oxide in the glass formula, increasing the refractive index.", "Most of the other named glass types have their formulations and patterns inseparable from the manufacturing process.Small, colorful, fusible plastic beads can be placed on a solid plastic-backed peg array to form designs and then melted together with a clothes iron; alternatively, they can be strung into necklaces and bracelets or woven into keychains.", "Fusible beads come in many colors and degrees of transparency/opacity, including varieties that glow in the dark or have internal glitter; peg boards come in various shapes and several geometric patterns.", "Plastic toy beads, made by chopping plastic tubes into short pieces, were introduced in 1958 by Munkplast AB in Munka-Ljungby, Sweden.", "Known as Indian beads, they were originally sewn together to form ribbons.", "The pegboard for bead designs was invented in the early 1960s (patented 1962, patent granted 1967) by Gunnar Knutsson in Vällingby, Sweden, as a therapy for elderly homes; the pegboard later gained popularity as a toy for children.", "The bead designs were glued to cardboard or Masonite boards and used as trivets.", "Later, when the beads were made of polyethylene, it became possible to fuse them with a flat iron.", "Hama come in three sizes: mini (diameter ), midi () and maxi ().", "Perler beads come in two sizes called classic (5mm) and biggie (10mm).", "Pyssla beads (by IKEA) only come in one size (5mm)." ], [ "Manufacturing", "Modern mass-produced beads are generally shaped by carving or casting, depending on the material and desired effect.", "In some cases, more specialized metalworking or glassworking techniques may be employed, or a combination of multiple techniques and materials may be used such as in cloisonné.=== Glassworking ===Pressed glass beads (matte finish with an AB coating)A box of assorted beadsMost glass beads are pressed glass, mass-produced by preparing a molten batch of glass of the desired color and pouring it into molds to form the desired shape.", "This is also true of most plastic beads.A smaller and more expensive subset of glass and lead crystal beads are cut into precise faceted shapes on an individual basis.", "This was once done by hand but has largely been taken over by precision machinery.", "\"Fire-polished\" faceted beads are a less expensive alternative to hand-cut faceted glass or crystal.", "They derive their name from the second half of a two-part process: first, the glass batch is poured into round bead molds, then they are faceted with a grinding wheel.", "The faceted beads are then poured onto a tray and briefly reheated just long enough to melt the surface, \"polishing\" out any minor surface irregularities from the grinding wheel.==== Specialized glass techniques and types ====Dichroic beads ()Furnace glass beadsThere are several specialized glassworking techniques that create a distinctive appearance throughout the body of the resulting beads, which are then primarily referred to by the glass type.If the glass batch is used to create a large massive block instead of pre-shaping it as it cools, the result may then be carved into smaller items in the same manner as stone.", "Conversely, glass artisans may make beads by lampworking the glass on an individual basis; once formed, the beads undergo little or no further shaping after the layers have been properly annealed.Most of these glass subtypes are some form of fused glass, although goldstone is created by controlling the reductive atmosphere and cooling conditions of the glass batch rather than by fusing separate components together.Dichroic glass beads incorporate a semitransparent microlayer of metal between two or more layers.", "Fibre optic glass beads have an eyecatching chatoyant effect across the grain.There are also several ways to fuse many small glass canes together into a multicolored pattern, resulting in millefiori beads or chevron beads (sometimes called \"trade beads\").", "\"Furnace glass\" beads encase a multicolored core in a transparent exterior layer which is then annealed in a furnace.More economically, millefiori beads can also be made by limiting the patterning process to long, narrow canes or rods known as murrine.", "Thin cross-sections, or \"decals\", can then be cut from the murrine and fused into the surface of a plain glass bead." ], [ "Shapes", "Beads can be made in variety of shapes, including the following, as well as tubular and oval-shaped beads.===Round===This is the most common shape of beads that are strung on wire to create necklaces, and bracelets.", "The shape of the round beads lay together and are pleasing to the eye.", "Round beads can be made of glass, stone, ceramic, metal, or wood.===Square or cubed===Square beads can be to enhance a necklace design as a spacer however a necklace can be strung with just square beads.", "The necklaces with square beads are used in Rosary necklaces/prayer necklaces, and wooden or shell ones are made for beachwear.===Hair pipe beads===Elk rib bones were the original material for the long, tubular hair pipe beads.", "Today these beads are commonly made of bison and water buffalo bones and are popular for breastplates and chokers among Plains Indians.", "Black variations of these beads are made from the animals' horns.===Seed beads===Seed beads are uniformly shaped spheroidal or tube shaped beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres.", "\"Seed bead\" is a generic term for any small bead.", "Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for loom and off-loom bead weaving." ], [ "Place or period of origin", "Carved Cinnabar lacquer beads* '''African trade beads''' or '''slave beads''' may be antique beads that were manufactured in Europe and used for trade during the colonial period, such as chevron beads; or they may have been made in West Africa by and for Africans, such as Mauritanian Kiffa beads, Ghanaian and Nigerian powder glass beads, or African-made brass beads.", "Archaeologists have documented that as recently as the late-nineteenth century beads manufactured in Europe continued to accompany exploration of Africa using Indigenous routes into the interior.", "* '''Austrian crystal''' is a generic term for cut lead-crystal beads, based on the location and prestige of the Swarovski firm.", "* '''Czech glass''' beads are made in the Czech Republic, in particular an area called Jablonec nad Nisou.", "Production of glass beads in the area dates back to the 14th century, though production was depressed under communist rule.", "Because of this long tradition, their workmanship and quality has an excellent reputation.", "* '''Islamic glass beads''' have been made in a wide geographical and historical range of Islamic cultures.", "Used and manufactured from medieval Spain and North Africa in the West and to China in the East, they can be identified by recognizable features, including styles and techniques.", "* '''Vintage beads''', in the collectibles and antique market, refers to items that are at least 25 or more years old.", "Vintage beads are available in materials that include lucite, plastic, crystal, metal and glass.=== Miscellaneous ethnic beads ===Tibetan Dzi beads and Rudraksha beads are used to make Buddhist and Hindu rosaries (malas).", "Magatama are traditional Japanese beads, and cinnabar was often used for making beads in China.", "Wampum are cylindrical white or purple beads made from quahog or North Atlantic channeled whelk shells by northeastern Native American tribes, such as the Wampanoag and Shinnecock.", "Job's tears are seed beads popular among southeastern Native American tribes.", "Heishe are beads made of shells or stones by the Kewa Pueblo people of New Mexico.Bead, depicting a pomegranate, dated to the Assyrian Empire of the 8th century BCE." ], [ "Symbolic meaning of beads", "In many parts of the world, beads are used for symbolic purposes, for example:* use for prayer or devotion - e.g.", "rosary beads for Roman Catholics and many other Christians, misbaha for Shia and many other Muslims, japamala/nenju for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, some Sikhs, Confucianism, Taoists/Daoists, Shinto, etc.", "* use for anti-tension devices, e.g.", "Greek komboloi, or worry beads.", "* use as currency e.g.", "Aggrey beads from Ghana* use for gaming e.g.", "owari beads for mankala" ], [ "History", "Beads are thought to be one of the earliest forms of trade between members of the human race.", "It is believed that bead trading was one of the reasons why humans developed language.", "Beads are said to have been used and traded for most of human history.", "The oldest beads found to date were at Blombos Cave, about 72,000 years old, and at Ksar Akil in Lebanon, about 40,000 years old.Gallic, stone" ], [ "Surface patterns", "After shaping, glass and crystal beads can have their surface appearance enhanced by etching a translucent frosted layer, applying an additional color layer, or both.", "''Aurora Borealis'', or AB, is a surface coating that diffuses light into a rainbow.", "Other surface coatings are vitrail, moonlight, dorado, satin, star shine, and heliotrope.Faux beads are beads that are made to look like a more expensive original material, especially in the case of fake pearls and simulated rocks, minerals and gemstones.", "Precious metals and ivory are also imitated.Tagua nuts from South America are used as an ivory substitute since the natural ivory trade has been restricted worldwide." ], [ "See also", "* Fly tying#Bead (Spherical brass, tungsten, and glass beads are often used in Fly tying)* Glass beadmaking* Jewelry design* Mardi Gras beads* Murano beads* Pearl* Ultraviolet-sensitive bead" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Beck, Horace (1928) \"Classification and Nomenclature of Beads and Pendants.\"", "Archaeologia 77.", "(Reprinted by Shumway Publishers York, PA 1981)* Dubin, Lois Sherr.", "''North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present''.", "New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999: 170–171..* Dubin, Lois Sherr.", "''The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C.", "to the Present, Revised and Expanded Edition''.", "New York: Harry N. Abrams, (2009).", "." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bead weaving" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bead weaving''' (or '''beadweaving''') is a set of techniques for weaving sheets and objects of seed beads.", "Threads are strung through and/or around the beads to hold them together.", "It can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches." ], [ "On-loom beadweaving", "A bracelet in progress on a bead-weaving loomA 1903 Apache bead loom.", "1.Roller.", "2.Roller end.", "3.Spacers.", "4.Spacers.When weaving on a loom, the beads are strung on the weft threads and locked in between the warp threads.", "Although loomed pieces are typically rectangular, it is possible to increase and decrease to produce angular or curvy shapes.", "Fringe can also be added during weaving or before the piece is removed from the loom.===Frame looms===The most common modern loom bead weaving technique requires two passes of the weft thread per row of beads.", "First, an entire row of beads is strung on the weft thread.", "Then the beads are pressed in between the warp threads from below.", "Then the needle is passed back through the beads, but above the warp threads, to lock the beads into place.", "Bead looms vary in size and are typically made of wood or metal.", "Usually, a comb or spring is used to hold the warp threads a bead-width apart (the lede image shows a threaded rod).", "Some looms have roller bars; these allow the weaver to produce pieces that are longer than the loom.", "Most looms are meant to sit on a table, but some have floor stands or are meant to sit in the lap.", "Cheap bead looms are sometimes made from styrofoam trays, wrapping the warp through evenly-spaced small slits notched into opposite edges.===Heddle looms===Undated rigid heddle for beadwork, Ho-chunk, Wisconsin.Heddle bead looms were popular in the United States near the beginning of the 20th century.", "They allow weaving of beads by raising every other thread and inserting strung beads in the shed, the space between the lowered and raised threads.", "There are still a few heddle bead looms being manufactured today.", "The most difficult part of loomwork is finishing off the warp threads." ], [ "Off-loom beadweaving", "An example of off-loom beadweaving, specifically plaiting, from Sarawak, Malaysia.Off-loom beadweaving is a family of beadwork techniques in which seed beads are woven together into a flat fabric, a tubular rope, or a three-dimensional object such as a ball, clasp, box, or a piece of jewelry.", "Most off-loom techniques can be accomplished using a single needle and thread (no warp threads), and some have two-needle variations.Different stitches produce pieces with distinct textures, shapes, and patterns.", "There are many different off-loom bead stitches, including new stitches (distinct thread paths) published as recently as 2015:* albion stitch, developed by Heather Kingsley-Heath, published May 2009* brick stitch, also known as Comanche or Cheyenne stitch* chevron stitch, a triangular form of bead netting* diamond weave, developed over a number of years by Gerlinde Lenz, published August 2015* herringbone stitch, also known as Ndebele stitch* hubble stitch and wave hubble stitch, created and developed by Melanie de Miguel, published 2015* netting, to avoid confusion specifically ''bead'' netting* peyote stitch, also known as gourd stitch* plaiting, crossing multiple threads as in a plait or braid, using beads to connect the crossings* pondo stitch, also known as African circle stitch* right-angle weave* Saint Petersburg chain* square stitch, an off loom stitch that mimics the look of loomed bead projects.", "ladder stitch, a foundation stitch that is used to build a base for brick stitch or herringbone stitch.", " triangle weaveSpiral Bead Weaving Stitches* Cellini spiral, a tubular peyote stitch* Dutch spiral* African helix* Russian spiralChenille" ], [ "See also", "Glass beadmakingBeadworkBead embroideryBead knittingBead crochetQuillwork" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", " Virginia Blakelock, ''Those Bad, Bad Beads!''", "Virginia Blakelock Publisher, 1990.", "* Don Pierce, ''Beading on a Loom.''", "Interweave Press, 1999.", "* Carol Wilcox Wells, ''Creative Bead Weaving.''", "Lark Books, 1996." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Branchiopoda" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Branchiopoda''' is a class of crustaceans.", "It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca and the Devonian ''Lepidocaris''.", "They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus." ], [ "Description", "Members of the Branchiopoda are unified by the presence of gills on many of the animals' appendages, including some of the mouthparts.", "This is also responsible for the name of the group (from the , gills, akin to , windpipe; , foot).", "They generally possess compound eyes and a carapace, which may be a shell of two valves enclosing the trunk (as in most Cladocera), broad and shallow (as in the Notostraca), or entirely absent (as in the Anostraca).", "In the groups where the carapace prevents the use of the trunk limbs for swimming (Cladocera, clam shrimp and the extinct Lipostraca), the antennae are used for locomotion, as they are in the nauplius.", "Male fairy shrimp have an enlarged pair of antennae with which they grasp the female during mating, while the bottom-feeding Notostraca, the antennae are reduced to vestiges.", "The trunk limbs are beaten in a metachronal rhythm, causing a flow of water along the midline of the animal, from which it derives oxygen, food and, in the case of the Anostraca and Notostraca, movement." ], [ "Ecology", "Branchiopods are found in continental fresh water, including temporary pools and in hypersaline lakes, and some in brackish water.", "Only in two groups of water fleas do we find marine species: Family Podonidae in the order Diplostraca, and family Sididae in the order Diplostraca.Most branchiopodans eat floating detritus or plankton, which they take using the setae on their appendages.", "But notostracans are omnivorous and very opportunistic feeders and will eat algae and bacteria in addition to animals as both predators and scavengers." ], [ "Taxonomy", "In early taxonomic treatments, the current members of the Branchiopoda were all placed in a single genus, ''Monoculus''.", "The taxon Branchiopoda was erected by Pierre André Latreille in 1817, initially at the rank of order.The current upper-level classification of Branchiopoda, according to the World Register of Marine Species (2021), is as follows:'''Class Branchiopoda Latreille, 1817''': '''Subclass Sarsostraca Tasch, 1969'''::Order Anostraca Sars, 1867:::Suborder Anostracina Weekers et al., 2002:::Suborder Artemiina Weekers et al., 2002: '''Subclass Phyllopoda Preuss, 1951''':: Superorder Diplostraca Gerstaecker, 1866::: Order Anomopoda G.O.", "Sars, 1865::: Order Ctenopoda G.O.", "Sars, 1865::: Order Cyclestherida Sars G.O., 1899::: Order Haplopoda G.O.", "Sars, 1865::: Order Laevicaudata Linder, 1945::: Order Onychopoda G.O.", "Sars, 1865::: Order Spinicaudata Linder, 1945:: Order Notostraca G. O. Sars, 1867::Genus †Cryptocaris Barrande, 1872::Genus †Dithyrocaris In addition, the extinct genus ''Lepidocaris'' is generally placed in Branchiopoda.===Anostraca===''Artemia salina'' (Anostraca: Artemiidae)The fairy shrimp of the order Anostraca are usually long (exceptionally up to ).", "Most species have 20 body segments, bearing 11 pairs of leaf-like ''phyllopodia'' (swimming legs), and the body lacks a carapace.", "They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, including pools in deserts, in ice-covered mountain lakes and in Antarctica.", "They swim \"upside-down\" and feed by filtering organic particles from the water or by scraping algae from surfaces.", "They are an important food for many birds and fish, and are cultured and harvested for use as fish food.", "There are 300 species spread across 8 families.===Lipostraca===Lipostraca contains a single extinct Early Devonian species, ''Lepidocaris rhyniensis'', which is the most abundant animal in the Rhynie chert deposits.", "It resembles modern Anostraca, to which it is probably closely related, although its relationships to other orders remain unclear.", "The body is long, with 23 body segments and 19 pairs of appendages, but no carapace.", "It occurred chiefly among charophytes, probably in alkaline temporary pools.===Notostraca===The order Notostraca comprises the single family Triopsidae, containing the tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp.", "The two genera, ''Triops'' and ''Lepidurus'', are considered living fossils, having not changed significantly in outward form since the Triassic.", "They have a broad, flat carapace, which conceals the head and bears a single pair of compound eyes.", "The abdomen is long, appears to be segmented and bears numerous pairs of flattened legs.", "The telson is flanked by a pair of long, thin caudal rami.", "Phenotypic plasticity within taxa makes species-level identification difficult, and is further compounded by variation in the mode of reproduction.", "The evidence of phenotypic plasticity of Arctic tadpole shrimp (''Lepidurus arcticus'', Notostraca) has been observed in Svalbard.", "Notostracans are the largest branchiopodans and are omnivores living on the bottom of temporary pools, ponds and shallow lakes.===Laevicaudata, Spinicaudata and Cyclestherida (once Conchostraca)===Clam shrimp are bivalved animals which have lived since at least the Devonian.", "The three groups are not believed to form a clade.", "They have 10–32 trunk segments, decreasing in size from front to back, and each bears a pair of legs which also carry gills.", "A strong muscle can close the two halves of the shell together.===Anomopoda, Ctenopoda, Onychopoda, and Haplopoda (once Cladocera)===''Daphnia pulex'' (Cladocera: Daphniidae)These four orders make up a group of small crustaceans commonly called water fleas.", "Around 620 species have been recognised so far, with many more undescribed.", "They are ubiquitous in inland aquatic habitats, but rare in the oceans.", "Most are long, with a down-turned head, and a carapace covering the apparently unsegmented thorax and abdomen.", "There is a single median compound eye.", "Most species show cyclical parthenogenesis, where asexual reproduction is occasionally supplemented by sexual reproduction, which produces resting eggs that allow the species to survive harsh conditions and disperse to distant habitats.", "In the water bodies of the world, a lot of Cladocera are non-native species, many of which pose a great threat to aquatic ecosystems." ], [ "Evolution", "The fossil record of branchiopods extends back at least into the Upper Cambrian and possibly further.", "The group is thought to be monophyletic, with the Anostraca having been the first group to branch off.", "It is thought that the group evolved in the seas, but was forced into temporary pools and hypersaline lakes by the evolution of bony fishes.", "Although they were previously considered the sister group to the remaining crustaceans, it is now widely accepted that crustaceans form a paraphyletic group, and Branchiopoda are thought to be sister to a clade comprising Xenocarida (Remipedia and Cephalocarida) and Hexapoda (insects and their relatives)." ], [ "See also", "*''Vladicaris''" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Baruch Spinoza" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Baruch''' ('''de''') '''Spinoza''' (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677), mostly known under his Latinized pen name '''Benedictus de Spinoza''', was a leading seventeenth-century philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, resident in the Dutch Republic, and, as a young man, permanently expelled from the Jewish community.", "After his expulsion, Spinoza lived an outwardly simple life without religious affiliation; the center of his life was philosophy.", "He had a dedicated clandestine circle of supporters, a philosophical sect, who met to discuss the writings he shared with them.", "One of the foremost thinkers of the Age of Reason, modern biblical criticism, and 17th-century Rationalism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, Spinoza came to be considered \"one of the most important philosophers—and certainly the most radical—of the early modern period\".", "He was influenced by Stoicism, Maimonides, Machiavelli, Descartes, Hobbes, and a variety of heterodox Christian thinkers of his day.", "He challenged the divine origin of the Hebrew Bible, the nature of God, and the earthly power wielded by religious authorities, Jewish and Christian alike.", "He was frequently called an \"atheist\" by contemporaries, although nowhere in his work does Spinoza argue against the existence of God.", "This can be explained by the fact that, unlike contemporary 21st century scholars, \"When seventeenth-century readers accused Spinoza of atheism, they usually meant that he challenged doctrinal orthodoxy, particularly on moral issues, and not that he denied God’s existence.\"", "His theological studies were inseparable from his thinking on politics; he is grouped with Hobbes, Locke, Leibniz, and Kant, who \"helped establish the genre of political writing called secular theology.", "\"He died unexpectedly at age 44 in 1677.Supporters swiftly removed unpublished manuscripts from his lodgings to prevent their destruction by authorities; they prepared his works with speed and secrecy for posthumous publication in both their original Latin and Dutch.", "His works were banned by Dutch authorities and later the Roman Catholic Church.Spinoza's philosophy encompasses nearly every area of philosophical discourse, including metaphysics, epistemology, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science.", "It earned Spinoza an enduring reputation as one of the most important and original thinkers of the seventeenth century, influencing philosophers ever since.", "He has been called \"the renegade Jew who gave us modernity.\"" ], [ "Biography", "Moses and Aaron Church is located now, and there is strong evidence that he may have been born there.===Family background===Both sides of Spinoza’s family were originally Portuguese Sephardic Jews.", "His immediate family migrated to Amsterdam, arriving in the early seventeenth century, as Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands were openly establishing a community and could practice their religion without persecution by the Inquisition.", "The family in Portugal were New Christians, forced converts (''conversos'') to Catholicism.", "In Portugal in the early sixteenth century, the crown initially looked the other way as outwardly Catholic New Christians practiced Judaism in private.", "The Portuguese Inquisition was not even established until 1536.As the Inquisition increasingly cracked down, more New Christians continued practicing Judaism in secrecy.", "A legacy of the era was that many in Spinoza's family had both Christian and Jewish names.", "Spinoza's father Michael married his cousin Rachael d’Espinosa, daughter of his uncle Abraham d’Espinosa, who became of the Amsterdam Sephradim community.", "Such a pattern of intermarriage was fairly common in the Jewish merchant community, keeping commercial and religious ties strong, and secrets safe.", "Marrying his cousin Rachel gave Michael access to his uncle/father-in-law's commercial network and capital.", "When Michael’s wife died in 1627, he married again to Hannah Deborah, a quiet figure who, most of the time, remained in the background.", "His second wife brought a dowry to the marriage, which should not have been absorbed into the capital of the family business.", "This marriage proved fruitful, with five children who survived to adulthood.", "Michael was a successful, although not enormously wealthy, merchant in Amsterdam, prominent in the community.", "The first-born of his second marriage was Miriam, followed by Isaac (1631-49).", "Isaac d'Espinosa was expected to take over as head of family and its commercial enterprise.", "Baruch Espinosa, the third child and second son, was born on 24 November 1632 in the Jodenbuurt in Amsterdam, Netherlands.", "He was named as per tradition for his maternal grandfather.", "Spinoza’s younger brother Gabriel (Abraham) was born in 1634, followed by another sister, Rebecca (Ribca).", "Spinoza’s sister Miriam married Samuel de Caceres, but Miriam died shortly after giving birth.", "Following Jewish tradition, the widower Samuel married his former sister-in-law Rebecca.", "Spinoza's sisters' marriages to Caceres and his honored place in the Spinoza family as a scholar, meant that Spinoza's own ambitions as a scholar were pushed aside.", "There was discord between Spinoza and his sister and brother-in-law over inheritance, which played out later when Spinoza broke with rabbinic authorities and the Jewish community.", "His mother, Hannah Déborah, Michael's second wife, died when Baruch was only six years old.", "Michael remarried to give his five children a mother figure.", "The third marriage was childless so that Spinoza and his siblings had no half- or step-siblings.", "Spinoza was related in a complicated way with the highly controversial figure in the Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish community, the philosopher Uriel da Costa (1585-1640), through his mother’s family in Porto.", "Da Costa's battle for freedom of thought and speech led him to question the Catholic and rabbinic traditions of his time, leading to him being excommunicated twice by rabbinic authorities and facing harsh social exclusion.", "He committed suicide in 1640, when Spinoza was eight years old.", "It's possible that Spinoza was unaware of the scandalous family connection during his early childhood.", "However, as he progressed in his schooling and approached adulthood, he would have undoubtedly heard much discussion about Uriel da Costa (1585–1640).", "After all, a close associate of the De Spinoza family since the time of Spinoza's great uncle, Abraham, Rabbi Mortera was a central figure in the Da Costa scandal.===School days===Baruch's family spoke Portuguese, as did other Sephardim.", "However, one notable detail is that Esther, Michael's third wife and Spinoza's mother from the age of nine, spoke no Dutch but was fluent in Portuguese.", "He studied Hebrew at school and Jewish liturgy; he knew Dutch, which he likely learned informally.", "He learned Latin only later as a young man.", "His name in contemporary documents before his 1656 expulsion from the Jewish community is given as the Portuguese \"Bento\"; his Hebrew name \"Baruch\" was used in religious contexts.", "Following his excommunication at age 23, he began using the Latinized version of his name, \"Benedictus de Spinoza.", "\"Spinoza had a traditional upbringing for a Jewish boy, attending a local religious school, the Keter Torah yeshiva of the Amsterdam Talmud Torah congregation headed by the learned and traditional senior Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira.", "Teachers also included the less traditional Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel.", "Since Spinoza never reached a level of advanced study of the Torah, the senior rabbis were unlikely to have had him as a pupil.", "The sudden end of Spinoza's schooling was due to the unexpected death of his elder brother Isaac, who had been actively involved in the family business.===The family business and intellectual explorations===When Spinoza's father, Michael, died in 1654, Spinoza had been actively involved in the running of the family business.", "Although Spinoza duly recited Kaddish, the Jewish prayer of mourning, for eleven months as required by Jewish law, there is evidence that his relations with his father had been chilly.As with other merchants in Amsterdam, the Spinozas' business was affected by the First Anglo-Dutch War in the years of 1652-1654, as well as by some commercial deals that soured, and found itself in severe difficulty.", "In addition, Michael had absorbed the dowry of Spinoza's mother as regular capital for his business, rather than keeping it separate for her children after her death.", "As such, the money was at risk for collection by Michael's many creditors.Spinoza was just 21 when his father died, in Dutch law a legal minor until age 25.Nonetheless, he and his younger brother Gabriel (Abraham) formed a business partnership, attempting to continue the family business, including collecting unpaid debts owed by merchants to their father's estate.", "Spinoza had continued to support the synagogue financially and attend services.", "When his sister Rebekah disputed his inheritance seeking it for herself, he sued her to seek a court judgment, won the case, but then renounced his claim to the court's judgment in his favor and assigned his inheritance to her.", "In March 1656, Spinoza filed suit with the Amsterdam municipal authorities to be declared an orphan, since he was still a legal minor.", "He sought relief through Dutch law, not through judgment by Jewish authorities, from whom he had become increasingly estranged, but not openly as yet.", "He won the civil lawsuit, which allowed him to inherit his mother's estate without it being subject to his father's creditors and devote himself chiefly to the study of philosophy, especially the system expounded by Descartes, and to optics.At some point between 1654 and 1658, Spinoza began to study Latin with Franciscus van den Enden.", "Van den Enden was a former Jesuit who was a political radical, and likely introduced Spinoza to scholastic and modern philosophy, including that of Descartes.", "Spinoza adopted the Latin name Benedictus de Spinoza, began boarding with Van den Enden, and began teaching in his school.During this period Spinoza also became acquainted with the Collegiants, an anti-clerical sect of Remonstrants with tendencies towards rationalism, and with the liberal faction among the Mennonites who had existed for a century but were close to the Remonstrants.", "Many of his friends belonged to dissident Christian groups which met regularly as discussion groups and which typically rejected the authority of established churches as well as traditional dogmas.", "In the second half of the 1650s and the first half of the 1660s Spinoza became acquainted with several persons who would themselves emerge as unorthodox thinkers: this group, known as the Spinoza Circle, included , , Lodewijk Meyer, Johannes Bouwmeester and Adriaen Koerbagh.===Expulsion from the Jewish community===''Spinoza and the Rabbis'' by Samuel Hirszenberg (1907)Spinoza's name crossed out on the list of pupils of Ets HaimSeal with Spinoza's initials and the Latin word meaning \"caution\"Spinoza did not openly break with Jewish authorities until after his father's death in 1654.He challenged the prevailing dogmas of Judaism, and particularly the insistence on non-Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.", "His break was not sudden; rather, it appears to have been the result of a lengthy internal struggle as well as a degree of filial piety.", "Nevertheless, after he was branded as a heretic, Spinoza's clashes with authority became more pronounced.", "He was later attacked on the steps of the synagogue by a knife-wielding assailant shouting \"Heretic!\"", "He was apparently quite shaken by this attack and for years kept (and wore) his torn cloak, unmended, as a reminder.On 27 July 1656, the Sepharadi Talmud Torah congregation of Amsterdam, which included Aboab de Fonseca, issued a writ of ''herem'' (Hebrew: , a kind of ban, shunning, ostracism, expulsion, or excommunication) against the 23-year-old Spinoza.", "The Talmud Torah congregation issued censures routinely, on matters great and small, so such an edict was not unusual.", "The language of Spinoza's censure is unusually harsh, however, and does not appear in any other censure known to have been issued by the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam.", "The exact reason for expelling Spinoza is not stated.", "The censure refers only to the \"abominable heresies ''horrendas heregias'' that he practised and taught\", to his \"monstrous deeds\", and to the testimony of witnesses \"in the presence of the said Espinoza\".", "There is no record of such testimony, but there appear to have been several likely reasons for the issuance of the censure.Spinoza began publicly expressing radical religious views that were highly controversial.", "Spinoza biographer Steven Nadler wrote: \"No doubt he was giving utterance to just those ideas that would soon appear in his philosophical treatises.", "In those works, Spinoza denies the immortality of the soul; strongly rejects the notion of a providential god—the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and claims that the Mosiac Law was neither literally given by God nor any longer binding on Jews.\"", "The Amsterdam Jewish community was largely composed of Spanish and Portuguese ''conversos'', \"New Christians\", who had respectively migrated from Spain via Portugal to escape the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese conversos, following the establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition, with their children and grandchildren.", "Amsterdam was tolerant of religious diversity so long as it was practiced discreetly.", "Jews were not legally confined to a ghetto and the city presented economic opportunities for those willing to move.", "This community must have been concerned to protect its reputation from any association with Spinoza lest his controversial views provide the basis for their own possible persecution or expulsion.", "There is little evidence that the Amsterdam municipal authorities were directly involved in Spinoza's censure itself.", "But \"in 1619, the town council expressly ordered the Portuguese Jewish community to regulate their conduct and ensure that the members of the community kept to a strict observance of Jewish law.\"", "Other evidence makes it clear that the danger of upsetting the civil authorities was never far from mind, such as bans adopted by the synagogue on public wedding or funeral processions and on discussing religious matters with Christians, lest such activity might \"disturb the liberty we enjoy\".", "Thus, the issuance of Spinoza's censure was almost certainly, in part, an exercise in self-censorship by the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam.Ban in Portuguese of Baruch Spinoza by his Portuguese Jewish synagogue community of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 6 Av 5416 (27 July 1656)It appears likely that Spinoza had already taken the initiative to separate himself from the Talmud Torah congregation and was vocally expressing his hostility to Judaism itself, also through his philosophical works, such as the Part I of ''Ethics''.", "He had probably stopped attending services at the synagogue, either after the lawsuit with his sister or after the knife attack on its steps.", "He might already have been voicing the view expressed later in his ''Theological-Political Treatise'' that the civil authorities should suppress Judaism as harmful to the Jews themselves.", "Either for financial or other reasons, he had in any case effectively stopped contributing to the synagogue by March 1656.He had also committed the \"monstrous deed\", contrary to the regulations of the synagogue and the views of some rabbinical authorities (including Maimonides), of filing suit in a civil court rather than with the synagogue authorities—to renounce his father's heritage, no less.", "Upon being notified of the issuance of the censure, he is reported to have said: \"Very well; this does not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord, had I not been afraid of a scandal.\"", "Thus, unlike most of the censure issued routinely by the Amsterdam congregation to discipline its members, the censure issued against Spinoza did not lead to repentance and so was never withdrawn.", "After the censure, Spinoza is said to have addressed an Apologia (defense), written in Spanish, to the elders of the synagogue, \"in which he defended his views as orthodox, and condemned the rabbis for accusing him of 'horrible practices and other enormities' merely because he had neglected ceremonial observances\".", "This apologia does not survive, but some of its contents may later have been included in his ''Theological-Political Treatise''.With regards to what these \"monstrous deeds\" could be, alongside the denial of Mosaic Law, refusal of ceremonial observation, and other heretical philosophical opinions, it has been theorized that the phrase may refer to a series of Quaker, millenarian works/pamphlets published in Amsterdam just months before Spinoza's herem, attempting to convert Jews to Christianity.", "If so, it is of great significance that the missionaries' meeting with and commissioning of Spinoza took place more than three months before the excommunication.", "If Manasseh ben Israel, the addressee of the pamphlet, was aware of its existence, then one of Spinoza’s “monstrous deeds” - from a religious point of view one of the most monstrous imaginable!", "- is accounted for.", "If it was known that a member of the Amsterdam Synagogue had conspired with a Christian mission to convert the entire Jewish community of Amsterdam, that would surely be viewed as conduct monstrous enough to deserve the severest condemnation.", "It would also explain why Spinoza never thought reconciliation an option.", "\"Spinoza's expulsion from the Jewish community did not lead to his conversion to Christianity.", "Spinoza used the Latinized name Benedictus de Spinoza and maintained a close association with the Collegiants (a liberal Protestant sect of Remonstrants) and Quakers, even moved to a town near the Collegiants' headquarters, and was buried at the Protestant Church, Nieuwe Kerk, The Hague, since burial was a sectarian matter and he was ineligible to be buried in the Jewish cemetery.", "There is no evidence he maintained any sense of Jewish identity.", "\"Spinoza did not envision secular Judaism.", "To be a secular and assimilated Jew is, in his view, nonsense.\"", "Spinoza scholar Yirmiyahu Yovel raises the question of whether or not Spinoza could be categorized as the first \"secular Jew\" since he was still regarded as a Jew although he did not adhere to Jewish law or belong to the Jewish community.", "Yovel writes that Spinoza \"exemplifies the situation of the modern Jew—secular, assimilationist, or national—without himself falling neatly into any of these categories.", "Countless Jews in the coming centuries were to find themselves in a similar predicament.", "\"===Career as a philosopher===Study room of Spinoza in RijnsburgSpinoza spent his remaining 22 years writing and studying as a private scholar, initially teaching in the school of his Latin tutor, Franciscus Van den Enden, with whom he boarded for a time, and later, upon leaving Amsterdam, earning a living as a lens grinder.", "He also received some financial assistance from supporters of his intellectual stance.", "After the ''herem'', the Amsterdam municipal authorities expelled Spinoza from Amsterdam, \"responding to the appeals of the rabbis, and also of the Calvinist clergy, who had been vicariously offended by the existence of a free thinker in the synagogue\".", "He spent a brief time in or near the village of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, but returned soon afterwards to Amsterdam and lived there quietly for several years, giving private philosophy lessons and grinding lenses, before leaving the city in 1660 or 1661.During this time in Amsterdam, Spinoza wrote his ''Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being'', which he never published in his lifetime—assuming with good reason that it might get suppressed.", "Two Dutch translations of it survive, discovered about 1810.In 1660 or 1661, Spinoza moved from Amsterdam to Rijnsburg (near Leiden), the center of Dutch Remonstrants known as the Collegiants.", "In Rijnsburg, he began work on his ''Descartes' \"Principles of Philosophy\"'' as well as on his masterpiece, the ''Ethics''.", "In 1663, he returned briefly to Amsterdam, where he finished and published ''Descartes' \"Principles of Philosophy\"'', the only work published in his lifetime under his own name, and then moved the same year to Voorburg.In Voorburg, Spinoza continued work on his magnum opus, eventually entitled ''Ethics'', and corresponded with scientists, philosophers, and theologians throughout Europe.", "He published in Latin, anonymously, and with false printer information ''Theological-Political Treatise'' (TTP) in 1670, in defense of secular and constitutional government, and in support of Jan de Witt, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, against the Stadtholder, the Prince of Orange.", "Leibniz visited Spinoza and claimed that Spinoza's life was in danger when supporters of the Prince of Orange murdered de Witt in 1672.While the TTP was published anonymously, the work did not long remain so, and de Witt's enemies characterized it as \"forged in Hell by a renegade Jew and the Devil, and issued with the knowledge of Jan de Witt\".", "It was condemned in 1673 by the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church and formally banned in 1674.In 1670, Spinoza moved to The Hague, where he lived on a small pension from Jan de Witt and a small annuity from the brother of his dead friend, Simon de Vries.", "He worked on the ''Ethics'', wrote an unfinished Hebrew grammar, began his ''Political Treatise'' (TP), left unfinished at his death, wrote two scientific essays (\"On the Rainbow\" and \"On the Calculation of Chances\"), and began a Dutch translation of the Bible (which he later destroyed).", "Spinoza was offered the chair of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg, but he refused it, perhaps because of the possibility that it might in some way curb his freedom of thought.Spinoza also corresponded with Peter Serrarius, a radical Protestant and millenarian merchant.", "Serrarius was a patron to Spinoza after Spinoza was expelled from the Jewish community.", "He acted as an intermediary for Spinoza's correspondence, sending and receiving letters of the philosopher to and from third parties.", "Spinoza and Serrarius maintained their relationship until Serrarius' death in 1669.By the beginning of the 1660s, Spinoza's name became more widely known.", "The Secretary of the British Royal Society Henry Oldenburg paid him visits and became a correspondent with Spinoza for the rest of his life.", "In 1676, Leibniz came to the Hague to discuss the unpublished ''Ethics'', Spinoza's principal philosophical work, parts of which apparently had circulated in manuscript form.====Lens-grinding and optics====Spinoza earned a modest living from lens-grinding and instrument making, yet he was involved in important optical investigations of the day while living in Voorburg, through correspondence and friendships with scientist Christiaan Huygens and mathematician Johannes Hudde, including debate over microscope design with Huygens, favouring small objectives and collaborating on calculations for a prospective focal length telescope which would have been one of the largest in Europe at the time.", "He was known for making not just lenses but also telescopes and microscopes.", "The quality of Spinoza's lenses was much praised by Christiaan Huygens, among others.", "In fact, his technique and instruments were so esteemed that Constantijn Huygens ground a \"clear and bright\" telescope lens with focal length of in 1687 from one of Spinoza's grinding dishes, ten years after his death.", "He was said by anatomist Theodor Kerckring to have produced an \"excellent\" microscope, the quality of which was the foundation of Kerckring's anatomy claims.", "During his time as a lens and instrument maker, he was also supported by small but regular donations from close friends.====Death and burial====Burial monument of Spinoza at the churchyard of the Nieuwe Kerk (The Hague)Spinoza's health began to fail in 1676, dying in The Hague on 21 February 1677 at the age of 44, attended by a physician friend, Georg Herman Schuller.", "Although he had been ill with some form of lung affliction, described as \"''ex phthisi'' from consumption\", perhaps complicated by silicosis brought on by grinding glass lenses, his death on that particular day was unexpected by himself or his landlord and landlady with whom he lived, and he died without leaving a will.", "His personal belongings and papers, most importantly his unpublished manuscripts, were stored in a cabinet attached to his writing desk, and were taken away for safekeeping from seizure by those wishing to suppress his writings.", "They do not appear in the inventory of his possessions at death.", "There were assertions that he had repented his philosophical stances on his deathbed, but all credible evidence points to his dying unrepentant and in tranquility.", "The first biography of Spinoza, by Lutheran preacher Johannes Colerus (1647-1707), was prompted to investigate Spinoza's last days.", "Spinoza was buried in the ''Nieuwe Kerk'' (New Church) on the Spui four days after his death, on 25 February, inside the church, with six others in the same vault.", "At the time there was no memorial plaque for Spinoza.", "In the 18th century, the vault was emptied and the remains disposed of, with the \"remnants scattered over the earth of the churchyard.\"", "The memorial plaque visitors now see is outside, where some of his remains are part of the churchyard's soil.===Sexuality===As to the sexual orientation of Spinoza, most contemporary and later writers including his biographers are silent, as so too are all the remaining historical documents.", "One exception, however, is Margaret Gullan-Whur, who in her biography (the first English language biography of Spinoza, in 1998, even before Nadler's) \"on hitherto unnoticed grounds\" suggests -provocatively- that \"that the young Dutch merchant Simon de Vries '''may have wanted, or even had''', a homosexual friendship with the philosopher\" and speculates that Baruch Spinoza was/may have been a closeted homosexual (or at least bisexual).", "The relevant passage reads:Then, to support the erotic dimension of the said interest, she points out to a parallel between Terence’s \"The Eunuch\" and Simon's letter to Spinoza.", "To quote in full, She continues by asking: She then abruptly ends her discussion of the topic by echoing Spinoza's \"sedative\" response to Simon: It is interesting to note that throughout the relevant parts of the book, no argument is made, nor any evidence brought up regarding the sexuality of Spinoza (not Simon de Vries).", "Instead, the point is swiftly passed over -so swift that it doesn't even seem like a speculation at all, and accordingly, not many have engaged with this argument.", "Those who have, for the most part, have been dismissive and agnostic, pointing out the lack of evidence presented by Gullan-Wuhr:And" ], [ "Writings", "Spinoza published little in his lifetime and most of his formal writings were in Latin, which would have reached only a small number of readers.", "His supporters published his works posthumously, in Latin and in Dutch, with other translations to European languages following.", "A descriptive bibliography has been published that contextualizes all aspects of the publication history of Spinoza's writings from manuscript to print.", "The reaction to the anonymously published work, ''Theologico-Political Treatise'' (TTP)(1670), was extremely unfavorable.", "Spinoza abstained from publishing further, but his writings circulated among his supporters during his lifetime.", "Wary and independent, he wore a signet ring which he used to mark his letters and which was engraved with the word ''caute'' (Latin for \"cautiously\") underneath a rose, itself a symbol of secrecy.The ''Ethics'' and all other works, apart from the ''Descartes' Principles of Philosophy'' and the ''Theologico-Political Treatise'', were published after his 1677 death.", "The ''Opera Posthuma'' was edited by his friends in secrecy to prevent confiscation and destruction of manuscripts.", "The ''Ethics'' contains many still-unresolved obscurities and is written with a forbidding mathematical structure modeled on Euclid's geometry and has been described as a \"superbly cryptic masterwork\".===Major publications===* .", "''Korte Verhandeling van God, de mensch en deszelvs welstand'' ('' A Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being'').", "* 1662.", "''Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione'' (''On the Improvement of the Understanding'') (unfinished).", "* 1663.", "''Principia philosophiae cartesianae'' (''The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy'', translated by Samuel Shirley, with an Introduction and Notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice, Indianapolis, 1998).", "Gallica (in Latin).", "* 1670.", "''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus'' (A Theologico-Political Treatise).", "* 1675–76.", "''Tractatus Politicus'' (unfinished) ( PDF version)* 1677.", "''Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata'' (''The Ethics'', finished 1674, but published posthumously)* 1677.", "''Compendium grammatices linguae hebraeae'' (Hebrew Grammar).", "* Morgan, Michael L.", "(ed.", "), 2002.", "''Spinoza: Complete Works'', with the Translation of Samuel Shirley, Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company.", ".", "* Edwin Curley (ed.", "), 1985, 2016.", "''The Collected Works of Spinoza'' (two volumes), Princeton: Princeton University Press.", "(Not including the ''Compendium grammatices linguae hebraeae'').", "* Spruit, Leen and Pina Totaro, 2011.", "''The Vatican Manuscript of Spinoza's Ethica'', Leiden: Brill.=== Correspondence ===Letter from Spinoza to Leibniz, with his BdS sealFew letters are extant for such an important intellectual figure and none before 1661, while practically all of them are of philosophical, technical nature, since \"the political and ecclesiastical persecution of thetime led the original editors of the Opera Posthuma—his friends Lodewijk Meyer, Georg Hermann Schuller, and Johannes Bouwmeester—to delete personal matters and to disregard letters of a personal nature\".", "Spinoza engaged in correspondence from December 1664 to June 1665 with Willem van Blijenbergh, an amateur Calvinist theologian, who questioned Spinoza on the definition of evil.", "Later in 1665, Spinoza notified Oldenburg that he had started to work on a new book, the ''Theologico-Political Treatise'', published in 1670.Leibniz disagreed harshly with Spinoza in his own manuscript \"Refutation of Spinoza\", but he is also known to have met with Spinoza on at least one occasion (as mentioned above), and his own work bears some striking resemblances to specific important parts of Spinoza's philosophy (see: Monadology).In a letter, written in December 1675 and sent to Albert Burgh, who wanted to defend Catholicism, Spinoza clearly explained his view of both Catholicism and Islam.", "He stated that both religions are made \"to deceive the people and to constrain the minds of men\".", "He also states that Islam far surpasses Catholicism in doing so.", "The ''Tractatus de Deo, Homine, ejusque Felicitate'' (Treatise on God, man and his happiness) was one of the last of Spinoza's works to be published, between 1851 and 1862." ], [ "Philosophy<!--'Spinozism' redirects here-->", "Spinoza's philosophy is explicated in his two major publications originally written in Latin, the ''Tratacus Theologico-Politicus'' (TTP) (1670) and the ''Ethics'', published posthumously in Latin and Dutch.", "===''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus''===Despite its being published in Latin rather than a vernacular language, this 1670 treatise published in Spinoza's lifetime caused a huge reaction, described as \"one of the most significant events in European intellectual history,\" with a prolonged furore \"that has no parallel in early modern intellectual history.", "\"===''Ethics''===The ''Ethics'' has been associated with that of Leibniz and René Descartes as part of the rationalist school of thought, which includes the assumption that ideas correspond to reality perfectly, in the same way that mathematics is supposed to be an exact representation of the world.", "The writings of René Descartes have been described as \"Spinoza's starting point\".", "Spinoza's first publication was his 1663 geometric exposition of proofs using Euclid's model with definitions and axioms of Descartes' ''Principles of Philosophy''.", "Following Descartes, Spinoza aimed to understand truth through logical deductions from 'clear and distinct ideas', a process which always begins from the 'self-evident truths' of axioms.====Metaphysics====Spinoza's metaphysics consists of one thing, substance, and its modifications (modes).", "Early in ''The Ethics'' Spinoza argues that there is only one substance, which is absolutely infinite, self-caused, and eternal.", "He calls this substance \"God\", or \"Nature\".", "In fact, he takes these two terms to be synonymous (in the Latin the phrase he uses is ''\"Deus sive Natura\"'').", "For Spinoza the whole of the natural universe consists of one substance, God, or, what is the same, Nature, and its modifications (modes).=====Substance, attributes, and modes=====Following Maimonides, Spinoza defined substance as \"that which is in itself and is conceived through itself\", meaning that it can be understood without any reference to anything external.", "Being conceptually independent also means that the same thing is ontologically independent, depending on nothing else for its existence and being the 'cause of itself' (''causa sui'').", "A mode is something which cannot exist independently but rather must do so as part of something else on which it depends, including properties (for example colour), relations (such as size) and individual things.", "Modes can be further divided into 'finite' and 'infinite' ones, with the latter being evident in every finite mode (he gives the examples of \"motion\" and \"rest\").", "The traditional understanding of an attribute in philosophy is similar to Spinoza's modes, though he uses that word differently.", "To him, an attribute is \"that which the intellect perceives as constituting the essence of substance\", and there are possibly an infinite number of them.", "It is the essential nature which is \"attributed\" to reality by intellect.Probable portrait of Spinoza, by Barend Graat, 1666Spinoza defined God as \"a substance consisting of infinite attributes, each of which expresses eternal and infinite essence\", and since \"no cause or reason\" can prevent such a being from existing, it therefore must exist.", "This is a form of the ontological argument, which is claimed to prove the existence of God, but Spinoza went further in stating that it showed that only God exists.", "Accordingly, he stated that \"Whatever is, is in God, and nothing can exist or be conceived without God\".", "This means that God is identical with the universe, an idea which he encapsulated in the phrase \"''Deus sive Natura''\" ('God or Nature'), which has been interpreted by some as atheism or pantheism.", "Though there are many more of them, God can be known by humans either through the attribute of extension or the attribute of thought.", "Thought and extension represent giving complete accounts of the world in mental or physical terms.", "To this end, he says that \"the mind and the body are one and the same thing, which is conceived now under the attribute of thought, now under the attribute of extension\".After stating his proof for God's existence, Spinoza addresses who \"God\" is.", "Spinoza believed that God is \"the sum of the natural and physical laws of the universe and certainly not an individual entity or creator\".", "Spinoza attempts to prove that God is just the substance of the universe by first stating that substances do not share attributes or essences and then demonstrating that God is a \"substance\" with an infinite number of attributes, thus the attributes possessed by any other substances must also be possessed by God.", "Therefore, God is just the sum of all the substances of the universe.", "God is the only substance in the universe, and everything is a part of God.", "This view was described by Charles Hartshorne as Classical Pantheism.Spinoza argues that \"things could not have been produced by God in any other way or in any other order than is the case\".", "Therefore, concepts such as 'freedom' and 'chance' have little meaning.", "This picture of Spinoza's determinism is illuminated in ''Ethics'': \"the infant believes that it is by free will that it seeks the breast; the angry boy believes that by free will he wishes vengeance; the timid man thinks it is with free will he seeks flight; the drunkard believes that by a free command of his mind he speaks the things which when sober he wishes he had left unsaid.", "… All believe that they speak by a free command of the mind, whilst, in truth, they have no power to restrain the impulse which they have to speak.\"", "In his letter to G. H. Schuller (Letter 58), he wrote: \"men are conscious of their desire and unaware of the causes by which their desires are determined.\"", "He also held that knowledge of true causes of passive emotion can transform it into an active emotion, thus anticipating one of the key ideas of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis.According to Professor Eric Schliesser, Spinoza was skeptical regarding the possibility of knowledge of nature and as a consequence at odds with scientists like Galileo and Huygens.=====Causality=====Though the principle of sufficient reason is most commonly associated with Gottfried Leibniz, it is arguably found in its strongest form in Spinoza's philosophy.Within the context of Spinoza's philosophical system, the principle can be understood to unify causation and explanation.", "What this means is that for Spinoza, questions regarding the ''reason'' why a given phenomenon is the way it is (or exists) are always answerable, and are always answerable in terms of the relevant cause(s).", "This constitutes a rejection of teleological, or final causation, except possibly in a more restricted sense for human beings.", "Given this, Spinoza's views regarding causality and modality begin to make much more sense.Spinoza has also been described as an \"Epicurean materialist\", specifically in reference to his opposition to Cartesian mind-body dualism.", "This view was held by Epicureans before him, as they believed that atoms with their probabilistic paths were the only substance that existed fundamentally.", "Spinoza, however, deviated significantly from Epicureans by adhering to strict determinism, much like the Stoics before him, in contrast to the Epicurean belief in the probabilistic path of atoms, which is more in line with contemporary thought on quantum mechanics.=====The emotions=====One thing which seems, on the surface, to distinguish Spinoza's view of the emotions from both Descartes' and Hume's pictures of them is that he takes the emotions to be cognitive in some important respect.", "Jonathan Bennett claims that \"Spinoza mainly saw emotions as caused by cognitions.", "However he did not say this clearly enough and sometimes lost sight of it entirely.", "\"Spinoza provides several demonstrations which purport to show truths about how human emotions work.", "The picture presented is, according to Bennett, \"unflattering, coloured as it is by universal egoism\".====Ethical philosophy====Spinoza's notion of blessedness figures centrally in his ethical philosophy.Blessedness (or salvation or freedom), Spinoza thinks,And this means, as Jonathan Bennett explains, that \"Spinoza wants \"blessedness\" to stand for the most elevated and desirable state one could possibly be in.\"", "Here, understanding what is meant by 'most elevated and desirable state' requires understanding Spinoza's notion of ''conatus'' (read: ''striving'', but not necessarily with any teleological baggage) and that \"perfection\" refers not to (moral) value, but to completeness.", "Given that individuals are identified as mere modifications of the infinite Substance, it follows that no individual can ever be ''fully'' complete, i.e., perfect, or blessed.", "Absolute perfection, is, as noted above, reserved solely for Substance.", "Nevertheless, mere modes can attain a lesser form of blessedness, namely, that of pure understanding of oneself as one really is, i.e., as a definite modification of Substance in a certain set of relationships with everything else in the universe.", "That this is what Spinoza has in mind can be seen at the end of the ''Ethics'', in E5P24 and E5P25, wherein Spinoza makes two final key moves, unifying the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical propositions he has developed over the course of the work.", "In E5P24, he links the understanding of particular things to the understanding of God, or Substance; in E5P25, the ''conatus'' of the mind is linked to the third kind of knowledge (''Intuition'').", "From here, it is a short step to the connection of Blessedness with the ''amor dei intellectualis'' (\"intellectual love of God\").Engraving of Spinoza, captioned in Latin, \"A Jew and an atheist\"; he vehemently denied being an atheist." ], [ "Pantheism", "Spinoza was considered to be an atheist because he used the word \"God\" Deus to signify a concept that was different from that of traditional Judeo–Christian monotheism.", "\"Spinoza expressly denies personality and consciousness to God; he has neither intelligence, feeling, nor will; he does not act according to purpose, but everything follows necessarily from his nature, according to law....\" Thus, Spinoza's cool, indifferent God differs from the concept of an anthropomorphic, fatherly God who cares about humanity.In 1785, Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi published a condemnation of Spinoza's pantheism, after Gotthold Lessing was thought to have confessed on his deathbed to being a \"Spinozist\", which was the equivalent in his time of being called an atheist.", "Jacobi claimed that Spinoza's doctrine was pure materialism, because all Nature and God are said to be nothing but extended substance.", "This, for Jacobi, was the result of Enlightenment rationalism and it would finally end in absolute atheism.", "Moses Mendelssohn disagreed with Jacobi, saying that there is no actual difference between theism and pantheism.", "The issue became a major intellectual and religious concern for European civilization at the time.The attraction of Spinoza's philosophy to late 18th-century Europeans was that it provided an alternative to materialism, atheism, and deism.", "Three of Spinoza's ideas strongly appealed to them:* the unity of all that exists;* the regularity of all that happens;* the identity of spirit and nature.By 1879, Spinoza's pantheism was praised by many, but was considered by some to be alarming and dangerously inimical.Spinoza's \"God or Nature\" (''Deus sive Natura'') provided a living, natural God, in contrast to Isaac Newton's first cause argument and the dead mechanism of Julien Offray de La Mettrie's (1709–1751) work, ''Man a Machine'' ('')''.", "Coleridge and Shelley saw in Spinoza's philosophy a ''religion of nature''.", "Novalis called him the \"God-intoxicated man\".", "Spinoza inspired the poet Shelley to write his essay \"The Necessity of Atheism\".It is a widespread belief that Spinoza equated God with the material universe.", "He has therefore been called the \"prophet\" and \"prince\" and most eminent expounder of pantheism.", "More specifically, in a letter to Henry Oldenburg he states, \"as to the view of certain people that I identify God with Nature (taken as a kind of mass or corporeal matter), they are quite mistaken\".", "For Spinoza, the universe (cosmos) is a ''mode'' under two ''attributes'' of Thought and Extension.", "God has infinitely many other attributes which are not present in the world.According to German philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), when Spinoza wrote '''' (Latin for 'God or Nature'), Spinoza meant God was '''' (nature doing what nature does; literally, 'nature naturing'), not '''' (nature already created; literally, 'nature natured').", "Jaspers believed that Spinoza, in his philosophical system, did not mean to say that God and Nature are interchangeable terms, but rather that God's transcendence was attested by his infinitely many attributes, and that two attributes known by humans, namely Thought and Extension, signified God's immanence.", "Even God under the attributes of thought and extension cannot be identified strictly with our world.", "That world is of course \"divisible\"; it has parts.", "But Spinoza said, \"no attribute of a substance can be truly conceived from which it follows that the substance can be divided\", meaning that one cannot conceive an attribute in a way that leads to division of substance.", "He also said, \"a substance which is absolutely infinite is indivisible\" (Ethics, Part I, Propositions 12 and 13).", "Following this logic, our world should be considered as a mode under two attributes of thought and extension.", "Therefore, according to Jaspers, the pantheist formula \"One and All\" would apply to Spinoza only if the \"One\" preserves its transcendence and the \"All\" were not interpreted as the totality of finite things.Martial Guéroult (1891–1976) suggested the term \"panentheism\", rather than \"pantheism\" to describe Spinoza's view of the relation between God and the world.", "The world is not God, but it is, in a strong sense, \"in\" God.", "Not only do finite things have God as their cause; they cannot be conceived without God.", "However, American panentheist philosopher Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000) insisted on the term Classical Pantheism to describe Spinoza's view.According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Spinoza's God is an \"infinite intellect\" (''Ethics'' 2p11c) — all knowing (2p3), and capable of loving both himself—and us, insofar as we are part of his perfection (5p35c).", "And if the mark of a personal being is that it is one towards which we can entertain personal attitudes, then we should note too that Spinoza recommends ''amor intellectualis dei'' (the intellectual love of God) as the supreme good for man (5p33).", "However, the matter is complex.", "Spinoza's God does not have free will (1p32c1), he does not have purposes or intentions (1 appendix), and Spinoza insists that \"neither intellect nor will pertain to the nature of God\" (1p17s1).", "Moreover, while we may love God, we need to remember that God is really not the kind of being who could ever love us back.", "\"He who loves God cannot strive that God should love him in return\", says Spinoza (5p19).Steven Nadler suggests that settling the question of Spinoza's atheism or pantheism depends on an analysis of attitudes.", "If pantheism is associated with religiosity, then Spinoza is not a pantheist, since Spinoza believes that the proper stance to take towards God is not one of reverence or religious awe, but instead one of objective study and reason, since taking the religious stance would leave one open to the possibility of error and superstition." ], [ "Legacy", "Spinoza's ideas have had a major impact on intellectual debates from the seventeenth century to the current era.", "His biographer Jonathan I. Israel contends that \"No leading figure of the post-1750 later Enlightenment, for example, or the nineteenth century, was engaged with the philosophy of Descartes, Hobbes, Bayle, Locke, or Leibniz, to the degree leading figures such as Lessing, Goethe, Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Schelling, Heine, George Eliot, and Nietzsche, remained preoccupied throughout their creative lives with Spinoza.\"", "On the so-called Jewish question, Spinoza influenced Moses Mendelsohn and Kant, as well as on subsequent thinkers, including Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud.", "Hegel said, \"The fact is that Spinoza is made a testing-point in modern philosophy, so that it may really be said: You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all.\"", "A Dutch commemorative coin issued on the 250th death anniversary of Spinoza, 1927Similarities between Spinoza's philosophy and Eastern philosophical traditions have been discussed by many authors.", "The 19th-century German Sanskritist Theodor Goldstücker was one of the early figures to notice the similarities between Spinoza's religious conceptions and the Vedanta tradition of India, writing that Spinoza's thought was \"... so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta, that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus, did his biography not satisfy us that he was wholly unacquainted with their doctrines...\" Max Müller also noted the striking similarities between Vedanta and the system of Spinoza, equating the Brahman in Vedanta to Spinoza's 'Substantia.", "'When George Santayana graduated from college, he published an essay, \"The Ethical Doctrine of Spinoza\", in ''The Harvard Monthly''.", "Later, he wrote an introduction to ''Spinoza's Ethics'' and ''\"De Intellectus Emendatione\"''.", "In 1932, Santayana was invited to present an essay (published as \"Ultimate Religion\") at a meeting at The Hague celebrating the tricentennial of Spinoza's birth.", "In Santayana's autobiography, he characterized Spinoza as his \"master and model\" in understanding the naturalistic basis of morality.Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein evoked Spinoza with the title (suggested to him by G. E. Moore) of the English translation of his first definitive philosophical work, ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'', an allusion to Spinoza's ''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus''.", "Elsewhere, Wittgenstein deliberately borrowed the expression ''sub specie aeternitatis'' from Spinoza (''Notebooks, 1914–16'', p. 83).", "The structure of his ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'' does have some structural affinities with Spinoza's ''Ethics'' (though, admittedly, not with the Spinoza's ''Tractatus'') in erecting complex philosophical arguments upon basic logical assertions and principles.", "Furthermore, in propositions 6.4311 and 6.45 he alludes to a Spinozian understanding of eternity and interpretation of the religious concept of eternal life, stating, \"If by eternity is understood not eternal temporal duration, but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.\"", "(6.4311) \"The contemplation of the world sub specie aeterni is its contemplation as a limited whole.\"", "(6.45)Spinoza's philosophy played an important role in the development of post-war French philosophy.", "Many of these philosophers \"used Spinoza to erect a bulwark against the nominally irrationalist tendencies of phenomenology\", which was associated with the dominance of Hegel, Martin Heidegger, and Edmund Husserl in France at that time.", "Louis Althusser, as well as his colleagues such as Étienne Balibar, saw in Spinoza a philosophy which could lead Marxism out of what they considered to be flaws in its original formulation, particularly its reliance upon Hegel's conception of the dialectic, as well as Spinoza's concept of immanent causality.", "Antonio Negri, in exile in France for much of this period, also wrote a number of books on Spinoza, most notably ''The Savage Anomaly'' (1981) in his own reconfiguration of Italian Autonomia Operaia.", "Other notable French scholars of Spinoza in this period included Alexandre Matheron, Martial Gueroult, André Tosel, and Pierre Macherey, the last of whom published a widely read and influential five-volume commentary on Spinoza's ''Ethics'', which has been described as \"a monument of Spinoza commentary\".", "His philosophical accomplishments and moral character prompted Gilles Deleuze in his doctoral thesis (1968) to name him \"the prince of philosophers\".", "Deleuze's interpretation of Spinoza's philosophy was highly influential among French philosophers, especially in restoring to prominence the political dimension of Spinoza's thought.", "Deleuze published two books on Spinoza and gave numerous lectures on Spinoza in his capacity as a professor at the University of Paris VIII.", "His own work was deeply influenced by Spinoza's philosophy, particularly the concepts of immanence and univocity.", "Marilena de Souza Chaui described Deleuze's ''Expressionism in Philosophy'' (1968) as a \"revolutionary work for its discovery of expression as a central concept in Spinoza's philosophy.", "\"Albert Einstein named Spinoza as the philosopher who exerted the most influence on his world view (''Weltanschauung'').", "Spinoza equated God (infinite substance) with Nature, consistent with Einstein's belief in an impersonal deity.", "In 1929, Einstein was asked in a telegram by Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein whether he believed in God.", "Einstein responded by telegram: \"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.", "\"Leo Strauss dedicated his first book, ''Spinoza's Critique of Religion'', to an examination of the latter's ideas.", "In the book, Strauss identified Spinoza as part of the tradition of Enlightenment rationalism that eventually produced Modernity.", "Moreover, he identifies Spinoza and his works as the beginning of Jewish Modernity.", "More recently Jonathan Israel argued that, from 1650 to 1750, Spinoza was \"the chief challenger of the fundamentals of revealed religion, received ideas, tradition, morality, and what was everywhere regarded, in absolutist and non-absolutist states alike, as divinely constituted political authority.", "\"Statue (2008) of Spinoza by Nicolas Dings, Amsterdam, Zwanenburgwal, with inscription \"The objective of the state is freedom\" (translation, quote from ''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus'', 1677)Spinoza is an important historical figure in the Netherlands, where his portrait was featured prominently on the Dutch 1000-guilder banknote, legal tender until the euro was introduced in 2002.The highest and most prestigious scientific award of the Netherlands is named the ''Spinozaprijs'' (Spinoza prize).", "Spinoza was included in a 50 theme canon that attempts to summarise the history of the Netherlands.", "In 2014 a copy of Spinoza's ''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus'' was presented to the Chair of the Dutch Parliament, and shares a shelf with the Bible and the Quran." ], [ "Modern era", "===Reconsideration of Enlightenment===There has been a renewed debate in modern times about Spinoza's excommunication among Israeli politicians, rabbis and Jewish press, with many calling for the cherem to be reversed.", "Since such a cherem can only be rescinded by the congregation that issued it, and the chief rabbi of that community, Haham Pinchas Toledano, declined to do so, citing Spinoza's \"preposterous ideas, where he was tearing apart the very fundamentals of our religion\", the Amsterdam Jewish community organised a symposium in December 2015 to discuss lifting the ''cherem'', inviting scholars from around the world to form an advisory committee at the meeting.", "However, the rabbi of the congregation ruled that it should hold, on the basis that he had no greater wisdom than his predecessors, and that Spinoza's views had not become less problematic over time.===Memory and memorials===* Spinoza Lyceum, a high school in Amsterdam South was named after Spinoza.", "There is also a 3 metre tall marble statute of him on the grounds of the school carved by Hildo Krop.", "* The Spinoza Havurah (a Humanistic Jewish community) was named in Spinoza's honor.", "* The Spinoza Foundation Monument has a statute of Spinoza located in front of the Amsterdam City Hall (at Zwanenburgwal) It was created by Dutch sculptor Nicolas Dings and was erected in 2008." ], [ "See also", "* Biblical criticism* History of the Jews in Amsterdam* History of the Jews in the Netherlands* Uriel da Costa" ], [ "References", "===Notes======References===" ], [ "Sources", "* * * * * * Second edition 2018.", "* * * * * " ], [ "Further reading", "===Biographies and reference works===Brenner-Golomb, Nancy.", "2010.", "''The Importance of Spinoza for the Modern Philosophy of Science''.", "Frankfurt.", "Carlisle, Clare.", "2021.", "\"Spinoza's Religion\", Princeton University Press.", "Della Rocca, Michael.", "2008.", "''Spinoza'', New York: Routledge.", "_____, (ed.", "), 2018.", "''The Oxford Handbook of Spinoza''.", "Oxford University Press.", " Garrett, Don, ed., 1995.", "''The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza''.", "Cambridge Uni.", "Press.", "Gullan-Whur, Margaret.", "2000.", "''Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza''.", "New York:St. Martin's Press.", " Israel, Jonathan.", "2023.", "''Spinoza: Life and Legacy''.", "New York: Oxford University Press.", "* Koistinen, Olli, (ed.).", "2009.", "''The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza's Ethics''.", "Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.", "* Popkin, R. H., 2004.", "''Spinoza'' (Oxford: One World Publications)* Yovel, Yirmiyahu, ''Spinoza and Other Heretics, Vol.", "1: The Marrano of Reason''.", "Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1989.", "* Yovel, Yirmiyahu, ''Spinoza and Other Heretics, Vol.", "2: The Adventures of Immanence''.", "Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1989.===Other works===* Damásio, António, 2003.", "''Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain'', Harvest Books, * Deleuze, Gilles, 1968.", "''Spinoza et le problème de l'expression''.", "Trans.", "\"Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza\" Martin Joughin (New York: Zone Books).", "* _____, 1970.", "''Spinoza: Philosophie pratique''.", "Transl.", "\"Spinoza: Practical Philosophy\".", "* _____, 1990.", "''Negotiations'' trans.", "Martin Joughin (New York: Columbia University Press).", "* Della Rocca, Michael.", "1996.", "''Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza''.", "Oxford University Press.", "* Gatens, Moira, and Lloyd, Genevieve, 1999.", "''Collective imaginings: Spinoza, past and present''.", "Routledge.", "* Goldstein, Rebecca, 2006.", "''Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity''.", "Schocken.", "* Goode, Francis, 2012.", "''Life of Spinoza''.", "Smashwords edition.", "* Gullan-Whur, Margaret, 1998.", "''Within Reason: A Life of Spinoza''.", "Jonathan Cape.", "* Hampshire, Stuart, 1951.", "''Spinoza and Spinozism'', OUP, 2005 * Hardt, Michael, trans., University of Minnesota Press.", "Preface, in French, by Gilles Deleuze, available here: Israel, Jonathan, 2001.", "''The Radical Enlightenment'', Oxford: Oxford University Press.", " _____, 2006.", "''Enlightenment Contested: Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1670–1752'', ()_____.", "2002.“Philosophy, Commerce and the Synagogue: Spinoza’s Expulsion from the Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish Community in 1656.” In ''Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000)''.", "Edited by Jonathan Israel and Reinier Salverda, pp.", "125-140.Leiden: Brill.", " )* Kayser, Rudolf, 1946, with an introduction by Albert Einstein.", "''Spinoza: Portrait of a Spiritual Hero''.", "New York: The Philosophical Library.", "* Lloyd, Genevieve, 2018.", "''Reclaiming wonder.", "After the sublime''.", "Edinburgh University Press.", "* LeBuffe, Michael.", "2010.", "''Spinoza and Human Freedom''.", "Oxford University Press.", "* Lovejoy, Arthur O., 1936.", "\"Plenitude and Sufficient Reason in Leibniz and Spinoza\" in his ''The Great Chain of Being''.", "Harvard University Press: 144–82 ().", "Reprinted in Frankfurt, H. G., ed., 1972.", "''Leibniz: A Collection of Critical Essays''.", "Anchor Books.", "* Macherey, Pierre, 1977.", "''Hegel ou Spinoza'', Maspéro (2nd ed.", "La Découverte, 2004).", "* _____, 1994–98.", "''Introduction à l'Ethique de Spinoza''.", "Paris: PUF.", "* Magnusson 1990: Magnusson, M (ed.", "), ''Spinoza, Baruch'', Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Chambers 1990, .", "* Matheron, Alexandre, 1969.", "''Individu et communauté chez Spinoza'', Paris: Minuit.", "* Melamed, Yitzhak Y., ''Spinoza's Metaphysics: Substance and Thought'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).", "xxii+232 pp.", "* Melamed, Yitzhak Y.", "(ed.", "), ''The Young Spinoza: A Metaphysician in the Making'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).", "* Millner, Simon L., ''The Face of Benedictus Spinoza'' (New York: Machmadim Art Editions, Inc., 1946).", "* Montag, Warren, ''Bodies, Masses, Power: Spinoza and his Contemporaries.''", "(London: Verso, 2002).", "* Moreau, Pierre-François, 2003, ''Spinoza et le spinozisme'', PUF (Presses Universitaires de France)* Nadler, Steven, ''Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die'', 2020 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, ).", "* Negri, Antonio, 1991.", "''The Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza's Metaphysics and Politics''.", "* _____, 2004.", "''Subversive Spinoza: (Un)Contemporary Variations''.", "* * Ratner, Joseph, 1927.", "''The Philosophy of Spinoza'' (The Modern Library: Random House)* Stolze, Ted and Warren Montag (eds.", "), ''The New Spinoza'', Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.", "* Strauss, Leo.", "''Persecution and the Art of Writing.''", "Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press, 1952.Reprint.", "Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.", "* _____ch.", "5, \"How to Study Spinoza's ''Tractus Theologico-Politicus'';\" reprinted in Strauss, ''Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity,'' ed.", "Kenneth Hart Green (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997), 181–233.", "* ____''Spinoza's Critique of Religion.''", "New York: Schocken Books, 1965.Reprint.", "University of Chicago Press, 1996.", "* _____ \"Preface to the English Translation\" reprinted as \"Preface to Spinoza's Critique of Religion\", in Strauss, ''Liberalism Ancient and Modern'' (New York: Basic Books, 1968, 224–59; also in Strauss, ''Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity'', 137–77).", "* Valentiner, W.R., 1957.", "''Rembrandt and Spinoza: A Study of the Spiritual Conflicts in Seventeenth-Century Holland'', London: Phaidon Press.", "* Vinciguerra, Lorenzo ''Spinoza in French Philosophy Today''.", "Philosophy Today , Vol.", "53, No.", "4, Winter 2009 .", "Van den Ven, Jeroen.", "''Printing Spinoza: A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works Published in the Seventeenth Century''.", "Leiden 2022.", " _____.", "''Documenting Spinoza: A Biographical History of his Life and Time''.", "(forthcoming)* Williams, David Lay.", "2010.", "\"Spinoza and the General Will\", ''The Journal of Politics'', vol.", "72 (April): 341–356.", "* Wolfson, Henry A.", "\"The Philosophy of Spinoza\".", "2 vols.", "Harvard University Press." ], [ "External links", "'''Articles'''* Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: \" Benedict de Spinoza\" \" Spinoza: Epistemology \" Spinoza: Metaphysics \" Spinoza: Moral Philosophy \" Spinoza: Political Philosophy \" Spinoza: Free Will and Determinism\"* ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'': \" Spinoza\" by Steven Nadler.", " \" Spinoza's Psychological Theory\" by Michael LeBuffe.", " \" Spinoza's Physical Theory\" by Richard Manning.", " \" Spinoza's Political Philosophy\" by Justin Steinberg.", "* SpInoza Bibliography* Spinoza, Baruch (Bento, Benedictus) De in the ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (2005) by Edwin Curley* Bulletin Spinoza of the journal Archives de philosophie* Susan James on Spinoza on the Passions, ''Philosophy Bites'' podcast* Spinoza, the Moral Heretic by Matthew J. Kisner* BBC Radio 4 In Our Time programme on Spinoza* The Escamoth stating Spinoza's excommunication* Gilles Deleuze's lectures about Spinoza (1978–1981)* Spinoza in the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''* Spinoza in the ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''* Video lecture on Baruch Spinoza by Henry Abramson'''Works'''* ''Spinoza Opera'' Carl Gebhardt's 1925 four volume edition of Spinoza's Works.", "* * * * * Refutation of Spinoza by Leibniz In full via Google Books* More easily readable versions of the Correspondence, Ethics Demonstrated in Geometrical Order and Treatise on Theology and Politics* EthicaDB Hypertextual and multilingual publication of Ethics* A Theologico-Political Treatise– English Translation* A Theologico-Political Treatise – English Translation (at sacred-texts.com)* A letter from Spinoza to Albert Burgh* Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata et in quinque partes distincta, in quibus agetur* ''Opera posthuma'' – Amsterdam 1677.Complete photographic reproduction, ed.", "by F. Mignini (Quodlibet publishing house website)* The Ethics of Benedict de Spinoza, translated by George Eliot, transcribed by Thomas Deegan* Spinoza Archive on the Digital collections of Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bird" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Birds''' are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class '''Aves''' (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton.", "Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the common ostrich.", "There are over 11,000 living species, more than half of which are passerine, or \"perching\" birds.", "Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds.", "Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species.", "The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight.", "Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming.", "The study of birds is called ornithology.Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs.", "Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians.", "Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include ''Archaeopteryx'') which first appeared during the Late Jurassic.", "According to recent estimates, modern birds ('''Neornithes''') evolved in the Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-avian dinosaurs.Many social species pass on knowledge across generations, which is considered a form of culture.", "Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators.", "The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life.", "Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males).", "Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction.", "They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents.", "Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching.Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers.", "Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets.", "Guano (bird excrement) is harvested for use as a fertiliser.", "Birds figure throughout human culture.", "About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then.", "Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them.", "Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry." ], [ "Evolution and classification", "''Archaeopteryx'' is often considered the oldest known true bird.The first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume ''Ornithologiae''.Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use.", "Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy.", "Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda.===Definition===Aves and a sister group, the order Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria.", "During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and ''Archaeopteryx lithographica''.", "However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and is used by many scientists including adherents to the ''PhyloCode''.", "Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds.", "This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils, and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives.Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for the same biological name \"Aves\", which is a problem.", "The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below.", "They assigned other names to the other groups.# Aves can mean all archosaurs closer to birds than to crocodiles (alternately Avemetatarsalia)# Aves can mean those advanced archosaurs with feathers (alternately Avifilopluma)# Aves can mean those feathered dinosaurs that fly (alternately Avialae)# Aves can mean the last common ancestor of all the currently living birds and all of its descendants (a \"crown group\", in this sense synonymous with '''Neornithes''')Under the fourth definition ''Archaeopteryx'', traditionally considered one of the earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead.", "These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution, though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent.", "Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term \"bird\" by these researchers.Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary.", "Many authors have used a definition similar to \"all theropods closer to birds than to ''Deinonychus''\", with ''Troodon'' being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to ''Deinonychus''.", "Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics).", "Jacques Gauthier, who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight, and the birds that descended from them.Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers.", "Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives.", "Their alternative definition is synonymous to Avifilopluma.===Dinosaurs and the origin of birds===Simplified phylogenetic tree showing the relationship between modern birds and other dinosaursBased on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora, a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs, among others.", "As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds, the previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred.", "By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs, contributed to this ambiguity.", "''Anchiornis huxleyi'' is an important source of information on the early evolution of birds in the Late Jurassic period.The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans, are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs, which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids.", "Together, these form a group called Paraves.", "Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as ''Microraptor'', have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly.", "The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small.", "This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal, have been able to glide, or both.", "Unlike ''Archaeopteryx'' and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that the first avialans were omnivores.The Late Jurassic ''Archaeopteryx'' is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century.", "''Archaeopteryx'' was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds.", "It is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor.===Early evolution===''Confuciusornis sanctus'', a Cretaceous bird from China that lived 125 million years ago, is the oldest known bird to have a beak.Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs, i.e.", "the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to ''Tyrannosaurus rex''.", "The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase.", "After the appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics.", "Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer.", "The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers.The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from the Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period (Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago.", "The avialan species from this time period include ''Anchiornis huxleyi'', ''Xiaotingia zhengi'', and ''Aurornis xui''.The well-known probable early avialan, ''Archaeopteryx'', dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany.", "Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution.", "These features include enlarged claws on the second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or \"hind wings\" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering.Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period.", "Many groups retained primitive characteristics, such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves).", "Increasingly stiff tails (especially the outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle, an ossification of fused tail vertebrae.", "In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size.", "Around 95 million years ago, they evolved a better sense of smell.A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the \"bird-chested\" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features.", "Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula, and the loss of grasping hands.", "===Early diversity of bird ancestors===''Ichthyornis'', which lived 93 million years ago, was the first known prehistoric bird relative preserved with teeth.The first large, diverse lineage of short-tailed avialans to evolve were the Enantiornithes, or \"opposite birds\", so named because the construction of their shoulder bones was in reverse to that of modern birds.", "Enantiornithes occupied a wide array of ecological niches, from sand-probing shorebirds and fish-eaters to tree-dwelling forms and seed-eaters.", "While they were the dominant group of avialans during the Cretaceous period, enantiornithes became extinct along with many other dinosaur groups at the end of the Mesozoic era.Many species of the second major avialan lineage to diversify, the Euornithes (meaning \"true birds\", because they include the ancestors of modern birds), were semi-aquatic and specialised in eating fish and other small aquatic organisms.", "Unlike the Enantiornithes, which dominated land-based and arboreal habitats, most early euornithes lacked perching adaptations and likely included shorebird-like species, waders, and swimming and diving species.The latter included the superficially gull-like ''Ichthyornis'' and the Hesperornithiformes, which became so well adapted to hunting fish in marine environments that they lost the ability to fly and became primarily aquatic.", "The early euornithes also saw the development of many traits associated with modern birds, like strongly keeled breastbones, toothless, beaked portions of their jaws (though most non-avian euornithes retained teeth in other parts of the jaws).", "Euornithes also included the first avialans to develop true pygostyle and a fully mobile fan of tail feathers, which may have replaced the \"hind wing\" as the primary mode of aerial maneuverability and braking in flight.A study on mosaic evolution in the avian skull found that the last common ancestor of all Neornithes might have had a beak similar to that of the modern hook-billed vanga and a skull similar to that of the Eurasian golden oriole.", "As both species are small aerial and canopy foraging omnivores, a similar ecological niche was inferred for this hypothetical ancestor.===Diversification of modern birds===Most studies agree on a Cretaceous age for the most recent common ancestor of modern birds but estimates range from the Early Cretaceous to the latest Cretaceous.", "Similarly, there is no agreement on whether most of the early diversification of modern birds occurred in the Cretaceous and associated with breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana or occurred later and potentially as a consequence of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event.", "This disagreement is in part caused by a divergence in the evidence; most molecular dating studies suggests a Cretaceous evolutionary radiation, while fossil evidence points to a Cenozoic radiation (the so-called 'rocks' versus 'clocks' controversy).The discovery of ''Vegavis'' from the Maastrichtian, the last stage of the Late Cretaceous proved that the diversification of modern birds started before the Cenozoic era.", "The affinities of an earlier fossil, the possible galliform ''Austinornis lentus'', dated to about 85 million years ago, are still too controversial to provide a fossil evidence of modern bird diversification.", "In 2020, ''Asteriornis'' from the Maastrichtian was described, it appears to be a close relative of Galloanserae, the earliest diverging lineage within Neognathae.Attempts to reconcile molecular and fossil evidence using genomic-scale DNA data and comprehensive fossil information have not resolved the controversy.", "However, a 2015 estimate that used a new method for calibrating molecular clocks confirmed that while modern birds originated early in the Late Cretaceous, likely in Western Gondwana, a pulse of diversification in all major groups occurred around the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event.", "Modern birds would have expanded from West Gondwana through two routes.", "One route was an Antarctic interchange in the Paleogene.", "The other route was probably via Paleocene land bridges between South American and North America, which allowed for the rapid expansion and diversification of Neornithes into the Holarctic and Paleotropics.", "On the other hand, the occurrence of ''Asteriornis'' in the Northern Hemisphere suggest that Neornithes dispersed out of East Gondwana before the Paleocene.===Classification of bird orders===All modern birds lie within the crown group Aves (alternately Neornithes), which has two subdivisions: the Palaeognathae, which includes the flightless ratites (such as the ostriches) and the weak-flying tinamous, and the extremely diverse Neognathae, containing all other birds.", "These two subdivisions have variously been given the rank of superorder, cohort, or infraclass.", "Depending on the taxonomic viewpoint, the number of known living bird species is around 10,906 although other sources may differ in their precise number.Cladogram of modern bird relationships based on Braun & Kimball (2021)The classification of birds is a contentious issue.", "Sibley and Ahlquist's ''Phylogeny and Classification of Birds'' (1990) is a landmark work on the subject.", "Most evidence seems to suggest the assignment of orders is accurate, but scientists disagree about the relationships among the orders themselves; evidence from modern bird anatomy, fossils and DNA have all been brought to bear on the problem, but no strong consensus has emerged.", "Fossil and molecular evidence from the 2010s is providing an increasingly clear picture of the evolution of modern bird orders.===Genomics===, the genome had been sequenced for only two birds, the chicken and the zebra finch.", "the genomes of 542 species of birds had been completed.", "At least one genome has been sequenced from every order.", "These include at least one species in about 90% of extant avian families (218 out of 236 families recognised by the ''Howard and Moore Checklist'').Being able to sequence and compare whole genomes gives researchers many types of information, about genes, the DNA that regulates the genes, and their evolutionary history.", "This has led to reconsideration of some of the classifications that were based solely on the identification of protein-coding genes.", "Waterbirds such as pelicans and flamingos, for example, may have in common specific adaptations suited to their environment that were developed independently." ], [ "Distribution", "The range of the house sparrow has expanded dramatically due to human activities.Birds live and breed in most terrestrial habitats and on all seven continents, reaching their southern extreme in the snow petrel's breeding colonies up to inland in Antarctica.", "The highest bird diversity occurs in tropical regions.", "It was earlier thought that this high diversity was the result of higher speciation rates in the tropics; however studies from the 2000s found higher speciation rates in the high latitudes that were offset by greater extinction rates than in the tropics.", "Many species migrate annually over great distances and across oceans; several families of birds have adapted to life both on the world's oceans and in them, and some seabird species come ashore only to breed, while some penguins have been recorded diving up to deep.Many bird species have established breeding populations in areas to which they have been introduced by humans.", "Some of these introductions have been deliberate; the ring-necked pheasant, for example, has been introduced around the world as a game bird.", "Others have been accidental, such as the establishment of wild monk parakeets in several North American cities after their escape from captivity.", "Some species, including cattle egret, yellow-headed caracara and galah, have spread naturally far beyond their original ranges as agricultural expansion created alternative habitats although modern practices of intensive agriculture have negatively impacted farmland bird populations." ], [ "Anatomy and physiology", "External anatomy of a bird (example: yellow-wattled lapwing): 1 Beak, 2 Head, 3 Iris, 4 Pupil, 5 Mantle, 6 Lesser coverts, 7 Scapulars, 8 Median coverts, 9 Tertials, 10 Rump, 11 Primaries, 12 Vent, 13 Thigh, 14 Tibio-tarsal articulation, 15 Tarsus, 16 Foot, 17 Tibia, 18 Belly, 19 Flanks, 20 Breast, 21 Throat, 22 Wattle, 23 EyestripeCompared with other vertebrates, birds have a body plan that shows many unusual adaptations, mostly to facilitate flight.===Skeletal system===The skeleton consists of very lightweight bones.", "They have large air-filled cavities (called pneumatic cavities) which connect with the respiratory system.", "The skull bones in adults are fused and do not show cranial sutures.", "The orbital cavities that house the eyeballs are large and separated from each other by a bony septum (partition).", "The spine has cervical, thoracic, lumbar and caudal regions with the number of cervical (neck) vertebrae highly variable and especially flexible, but movement is reduced in the anterior thoracic vertebrae and absent in the later vertebrae.", "The last few are fused with the pelvis to form the synsacrum.", "The ribs are flattened and the sternum is keeled for the attachment of flight muscles except in the flightless bird orders.", "The forelimbs are modified into wings.", "The wings are more or less developed depending on the species; the only known groups that lost their wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds.===Excretory system===Like the reptiles, birds are primarily uricotelic, that is, their kidneys extract nitrogenous waste from their bloodstream and excrete it as uric acid, instead of urea or ammonia, through the ureters into the intestine.", "Birds do not have a urinary bladder or external urethral opening and (with exception of the ostrich) uric acid is excreted along with faeces as a semisolid waste.", "However, birds such as hummingbirds can be facultatively ammonotelic, excreting most of the nitrogenous wastes as ammonia.", "They also excrete creatine, rather than creatinine like mammals.", "This material, as well as the output of the intestines, emerges from the bird's cloaca.", "The cloaca is a multi-purpose opening: waste is expelled through it, most birds mate by joining cloaca, and females lay eggs from it.", "In addition, many species of birds regurgitate pellets.It is a common but not universal feature of altricial passerine nestlings (born helpless, under constant parental care) that instead of excreting directly into the nest, they produce a fecal sac.", "This is a mucus-covered pouch that allows parents to either dispose of the waste outside the nest or to recycle the waste through their own digestive system.===Reproductive system===Males within Palaeognathae (with the exception of the kiwis), the Anseriformes (with the exception of screamers), and in rudimentary forms in Galliformes (but fully developed in Cracidae) possess a penis, which is never present in Neoaves.", "The length is thought to be related to sperm competition.", "For male birds to get an erection, they depend on lymphatic fluid instead of blood.", "When not copulating, it is hidden within the proctodeum compartment within the cloaca, just inside the vent.", "Female birds have sperm storage tubules that allow sperm to remain viable long after copulation, a hundred days in some species.", "Sperm from multiple males may compete through this mechanism.", "Most female birds have a single ovary and a single oviduct, both on the left side, but there are exceptions: species in at least 16 different orders of birds have two ovaries.", "Even these species, however, tend to have a single oviduct.", "It has been speculated that this might be an adaptation to flight, but males have two testes, and it is also observed that the gonads in both sexes decrease dramatically in size outside the breeding season.", "Also terrestrial birds generally have a single ovary, as does the platypus, an egg-laying mammal.", "A more likely explanation is that the egg develops a shell while passing through the oviduct over a period of about a day, so that if two eggs were to develop at the same time, there would be a risk to survival.", "While rare, mostly abortive, parthenogenesis is not unknown in birds and eggs can be diploid, automictic and results in male offspring.Birds are solely gonochoric.", "Meaning they have two sexes: either female or male.", "The sex of birds is determined by the Z and W sex chromosomes, rather than by the X and Y chromosomes present in mammals.", "Male birds have two Z chromosomes (ZZ), and female birds have a W chromosome and a Z chromosome (WZ).", "A complex system of disassortative mating with two morphs is involved in the white-throated sparrow ''Zonotrichia albicollis'', where white- and tan-browed morphs of opposite sex pair, making it appear as if four sexes were involved since any individual is compatible with only a fourth of the population.In nearly all species of birds, an individual's sex is determined at fertilisation.", "However, one 2007 study claimed to demonstrate temperature-dependent sex determination among the Australian brushturkey, for which higher temperatures during incubation resulted in a higher female-to-male sex ratio.", "This, however, was later proven to not be the case.", "These birds do not exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination, but temperature-dependent sex mortality.===Respiratory and circulatory systems===Birds have one of the most complex respiratory systems of all animal groups.", "Upon inhalation, 75% of the fresh air bypasses the lungs and flows directly into a posterior air sac which extends from the lungs and connects with air spaces in the bones and fills them with air.", "The other 25% of the air goes directly into the lungs.", "When the bird exhales, the used air flows out of the lungs and the stored fresh air from the posterior air sac is simultaneously forced into the lungs.", "Thus, a bird's lungs receive a constant supply of fresh air during both inhalation and exhalation.", "Sound production is achieved using the syrinx, a muscular chamber incorporating multiple tympanic membranes which diverges from the lower end of the trachea; the trachea being elongated in some species, increasing the volume of vocalisations and the perception of the bird's size.In birds, the main arteries taking blood away from the heart originate from the right aortic arch (or pharyngeal arch), unlike in the mammals where the left aortic arch forms this part of the aorta.", "The postcava receives blood from the limbs via the renal portal system.", "Unlike in mammals, the circulating red blood cells in birds retain their nucleus.====Heart type and features====Didactic model of an avian heartThe avian circulatory system is driven by a four-chambered, myogenic heart contained in a fibrous pericardial sac.", "This pericardial sac is filled with a serous fluid for lubrication.", "The heart itself is divided into a right and left half, each with an atrium and ventricle.", "The atrium and ventricles of each side are separated by atrioventricular valves which prevent back flow from one chamber to the next during contraction.", "Being myogenic, the heart's pace is maintained by pacemaker cells found in the sinoatrial node, located on the right atrium.The sinoatrial node uses calcium to cause a depolarising signal transduction pathway from the atrium through right and left atrioventricular bundle which communicates contraction to the ventricles.", "The avian heart also consists of muscular arches that are made up of thick bundles of muscular layers.", "Much like a mammalian heart, the avian heart is composed of endocardial, myocardial and epicardial layers.", "The atrium walls tend to be thinner than the ventricle walls, due to the intense ventricular contraction used to pump oxygenated blood throughout the body.", "Avian hearts are generally larger than mammalian hearts when compared to body mass.", "This adaptation allows more blood to be pumped to meet the high metabolic need associated with flight.====Organisation====Birds have a very efficient system for diffusing oxygen into the blood; birds have a ten times greater surface area to gas exchange volume than mammals.", "As a result, birds have more blood in their capillaries per unit of volume of lung than a mammal.", "The arteries are composed of thick elastic muscles to withstand the pressure of the ventricular contractions, and become more rigid as they move away from the heart.", "Blood moves through the arteries, which undergo vasoconstriction, and into arterioles which act as a transportation system to distribute primarily oxygen as well as nutrients to all tissues of the body.", "As the arterioles move away from the heart and into individual organs and tissues they are further divided to increase surface area and slow blood flow.", "Blood travels through the arterioles and moves into the capillaries where gas exchange can occur.Capillaries are organised into capillary beds in tissues; it is here that blood exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide waste.", "In the capillary beds, blood flow is slowed to allow maximum diffusion of oxygen into the tissues.", "Once the blood has become deoxygenated, it travels through venules then veins and back to the heart.", "Veins, unlike arteries, are thin and rigid as they do not need to withstand extreme pressure.", "As blood travels through the venules to the veins a funneling occurs called vasodilation bringing blood back to the heart.", "Once the blood reaches the heart, it moves first into the right atrium, then the right ventricle to be pumped through the lungs for further gas exchange of carbon dioxide waste for oxygen.", "Oxygenated blood then flows from the lungs through the left atrium to the left ventricle where it is pumped out to the body.===Nervous system===The nervous system is large relative to the bird's size.", "The most developed part of the brain of birds is the one that controls the flight-related functions, while the cerebellum coordinates movement and the cerebrum controls behaviour patterns, navigation, mating and nest building.", "Most birds have a poor sense of smell with notable exceptions including kiwis, New World vultures and tubenoses.", "The avian visual system is usually highly developed.", "Water birds have special flexible lenses, allowing accommodation for vision in air and water.", "Some species also have dual fovea.", "Birds are tetrachromatic, possessing ultraviolet (UV) sensitive cone cells in the eye as well as green, red and blue ones.", "They also have double cones, likely to mediate achromatic vision.The nictitating membrane as it covers the eye of a masked lapwingMany birds show plumage patterns in ultraviolet that are invisible to the human eye; some birds whose sexes appear similar to the naked eye are distinguished by the presence of ultraviolet reflective patches on their feathers.", "Male blue tits have an ultraviolet reflective crown patch which is displayed in courtship by posturing and raising of their nape feathers.", "Ultraviolet light is also used in foraging—kestrels have been shown to search for prey by detecting the UV reflective urine trail marks left on the ground by rodents.", "With the exception of pigeons and a few other species, the eyelids of birds are not used in blinking.", "Instead the eye is lubricated by the nictitating membrane, a third eyelid that moves horizontally.", "The nictitating membrane also covers the eye and acts as a contact lens in many aquatic birds.", "The bird retina has a fan shaped blood supply system called the pecten.Eyes of most birds are large, not very round and capable of only limited movement in the orbits, typically 10–20°.", "Birds with eyes on the sides of their heads have a wide visual field, while birds with eyes on the front of their heads, such as owls, have binocular vision and can estimate the depth of field.", "The avian ear lacks external pinnae but is covered by feathers, although in some birds, such as the ''Asio'', ''Bubo'' and ''Otus'' owls, these feathers form tufts which resemble ears.", "The inner ear has a cochlea, but it is not spiral as in mammals.===Defence and intraspecific combat===A few species are able to use chemical defences against predators; some Procellariiformes can eject an unpleasant stomach oil against an aggressor, and some species of pitohuis from New Guinea have a powerful neurotoxin in their skin and feathers.A lack of field observations limit our knowledge, but intraspecific conflicts are known to sometimes result in injury or death.", "The screamers (Anhimidae), some jacanas (''Jacana'', ''Hydrophasianus''), the spur-winged goose (''Plectropterus''), the torrent duck (''Merganetta'') and nine species of lapwing (''Vanellus'') use a sharp spur on the wing as a weapon.", "The steamer ducks (''Tachyeres''), geese and swans (''Anserinae''), the solitaire (''Pezophaps''), sheathbills (''Chionis''), some guans (''Crax'') and stone curlews (''Burhinus'') use a bony knob on the alular metacarpal to punch and hammer opponents.", "The jacanas ''Actophilornis'' and ''Irediparra'' have an expanded, blade-like radius.", "The extinct ''Xenicibis'' was unique in having an elongate forelimb and massive hand which likely functioned in combat or defence as a jointed club or flail.", "Swans, for instance, may strike with the bony spurs and bite when defending eggs or young.===Feathers, plumage, and scales===The disruptively patterned plumage of the African scops owl allows it to blend in with its surroundings.Feathers are a feature characteristic of birds (though also present in some dinosaurs not currently considered to be true birds).", "They facilitate flight, provide insulation that aids in thermoregulation, and are used in display, camouflage, and signalling.", "There are several types of feathers, each serving its own set of purposes.", "Feathers are epidermal growths attached to the skin and arise only in specific tracts of skin called pterylae.", "The distribution pattern of these feather tracts (pterylosis) is used in taxonomy and systematics.", "The arrangement and appearance of feathers on the body, called plumage, may vary within species by age, social status, and sex.Plumage is regularly moulted; the standard plumage of a bird that has moulted after breeding is known as the \"\" plumage, or—in the Humphrey–Parkes terminology—\"basic\" plumage; breeding plumages or variations of the basic plumage are known under the Humphrey–Parkes system as \"\" plumages.", "Moulting is annual in most species, although some may have two moults a year, and large birds of prey may moult only once every few years.", "Moulting patterns vary across species.", "In passerines, flight feathers are replaced one at a time with the innermost being the first.", "When the fifth of sixth primary is replaced, the outermost begin to drop.", "After the innermost tertiaries are moulted, the starting from the innermost begin to drop and this proceeds to the outer feathers (centrifugal moult).", "The greater primary are moulted in synchrony with the primary that they overlap.A small number of species, such as ducks and geese, lose all of their flight feathers at once, temporarily becoming flightless.", "As a general rule, the tail feathers are moulted and replaced starting with the innermost pair.", "Centripetal moults of tail feathers are however seen in the Phasianidae.", "The centrifugal moult is modified in the tail feathers of woodpeckers and treecreepers, in that it begins with the second innermost pair of feathers and finishes with the central pair of feathers so that the bird maintains a functional climbing tail.", "The general pattern seen in passerines is that the primaries are replaced outward, secondaries inward, and the tail from centre outward.", "Before nesting, the females of most bird species gain a bare brood patch by losing feathers close to the belly.", "The skin there is well supplied with blood vessels and helps the bird in incubation.Red lory preeningFeathers require maintenance and birds preen or groom them daily, spending an average of around 9% of their daily time on this.", "The bill is used to brush away foreign particles and to apply waxy secretions from the uropygial gland; these secretions protect the feathers' flexibility and act as an antimicrobial agent, inhibiting the growth of feather-degrading bacteria.", "This may be supplemented with the secretions of formic acid from ants, which birds receive through a behaviour known as anting, to remove feather parasites.The scales of birds are composed of the same keratin as beaks, claws, and spurs.", "They are found mainly on the toes and metatarsus, but may be found further up on the ankle in some birds.", "Most bird scales do not overlap significantly, except in the cases of kingfishers and woodpeckers.The scales of birds are thought to be homologous to those of reptiles and mammals.===Flight===Restless flycatcher in the downstroke of flapping flightMost birds can fly, which distinguishes them from almost all other vertebrate classes.", "Flight is the primary means of locomotion for most bird species and is used for searching for food and for escaping from predators.", "Birds have various adaptations for flight, including a lightweight skeleton, two large flight muscles, the pectoralis (which accounts for 15% of the total mass of the bird) and the supracoracoideus, as well as a modified forelimb (wing) that serves as an aerofoil.Wing shape and size generally determine a bird's flight style and performance; many birds combine powered, flapping flight with less energy-intensive soaring flight.", "About 60 extant bird species are flightless, as were many extinct birds.", "Flightlessness often arises in birds on isolated islands, most likely due to limited resources and the absence of mammalian land predators.", "Flightlessness is almost exclusively correlated with gigantism due to an island's inherent condition of isolation.", "Although flightless, penguins use similar musculature and movements to \"fly\" through the water, as do some flight-capable birds such as auks, shearwaters and dippers." ], [ "Behaviour", "Most birds are diurnal, but some birds, such as many species of owls and nightjars, are nocturnal or crepuscular (active during twilight hours), and many coastal waders feed when the tides are appropriate, by day or night.===Diet and feeding===Feeding adaptations in beaks are varied and often include nectar, fruit, plants, seeds, carrion, and various small animals, including other birds.", "The digestive system of birds is unique, with a crop for storage and a gizzard that contains swallowed stones for grinding food to compensate for the lack of teeth.", "Some species such as pigeons and some psittacine species do not have a gallbladder.", "Most birds are highly adapted for rapid digestion to aid with flight.", "Some migratory birds have adapted to use protein stored in many parts of their bodies, including protein from the intestines, as additional energy during migration.Birds that employ many strategies to obtain food or feed on a variety of food items are called generalists, while others that concentrate time and effort on specific food items or have a single strategy to obtain food are considered specialists.", "Avian foraging strategies can vary widely by species.", "Many birds glean for insects, invertebrates, fruit, or seeds.", "Some hunt insects by suddenly attacking from a branch.", "Those species that seek pest insects are considered beneficial 'biological control agents' and their presence encouraged in biological pest control programmes.", "Combined, insectivorous birds eat 400–500 million metric tons of arthropods annually.Nectar feeders such as hummingbirds, sunbirds, lories, and lorikeets amongst others have specially adapted brushy tongues and in many cases bills designed to fit co-adapted flowers.", "Kiwis and shorebirds with long bills probe for invertebrates; shorebirds' varied bill lengths and feeding methods result in the separation of ecological niches.", "Loons, diving ducks, penguins and auks pursue their prey underwater, using their wings or feet for propulsion, while aerial predators such as sulids, kingfishers and terns plunge dive after their prey.", "Flamingos, three species of prion, and some ducks are filter feeders.", "Geese and dabbling ducks are primarily grazers.Some species, including frigatebirds, gulls, and skuas, engage in kleptoparasitism, stealing food items from other birds.", "Kleptoparasitism is thought to be a supplement to food obtained by hunting, rather than a significant part of any species' diet; a study of great frigatebirds stealing from masked boobies estimated that the frigatebirds stole at most 40% of their food and on average stole only 5%.", "Other birds are scavengers; some of these, like vultures, are specialised carrion eaters, while others, like gulls, corvids, or other birds of prey, are opportunists.===Water and drinking===Water is needed by many birds although their mode of excretion and lack of sweat glands reduces the physiological demands.", "Some desert birds can obtain their water needs entirely from moisture in their food.", "Some have other adaptations such as allowing their body temperature to rise, saving on moisture loss from evaporative cooling or panting.", "Seabirds can drink seawater and have salt glands inside the head that eliminate excess salt out of the nostrils.Most birds scoop water in their beaks and raise their head to let water run down the throat.", "Some species, especially of arid zones, belonging to the pigeon, finch, mousebird, button-quail and bustard families are capable of sucking up water without the need to tilt back their heads.", "Some desert birds depend on water sources and sandgrouse are particularly well known for congregating daily at waterholes.", "Nesting sandgrouse and many plovers carry water to their young by wetting their belly feathers.", "Some birds carry water for chicks at the nest in their crop or regurgitate it along with food.", "The pigeon family, flamingos and penguins have adaptations to produce a nutritive fluid called crop milk that they provide to their chicks.===Feather care===Feathers, being critical to the survival of a bird, require maintenance.", "Apart from physical wear and tear, feathers face the onslaught of fungi, ectoparasitic feather mites and bird lice.", "The physical condition of feathers are maintained by often with the application of secretions from the .", "Birds also bathe in water or dust themselves.", "While some birds dip into shallow water, more aerial species may make aerial dips into water and arboreal species often make use of dew or rain that collect on leaves.", "Birds of arid regions make use of loose soil to dust-bathe.", "A behaviour termed as anting in which the bird encourages ants to run through their plumage is also thought to help them reduce the ectoparasite load in feathers.", "Many species will spread out their wings and expose them to direct sunlight and this too is thought to help in reducing fungal and ectoparasitic activity that may lead to feather damage.===Migration===A flock of Canada geese in V formationMany bird species migrate to take advantage of global differences of seasonal temperatures, therefore optimising availability of food sources and breeding habitat.", "These migrations vary among the different groups.", "Many landbirds, shorebirds, and waterbirds undertake annual long-distance migrations, usually triggered by the length of daylight as well as weather conditions.", "These birds are characterised by a breeding season spent in the temperate or polar regions and a non-breeding season in the tropical regions or opposite hemisphere.", "Before migration, birds substantially increase body fats and reserves and reduce the size of some of their organs.Migration is highly demanding energetically, particularly as birds need to cross deserts and oceans without refuelling.", "Landbirds have a flight range of around and shorebirds can fly up to , although the bar-tailed godwit is capable of non-stop flights of up to .", "Seabirds also undertake long migrations, the longest annual migration being those of sooty shearwaters, which nest in New Zealand and Chile and spend the northern summer feeding in the North Pacific off Japan, Alaska and California, an annual round trip of .", "Other seabirds disperse after breeding, travelling widely but having no set migration route.", "Albatrosses nesting in the Southern Ocean often undertake circumpolar trips between breeding seasons.The routes of satellite-tagged bar-tailed godwits migrating north from New Zealand.", "This species has the longest known non-stop migration of any species, up to .Some bird species undertake shorter migrations, travelling only as far as is required to avoid bad weather or obtain food.", "Irruptive species such as the boreal finches are one such group and can commonly be found at a location in one year and absent the next.", "This type of migration is normally associated with food availability.", "Species may also travel shorter distances over part of their range, with individuals from higher latitudes travelling into the existing range of conspecifics; others undertake partial migrations, where only a fraction of the population, usually females and subdominant males, migrates.", "Partial migration can form a large percentage of the migration behaviour of birds in some regions; in Australia, surveys found that 44% of non-passerine birds and 32% of passerines were partially migratory.Altitudinal migration is a form of short-distance migration in which birds spend the breeding season at higher altitudes and move to lower ones during suboptimal conditions.", "It is most often triggered by temperature changes and usually occurs when the normal territories also become inhospitable due to lack of food.", "Some species may also be nomadic, holding no fixed territory and moving according to weather and food availability.", "Parrots as a family are overwhelmingly neither migratory nor sedentary but considered to either be dispersive, irruptive, nomadic or undertake small and irregular migrations.The ability of birds to return to precise locations across vast distances has been known for some time; in an experiment conducted in the 1950s, a Manx shearwater released in Boston in the United States returned to its colony in Skomer, in Wales within 13 days, a distance of .", "Birds navigate during migration using a variety of methods.", "For diurnal migrants, the sun is used to navigate by day, and a stellar compass is used at night.", "Birds that use the sun compensate for the changing position of the sun during the day by the use of an internal clock.", "Orientation with the stellar compass depends on the position of the constellations surrounding Polaris.", "These are backed up in some species by their ability to sense the Earth's geomagnetism through specialised photoreceptors.===Communication===Birds communicate primarily using visual and auditory signals.", "Signals can be interspecific (between species) and intraspecific (within species).Birds sometimes use plumage to assess and assert social dominance, to display breeding condition in sexually selected species, or to make threatening displays, as in the sunbittern's mimicry of a large predator to ward off hawks and protect young chicks.The startling display of the sunbittern mimics a large predator.Visual communication among birds may also involve ritualised displays, which have developed from non-signalling actions such as preening, the adjustments of feather position, pecking, or other behaviour.", "These displays may signal aggression or submission or may contribute to the formation of pair-bonds.", "The most elaborate displays occur during courtship, where \"dances\" are often formed from complex combinations of many possible component movements; males' breeding success may depend on the quality of such displays.Bird calls and songs, which are produced in the syrinx, are the major means by which birds communicate with sound.", "This communication can be very complex; some species can operate the two sides of the syrinx independently, allowing the simultaneous production of two different songs.Calls are used for a variety of purposes, including mate attraction, evaluation of potential mates, bond formation, the claiming and maintenance of territories, the identification of other individuals (such as when parents look for chicks in colonies or when mates reunite at the start of breeding season), and the warning of other birds of potential predators, sometimes with specific information about the nature of the threat.", "Some birds also use mechanical sounds for auditory communication.", "The ''Coenocorypha'' snipes of New Zealand drive air through their feathers, woodpeckers drum for long-distance communication, and palm cockatoos use tools to drum.===Flocking and other associations===Red-billed queleas, the most numerous species of wild bird, form enormous flockssometimes tens of thousands strong.While some birds are essentially territorial or live in small family groups, other birds may form large flocks.", "The principal benefits of flocking are safety in numbers and increased foraging efficiency.", "Defence against predators is particularly important in closed habitats like forests, where ambush predation is common and multiple eyes can provide a valuable early warning system.", "This has led to the development of many mixed-species feeding flocks, which are usually composed of small numbers of many species; these flocks provide safety in numbers but increase potential competition for resources.", "Costs of flocking include bullying of socially subordinate birds by more dominant birds and the reduction of feeding efficiency in certain cases.Birds sometimes also form associations with non-avian species.", "Plunge-diving seabirds associate with dolphins and tuna, which push shoaling fish towards the surface.", "Some species of hornbills have a mutualistic relationship with dwarf mongooses, in which they forage together and warn each other of nearby birds of prey and other predators.===Resting and roosting===Many birds, like this American flamingo, tuck their head into their back when sleeping.The high metabolic rates of birds during the active part of the day is supplemented by rest at other times.", "Sleeping birds often use a type of sleep known as vigilant sleep, where periods of rest are interspersed with quick eye-opening \"peeks\", allowing them to be sensitive to disturbances and enable rapid escape from threats.", "Swifts are believed to be able to sleep in flight and radar observations suggest that they orient themselves to face the wind in their roosting flight.", "It has been suggested that there may be certain kinds of sleep which are possible even when in flight.Some birds have also demonstrated the capacity to fall into slow-wave sleep one hemisphere of the brain at a time.", "The birds tend to exercise this ability depending upon its position relative to the outside of the flock.", "This may allow the eye opposite the sleeping hemisphere to remain vigilant for predators by viewing the outer margins of the flock.", "This adaptation is also known from marine mammals.", "Communal roosting is common because it lowers the loss of body heat and decreases the risks associated with predators.", "Roosting sites are often chosen with regard to thermoregulation and safety.", "Unusual mobile roost sites include large herbivores on the African savanna that are used by oxpeckers.Many sleeping birds bend their heads over their backs and tuck their bills in their back feathers, although others place their beaks among their breast feathers.", "Many birds rest on one leg, while some may pull up their legs into their feathers, especially in cold weather.", "Perching birds have a tendon-locking mechanism that helps them hold on to the perch when they are asleep.", "Many ground birds, such as quails and pheasants, roost in trees.", "A few parrots of the genus ''Loriculus'' roost hanging upside down.", "Some hummingbirds go into a nightly state of torpor accompanied with a reduction of their metabolic rates.", "This physiological adaptation shows in nearly a hundred other species, including owlet-nightjars, nightjars, and woodswallows.", "One species, the common poorwill, even enters a state of hibernation.", "Birds do not have sweat glands, but can lose water directly through the skin, and they may cool themselves by moving to shade, standing in water, panting, increasing their surface area, fluttering their throat or using special behaviours like urohidrosis to cool themselves.===Breeding=======Social systems====Like others of its family, the male Raggiana bird-of-paradise has elaborate breeding plumage used to impress females.Ninety-five per cent of bird species are socially monogamous.", "These species pair for at least the length of the breeding season or—in some cases—for several years or until the death of one mate.", "Monogamy allows for both paternal care and biparental care, which is especially important for species in which care from both the female and the male parent is required in order to successfully rear a brood.", "Among many socially monogamous species, extra-pair copulation (infidelity) is common.", "Such behaviour typically occurs between dominant males and females paired with subordinate males, but may also be the result of forced copulation in ducks and other anatids.For females, possible benefits of extra-pair copulation include getting better genes for her offspring and insuring against the possibility of infertility in her mate.", "Males of species that engage in extra-pair copulations will closely guard their mates to ensure the parentage of the offspring that they raise.Other mating systems, including polygyny, polyandry, polygamy, polygynandry, and promiscuity, also occur.", "Polygamous breeding systems arise when females are able to raise broods without the help of males.", "Mating systems vary across bird families but variations within species are thought to be driven by environmental conditions.Breeding usually involves some form of courtship display, typically performed by the male.", "Most displays are rather simple and involve some type of song.", "Some displays, however, are quite elaborate.", "Depending on the species, these may include wing or tail drumming, dancing, aerial flights, or communal lekking.", "Females are generally the ones that drive partner selection, although in the polyandrous phalaropes, this is reversed: plainer males choose brightly coloured females.", "Courtship feeding, billing and are commonly performed between partners, generally after the birds have paired and mated.Homosexual behaviour has been observed in males or females in numerous species of birds, including copulation, pair-bonding, and joint parenting of chicks.", "Over 130 avian species around the world engage in sexual interactions between the same sex or homosexual behaviours.", "\"Same-sex courtship activities may involve elaborate displays, synchronized dances, gift-giving ceremonies, or behaviors at specific display areas including bowers, arenas, or leks.", "\"====Territories, nesting and incubation====Many birds actively defend a territory from others of the same species during the breeding season; maintenance of territories protects the food source for their chicks.", "Species that are unable to defend feeding territories, such as seabirds and swifts, often breed in colonies instead; this is thought to offer protection from predators.", "Colonial breeders defend small nesting sites, and competition between and within species for nesting sites can be intense.All birds lay amniotic eggs with hard shells made mostly of calcium carbonate.", "Hole and burrow nesting species tend to lay white or pale eggs, while open nesters lay camouflaged eggs.", "There are many exceptions to this pattern, however; the ground-nesting nightjars have pale eggs, and camouflage is instead provided by their plumage.", "Species that are victims of brood parasites have varying egg colours to improve the chances of spotting a parasite's egg, which forces female parasites to match their eggs to those of their hosts.Male golden-backed weavers construct elaborate suspended nests out of grass.Bird eggs are usually laid in a nest.", "Most species create somewhat elaborate nests, which can be cups, domes, plates, mounds, or burrows.", "Some bird nests can be a simple scrape, with minimal or no lining; most seabird and wader nests are no more than a scrape on the ground.", "Most birds build nests in sheltered, hidden areas to avoid predation, but large or colonial birds—which are more capable of defence—may build more open nests.", "During nest construction, some species seek out plant matter from plants with parasite-reducing toxins to improve chick survival, and feathers are often used for nest insulation.", "Some bird species have no nests; the cliff-nesting common guillemot lays its eggs on bare rock, and male emperor penguins keep eggs between their body and feet.", "The absence of nests is especially prevalent in open habitat ground-nesting species where any addition of nest material would make the nest more conspicuous.", "Many ground nesting birds lay a clutch of eggs that hatch synchronously, with precocial chicks led away from the nests (nidifugous) by their parents soon after hatching.Nest of an eastern phoebe that has been parasitised by a brown-headed cowbirdIncubation, which regulates temperature for chick development, usually begins after the last egg has been laid.", "In monogamous species incubation duties are often shared, whereas in polygamous species one parent is wholly responsible for incubation.", "Warmth from parents passes to the eggs through brood patches, areas of bare skin on the abdomen or breast of the incubating birds.", "Incubation can be an energetically demanding process; adult albatrosses, for instance, lose as much as of body weight per day of incubation.", "The warmth for the incubation of the eggs of megapodes comes from the sun, decaying vegetation or volcanic sources.", "Incubation periods range from 10 days (in woodpeckers, cuckoos and passerine birds) to over 80 days (in albatrosses and kiwis).The diversity of characteristics of birds is great, sometimes even in closely related species.", "Several avian characteristics are compared in the table below.", "Species Adult weight(grams) Incubation(days) Clutches(per year) Clutch size Ruby-throated hummingbird (''Archilochus colubris'') 3 13 2.0 2 House sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') 25 11 4.5 5 Greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') 376 20 1.5 4 Turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') 2,200 39 1.0 2 Laysan albatross (''Phoebastria immutabilis'') 3,150 64 1.0 1 Magellanic penguin (''Spheniscus magellanicus'') 4,000 40 1.0 1 Golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') 4,800 40 1.0 2 Wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') 6,050 28 1.0 11====Parental care and fledging====At the time of their hatching, chicks range in development from helpless to independent, depending on their species.", "Helpless chicks are termed ''altricial'', and tend to be born small, blind, immobile and naked; chicks that are mobile and feathered upon hatching are termed ''precocial''.", "Altricial chicks need help thermoregulating and must be brooded for longer than precocial chicks.", "The young of many bird species do not precisely fit into either the precocial or altricial category, having some aspects of each and thus fall somewhere on an \"altricial-precocial spectrum\".", "Chicks at neither extreme but favouring one or the other may be termed or .Altricial chicks of a white-breasted woodswallowThe length and nature of parental care varies widely amongst different orders and species.", "At one extreme, parental care in megapodes ends at hatching; the newly hatched chick digs itself out of the nest mound without parental assistance and can fend for itself immediately.", "At the other extreme, many seabirds have extended periods of parental care, the longest being that of the great frigatebird, whose chicks take up to six months to fledge and are fed by the parents for up to an additional 14 months.", "The ''chick guard stage'' describes the period of breeding during which one of the adult birds is permanently present at the nest after chicks have hatched.", "The main purpose of the guard stage is to aid offspring to thermoregulate and protect them from predation.A female calliope hummingbird feeding fully grown chicksIn some species, both parents care for nestlings and fledglings; in others, such care is the responsibility of only one sex.", "In some species, other members of the same species—usually close relatives of the breeding pair, such as offspring from previous broods—will help with the raising of the young.", "Such alloparenting is particularly common among the Corvida, which includes such birds as the true crows, Australian magpie and fairy-wrens, but has been observed in species as different as the rifleman and red kite.", "Among most groups of animals, male parental care is rare.", "In birds, however, it is quite common—more so than in any other vertebrate class.", "Although territory and nest site defence, incubation, and chick feeding are often shared tasks, there is sometimes a division of labour in which one mate undertakes all or most of a particular duty.The point at which chicks fledge varies dramatically.", "The chicks of the ''Synthliboramphus'' murrelets, like the ancient murrelet, leave the nest the night after they hatch, following their parents out to sea, where they are raised away from terrestrial predators.", "Some other species, such as ducks, move their chicks away from the nest at an early age.", "In most species, chicks leave the nest just before, or soon after, they are able to fly.", "The amount of parental care after fledging varies; albatross chicks leave the nest on their own and receive no further help, while other species continue some supplementary feeding after fledging.", "Chicks may also follow their parents during their first migration.====Brood parasites====Reed warbler raising a common cuckoo, a brood parasiteBrood parasitism, in which an egg-layer leaves her eggs with another individual's brood, is more common among birds than any other type of organism.", "After a parasitic bird lays her eggs in another bird's nest, they are often accepted and raised by the host at the expense of the host's own brood.", "Brood parasites may be either ''obligate brood parasites'', which must lay their eggs in the nests of other species because they are incapable of raising their own young, or ''non-obligate brood parasites'', which sometimes lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics to increase their reproductive output even though they could have raised their own young.", "One hundred bird species, including honeyguides, icterids, and ducks, are obligate parasites, though the most famous are the cuckoos.", "Some brood parasites are adapted to hatch before their host's young, which allows them to destroy the host's eggs by pushing them out of the nest or to kill the host's chicks; this ensures that all food brought to the nest will be fed to the parasitic chicks.====Sexual selection====The peacock tail in flight, the classic example of a Fisherian runawayBirds have evolved a variety of mating behaviours, with the peacock tail being perhaps the most famous example of sexual selection and the Fisherian runaway.", "Commonly occurring sexual dimorphisms such as size and colour differences are energetically costly attributes that signal competitive breeding situations.", "Many types of avian sexual selection have been identified; intersexual selection, also known as female choice; and intrasexual competition, where individuals of the more abundant sex compete with each other for the privilege to mate.", "Sexually selected traits often evolve to become more pronounced in competitive breeding situations until the trait begins to limit the individual's fitness.", "Conflicts between an individual fitness and signalling adaptations ensure that sexually selected ornaments such as plumage colouration and courtship behaviour are \"honest\" traits.", "Signals must be costly to ensure that only good-quality individuals can present these exaggerated sexual ornaments and behaviours.====Inbreeding depression====Inbreeding causes early death (inbreeding depression) in the zebra finch ''Taeniopygia guttata''.", "Embryo survival (that is, hatching success of fertile eggs) was significantly lower for sib-sib mating pairs than for unrelated pairs.Darwin's finch ''Geospiza scandens'' experiences inbreeding depression (reduced survival of offspring) and the magnitude of this effect is influenced by environmental conditions such as low food availability.====Inbreeding avoidance====Incestuous matings by the purple-crowned fairy wren ''Malurus coronatus'' result in severe fitness costs due to inbreeding depression (greater than 30% reduction in hatchability of eggs).", "Females paired with related males may undertake extra pair matings (see Promiscuity#Other animals for 90% frequency in avian species) that can reduce the negative effects of inbreeding.", "However, there are ecological and demographic constraints on extra pair matings.", "Nevertheless, 43% of broods produced by incestuously paired females contained extra pair young.Inbreeding depression occurs in the great tit (''Parus major'') when the offspring produced as a result of a mating between close relatives show reduced fitness.", "In natural populations of ''Parus major'', inbreeding is avoided by dispersal of individuals from their birthplace, which reduces the chance of mating with a close relative.Southern pied babblers ''Turdoides bicolor'' appear to avoid inbreeding in two ways.", "The first is through dispersal, and the second is by avoiding familiar group members as mates.Cooperative breeding in birds typically occurs when offspring, usually males, delay dispersal from their natal group in order to remain with the family to help rear younger kin.", "Female offspring rarely stay at home, dispersing over distances that allow them to breed independently, or to join unrelated groups.", "In general, inbreeding is avoided because it leads to a reduction in progeny fitness (inbreeding depression) due largely to the homozygous expression of deleterious recessive alleles.", "Cross-fertilisation between unrelated individuals ordinarily leads to the masking of deleterious recessive alleles in progeny." ], [ "Ecology", "Gran Canaria blue chaffinch, an example of a bird highly specialised in its habitat, in this case in the Canarian pine forestsBirds occupy a wide range of ecological positions.", "While some birds are generalists, others are highly specialised in their habitat or food requirements.", "Even within a single habitat, such as a forest, the niches occupied by different species of birds vary, with some species feeding in the forest canopy, others beneath the canopy, and still others on the forest floor.", "Forest birds may be insectivores, frugivores, or nectarivores.", "Aquatic birds generally feed by fishing, plant eating, and piracy or kleptoparasitism.", "Many grassland birds are granivores.", "Birds of prey specialise in hunting mammals or other birds, while vultures are specialised scavengers.", "Birds are also preyed upon by a range of mammals including a few avivorous bats.", "A wide range of endo- and ectoparasites depend on birds and some parasites that are transmitted from parent to young have co-evolved and show host-specificity.Some nectar-feeding birds are important pollinators, and many frugivores play a key role in seed dispersal.", "Plants and pollinating birds often coevolve, and in some cases a flower's primary pollinator is the only species capable of reaching its nectar.Birds are often important to island ecology.", "Birds have frequently reached islands that mammals have not; on those islands, birds may fulfil ecological roles typically played by larger animals.", "For example, in New Zealand nine species of moa were important browsers, as are the kererū and kokako today.", "Today the plants of New Zealand retain the defensive adaptations evolved to protect them from the extinct moa.Many birds act as ecosystem engineers through the construction of nests, which provide important microhabitats and food for hundreds of species of invertebrates.", "Nesting seabirds may affect the ecology of islands and surrounding seas, principally through the concentration of large quantities of guano, which may enrich the local soil and the surrounding seas.A wide variety of avian ecology field methods, including counts, nest monitoring, and capturing and marking, are used for researching avian ecology." ], [ "Relationship with humans", "Industrial farming of chickensSince birds are highly visible and common animals, humans have had a relationship with them since the dawn of man.", "Sometimes, these relationships are mutualistic, like the cooperative honey-gathering among honeyguides and African peoples such as the Borana.", "Other times, they may be commensal, as when species such as the house sparrow have benefited from human activities.", "Several bird species have become commercially significant agricultural pests, and some pose an aviation hazard.", "Human activities can also be detrimental, and have threatened numerous bird species with extinction (hunting, avian lead poisoning, pesticides, roadkill, wind turbine kills and predation by pet cats and dogs are common causes of death for birds).Birds can act as vectors for spreading diseases such as psittacosis, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, mycobacteriosis (avian tuberculosis), avian influenza (bird flu), giardiasis, and cryptosporidiosis over long distances.", "Some of these are zoonotic diseases that can also be transmitted to humans.===Economic importance===The use of cormorants by Asian fishermen is in steep decline but survives in some areas as a tourist attraction.Domesticated birds raised for meat and eggs, called poultry, are the largest source of animal protein eaten by humans; in 2003, tons of poultry and tons of eggs were produced worldwide.", "Chickens account for much of human poultry consumption, though domesticated turkeys, ducks, and geese are also relatively common.", "Many species of birds are also hunted for meat.", "Bird hunting is primarily a recreational activity except in extremely undeveloped areas.", "The most important birds hunted in North and South America are waterfowl; other widely hunted birds include pheasants, wild turkeys, quail, doves, partridge, grouse, snipe, and woodcock.", "Muttonbirding is also popular in Australia and New Zealand.", "Although some hunting, such as that of muttonbirds, may be sustainable, hunting has led to the extinction or endangerment of dozens of species.Other commercially valuable products from birds include feathers (especially the down of geese and ducks), which are used as insulation in clothing and bedding, and seabird faeces (guano), which is a valuable source of phosphorus and nitrogen.", "The War of the Pacific, sometimes called the Guano War, was fought in part over the control of guano deposits.Birds have been domesticated by humans both as pets and for practical purposes.", "Colourful birds, such as parrots and mynas, are bred in captivity or kept as pets, a practice that has led to the illegal trafficking of some endangered species.", "Falcons and cormorants have long been used for hunting and fishing, respectively.", "Messenger pigeons, used since at least 1 AD, remained important as recently as World War II.", "Today, such activities are more common either as hobbies, for entertainment and tourism,Amateur bird enthusiasts (called birdwatchers, twitchers or, more commonly, birders) number in the millions.", "Many homeowners erect bird feeders near their homes to attract various species.", "Bird feeding has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry; for example, an estimated 75% of households in Britain provide food for birds at some point during the winter.===In religion and mythology===The ''3 of Birds'' by the Master of the Playing Cards, 15th-century GermanyBirds play prominent and diverse roles in religion and mythology.In religion, birds may serve as either messengers or priests and leaders for a deity, such as in the Cult of Makemake, in which the Tangata manu of Easter Island served as chiefs or as attendants, as in the case of Hugin and Munin, the two common ravens who whispered news into the ears of the Norse god Odin.", "In several civilisations of ancient Italy, particularly Etruscan and Roman religion, priests were involved in augury, or interpreting the words of birds while the \"auspex\" (from which the word \"auspicious\" is derived) watched their activities to foretell events.They may also serve as religious symbols, as when Jonah (, dove) embodied the fright, passivity, mourning, and beauty traditionally associated with doves.", "Birds have themselves been deified, as in the case of the common peacock, which is perceived as Mother Earth by the people of southern India.", "In the ancient world, doves were used as symbols of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna (later known as Ishtar), the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah, and the Greek goddess Aphrodite.", "In ancient Greece, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and patron deity of the city of Athens, had a little owl as her symbol.", "In religious images preserved from the Inca and Tiwanaku empires, birds are depicted in the process of transgressing boundaries between earthly and underground spiritual realms.", "Indigenous peoples of the central Andes maintain legends of birds passing to and from metaphysical worlds.===In culture and folklore===Painted tiles with design of birds from Qajar dynastyBirds have featured in culture and art since prehistoric times, when they were represented in early cave painting and carvings.", "Some birds have been perceived as monsters, including the mythological Roc and the Māori's legendary , a giant bird capable of snatching humans.", "Birds were later used as symbols of power, as in the magnificent Peacock Throne of the Mughal and Persian emperors.", "With the advent of scientific interest in birds, many paintings of birds were commissioned for books.Among the most famous of these bird artists was John James Audubon, whose paintings of North American birds were a great commercial success in Europe and who later lent his name to the National Audubon Society.", "Birds are also important figures in poetry; for example, Homer incorporated nightingales into his ''Odyssey'', and Catullus used a sparrow as an erotic symbol in his Catullus 2.The relationship between an albatross and a sailor is the central theme of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'', which led to the use of the term as a metaphor for a 'burden'.", "Other English metaphors derive from birds; vulture funds and vulture investors, for instance, take their name from the scavenging vulture.", "Aircraft, particularly military aircraft, are frequently named after birds.", "The predatory nature of raptors make them popular choices for fighter aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Harrier Jump Jet, while the names of seabirds may be chosen for aircraft primarily used by naval forces such as the HU-16 Albatross and the V-22 Osprey.", "flag of Dominica prominently features the Sisserou Parrot, its national bird.Perceptions of bird species vary across cultures.", "Owls are associated with bad luck, witchcraft, and death in parts of Africa, but are regarded as wise across much of Europe.", "Hoopoes were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt and symbols of virtue in Persia, but were thought of as thieves across much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia.", "In heraldry, birds, especially eagles, often appear in coats of arms In vexillology, birds are a popular choice on flags.", "Birds feature in the flag designs of 17 countries and numerous subnational entities and territories.", "Birds are used by nations to symbolize a country's identity and heritage, with 91 countries officially recognizing a national bird.", "Birds of prey are highly represented, though some nations have chosen other species of birds with parrots being popular among smaller, tropical nations.===In music===In music, birdsong has influenced composers and musicians in several ways: they can be inspired by birdsong; they can intentionally imitate bird song in a composition, as Vivaldi, Messiaen, and Beethoven did, along with many later composers; they can incorporate recordings of birds into their works, as Ottorino Respighi first did; or like Beatrice Harrison and David Rothenberg, they can duet with birds.A 2023 archaeological excavation of a 10000-year-old site in Israel yielded hollow wing bones of coots and ducks with perforations made on the side that are thought to have allowed them to be used as flutes or whistles possibly used by Natufian people to lure birds of prey." ], [ "Threats and conservation", "The California condor once numbered only 22 birds, but conservation measures have raised that to over 500 today.Human activities have caused population decreases or extinction in many bird species.", "Over a hundred bird species have gone extinct in historical times, although the most dramatic human-caused avian extinctions, eradicating an estimated 750–1800 species, occurred during the human colonisation of Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian islands.", "Many bird populations are declining worldwide, with 1,227 species listed as threatened by BirdLife International and the IUCN in 2009.The most commonly cited human threat to birds is habitat loss.", "Other threats include overhunting, accidental mortality due to collisions with buildings or vehicles, long-line fishing bycatch, pollution (including oil spills and pesticide use), competition and predation from nonnative invasive species, and climate change.Governments and conservation groups work to protect birds, either by passing laws that preserve and restore bird habitat or by establishing captive populations for reintroductions.", "Such projects have produced some successes; one study estimated that conservation efforts saved 16 species of bird that would otherwise have gone extinct between 1994 and 2004, including the California condor and Norfolk parakeet.Human activities have allowed the expansion of only a few species, such as the barn swallow and European starling." ], [ "See also", "* Avian sleepBiodiversity loss Climate change and birds* Glossary of bird terms* List of individual birds* Ornithology" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* ''All the Birds of the World'', Lynx Edicions, 2020.", "* Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi (eds.).", "''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (17-volume encyclopaedia), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 1992–2010.(''Vol.", "1: Ostrich to Ducks'': , etc.).", "* Lederer, Roger; Carol Burr (2014).", "''Latein für Vogelbeobachter: über 3000 ornithologische Begriffe erklärt und erforscht'', aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Susanne Kuhlmannn-Krieg, Verlag DuMont, Köln, .", "* ''National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America'', National Geographic, 7th edition, 2017.", "* ''National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region'', National Audubon Society, Knopf.", "* ''National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region'', National Audubon Society, Knopf.", "* Svensson, Lars (2010).", "''Birds of Europe'', Princeton University Press, second edition.", "* Svensson, Lars (2010).", "''Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'', Collins, 2nd edition." ], [ "External links", "* Birdlife International – Dedicated to bird conservation worldwide; has a database with about 250,000 records on endangered bird species.", "* Bird biogeography* Birds and Science from the National Audubon Society* Cornell Lab of Ornithology* * Essays on bird biology* North American Birds for Kids * Ornithology* Sora – Searchable online research archive; Archives of the following ornithological journals ''The Auk'', ''Condor'', ''Journal of Field Ornithology''', ''North American Bird Bander'', ''Studies in Avian Biology'', ''Pacific Coast Avifauna'', and the ''Wilson Bulletin''.", "* The Internet Bird Collection – A free library of videos of the world's birds* The Institute for Bird Populations, California* List of field guides to birds, from the International Field Guides database* RSPB bird identifier – Interactive identification of all UK birds* Are Birds Really Dinosaurs?", "— University of California Museum of Paleontology." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "...Baby One More Time (album)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''...Baby One More Time''''' is the debut studio album by American singer Britney Spears.", "It was released on January 12, 1999, by Jive Records.", "Spears had been a child performer on ''The All-New Mickey Mouse Club'' from 1993 to 1994, and was looking to expand her career as a teen singer.", "After being turned away by several record companies, Spears signed with Jive for a multi-album deal in 1997.She travelled to Sweden to collaborate with producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, who had been writing songs with producer Denniz Pop and others, for ''...Baby One More Time''.", "Their collaboration created a pop, bubblegum pop, dance-pop, and teen pop record, with Spears later saying that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit record.", "The album was completed in June 1998.Upon its release, ''...Baby One More Time'' garnered mixed reviews from music critics, with many praising its commercial appeal but deeming it silly and premature.", "Despite its initial mixed reception, it helped Spears receive a nomination for Best New Artist at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards (2000).", "Retrospectively, it has been hailed for its major impact on pop culture, citing it as one of the most influential pop records of all time.", "A massive global commercial success, it made Spears the fifth artist under the age of 18 to top the US ''Billboard'' 200.It has been certified 14× platinum (diamond) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).", "Spears's best-selling album, it has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, as well as the best-selling debut album by a female artist.", "''...Baby One More Time'' produced five singles.", "The lead single, \"...Baby One More Time\", brought Spears tremendous global success, reaching number one in most countries it charted in and becoming one of the best-selling physical singles of all time.", "In 2020, it was named the greatest debut single of all time by ''Rolling Stone''.", "Subsequent singles \"Sometimes\" and \"Born to Make You Happy\" peaked within the top ten in most international countries while \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\" became Spears's second US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top-ten hit.", "Spears heavily promoted the album through interviews and televised performances.", "Furthermore, she embarked on her first headlining concert tour, entitled ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999) and later continued with (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour (2000)." ], [ "Recording and production", "In June 1997, Spears was in talks with then-manager Lou Pearlman to join the female pop group Innosense.", "Her mother, Lynne Spears, asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures.", "Rudolph decided to pitch her to record labels, which required a professional demo.", "He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded in a studio with an audio engineer.", "Spears traveled from her hometown Kentwood, Louisiana, to New York City with the demo and met executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day.", "Three rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and \"there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson or another Tiffany.\"", "Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph.", "Jive's senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated: \"It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal.", "... For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important.", "And Britney had that.", "\"Jive soon appointed Britney to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from \"lower and less poppy\" delivery to \"distinctively, unmistakably Britney.\"", "One of the first songs Spears recorded with Foster White was \"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart\", which was released as the album's 4th single.", "Foster White also produced \"Autumn Goodbye\", which was the B-side to Spears' debut single \"...Baby One More Time\".", "During the same session for \"Autumn Goodbye\", Spears and Foster White also worked on a song called \"Love Is On\", which ultimately did not make the album and was later given to Sharon Cuneta.", "Spears recorded a lot of material with Eric Foster White, such as \"Autumn Goodbye\", \"E-Mail My Heart\", \"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart\", \"I'm So Curious\", \"I Will Still Love You\", \"Way It Is Loving You\", \"I'll Be There For You\", \"Soda Pop\", \"Thinkin' About You\", \"Nothing Less Than Real\", \"Wishing on a Falling Star\" and a cover of \"You Got It All\" by the Jets.", "She also recorded a cover of Sonny & Cher's 1967 single \"The Beat Goes On\".", "White was responsible for the vocal recording and song production, while additional production was handled by English electronic music group All Seeing I.", "After hearing the material, Jive Records president Clive Calder ordered a full studio album.Spears flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, where half of ''...Baby One More Time'' was recorded from May 1998, with producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, and contributions from others, including songwriting from Denniz Pop, who was too ill to attend any recording sessions.", "Martin showed Spears and her management a track titled \"Hit Me Baby One More Time\", originally written for American group TLC, who had rejected it.", "Spears later said that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit.", "\"We at Jive said, 'This is a fuckin' smash, revealed the label's A&R executive, Steven Lunt; however, other executives were concerned that the line \"Hit Me\" would condone domestic violence, and later revised it to \"...Baby One More Time\".", "Spears revealed that she \"didn't do well at all the first day in the studio recording the song, I was just too nervous.", "So I went out that night and had some fun.", "The next day I was completely relaxed and nailed it.", "You gotta be relaxed singing '... Baby One More Time'.\"", "By June 1998, the album had been completed." ], [ "Music and lyrics", "Spears originally envisioned \"Sheryl Crow music, but younger – more adult contemporary\" for ''...Baby One More Time'', but acquiesced to the wishes of her label, since \"It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me.\"", "The album opens with its lead single, \"...Baby One More Time\", a teen pop and dance-pop song beginning with a three-note motif in the bass range of the piano.", "Its opening was compared to many other songs, such as \"We Will Rock You\" (1977), \"Start Me Up\" (1981), \"These Words\" (2004) and the theme song of the film ''Jaws'' due to the fact the track \"makes its presence known in exactly one second\".", "According to ''Blender'', \"...Baby One More Time\" is composed of \"wah-wah guitar lines and EKG-machine bass-slaps\".", "Claudia Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, authors of ''Girl Culture: Studying Girl Culture: A Readers' Guide'' (2008), observed that the lyrics of the song \"gesture toward Spears longing for the return of an ex-boyfriend.\"", "\"(You Drive Me) Crazy\" runs through a moderately slow dance beat, and has an R&B melody mixed with edgy synthesized instrumentals.", "\"Sometimes\" is a ballad, which Spears begins with the lines \"You tell me you're in love with me / That you can't take your pretty eyes away from me / It's not that I don't wanna stay / But every time you come too close I move away\".", "Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted the song has \"a catchy hook and endearing melody, with a reminiscent euro-dance rhythm.", "\"\"Soda Pop\" draws influences from bubblegum pop and dancehall, and features background vocals from co-writer Mikey Bassie.", "Spears' vocals on the fifth track, \"Born to Make You Happy\" span more than an octave.", "Its lyrics allude to a relationship that a woman desires to repair, not quite understanding what went wrong, as she comes to realize that \"I don't know how to live without your love / I was born to make you happy\".", "\"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart\" is a sentimental slow-tempo teen pop ballad.", "\"I Will Be There\" is a pop rock song featuring a guitar riff similar to Natalie Imbruglia's \"Torn\" (1997), with a \"rousing chorus about standing by your man (or a best friend or a house pet)\", as noted by Kyle Anderson of MTV.", "\"E-Mail My Heart\" is a sensitive piano ballad on which Spears sings: \"E-mail me back / And say our love will stay alive\".", "The cover of Sonny & Cher's 1967 single \"The Beat Goes On\" is influenced by bossa nova and trip hop, and features a sound similar to spy film themes.", "Among the bonus tracks included on select editions of the album is a cover of J'Son's 1996 song \"I'll Never Stop Loving You\"." ], [ "Release and promotion", "Spears performing \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\" at her Las Vegas residency show, Britney: Piece of Me, in February 2016Promotion for ''...Baby One More Time'' began in May 1998, when Spears performed \"...Baby One More Time\", \"Sometimes\" and \"You Got It All\" at the Singapore Jazz Festival.", "Subsequently, she embarked on the L'Oréal-sponsored promotional tour titled L'Oreal Hair Zone Mall Tour, visiting malls and food courts across North America from June to August.", "In December, \"...Baby One More Time\" first showed up on MTV's and The Box's most-requested video charts.", "In the United States, ''...Baby One More Time'' was originally set for an October 1998 release, but was pushed back to January 12, 1999, due to marketing issues, with its international release occurring within the following three months.", "Spears had appeared on ''Ricki Lake'', ''The Howie Mandel Show'', and was a presenter at the 1999 American Music Awards prior to the release.", "However, after hurting her knee in February, she rescheduled appearances on several shows, such as ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee''.", "Additionally, she appeared on ''MTV Spring Break'' and on the hundredth episode of Nickelodeon's ''All That''.", "After recovering, Spears embarked on another promotional schedule, appearing at the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards on May 1, ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'' on May 3, MTV's ''FANatic'' on May 12, and ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' on May 25.Outside the US, Spears visited the German shows ''Wetten, dass..?''", "and ''Top of the Pops'' on June 25.She also went to the United Kingdom, making appearances on programmes such as ''This Morning'', ''CD:UK'' and ''National Lottery''.", "Spears visited the music variety show ''Hey!", "Hey!", "Hey!", "Music Champ'' in Japan, and performed at the Festival Bar in Italy.", "Spears was also featured on an episode of the ABC sitcom ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'', in which she played herself.", "According to ''People'', Spears was returning a favor to actress Melissa Joan Hart, who played a cameo role in Spears' music video for \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\".", "The episode aired on September 24.The same month, Spears performed on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' on September 27, and visited Carson Daly on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' the following day.", "Spears also performed live with Joey McIntyre in the Disney Channel taped concert event titled Britney Spears & Joey McIntyre in Concert.", "In November, Spears performed \"...Baby One More Time\" and \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\" at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards.", "Promotion for the album continued in early 2000, when Spears performed at the 2000 American Music Awards, and also performed \"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart\" in a medley with \"...Baby One More Time\" at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.On March 5, 1999, it was reported that Spears was planning her first headlining tour.", "She announced that the tour would start in July.", "On May 12, Tommy Hilfiger was announced as the main tour sponsor, as Spears was being featured in the company's \"AllStars\" campaign at the time.", "On December 17, during the premiere of the music video of \"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart\" on ''Total Request Live'', Spears called the show to announce the March 2000 US tour dates.", "The extension, entitled (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour, was considered a prelude to her future world tour, Oops!...", "I Did It Again Tour.", "The leg's main sponsor was Got Milk?, whose media director Peter Gardiner explained: \"Britney is magic with teen-age girls, and that's an absolutely crucial target for milk\".", "Spears shot an advertising campaign to be shown before her performances began.", "The secondary sponsor was Polaroid, who released I-Zone as the tour's official camera.", "Spears used the I-Zone onstage to take pictures of the audience and further promote the product.", "The show was divided into segments, separated by interludes, and ended with an encore.", "The set list consisted of songs from ''...Baby One More Time'' and several covers.", "Some changes were made during the 2000 leg, with the covers replaced by songs from her second studio album ''Oops!...", "I Did It Again'' (2000).", "The tour received positive critical reception.", "During the tour, Spears was accused of lip synching, although she denied those claims.", "On April 20, the concert at Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, Hawaii, was taped.", "It was slightly altered from its tour incarnation and featured different costumes.", "On June 5, it was broadcast on Fox, airing several times during the year.", "On November 21, Jive Records released the video album ''Britney Spears: Live and More!", "'', which included the Fox special.", "It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 300,000 units.On August 14, 2017, 18 years after the release of ''...Baby One More Time'', it was announced that 2,500 pink-and-white-swirl copies of the album would be released on vinyl exclusively through Urban Outfitters on November 3.During the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Spears' debut single \"...Baby One More Time\", on October 19, 2018, Legacy Recordings announced the global release of the album on vinyl for November 23." ], [ "Singles", "The title track was released as the lead single from ''...Baby One More Time'' and Spears' debut single on September 29, 1998.It received generally favorable critical reviews, which mostly praised its composition.", "After its accompanying music video premiered in late November, the single attained worldwide success in early 1999, peaking atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in most countries it charted in.", "It received numerous certifications around the world, and is one of the best-selling singles of all time, selling over ten million copies.", "The music video, directed by Nigel Dick, portrays Spears as a high school student who starts to sing and dance around the school, while watching her love interest from afar.", "In 2010, the video was voted the third most influential video in the history of pop music on Jam!.", "\"Sometimes\" was released as the second single from ''...Baby One More Time'' on April 6, 1999.It achieved commercial success internationally, reaching number one in Belgium, the Netherlands and New Zealand.", "In the United States, however, it missed the top 20, peaking at number 21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.The song's accompanying music video was directed by Nigel Dick.", "During rehearsals, on February 11, 1999, Spears injured her left knee and needed surgery.", "After recuperating in Kentwood, Louisiana, the video was filmed on April 9–10 at Paradise Cove in Malibu, California.", "It premiered on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' on May 6.In May 1999, Max Martin and Spears went to the Battery Studios in New York City to re-record the vocals of \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\", for a reproduced version subtitled \"The Stop!", "Remix\", which was going to be included on the original motion picture soundtrack for the film ''Drive Me Crazy'' (1999).", "The remix was subsequently released as the third single from ''...Baby One More Time'' on August 24.It features the addition of a stanza in which Spears yells \"Stop!", "\", then all sound cutting out, followed by a transition, while omitting the lines \"Lovin' you mean so much more, more than anything I ever loved before\".", "The video was directed by Nigel Dick, and featured actors Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier.", "\"Born to Make You Happy\" was released as the fourth and final European single from ''...Baby One More Time'' on December 6, 1999, to a mixed critical reception.", "A commercial success, it peaked within the top five in 11 countries and atop the UK Singles Chart.", "Its accompanying music video was directed by Bille Woodruff, and choreographed by Wade Robson.", "Despite its success in Europe, the song was never released as a single in the US.", "\"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart\" was released as the fourth and final North American and Oceanian single from ''...Baby One More Time'' on December 14, 1999.The song received mixed critical reviews, which branded it a classic hit and competent single, despite considering it an unremarkable song referring only to kissing.", "It achieved moderate commercial success, peaking at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.In Oceania, it peaked at number 37 in Australia and number 23 in New Zealand.", "It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 28, 2000.The song's accompanying music video, directed by Gregory Dark, was released on December 17, 1999.It elicited controversy due to the fact that Dark had previously directed pornographic films." ], [ "Critical reception", "''...Baby One More Time'' received mixed reviews from music critics upon its release.", "In a positive review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars.", "Paul Verna from ''Billboard'' considered the album \"a top 40-ready workout filled with hook-laden songs from the same bag as the title cut\".", "''The Village Voice'' critic Robert Christgau highlighted the title track and \"Soda Pop\" while summing the album up as a \"girl next door\" version of Madonna.", "Kyle Anderson of MTV said he \"was surprised in more ways than one\" with his first listening of ''...Baby One More Time'', commenting he \"expected there to be a lot of filler (there sort of is), though I didn't expect it to be as odd (at least sonically) as it ended up being.", "There has never been any mystery to why Spears became such a superstar, but these songs probably would have been huge even if Britney wore burlap sacks in all of her videos.", "\"Barry Walters of ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album two stars out of five, and compared the album's sound to early hits of Debbie Gibson, Mariah Carey and Samantha Fox.", "Walters also said that \"while several Cherion-crafted kiddie-funk jams serve up beefy hooks, shameless schlock slowies, like 'E-Mail My Heart', is pure spam.\"", "An ''NME'' reviewer rated ''...Baby One More Time'' one out of ten, saying that \"we seem to have reached crisis point: pubescent pop is now so rife that 17-year-old Britney 'lizard-lounge' Spears is already halfway through her lucrative showbiz career\".", "He also found the album premature, commenting: \"hopefully, if she starts to live the wretched life that we all eventually do, her voice will show the scars, she'll stop looking so fucking smug, she'll find solace in drugs and we'll be all the happier for it.", "Now grow up, girl.", "Quick!\"", "Amanda Murray of Sputnikmusic felt that \"with the exception of the terrific title track, ''...Baby One More Time'' is a collection of either competent pop songs underwhelmingly executed or underwhelmingly written pop songs competently executed.\"" ], [ "Accolades", " 1999 Juno Award Best Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic) ''...Baby One More Time'' 1999 Teen Choice Award Choice Music – Album 1999 YoungStar Award Best Young Recording Artist or Musical Group Britney Spears 1999 ''Billboard'' Music Award Female Albums Artist of the Year 2000 ''Guinness World Record'' Best Selling Album in the US by a Female Artist ''...Baby One More Time'' 2000 American Music Award Favorite Pop/Rock Album 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite CD 2000 Hungarian Music Award Foreign Pop Album of the Year 2003 ''Guinness World Record'' Best Selling Album by a Teenage Solo Artist" ], [ "Commercial performance", "...Baby One More Time\" during her 2011 Femme Fatale TourIn the United States, ''...Baby One More Time'' debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 121,000 copies in its first week.", "Spears broke several records by doing so.", "The singer became the first new female artist to have a number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one album on the ''Billboard'' 200 at the same time; the first new artist (male or female) to have a single go to the number one spot the same week that the album debuted at number one; and the first new female artist to have the first single and first album at number one the same week.", "Spears is also the youngest female in ''Billboard'' history to have a simultaneous single and album at number one in the same week, and became the fifth artist under the age of 18 to top the ''Billboard'' 200.After fluctuating within the top five, the album went back to the summit in its fourth week.", "It sold over 500,000 copies within its first month, according to Nielsen SoundScan.", "Its fifth week became the album's highest-selling week with 229,000 copies sold, bringing the total to 804,000 copies.", "''...Baby One More Time'' spent a total of six non-consecutive weeks at number one, and sold over 1.8 million copies in the US within its first two months.", "In its 47th week on the ''Billboard'' 200, the album held strong at number three, reaching the ten-million sales mark in the country.", "The album was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 9, 1999, making then-18-year-old Spears the youngest artist to receive that certification, breaking the record held by Alanis Morissette, who was 21 when her album ''Jagged Little Pill'' (1995) was certified diamond.", "It became the 14th album since 1991 to sell over ten million copies in the US, and Spears became the best-selling female artist of 1999.", "''...Baby One More Time'' spent a total of 51 weeks within the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200.It was the second best-selling album of 1999 in the US, only behind ''Millennium'' by the Backstreet Boys.", "The album has spent a total of 103 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200.", "''...Baby One More Time'' landed at number three on BMG Music Club's all-time best-sellers list, selling 1.6 million units through the club.", "As of May 2020, it has sold 10.7 million copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, with the BMG Music Club sales bringing its total to 12.3 million units.", "''...Baby One More Time'' debuted atop the Canadian Albums Chart, spending nine non-consecutive weeks at the summit.", "On December 12, 1999, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) certified it diamond, for sales of over one million units.", "The album spent two weeks at number two on the European Top 100 Albums, and sold over four million copies across Europe, being certified quadruple platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).", "It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified quadruple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).", "It peaked at number four in France, being certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).", "In addition, it has been certified triple gold in Germany, and decuple platinum (diamond) by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV).", "In Australia, it debuted at number nine on the ARIA Albums Chart, reaching number two nine weeks later.", "The album became the seventh highest-selling of 1999 in the country, and was certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) the following year after shipping 280,000 copies to retailers.", "The album debuted at number three in New Zealand, later being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)." ], [ "Impact and legacy", "Spears was at the forefront of the female teen pop explosion starting in 1999 and extending through the 2000s, leading the pack of Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore.", "All of these performers had been developing material in 1998, but the market changed dramatically in December 1998 when Spears' debut single and video were charting highly.", "RCA Records signed Aguilera and rushed her debut single to capitalize on Spears' success, producing the hit single \"Genie in a Bottle\" in May 1999 and Aguilera's eponymous debut studio album in August.", "Aguilera's album sold millions but not as many as ''...Baby One More Time''.", "Simpson consciously modeled her persona as more mature than Spears; her single \"I Wanna Love You Forever\" charted in September 1999, and her album ''Sweet Kisses'' followed shortly after.", "Moore's first single, \"Candy\", hit the airwaves a month before Simpson's single, but it did not perform as well on the charts; Moore was often seen as less accomplished than Spears and the others, coming in fourth of the \"pop princesses\".", "Fueling media stories about their competition for first place, Spears and Aguilera traded barbs but also compliments through the 2000s.", "''The Daily Yomiuri'' reported that \"critics have hailed her as the most gifted teenage pop idol for many years, but Spears has set her sights a little higher-she is aiming for the level of superstardom that has been achieved by Madonna and Janet Jackson.\"", "''Rolling Stone'' wrote: \"Britney Spears carries on the classic archetype of the rock & roll teen queen, the dungaree doll, the angel baby who just has to make a scene.\"", "Rami Yacoub who co-produced Spears's debut album with lyricist Max Martin commented: \"I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing.", "With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice.", "When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice.\"", "Chuck Taylor of ''Billboard'' observed, \"Spears has become a consummate performer, with snappy dance moves, a clearly real-albeit young-and funkdified voice ... \"(You Drive Me) Crazy\", her third single ... demonstrates Spears' own development, proving that the 17-year-old is finding her own vocal personality after so many months of steadfast practice.\"", "Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic referred to her music as a \"blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry.\"", "Sputnikmusic writer Amanda Murray noted the album \"offers a marker for Spears' progression as an artist, as a celebrity, and as a woman.\"", "In 2010, the album was included in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.Spears became an international pop culture icon immediately after launching her recording career.", "''Rolling Stone'' wrote: \"One of the most controversial and successful female vocalists of the 21st century,\" she \"spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop ... Spears early on cultivated a mixture of innocence and experience that generated lots of cash\".", "She is listed by the ''Guinness World Records'' as having the \"Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist\".", "Melissa Ruggieri of the ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' reported, \"She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist.", "Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears sold more than 25 million albums worldwide\".", "Barbara Ellen of ''The Observer'' reported: \"Spears is famously one of the 'oldest' teenagers pop has ever produced, almost middle aged in terms of focus and determination.", "Many 19-year-olds haven't even started working by that age, whereas Britney, a former Mouseketeer, was that most unusual and volatile of American phenomena — a child with a full-time career.", "While other little girls were putting posters on their walls, Britney was wanting to be the poster on the wall.", "Whereas other children develop at their own pace, Britney was developing at a pace set by the ferociously competitive American entertainment industry\".", "''...Baby One More Time'' is Spears' most commercially successful album to date, with worldwide sales of 30 million copies.", "It was ranked at number 41 on the all-time US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and at number 16 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums by women." ], [ "Track listing", "'''Notes'''The very first pressings of the album feature a hidden spoken message by Spears after \"The Beat Goes On\".", "In it, Spears thanks fans and promotes the then-upcoming Backstreet Boys album, ''Millennium'', with snippets of songs featured on the album.", "\"Soda Pop\" originally appeared on the soundtrack to the TV series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' in 1998, in a slightly longer version.", "* signifies a co-producer* signifies an additional producer* signifies a remixer" ], [ "Personnel", "Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''...Baby One More Time'', except where noted.", "* Mikey Bassie – vocals (track 4)* Daniel Boom – engineering* Jimmy Bralower – drum programming* Jason Buckler – production* Larry Busacca – photography* Andreas Carlsson – backing vocals* Tom Coyne – mastering* Denniz Pop – production (uncredited)* Nikki Gregoroff – backing vocals* Nana Hedin – backing vocals* Andy Hess – bass* Dean Honer – production* David Kreuger – production* Tim Latham – engineering, mixing* Tomas Lindberg – bass* Kristian Lundin – production* Per Magnusson – keyboards, production, programming* Max Martin – backing vocals, engineering, keyboards, mixing, production, programming* Charles McCrorey – engineering assistance* Andrew McIntyre – electric guitar* Jackie Murphy – art direction, design* Lisa Peardon – photography* Dan Petty – acoustic guitar, electric guitar* Doug Petty – keyboards* Don Philip – vocals (track 8)* Rami – production* Albert Sanchez – photography* Aleese Simmons – backing vocals* Britney Spears – vocals* Chris Trevett – engineering, mixing* Eric Foster White – arrangement, bass, drum programming, electric guitar, engineering, keyboards, mixing, production* Timothy White – photography" ], [ "Charts", "===Weekly charts===+ 1999–2000 weekly chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart (1999–2000) Peakposition Argentine Albums (CAPIF) 8 Australian Dance Albums (ARIA) 1 Canadian Top Albums/CDs (''RPM'') 1Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) 5 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 7European Top 100 Albums (''Music & Media'') 2 Greek Albums (IFPI) 5 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) 4 Italian Albums (FIMI) 8 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 9 Malaysian Albums (RIM) 3 Mexican Albums (AMPROFON) 1 Portuguese Albums (AFP) 1 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 2 Taiwanese Albums (IFPI) 1+ 2022 weekly charts for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart (2022) Peakposition Greek Albums (IFPI) 65===Monthly charts===+Monthly chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time''Chart (1999)PeakpositionSouth Korean Albums (RIAK) 13===Year-end charts===+1999 year-end chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart (1999) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) 7 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 4 Canadian Top Albums/CDs (''RPM'') 2 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 27 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 11 European Top 100 Albums (''Music & Media'') 5 French Albums (SNEP) 21 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 8 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 85 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 15 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 11 UK Albums (OCC) 14 US ''Billboard'' 200 2+2000 year-end chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart (2000) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) 94 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 34 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 42Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 71 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 64 European Top 100 Albums (''Music & Media'') 22 French Albums (SNEP) 45 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 61 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 27 UK Albums (OCC) 36 US ''Billboard'' 200 17===Decade-end charts===+1990s decade-end chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart (1990–1999) Position US ''Billboard'' 200 29+2000s decade-end chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart (2000–2009) Position US ''Billboard'' 200 81===All-time charts===+All-time chart performance for ''...Baby One More Time'' Chart Position US ''Billboard'' 200 41US ''Billboard'' 200 (Women) 16" ], [ "Certifications and sales", "Philippines (PARI)4× Platinum200,000" ], [ "Release history", "+ Release dates and formats for ''...Baby One More Time'' Region Date Format(s) Edition Label United States January 12, 1999 Standard Jive Japan February 24, 1999 CD Deluxe Avex Trax Germany March 8, 1999 Standard BMG United Kingdom Jive Argentina March 17, 1999 CD EMI France April 9, 1999 Jive Australia November 23, 1999 Deluxe BMG Poland May 8, 2003 Digital download Germany June 30, 2003 CD France October 14, 2003 Jive United States December 25, 2007 Digital download November 3, 2017 Vinyl Standard Legacy Various November 23, 2018 Australia March 31, 2023 Opaque Pink vinyl Sony Germany Mexico Poland United Kingdom United States Black vinyl Legacy" ], [ "See also", "* Teen pop* Britney Spears discography* List of ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums of 1999* List of number-one albums of 1999 (Canada)* List of number-one hits of 1999 (Germany)* List of number-one albums of 1999 (Portugal)* List of best-selling albums* List of best-selling albums by women* List of best-selling albums in the Philippines* List of best-selling albums in the United States" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* * * * * * * * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", " *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Burn card" ], [ "Introduction", "In card games, a '''burn card''' is a playing card dealt from the top of a deck, and discarded (\"burned\"), unused by the players.", "Burn cards are usually not shown to the players.", "Burning is most often performed in casinos to deter a form of cheating known as card marking." ], [ "Usage", "In poker the top card of the deck stub is burned at the beginning of each betting round, so that players who might have been able to read markings on that card during the previous round are less able to take advantage of that information.", "Knowledge of a burn card might be marginally useful, such as knowing there is one fewer Ace in the deck, but far less so than knowing it is about to be in play.Two other uses for burning are: to prevent second dealing and to provide extra cards for use when an irregularity of play occurs.", "Sometimes a misdealt card (such as one of the down cards in poker that has flashed during the deal) will be used as the burn card – in those cases, the card should be immediately placed face up on the deck after the deal is complete.When Texas hold 'em (as well as in Omaha hold 'em) is played in casinos (or other formal games where cheating is a concern), a card is burned before dealing the flop, turn, and river, for a maximum of 3 total burn cards." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bulgaria" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bulgaria''' (; ), officially the '''Republic of Bulgaria''', is a country in Southeast Europe.", "Located west of the Black Sea and south of the Danube river, Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north.", "It covers a territory of and is the 16th largest country in Europe.", "Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities include Burgas, Plovdiv, and Varna.One of the earliest societies in the lands of modern-day Bulgaria was the Neolithic Karanovo culture, which dates back to 6,500 BC.", "In the 6th to 3rd century BC the region was a battleground for ancient Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians; stability came when the Roman Empire conquered the region in AD 45.After the Roman state splintered, tribal invasions in the region resumed.", "Around the 6th century, these territories were settled by the early Slavs.", "The Bulgars, led by Asparuh, attacked from the lands of Old Great Bulgaria and permanently invaded the Balkans in the late 7th century.", "They established the First Bulgarian Empire, victoriously recognised by treaty in 681 AD by the Byzantine Empire.", "It dominated most of the Balkans and significantly influenced Slavic cultures by developing the Cyrillic script.", "The First Bulgarian Empire lasted until the early 11th century, when Byzantine emperor Basil II conquered and dismantled it.", "A successful Bulgarian revolt in 1185 established a Second Bulgarian Empire, which reached its apex under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241).", "After numerous exhausting wars and feudal strife, the empire disintegrated and in 1396 fell under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries.The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 resulted in the formation of the third and current Bulgarian state.", "Many ethnic Bulgarians were left outside the new nation's borders, which stoked irredentist sentiments that led to several conflicts with its neighbours and alliances with Germany in both world wars.", "In 1946, Bulgaria came under the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and became a socialist state.", "The ruling Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power after the revolutions of 1989 and allowed multiparty elections.", "Bulgaria then transitioned into a democracy and a market-based economy.", "Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a unitary parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation.Bulgaria has an upper-middle-income economy, ranking 68th in the Human Development Index.", "Its market economy is part of the European Single Market and is largely based on services, followed by industry—especially machine building and mining—and agriculture.", "The country faces a demographic crisis; its population peaked at 9 million in 1989, and has since decreased to 6.4 million as of 2023.Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe.", "It is also a founding member of the OSCE and has taken a seat on the United Nations Security Council three times." ], [ "Etymology", "The name ''Bulgaria'' is derived from the ''Bulgars'', a tribe of Turkic origin that founded the First Bulgarian Empire.", "Their name is not completely understood and is difficult to trace back earlier than the 4th century AD, but it is possibly derived from the Proto-Turkic word ''bulģha'' (\"to mix\", \"shake\", \"stir\") and its derivative ''bulgak'' (\"revolt\", \"disorder\").", "The meaning may be further extended to \"rebel\", \"incite\" or \"produce a state of disorder\", and so, in the derivative, the \"disturbers\".", "Tribal groups in Inner Asia with phonologically close names were frequently described in similar terms, as the Buluoji, a component of the \"Five Barbarian\" groups, which during the 4th century were portrayed as both: a \"mixed race\" and \"troublemakers\"." ], [ "History", "=== Prehistory and Antiquity ===Odrysian golden wreath in the National History MuseumNeanderthal remains dating to around 150,000 years ago, or the Middle Paleolithic, are some of the earliest traces of human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria.", "Remains from ''Homo sapiens'' found there are dated ''c.''", "47,000 years BP.", "This result represents the earliest arrival of modern humans in Europe.", "The Karanovo culture arose and was one of several Neolithic societies in the region that thrived on agriculture.", "The Copper Age Varna culture (fifth millennium BC) is credited with inventing gold metallurgy.", "The associated Varna Necropolis treasure contains the oldest golden jewellery in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years.", "The treasure has been valuable for understanding social hierarchy and stratification in the earliest European societies.The Thracians, one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern Bulgarians, appeared on the Balkan Peninsula some time before the 12th century BC.", "The Thracians excelled in metallurgy and gave the Greeks the Orphean and Dionysian cults, but remained tribal and stateless.", "The Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered parts of present-day Bulgaria (in particular eastern Bulgaria) in the 6th century BC and retained control over the region until 479 BC.", "The invasion became a catalyst for Thracian unity, and the bulk of their tribes united under king Teres to form the Odrysian kingdom in the 470s BC.", "It was weakened and vassalised by Philip II of Macedon in 341 BC, attacked by Celts in the 3rd century, and finally became a province of the Roman Empire in AD 45.By the end of the 1st century AD, Roman governance was established over the entire Balkan Peninsula and Christianity began spreading in the region around the 4th century.", "The Gothic Bible—the first Germanic language book—was created by Gothic bishop Ulfilas in what is today northern Bulgaria around 381.The region came under Byzantine control after the fall of Rome in 476.The Byzantines were engaged in prolonged warfare against Persia and could not defend their Balkan territories from barbarian incursions.", "This enabled the Slavs to enter the Balkan Peninsula as marauders, primarily through an area between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains known as Moesia.", "Gradually, the interior of the peninsula became a country of the South Slavs, who lived under a democracy.", "The Slavs assimilated the partially Hellenised, Romanised, and Gothicised Thracians in the rural areas.=== First Bulgarian Empire ===Simeon I: The Morning Star of Slavonic Literature, ''The Slav Epic cycle by Alfons Mucha''Not long after the Slavic incursion, Moesia was once again invaded, this time by the Bulgars under Khan Asparukh.", "Their horde was a remnant of Old Great Bulgaria, an extinct tribal confederacy situated north of the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine and southern Russia.", "Asparukh attacked Byzantine territories in Moesia and conquered the Slavic tribes there in 680.A peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire was signed in 681, marking the foundation of the First Bulgarian Empire.", "The minority Bulgars formed a close-knit ruling caste.Succeeding rulers strengthened the Bulgarian state throughout the 8th and 9th centuries.", "Krum introduced a written code of law and checked a major Byzantine incursion at the Battle of Pliska, in which Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I was killed.", "Boris I abolished paganism in favour of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 864.The conversion was followed by a Byzantine recognition of the Bulgarian church and the adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet, developed in the capital, Preslav.", "The common language, religion and script strengthened central authority and gradually fused the Slavs and Bulgars into a unified people speaking a single Slavic language.", "A golden age began during the 34-year rule of Simeon the Great, who oversaw the largest territorial expansion of the state.After Simeon's death, Bulgaria was weakened by wars with Magyars and Pechenegs and the spread of the Bogomil heresy.", "Preslav was seized by the Byzantine army in 971 after consecutive Rus' and Byzantine invasions.", "The empire briefly recovered from the attacks under Samuil, but this ended when Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated the Bulgarian army at Klyuch in 1014.Samuil died shortly after the battle, and by 1018 the Byzantines had conquered the First Bulgarian Empire.", "After the conquest, Basil II prevented revolts by retaining the rule of local nobility, integrating them in Byzantine bureaucracy and aristocracy, and relieving their lands of the obligation to pay taxes in gold, allowing tax in kind instead.", "The Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced to an archbishopric, but retained its autocephalous status and its dioceses.=== Second Bulgarian Empire ===Tsarevets fortress in Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the second empireByzantine domestic policies changed after Basil's death and a series of unsuccessful rebellions broke out, the largest being led by Peter Delyan.", "The empire's authority declined after a catastrophic military defeat at Manzikert against Seljuk invaders, and was further disturbed by the Crusades.", "This prevented Byzantine attempts at Hellenisation and created fertile ground for further revolt.", "In 1185, Asen dynasty nobles Ivan Asen I and Peter IV organised a major uprising and succeeded in re-establishing the Bulgarian state.", "Ivan Asen and Peter laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian Empire with its capital at Tarnovo.Kaloyan, the third of the Asen monarchs, extended his dominion to Belgrade and Ohrid.", "He acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the pope and received a royal crown from a papal legate.", "The empire reached its zenith under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241), when its borders expanded as far as the coast of Albania, Serbia and Epirus, while commerce and culture flourished.", "Ivan Asen's rule was also marked by a shift away from Rome in religious matters.The Asen dynasty became extinct in 1257.Internal conflicts and incessant Byzantine and Hungarian attacks followed, enabling the Mongols to establish suzerainty over the weakened Bulgarian state.", "In 1277, swineherd Ivaylo led a great peasant revolt that expelled the Mongols from Bulgaria and briefly made him emperor.", "He was overthrown in 1280 by the feudal landlords, whose factional conflicts caused the Second Bulgarian Empire to disintegrate into small feudal dominions by the 14th century.", "These fragmented rump states—two tsardoms at Vidin and Tarnovo and the Despotate of Dobrudzha—became easy prey for a new threat arriving from the Southeast: the Ottoman Turks.=== Ottoman rule ===The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 marked the end of medieval Bulgarian statehood.The Ottomans were employed as mercenaries by the Byzantines in the 1340s but later became invaders in their own right.", "Sultan Murad I took Adrianople from the Byzantines in 1362; Sofia fell in 1382, followed by Shumen in 1388.The Ottomans completed their conquest of Bulgarian lands in 1393 when Tarnovo was sacked after a three-month siege and the Battle of Nicopolis which brought about the fall of the Vidin Tsardom in 1396.Sozopol was the last Bulgarian settlement to fall, in 1453.The Bulgarian nobility was subsequently eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman masters, while much of the educated clergy fled to other countries.Bulgarians were subjected to heavy taxes (including Devshirme, or ''blood tax''), their culture was suppressed, and they experienced partial Islamisation.", "Ottoman authorities established a religious administrative community called the Rum Millet, which governed all Orthodox Christians regardless of their ethnicity.", "Most of the local population then gradually lost its distinct national consciousness, identifying only by its faith.", "The clergy remaining in some isolated monasteries kept their ethnic identity alive, enabling its survival in remote rural areas, and in the militant Catholic community in the northwest of the country.As Ottoman power began to wane, Habsburg Austria and Russia saw Bulgarian Christians as potential allies.", "The Austrians first backed an uprising in Tarnovo in 1598, then a second one in 1686, the Chiprovtsi Uprising in 1688 and finally Karposh's Rebellion in 1689.The Russian Empire also asserted itself as a protector of Christians in Ottoman lands with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774.The Russo-Bulgarian defence of Shipka Pass in 1877The Western European Enlightenment in the 18th century influenced the initiation of a national awakening of Bulgaria.", "It restored national consciousness and provided an ideological basis for the liberation struggle, resulting in the 1876 April Uprising.", "Up to 30,000 Bulgarians were killed as Ottoman authorities put down the rebellion.", "The massacres prompted the Great Powers to take action.", "They convened the Constantinople Conference in 1876, but their decisions were rejected by the Ottomans.", "This allowed the Russian Empire to seek a military solution without risking confrontation with other Great Powers, as had happened in the Crimean War.", "In 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottomans and defeated them with the help of Bulgarian rebels, particularly during the crucial Battle of Shipka Pass which secured Russian control over the main road to Constantinople.=== Third Bulgarian state ===Borders of Bulgaria according to the preliminary Treaty of San StefanoThe Treaty of San Stefano was signed on 3 March 1878 by Russia and the Ottoman Empire.", "It was to set up an autonomous Bulgarian principality spanning Moesia, Macedonia and Thrace, roughly on the territories of the Second Bulgarian Empire, and this day is now a public holiday called National Liberation Day.", "The other Great Powers immediately rejected the treaty out of fear that such a large country in the Balkans might threaten their interests.", "It was superseded by the Treaty of Berlin, signed on 13 July.", "It provided for a much smaller state, the Principality of Bulgaria, only comprising Moesia and the region of Sofia, and leaving large populations of ethnic Bulgarians outside the new country.", "This significantly contributed to Bulgaria's militaristic foreign affairs approach during the first half of the 20th century.The Bulgarian principality won a war against Serbia and incorporated the semi-autonomous Ottoman territory of Eastern Rumelia in 1885, proclaiming itself an independent state on 5 October 1908.In the years following independence, Bulgaria increasingly militarised and was often referred to as \"the Balkan Prussia\".", "It became involved in three consecutive conflicts between 1912 and 1918—two Balkan Wars and World War I.", "After a disastrous defeat in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the Central Powers in World War I.", "Despite fielding more than a quarter of its population in a 1,200,000-strong army and achieving several decisive victories at Doiran and Monastir, the country capitulated in 1918.The war resulted in significant territorial losses and a total of 87,500 soldiers killed.", "More than 253,000 refugees from the lost territories immigrated to Bulgaria from 1912 to 1929, placing additional strain on the already ruined national economy.Between Oct 19, 1925 and Oct 29, 1925, the Incident at Petrich, nicknamed \"the War of the Stray Dog\" occurred, which was a minor armed conflict.", "Greece invaded Bulgaria, after the killing of a Greek captain and sentry by Bulgarian soldiers.", "The conflict was settled by the League of Nations, and resulted in a Bulgarian diplomatic victory.", "The League ordered a ceasefire, Greek troops to withdraw from Bulgaria and Greece to pay £45,000 to Bulgaria.Tsar Boris IIIThe resulting political unrest led to the establishment of a royal authoritarian dictatorship by Tsar Boris III (1918–1943).", "Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of the Axis but declined to participate in Operation Barbarossa and saved its Jewish population from deportation to concentration camps.", "The sudden death of Boris III in mid-1943 pushed the country into political turmoil as the war turned against Germany, and the communist guerrilla movement gained momentum.", "The government of Bogdan Filov subsequently failed to achieve peace with the Allies.", "Bulgaria did not comply with Soviet demands to expel German forces from its territory, resulting in a declaration of war and an invasion by the USSR in September 1944.The communist-dominated Fatherland Front took power, ended participation in the Axis and joined the Allied side until the war ended.", "Bulgaria suffered little war damage and the Soviet Union demanded no reparations.", "But all wartime territorial gains, with the notable exception of Southern Dobrudzha, were lost.Georgi Dimitrov, leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1946 to 1949The left-wing coup d'état of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of the monarchy and the executions of some 1,000–3,000 dissidents, war criminals, and members of the former royal elite.", "But it was not until 1946 that a one-party people's republic was instituted following a referendum.", "It fell into the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov (1946–1949), who established a repressive, rapidly industrialising Stalinist state.", "By the mid-1950s, standards of living rose significantly and political repression eased.", "The Soviet-style planned economy saw some experimental market-oriented policies emerging under Todor Zhivkov (1954–1989).", "Compared to wartime levels, national GDP increased five-fold and per capita GDP quadrupled by the 1980s, although severe debt spikes took place in 1960, 1977 and 1980.Zhivkov's daughter Lyudmila bolstered national pride by promoting Bulgarian heritage, culture and arts worldwide.", "Facing declining birth rates among the ethnic Bulgarian majority, Zhivkov's government in 1984 forced the minority ethnic Turks to adopt Slavic names in an attempt to erase their identity and assimilate them.", "These policies resulted in the emigration of some 300,000 ethnic Turks to Turkey.The Communist Party was forced to give up its political monopoly on 10 November 1989 under the influence of the Revolutions of 1989.Zhivkov resigned and Bulgaria embarked on a transition to a parliamentary democracy.", "The first free elections in June 1990 were won by the Communist Party, now rebranded as the Bulgarian Socialist Party.", "A new constitution that provided for a relatively weak elected president and for a prime minister accountable to the legislature was adopted in July 1991.The new system initially failed to improve living standards or create economic growth—the average quality of life and economic performance remained lower than under communism well into the early 2000s.", "After 2001, economic, political and geopolitical conditions improved greatly, and Bulgaria achieved high Human Development status in 2003.It became a member of NATO in 2004 and participated in the War in Afghanistan.", "After several years of reforms, it joined the European Union and the single market in 2007, despite EU concerns over government corruption.", "Bulgaria hosted the 2018 Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia." ], [ "Geography", "alt=Topographic map of BulgariaRila, the highest mountain range in the Balkans and Southeast EuropeBulgaria is a middle-sized country situated in Southeastern Europe, in the east of the Balkans.", "Its territory covers an area of , while land borders with its five neighbouring countries run a total length of , and its coastline is long.", "Bulgaria's geographic coordinates are 43° N 25° E. The most notable topographical features of the country are the Danubian Plain, the Balkan Mountains, the Thracian Plain, and the Rila-Rhodope massif.", "The southern edge of the Danubian Plain slopes upward into the foothills of the Balkans, while the Danube defines the border with Romania.", "The Thracian Plain is roughly triangular, beginning southeast of Sofia and broadening as it reaches the Black Sea coast.The Balkan mountains run laterally through the middle of the country from west to east.", "The mountainous southwest has two distinct alpine type ranges—Rila and Pirin, which border the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains to the east, and various medium altitude mountains to west, northwest and south, like Vitosha, Osogovo and Belasitsa.", "Musala, at , is the highest point in both Bulgaria and the Balkans.", "The Black Sea coast is the country's lowest point.", "Plains occupy about one third of the territory, while plateaux and hills occupy 41%.", "Most rivers are short and with low water levels.", "The longest river located solely in Bulgarian territory, the Iskar, has a length of .", "The Struma and the Maritsa are two major rivers in the south.=== Climate ===Bulgaria has a varied and changeable climate, which results from being positioned at the meeting point of the Mediterranean, Oceanic and Continental air masses combined with the barrier effect of its mountains.", "Northern Bulgaria averages cooler, and registers more precipitation, than the regions south of the Balkan mountains.", "Temperature amplitudes vary significantly in different areas.", "The lowest recorded temperature is , while the highest is .", "Precipitation averages about per year, and varies from in Dobrudja to more than in the mountains.", "Continental air masses bring significant amounts of snowfall during winter.Köppen climate types of BulgariaConsidering its relatively small area, Bulgaria has variable and complex climate.", "The country occupies the southernmost part of the continental climatic zone, with small areas in the south falling within the Mediterranean climatic zone.", "The continental zone is predominant, because continental air masses flow easily into the unobstructed Danubian Plain.", "The continental influence, stronger during the winter, produces abundant snowfall; the Mediterranean influence increases during the second half of summer and produces hot and dry weather.", "Bulgaria is subdivided into five climatic zones: continental zone (Danubian Plain, Pre-Balkan and the higher valleys of the Transitional geomorphological region); transitional zone (Upper Thracian Plain, most of the Struma and Mesta valleys, the lower Sub-Balkan valleys); continental-Mediterranean zone (the southernmost areas of the Struma and Mesta valleys, the eastern Rhodope Mountains, Sakar and Strandzha); Black Sea zone along the coastline with an average length of 30–40 km inland; and alpine zone in the mountains above 1000 m altitude (central Balkan Mountains, Rila, Pirin, Vitosha, western Rhodope Mountains, etc.", ").=== Biodiversity and conservation ===Belogradchik Rocks are among Bulgaria's numerous protected areasThe interaction of climatic, hydrological, geological and topographical conditions has produced a relatively wide variety of plant and animal species.Bulgaria's biodiversity, one of the richest in Europe, is conserved in three national parks, 11 nature parks, 10 biosphere reserves and 565 protected areas.", "Ninety-three of the 233 mammal species of Europe are found in Bulgaria, along with 49% of butterfly and 30% of vascular plant species.", "Overall, 41,493 plant and animal species are present.", "Larger mammals with sizable populations include deer (106,323 individuals), wild boar (88,948), golden jackal (47,293) and red fox (32,326).", "Partridges number some 328,000 individuals, making them the most widespread gamebird.", "A third of all nesting birds in Bulgaria can be found in Rila National Park, which also hosts Arctic and alpine species at high altitudes.", "Flora includes more than 3,800 vascular plant species of which 170 are endemic and 150 are considered endangered.", "A checklist of larger fungi in Bulgaria by the Institute of Botany identifies more than 1,500 species.", "More than 35% of the land area is covered by forests.In 1998, the Bulgarian government adopted the National Biological Diversity Conservation Strategy, a comprehensive programme seeking the preservation of local ecosystems, protection of endangered species and conservation of genetic resources.", "Bulgaria has some of the largest Natura 2000 areas in Europe covering 33.8% of its territory.", "It also achieved its Kyoto Protocol objective of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 30% from 1990 to 2009.Bulgaria ranks 30th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, but scores low on air quality.", "Particulate levels are the highest in Europe, especially in urban areas affected by automobile traffic and coal-based power stations.", "One of these, the lignite-fired Maritsa Iztok-2 station, is causing the highest damage to health and the environment in the European Union.", "Pesticide use in agriculture and antiquated industrial sewage systems produce extensive soil and water pollution.", "Water quality began to improve in 1998 and has maintained a trend of moderate improvement.", "Over 75% of surface rivers meet European standards for good quality." ], [ "Politics", "Independence Square in Sofia: The headquarters of the Presidency (right), the National Assembly (centre) and the Council of Ministers (left).Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy where the prime minister is the head of government and the most powerful executive position.", "The political system has three branches—legislative, executive and judicial, with universal suffrage for citizens at least 18 years old.", "The Constitution also provides possibilities of direct democracy, namely petitions and national referendums.", "Elections are supervised by an independent Central Election Commission that includes members from all major political parties.", "Parties must register with the commission prior to participating in a national election.", "Normally, the prime minister-elect is the leader of the party receiving the most votes in parliamentary elections, although this is not always the case.Unlike the prime minister, presidential domestic power is more limited.", "The directly elected president serves as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the authority to return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the presidential veto by a simple majority vote.", "Political parties gather in the National Assembly, a body of 240 deputies elected to four-year terms by direct popular vote.", "The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the prime minister and other ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and agreements.Overall, Bulgaria displays a pattern of unstable governments.", "Boyko Borisov, the leader of the centre-right, pro-EU party GERB, served three terms as prime minister between 2009 and 2021.It won the 2009 general election and formed a minority government, which resigned in February 2013 after nationwide protests over the low living standards, corruption and the perceived failure of the democratic system.The subsequent snap elections in May resulted in a narrow win for GERB, but the Bulgarian Socialist Party eventually formed a government led by Plamen Oresharski after Borisov failed to secure parliamentary support.", "The Oresharski government resigned in July 2014 amid continuing large-scale protests.The October 2014 elections resulted in a third GERB victory.", "Borisov formed a coalition with several right-wing parties, but resigned again after the candidate backed by his party failed to win the 2016 Presidential election.", "The March 2017 snap election was again won by GERB, but with 95 seats in Parliament.", "They formed a coalition with the far-right United Patriots, who held 27 seats.Borisov's last cabinet saw a dramatic decrease in freedom of the press, and a number of corruption revelations that triggered yet another wave of mass protests in 2020.GERB came out first in the regular April 2021 election, but with its weakest result so far.", "All other parties refused to form a government, and after a brief deadlock, another election was called for July 2021.It too failed to break the stalemate, as no political party was able to form a coalition government.In April 2023, because of the political deadlock, Bulgaria held its fifth parliamentary election since April 2021.GERB was the biggest, winning 69 seats.", "The bloc led by We Continue the Change won 64 seats in the 240-seat parliament.", "In June 2023, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov formed a new coalition between We Continue The Change and GERB.", "According to the coalition agreement, Denkov will lead the government for the first nine months.", "He will be succeeded by former European Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, of the GERB party.", "She will take over as prime minister after nine months.Freedom House has reported a continuing deterioration of democratic governance after 2009, citing reduced media independence, stalled reforms, abuse of authority at the highest level and increased dependence of local administrations on the central government.", "Bulgaria is still listed as \"Free\", with a political system designated as a semi-consolidated democracy, albeit with deteriorating scores.", "The Democracy Index defines it as a \"Flawed democracy\".", "A 2018 survey by the Institute for Economics and Peace reported that less than 15% of respondents considered elections to be fair.=== Legal system ===Bulgaria has a civil law legal system.", "The judiciary is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.", "The Supreme Administrative Court and the Supreme Court of Cassation are the highest courts of appeal and oversee the application of laws in subordinate courts.", "The Supreme Judicial Council manages the system and appoints judges.", "The legal system is regarded by both domestic and international observers as one of Europe's most inefficient due to a pervasive lack of transparency and corruption.", "Law enforcement is carried out by organisations mainly subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior.", "The General Directorate of National Police (GDNP) combats general crime and maintains public order.", "GDNP fields 26,578 police officers in its local and national sections.", "The bulk of criminal cases are transport-related, followed by theft and drug-related crime; homicide rates are low.", "The Ministry of the Interior also heads the Border Police Service and the National Gendarmerie—a specialised branch for anti-terrorist activity, crisis management and riot control.", "Counterintelligence and national security are the responsibility of the State Agency for National Security.=== Administrative divisions ===Bulgaria is a unitary state.", "Since the 1880s, the number of territorial management units has varied from seven to 26.Between 1987 and 1999, the administrative structure consisted of nine provinces (''oblasti'', singular ''oblast'').", "A new administrative structure was adopted in parallel with the decentralisation of the economic system.", "It includes 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia-Grad).", "All areas take their names from their respective capital cities.", "The provinces are subdivided into 265 municipalities.", "Municipalities are run by mayors, who are elected to four-year terms, and by directly elected municipal councils.", "Bulgaria is a highly centralised state where the Council of Ministers directly appoints regional governors and all provinces and municipalities are heavily dependent on it for funding.", "right=== Foreign relations ===Mikoyan MiG-29 jet fighters of the Bulgarian Air ForceBulgaria became a member of the United Nations in 1955 and since 1966 has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council three times, most recently from 2002 to 2003.It was also among the founding nations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 1975.Euro-Atlantic integration has been a priority since the fall of communism, although the communist leadership also had aspirations of leaving the Warsaw Pact and joining the European Communities by 1987.Bulgaria signed the European Union Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005, and became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007.In addition, it has a tripartite economic and diplomatic collaboration with Romania and Greece, good ties with China and Vietnam and a historical relationship with Russia.Bulgaria deployed significant numbers of both civilian and military advisors in Soviet-allied countries like Nicaragua and Libya during the Cold War.", "The first deployment of foreign troops on Bulgarian soil since World War II occurred in 2001, when the country hosted six KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and 200 support personnel for the war effort in Afghanistan.", "International military relations were further expanded with accession to NATO in March 2004 and the US-Bulgarian Defence Cooperation Agreement signed in April 2006.Bezmer and Graf Ignatievo air bases, the Novo Selo training range, and a logistics centre in Aytos subsequently became joint military training facilities cooperatively used by the United States and Bulgarian militaries.", "Despite its active international defence collaborations, Bulgaria ranks as among the most peaceful countries globally, tying 6th alongside Iceland regarding domestic and international conflicts, and 26th on average in the Global Peace Index.Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Bulgaria took the decision to assist Ukraine and in 2023, to put a stop to Russian oil and gas.=== Military ===The Bulgarian Armed Forces are the military of Bulgaria and they are composed of land forces, navy and an air force.", "The Armed Forces have 36,950 active troops, supplemented by 3,000 reservists.", "The land forces consist of two mechanised brigades and eight independent regiments and battalions; the air force operates 106 aircraft and air defence systems across six air bases, and the navy operates various ships, helicopters and coastal defence weapons.", "Military inventory mainly consists of Soviet equipment like Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-25 jets, S-300PT air defence systems and SS-21 Scarab short-range ballistic missiles.", "Bulgaria's Armed Forces are modernizing with F-16 Block 70 fighter jets, new Multi-Purpose corvettes and other modern NATO-standard equipment.", "Bulgaria is in the process of buying new US built Stryker vehicles, new 155 mm Self-propelled howitzers,new 3D Early-warning radars, new Surface-to-air missiles and more." ], [ "Economy", "Economic growth (green) and unemployment (blue) statistics since 2001Bulgaria has an open, upper middle income range market economy where the private sector accounts for more than 70% of GDP.", "From a largely agricultural country with a predominantly rural population in 1948, by the 1980s Bulgaria had transformed into an industrial economy, with scientific and technological research at the top of its budgetary expenditure priorities.", "The loss of COMECON markets in 1990 and the subsequent \"shock therapy\" of the planned system caused a steep decline in industrial and agricultural production, ultimately followed by an economic collapse in 1997.The economy largely recovered during a period of rapid growth several years later, but the average salary of 2,072 leva ($1,142) per month remains the lowest in the EU.A balanced budget was achieved in 2003 and the country began running a surplus the following year.", "Expenditures amounted to $21.15 billion and revenues were $21.67 billion in 2017.Most government spending on institutions is earmarked for security.", "The ministries of defence, the interior and justice are allocated the largest share of the annual government budget, whereas those responsible for the environment, tourism and energy receive the least funding.", "Taxes form the bulk of government revenue at 30% of GDP.", "Bulgaria has some of the lowest corporate income tax rates in the EU at a flat 10% rate.", "The tax system is two-tier.", "Value added tax, excise duties, corporate and personal income tax are national, whereas real estate, inheritance, and vehicle taxes are levied by local authorities.", "Strong economic performance in the early 2000s reduced government debt from 79.6% in 1998 to 14.1% in 2008.It has since increased to 22.6% of GDP by 2022, but remains the second lowest in the EU.A business park in Sofia, the nation's largest economic hubAn electronics factory in Trakia Economic Zone near PlovdivThe Yugozapaden planning area is the most developed region with a per capita gross domestic product (PPP) of $29,816 in 2018.It includes the capital city and the surrounding Sofia Province, which alone generate 42% of national gross domestic product despite hosting only 22% of the population.", "GDP per capita (in PPS) and the cost of living in 2019 stood at 53 and 52.8% of the EU average (100%), respectively.", "National PPP GDP was estimated at $143.1 billion in 2016, with a per capita value of $20,116.Economic growth statistics take into account illegal transactions from the informal economy, which is the largest in the EU as a percentage of economic output.", "The Bulgarian National Bank issues the national currency, lev, which is pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 levа per euro.After several consecutive years of high growth, repercussions of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 resulted in a 3.6% contraction of GDP in 2009 and increased unemployment.", "Positive growth was restored in 2010 but intercompany debt exceeded $59 billion, meaning that 60% of all Bulgarian companies were mutually indebted.", "By 2012, it had increased to $97 billion, or 227% of GDP.", "The government implemented strict austerity measures with IMF and EU encouragement to some positive fiscal results, but the social consequences of these measures, such as increased income inequality and accelerated outward migration, have been \"catastrophic\" according to the International Trade Union Confederation.Siphoning of public funds to the families and relatives of politicians from incumbent parties has resulted in fiscal and welfare losses to society.", "Bulgaria ranks 71st in the Corruption Perceptions Index and experiences the worst levels of corruption in the European Union, a phenomenon that remains a source of profound public discontent.", "Along with organised crime, corruption has resulted in a rejection of the country's Schengen Area application and withdrawal of foreign investment.", "Government officials reportedly engage in embezzlement, influence trading, government procurement violations and bribery with impunity.", "Government procurement in particular is a critical area in corruption risk.", "An estimated 10 billion leva ($5.99 billion) of state budget and European cohesion funds are spent on public tenders each year; nearly 14 billion ($8.38 billion) were spent on public contracts in 2017 alone.", "A large share of these contracts are awarded to a few politically connected companies amid widespread irregularities, procedure violations and tailor-made award criteria.", "Despite repeated criticism from the European Commission, EU institutions refrain from taking measures against Bulgaria because it supports Brussels on a number of issues, unlike Poland or Hungary.=== Structure and sectors ===The labour force is 3.36 million people, of whom 6.8% are employed in agriculture, 26.6% in industry and 66.6% in the services sector.", "Extraction of metals and minerals, production of chemicals, machine building, steel, biotechnology, tobacco, food processing and petroleum refining are among the major industrial activities.", "Mining alone employs 24,000 people and generates about 5% of the country's GDP; the number of employed in all mining-related industries is 120,000.Bulgaria is Europe's fifth-largest coal producer.", "Local deposits of coal, iron, copper and lead are vital for the manufacturing and energy sectors.", "The main destinations of Bulgarian exports outside the EU are Turkey, China and Serbia, while Russia, Turkey and China are by far the largest import partners.", "Most of the exports are manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel products and food.", "Two-thirds of food and agricultural exports go to OECD countries.Although cereal and vegetable output dropped by 40% between 1990 and 2008, output in grains has since increased, and the 2016–2017 season registered the biggest grain output in a decade.", "Maize, barley, oats and rice are also grown.", "Quality Oriental tobacco is a significant industrial crop.", "Bulgaria is also the largest producer globally of lavender and rose oil, both widely used in fragrances.", "Within the services sector, tourism is a significant contributor to economic growth.", "Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, coastal resorts Albena, Golden Sands and Sunny Beach and winter resorts Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets are some of the locations most visited by tourists.", "Most visitors are Romanian, Turkish, Greek and German.", "Tourism is additionally encouraged through the 100 Tourist Sites system.=== Science and technology ===The launch of BulgariaSat-1 by SpaceXSpending on research and development amounts to 0.78% of GDP, and the bulk of public R&D funding goes to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS).", "Private businesses accounted for more than 73% of R&D expenditures and employed 42% of Bulgaria's 22,000 researchers in 2015.The same year, Bulgaria ranked 39th out of 50 countries in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, the highest score being in education (24th) and the lowest in value-added manufacturing (48th).", "Bulgaria was ranked 38th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.Chronic government underinvestment in research since 1990 has forced many professionals in science and engineering to leave Bulgaria.Despite the lack of funding, research in chemistry, materials science and physics remains strong.", "Antarctic research is actively carried out through the St. Kliment Ohridski Base on Livingston Island in Western Antarctica.", "The information and communication technologies (ICT) sector generates three per cent of economic output and employs 40,000 to 51,000 software engineers.", "Bulgaria was known as a \"Communist Silicon Valley\" during the Soviet era due to its key role in COMECON computing technology production.", "A concerted effort by the communist government to teach computing and IT skills in schools also indirectly made Bulgaria a major source of computer viruses in the 1980s and 90s.", "The country is a regional leader in high performance computing: it operates ''Avitohol'', the most powerful supercomputer in Southeast Europe, and will host one of the eight petascale EuroHPC supercomputers.Bulgaria has made numerous contributions to space exploration.", "These include two scientific satellites, more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments in Earth orbit, as well as two cosmonauts since 1971.Bulgaria was the first country to grow wheat and vegetables in space with its Svet greenhouses on the Mir space station.", "It was involved in the development of the Granat gamma-ray observatory and the Vega program, particularly in modelling trajectories and guidance algorithms for both Vega probes.", "Bulgarian instruments have been used in the exploration of Mars, including a spectrometer that took the first high quality spectroscopic images of Martian moon Phobos with the Phobos 2 probe.", "Cosmic radiation en route to and around the planet has been mapped by Liulin-ML dosimeters on the ExoMars TGO.", "Variants of these instruments have also been fitted on the International Space Station and the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe.", "Another lunar mission, SpaceIL's ''Beresheet'', was also equipped with a Bulgarian-manufactured imaging payload.", "Bulgaria's first geostationary communications satellite—BulgariaSat-1—was launched by SpaceX in 2017.=== Infrastructure ===Trakia motorwayTelephone services are widely available, and a central digital trunk line connects most regions.", "Vivacom (BTC) serves more than 90% of fixed lines and is one of the three operators providing mobile services, along with A1 and Telenor.", "Internet penetration stood at 69.2% of the population aged 16–74 and 78.9% of households in 2020.Bulgaria's strategic geographic location and well-developed energy sector make it a key European energy centre despite its lack of significant fossil fuel deposits.", "Thermal power plants generate 48.9% of electricity, followed by nuclear power from the Kozloduy reactors (34.8%) and renewable sources (16.3%).", "Equipment for a second nuclear power station at Belene has been acquired, but the fate of the project remains uncertain.", "Installed capacity amounts to 12,668 MW, allowing Bulgaria to exceed domestic demand and export energy.The national road network has a total length of , of which are paved.", "Railroads are a major mode of freight transportation, although highways carry a progressively larger share of freight.", "Bulgaria has of railway track, with rail links available to Romania, Turkey, Greece, and Serbia, and express trains serving direct routes to Kyiv, Minsk, Moscow and Saint Petersburg.", "Sofia is the country's air travel hub, while Varna and Burgas are the principal maritime trade ports." ], [ "Demographics", "According to the government's official 2022 estimate, the population of Bulgaria consists of 6,447,710 people, down from 6,519,789 according to the last official census in 2021.The majority of the population, 72.5%, reside in urban areas.", ", Sofia is the most populated urban centre with 1,241,675 people, followed by Plovdiv (346,893), Varna (336,505), Burgas (202,434) and Ruse (142,902).", "Bulgarians are the main ethnic group and constitute 84.6% of the population.", "Turkish and Roma minorities account for 8.4 and 4.4%, respectively; some 40 smaller minorities account for 1.3%, and 1.3% do not self-identify with an ethnic group.", "The Roma minority is usually underestimated in census data and may represent up to 11% of the population.", "Population density is 55-60 per square kilometre (ultimo 2023), almost half the European Union average.Bulgaria is in a state of demographic crisis.", "It has had negative population growth since 1989, when the post-Cold War economic collapse caused a long-lasting emigration wave.", "Some 937,000 to 1,200,000 people—mostly young adults—had left the country by 2005.The majority of children are born to unmarried women.", "In 2018, the average total fertility rate (TFR) in Bulgaria was 1.56 children per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1 and considerably below the historical high of 5.83 children per woman in 1905.Bulgaria thus has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 43 years.", "Furthermore, a third of all households consist of only one person and 75.5% of families do not have children under the age of 16.The resulting birth rates are among the lowest in the world while death rates are among the highest.Bulgaria scores high in gender equality, ranking 18th in the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report.", "Although women's suffrage was enabled relatively late, in 1937, women today have equal political rights, high workforce participation and legally mandated equal pay.", "In 2021, market research agency ''Reboot Online'' ranked Bulgaria as the best European country for women to work.", "Bulgaria has the highest ratio of female ICT researchers in the EU, as well as the second-highest ratio of females in the technology sector at 44.6% of the workforce.", "High levels of female participation are a legacy of the Socialist era.=== Largest cities ====== Health ===High death rates result from a combination of an ageing population, high numbers of people at risk of poverty, and a weak healthcare system.", "Over 80% of deaths are due to cancer and cardiovascular conditions; nearly a fifth of those are avoidable.", "Although healthcare in Bulgaria is nominally universal, out-of-pocket expenses account for nearly half of all healthcare spending, significantly limiting access to medical care.", "Other problems disrupting care provision are the emigration of doctors due to low wages, understaffed and under-equipped regional hospitals, supply shortages and frequent changes to the basic service package for those insured.", "The 2018 Bloomberg Health Care Efficiency Index ranked Bulgaria last out of 56 countries.", "Average life expectancy is 74.8 years, compared with an EU average of 80.99 and a world average of 72.38.=== Education ===The Rectorate of Sofia UniversityPublic expenditures for education are far below the European Union average as well.", "Educational standards were once high, but have declined significantly since the early 2000s.", "Bulgarian students were among the highest-scoring in the world in terms of reading in 2001, performing better than their Canadian and German counterparts; by 2006, scores in reading, math and science had dropped.", "By 2018, Programme for International Student Assessment studies found 47% of pupils in the 9th grade to be functionally illiterate in reading and natural sciences.", "Average basic literacy stands high at 98.4% with no significant difference between sexes.", "The Ministry of Education and Science partially funds public schools, colleges and universities, sets criteria for textbooks and oversees the publishing process.", "Education in primary and secondary public schools is free and compulsory.", "The process spans 12 grades, in which grades one through eight are primary and nine through twelve are secondary level.", "Higher education consists of a 4-year bachelor degree and a 1-year master's degree.", "Bulgaria's highest-ranked higher education institution is Sofia University.=== Language ===Bulgarian is the only language with official status.", "It belongs to the Slavic group of languages but has a number of grammatical peculiarities, that set it apart from other Slavic languages: these include a complex verbal morphology (which also codes for distinctions in evidentiality), the absence of noun cases and infinitives, and the use of a suffixed definite article.=== Religion ===Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, SofiaBulgaria is a secular state with guaranteed freedom of religion by constitution, but Eastern Orthodox Christianity is designated as the traditional religion of the country.", "Approximately two-thirds of Bulgarians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians.", "The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was the first church apart from the Four Ancient Patriarchates of the Eastern Orthodox Church—in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem—and the first national church to gain autocephalous status in 927 AD.", "The Bulgarian Patriarchate has 12 dioceses and over 2,000 priests.Muslims are the second-largest religious community and constitute approx.", "10% of Bulgaria's overall religious makeup.", "A 2011 survey of 850 Muslims in Bulgaria found 30% self-professing as deeply religious and 50% as just religious.", "According to the study, some religious teachings, like Islamic funeral, have been traditionally incorporated and are widely practiced while other major ones are less observed, such as the Muslim prayer or abstaining from drinking alcohol, eating pork, and cohabitation.Other important religions include Roman Catholicism and Judaism, whose history in Bulgaria dates back to the early Middle Ages, the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as various Protestant denominations, all of which stand for around 2% of Bulgaria's population.", "An ever increasing number of Bulgarians are either irreligious or unaffiliated with any religion, a percentage that has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years, from 3.9% in 2001, through 9.3% in 2011 and all the way to 15.9% in 2021.According to the most recent census of 2021 the religious denominations of the population are, as follows: Christian (71.5%), Islam (10.8%), other religions (0.1%).", "Further 12.4% were unaffiliated or did not respond." ], [ "Culture", "Roman theatre of Plovdiv, European Capital of Culture in 2019Rila Monastery, an important spiritual centre for the BulgariansKuker'' in LesichovoContemporary Bulgarian culture blends the formal culture that helped forge a national consciousness towards the end of Ottoman rule with millennia-old folk traditions.", "An essential element of Bulgarian folklore is fire, used to banish evil spirits and illnesses.", "Many of these are personified as witches, whereas other creatures like zmey and samodiva (veela) are either benevolent guardians or ambivalent tricksters.", "Some rituals against evil spirits have survived and are still practised, most notably kukeri and survakari.", "Martenitsa is also widely celebrated.", "Nestinarstvo, a ritual fire-dance of Thracian origin, is included in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.Nine historical and natural objects are UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Pirin National Park, Sreburna Nature Reserve, the Madara Rider, the Thracian tombs in Sveshtari and Kazanlak, the Rila Monastery, the Boyana Church, the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo and the ancient city of Nesebar.", "The Rila Monastery was established by Saint John of Rila, Bulgaria's patron saint, whose life has been the subject of numerous literary accounts since Medieval times.The establishment of the Preslav and Ohrid literary schools in the 10th century is associated with a golden period in Bulgarian literature during the Middle Ages.", "The schools' emphasis on Christian scriptures made the Bulgarian Empire a centre of Slavic culture, bringing Slavs under the influence of Christianity and providing them with a written language.", "Its alphabet, Cyrillic script, was developed by the Preslav Literary School.", "The Tarnovo Literary School, on the other hand, is associated with a Silver age of literature defined by high-quality manuscripts on historical or mystical themes under the Asen and Shishman dynasties.", "Many literary and artistic masterpieces were destroyed by the Ottoman conquerors, and artistic activities did not re-emerge until the National Revival in the 19th century.", "The enormous body of work of Ivan Vazov (1850–1921) covered every genre and touched upon every facet of Bulgarian society, bridging pre-Liberation works with literature of the newly established state.", "Notable later works are ''Bay Ganyo'' by Aleko Konstantinov, the Nietzschean poetry of Pencho Slaveykov, the Symbolist poetry of Peyo Yavorov and Dimcho Debelyanov, the Marxist-inspired works of Geo Milev and Nikola Vaptsarov, and the Socialist realism novels of Dimitar Dimov and Dimitar Talev.", "Tzvetan Todorov is a notable contemporary author, while Bulgarian-born Elias Canetti was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981.А religious visual arts heritage includes frescoes, murals and icons, many produced by the medieval Tarnovo Artistic School.", "Like literature, it was not until the National Revival when Bulgarian visual arts began to reemerge.", "Zahari Zograf was a pioneer of the visual arts in the pre-Liberation era.", "After the Liberation, Ivan Mrkvička, Anton Mitov, Vladimir Dimitrov, Tsanko Lavrenov and Zlatyu Boyadzhiev introduced newer styles and substance, depicting scenery from Bulgarian villages, old towns and historical subjects.", "Christo is the most famous Bulgarian artist of the 21st century, known for his outdoor installations.Folk music is by far the most extensive traditional art and has slowly developed throughout the ages as a fusion of Far Eastern, Oriental, medieval Eastern Orthodox and standard Western European tonalities and modes.", "Bulgarian folk music has a distinctive sound and uses a wide range of traditional instruments, such as gadulka, gaida, kaval and tupan.", "A distinguishing feature is ''extended rhythmical time'', which has no equivalent in the rest of European music.", "The State Television Female Vocal Choir won a Grammy Award in 1990 for its performances of Bulgarian folk music.", "Written musical composition can be traced back to the works of Yoan Kukuzel (–1360), but modern classical music began with Emanuil Manolov, who composed the first Bulgarian opera in 1890.Pancho Vladigerov and Petko Staynov further enriched symphony, ballet and opera, which singers Ghena Dimitrova, Boris Christoff, Ljuba Welitsch and Nicolai Ghiaurov elevated to a world-class level.Bulgarian performers have gained acclaim in other genres like electropop (Mira Aroyo), jazz (Milcho Leviev) and blends of jazz and folk (Ivo Papazov).The Bulgarian National Radio, bTV and daily newspapers ''Trud'', and ''24 Chasa'' are some of the largest national media outlets.", "Bulgarian media were described as generally unbiased in their reporting in the early 2000s and print media had no legal restrictions.", "Since then, freedom of the press has deteriorated to the point where Bulgaria scores 111th globally in the World Press Freedom Index, lower than all European Union members and membership candidate states.", "The government has diverted EU funds to sympathetic media outlets and bribed others to be less critical on problematic topics, while attacks against individual journalists have increased.", "Collusion between politicians, oligarchs and the media is widespread.Bulgarian cuisine is similar to that of other Balkan countries and demonstrates strong Turkish and Greek influences.", "Yogurt, lukanka, banitsa, shopska salad, lyutenitsa and kozunak are among the best-known local foods.", "Meat consumption is lower than the European average, given a cultural preference for a large variety of salads.", "Bulgaria was the world's second-largest wine exporter until 1989, but has since lost that position.", "The 2016 harvest yielded 128 million litres of wine, of which 62 million was exported mainly to Romania, Poland and Russia.", "Mavrud, Rubin, Shiroka melnishka, Dimiat and Cherven Misket are the typical grapes used in Bulgarian wine.", "Rakia is a traditional fruit brandy that was consumed in Bulgaria as early as the 14th century.=== Sports ===Grigor Dimitrov at the 2015 Italian OpenBulgaria appeared at the first modern Olympic games in 1896, when it was represented by gymnast Charles Champaud.", "Since then, Bulgarian athletes have won 55 gold, 90 silver, and 85 bronze medals, ranking 25th in the all-time medal table.", "Weight-lifting is a signature sport of Bulgaria.", "Coach Ivan Abadzhiev developed innovative training practices that have produced many Bulgarian world and Olympic champions in weight-lifting since the 1980s.", "Bulgarian athletes have also excelled in wrestling, boxing, gymnastics, volleyball and tennis.", "Stefka Kostadinova is the reigning world record holder in the women's high jump at , achieved during the 1987 World Championships.", "Grigor Dimitrov is the first Bulgarian tennis player in the Top 3 ATP rankings.Football is the most popular sport in the country by a substantial margin.", "The national football team's best performance was a semi-final at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, when the squad was spearheaded by forward Hristo Stoichkov.", "Stoichkov is the most successful Bulgarian player of all time; he was awarded the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball and was considered one of the best in the world while playing for FC Barcelona in the 1990s.", "CSKA and Levski, both based in Sofia, are the most successful clubs domestically and long-standing rivals.", "Ludogorets is remarkable for having advanced from the local fourth division to the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage in a mere nine years.", "Placed 39th in 2018, it is Bulgaria's highest-ranked club in UEFA." ], [ "See also", "Outline of Bulgaria" ], [ "Explanatory notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "*******************************************************" ], [ "External links", " * Bulgaria at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''.", "* * * Bulgaria Profile from Balkan Insight* President of The Republic of Bulgaria" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bryozoa" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bryozoa''' (also known as the '''Polyzoa''', '''Ectoprocta''' or commonly as '''moss animals''') are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies.", "Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a lophophore, a \"crown\" of tentacles used for filter feeding.", "Most marine bryozoans live in tropical waters, but a few are found in oceanic trenches and polar waters.", "The bryozoans are classified as the marine bryozoans (Stenolaemata), freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata), and mostly-marine bryozoans (Gymnolaemata), a few members of which prefer brackish water.", "5,869living species are known.", "At least two genera are solitary (''Aethozooides'' and ''Monobryozoon''); the rest are colonial.The terms Polyzoa and Bryozoa were introduced in 1830 and 1831, respectively.", "Soon after it was named, another group of animals was discovered whose filtering mechanism looked similar, so it was included in Bryozoa until 1869, when the two groups were noted to be very different internally.", "The new group was given the name \"Entoprocta\", while the original Bryozoa were called \"Ectoprocta\".", "Disagreements about terminology persisted well into the 20th century, but \"Bryozoa\" is now the generally accepted term.Colonies take a variety of forms, including fans, bushes and sheets.", "Single animals, called zooids, live throughout the colony and are not fully independent.", "These individuals can have unique and diverse functions.", "All colonies have \"autozooids\", which are responsible for feeding, excretion, and supplying nutrients to the colony through diverse channels.", "Some classes have specialist zooids like hatcheries for fertilized eggs, colonial defence structures, and root-like attachment structures.", "Cheilostomata is the most diverse order of bryozoan, possibly because its members have the widest range of specialist zooids.", "They have mineralized exoskeletons and form single-layered sheets which encrust over surfaces, and some colonies can creep very slowly by using spiny defensive zooids as legs.Each zooid consists of a \"cystid\", which provides the body wall and produces the exoskeleton, and a \"polypide\", which holds the organs.", "Zooids have no special excretory organs, and autozooids' polypides are scrapped when they become overloaded with waste products; usually the body wall then grows a replacement polypide.", "Their gut is U-shaped, with the mouth inside the crown of tentacles and the anus outside it.", "Zooids of all the freshwater species are simultaneous hermaphrodites.", "Although those of many marine species function first as males and then as females, their colonies always contain a combination of zooids that are in their male and female stages.", "All species emit sperm into the water.", "Some also release ova into the water, while others capture sperm via their tentacles to fertilize their ova internally.", "In some species the larvae have large yolks, go to feed, and quickly settle on a surface.", "Others produce larvae that have little yolk but swim and feed for a few days before settling.", "After settling, all larvae undergo a radical metamorphosis that destroys and rebuilds almost all the internal tissues.", "Freshwater species also produce statoblasts that lie dormant until conditions are favorable, which enables a colony's lineage to survive even if severe conditions kill the mother colony.Predators of marine bryozoans include sea slugs (nudibranchs), fish, sea urchins, pycnogonids, crustaceans, mites and starfish.", "Freshwater bryozoans are preyed on by snails, insects, and fish.", "In Thailand, many populations of one freshwater species have been wiped out by an introduced species of snail.", "A fast-growing invasive bryozoan off the northeast and northwest coasts of the US has reduced kelp forests so much that it has affected local fish and invertebrate populations.", "Bryozoans have spread diseases to fish farms and fishermen.", "Chemicals extracted from a marine bryozoan species have been investigated for treatment of cancer and Alzheimer's disease, but analyses have not been encouraging.Mineralized skeletons of bryozoans first appear in rocks from the Early Ordovician period, making it the last major phylum to appear in the fossil record.", "This has led researchers to suspect that bryozoans arose earlier but were initially unmineralized, and may have differed significantly from fossilized and modern forms.", "In 2021, some research suggested ''Protomelission'', a genus known from the Cambrian period, could be an example of an early bryozoan, but later research suggested that this taxon may instead represent a dasyclad alga.", "Early fossils are mainly of erect forms, but encrusting forms gradually became dominant.", "It is uncertain whether the phylum is monophyletic.", "Bryozoans' evolutionary relationships to other phyla are also unclear, partly because scientists' view of the family tree of animals is mainly influenced by better-known phyla.", "Both morphological and molecular phylogeny analyses disagree over bryozoans' relationships with entoprocts, about whether bryozoans should be grouped with brachiopods and phoronids in Lophophorata, and whether bryozoans should be considered protostomes or deuterostomes." ], [ "Description", "=== Distinguishing features ===Bryozoans, phoronids and brachiopods strain food out of the water by means of a lophophore, a \"crown\" of hollow tentacles.", "Bryozoans form colonies consisting of clones called zooids that are typically about long.", "Phoronids resemble bryozoan zooids but are long and, although they often grow in clumps, do not form colonies consisting of clones.", "Brachiopods, generally thought to be closely related to bryozoans and phoronids, are distinguished by having shells rather like those of bivalves.", "All three of these phyla have a coelom, an internal cavity lined by mesothelium.Some encrusting bryozoan colonies with mineralized exoskeletons look very like small corals.", "However, bryozoan colonies are founded by an ancestrula, which is round rather than shaped like a normal zooid of that species.", "On the other hand, the founding polyp of a coral has a shape like that of its daughter polyps, and coral zooids have no coelom or lophophore.Entoprocts, another phylum of filter-feeders, look rather like bryozoans but their lophophore-like feeding structure has solid tentacles, their anus lies inside rather than outside the base of the \"crown\" and they have no coelom.+ Summary of distinguishing features Bryozoa(Ectoprocta) Other lophophorates Other Lophotrochozoa Similar-looking phyla Phoronida Brachiopoda Annelida, Mollusca Entoprocta Corals (class in phylum Cnidaria) Coelom Three-part, if the cavity of the epistome is included Three-part One per segment in basic form; merged in some taxa none Formation of coelom Uncertain because metamorphosis of larvae into adults makes this impossible to trace Enterocoely Schizocoely not applicable Lophophore With hollow tentacles none Similar-looking feeding structure, but with solid tentacles none Feeding current From tips to bases of tentacles not applicable From bases to tips of tentacles not applicable Multiciliated cells in epithelium Yes no Yes not applicable Position of anus Outside base of lophophore Varies, none in some species Rear end, but none in Siboglinidae Inside base of lophophore-like organ none Colonial Colonies of clones in most; one solitary genus Sessile species often form clumps, but with no active co-operation Colonies of clones in some species; some solitary species Colonies of clones Shape of founder zooid Round, unlike normal zooids not applicable Same as other zooids Mineralized exoskeletons Some taxa no Bivalve-like shells Some sessile annelids build mineralized tubes; most molluscs have shells, but most modern cephalopods have internal shells or none.", "no Some taxa=== Types of zooid ===All bryozoans are colonial except for one genus, ''Monobryozoon''.", "Individual members of a bryozoan colony are about long and are known as ''zooids'', since they are not fully independent animals.", "All colonies contain feeding zooids, known as autozooids.", "Those of some groups also contain non-feeding heterozooids, also known as polymorphic zooids, which serve a variety of functions other than feeding; colony members are genetically identical and co-operate, rather like the organs of larger animals.", "What type of zooid grows where in a colony is determined by chemical signals from the colony as a whole or sometimes in response to the scent of predators or rival colonies.The bodies of all types have two main parts.", "The ''cystid'' consists of the body wall and whatever type of exoskeleton is secreted by the epidermis.", "The exoskeleton may be organic (chitin, polysaccharide or protein) or made of the mineral calcium carbonate.", "The latter is always absent in freshwater species.", "The body wall consists of the epidermis, basal lamina (a mat of non-cellular material), connective tissue, muscles, and the mesothelium which lines the coelom (main body cavity) – except that in one class, the mesothelium is split into two separate layers, the inner one forming a membranous sac that floats freely and contains the coelom, and the outer one attached to the body wall and enclosing the membranous sac in a pseudocoelom.", "The other main part of the bryozoan body, known as the ''polypide'' and situated almost entirely within the cystid, contains the nervous system, digestive system, some specialized muscles and the feeding apparatus or other specialized organs that take the place of the feeding apparatus.==== Feeding zooids ====The most common type of zooid is the feeding autozooid, in which the polypide bears a \"crown\" of hollow tentacles called a lophophore, which captures food particles from the water.", "In all colonies a large percentage of zooids are autozooids, and some consist entirely of autozooids, some of which also engage in reproduction.The basic shape of the \"crown\" is a full circle.", "Among the freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata) the crown appears U-shaped, but this impression is created by a deep dent in the rim of the crown, which has no gap in the fringe of tentacles.", "The sides of the tentacles bear fine hairs called cilia, whose beating drives a water current from the tips of the tentacles to their bases, where it exits.", "Food particles that collide with the tentacles are trapped by mucus, and further cilia on the inner surfaces of the tentacles move the particles towards the mouth in the center.", "The method used by ectoprocts is called \"upstream collecting\", as food particles are captured before they pass through the field of cilia that creates the feeding current.", "This method is also used by phoronids, brachiopods and pterobranchs.The lophophore and mouth are mounted on a flexible tube called the \"invert\", which can be turned inside-out and withdrawn into the polypide, rather like the finger of a rubber glove; in this position the lophophore lies inside the invert and is folded like the spokes of an umbrella.", "The invert is withdrawn, sometimes within 60milliseconds, by a pair of retractor muscles that are anchored at the far end of the cystid.", "Sensors at the tips of the tentacles may check for signs of danger before the invert and lophophore are fully extended.", "Extension is driven by an increase in internal fluid pressure, which species with flexible exoskeletons produce by contracting circular muscles that lie just inside the body wall, while species with a membranous sac use circular muscles to squeeze this.", "Some species with rigid exoskeletons have a flexible membrane that replaces part of the exoskeleton, and transverse muscles anchored on the far side of the exoskeleton increase the fluid pressure by pulling the membrane inwards.", "In others there is no gap in the protective skeleton, and the transverse muscles pull on a flexible sac which is connected to the water outside by a small pore; the expansion of the sac increases the pressure inside the body and pushes the invert and lophophore out.", "In some species the retracted invert and lophophore are protected by an operculum (\"lid\"), which is closed by muscles and opened by fluid pressure.", "In one class, a hollow lobe called the \"epistome\" overhangs the mouth.The gut is U-shaped, running from the mouth, in the center of the lophophore, down into the animal's interior and then back to the anus, which is located on the invert, outside and usually below the lophophore.", "A network of strands of mesothelium called \"funiculi\" (\"little ropes\") connects the mesothelium covering the gut with that lining the body wall.", "The wall of each strand is made of mesothelium, and surrounds a space filled with fluid, thought to be blood.", "A colony's zooids are connected, enabling autozooids to share food with each other and with any non-feeding heterozooids.", "The method of connection varies between the different classes of bryozoans, ranging from quite large gaps in the body walls to small pores through which nutrients are passed by funiculi.There is a nerve ring round the pharynx (throat) and a ganglion that serves as a brain to one side of this.", "Nerves run from the ring and ganglion to the tentacles and to the rest of the body.", "Bryozoans have no specialized sense organs, but cilia on the tentacles act as sensors.", "Members of the genus ''Bugula'' grow towards the sun, and therefore must be able to detect light.", "In colonies of some species, signals are transmitted between zooids through nerves that pass through pores in the body walls, and coordinate activities such as feeding and the retraction of lophophores.The solitary individuals of ''Monobryozoon'' are autozooids with pear-shaped bodies.", "The wider ends have up to 15 short, muscular projections by which the animals anchor themselves to sand or gravel and pull themselves through the sediments.==== Avicularia and vibracula ====Some authorities use the term ''avicularia'' (plural of ''avicularium'') to refer to any type of zooid in which the lophophore is replaced by an extension that serves some protective function, while others restrict the term to those that defend the colony by snapping at invaders and small predators, killing some and biting the appendages of others.", "In some species the snapping zooids are mounted on a peduncle (stalk), their bird-like appearance responsible for the term – Charles Darwin described these as like \"the head and beak of a vulture in miniature, seated on a neck and capable of movement\".", "Stalked avicularia are placed upside-down on their stalks.", "The \"lower jaws\" are modified versions of the opercula that protect the retracted lophophores in autozooids of some species, and are snapped shut \"like a mousetrap\" by similar muscles, while the beak-shaped upper jaw is the inverted body wall.", "In other species the avicularia are stationary box-like zooids laid the normal way up, so that the modified operculum snaps down against the body wall.", "In both types the modified operculum is opened by other muscles that attach to it, or by internal muscles that raise the fluid pressure by pulling on a flexible membrane.", "The actions of these snapping zooids are controlled by small, highly modified polypides that are located inside the \"mouth\" and bear tufts of short sensory cilia.", "These zooids appear in various positions: some take the place of autozooids, some fit into small gaps between autozooids, and small avicularia may occur on the surfaces of other zooids.In vibracula, regarded by some as a type of avicularia, the operculum is modified to form a long bristle that has a wide range of motion.", "They may function as defenses against predators and invaders, or as cleaners.", "In some species that form mobile colonies, vibracula around the edges are used as legs for burrowing and walking.==== Structural polymorphs ====Kenozooids (from the Greek 'empty') consist only of the body wall and funicular strands crossing the interior, and no polypide.", "The functions of these zooids include forming the stems of branching structures, acting as spacers that enable colonies to grow quickly in a new direction, strengthening the colony's branches, and elevating the colony slightly above its substrate for competitive advantages against other organisms.", "Some kenozooids are hypothesized to be capable of storing nutrients for the colony.", "Because kenozooids' function is generally structural, they are called \"structural polymorphs.", "\"Some heterozooids found in extinct trepostome bryozoans, called mesozooids, are thought to have functioned to space the feeding autozooids an appropriate distance apart.", "In thin sections of trepostome fossils, mesozooids can be seen in between the tubes that held autozooids; they are smaller tubes that are divided along their length by diaphragms, making them look like rows of box-like chambers sandwiched between autozooidal tubes.", "==== Reproductive polymorphs ====Gonozooids act as brood chambers for fertilized eggs.", "Almost all modern cyclostome bryozoans have them, but they can be hard to locate on a colony because there are so few gonozooids in one colony.", "The aperture in gonozooids, which is called an ooeciopore, acts as a point for larvae to exit.", "Some gonozooids have very complex shapes with autozooidal tubes passing through chambers within them.", "All larvae released from a gonozooid are clones created by division of a single egg; this is called monozygotic polyembryony, and is a reproductive strategy also used by armadillos.Cheilostome bryozoans also brood their embryos; one of the common methods is through ovicells, capsules attached to autozooids.", "The autozooids possessing ovicells are normally still able to feed, however, so these are not considered heterozooids.", "\"Female\" polymorphs are more common than \"male\" polymorphs, but specialized zooids that produce sperm are also known.", "These are called androzooids, and some are found in colonies of ''Odontoporella bishopi'', a species that is symbiotic with hermit crabs and lives on their shells.", "These zooids are smaller than the others and have four short tentacles and four long tentacles, unlike the autozooids which have 15–16 tentacles.", "Androzooids are also found in species with mobile colonies that can crawl around.", "It is possible that androzooids are used to exchange sperm between colonies when two mobile colonies or bryozoan-encrusted hermit crabs happen to encounter one another.", "====Other polymorphs====Spinozooids are hollow, movable spines, like very slender, small tubes, present on the surface of colonies, which probably are for defense.", "Some species have miniature nanozooids with small single-tentacled polypides, and these may grow on other zooids or within the body walls of autozooids that have degenerated.=== Colony forms and composition ===A colony of the modern marine bryozoan ''Flustra foliacea''.Cheilostome bryozoan with serpulid tubesAlthough zooids are microscopic, colonies range in size from to over .", "However, the majority are under across.", "The shapes of colonies vary widely, depend on the pattern of budding by which they grow, the variety of zooids present and the type and amount of skeletal material they secrete.Some marine species are bush-like or fan-like, supported by \"trunks\" and \"branches\" formed by kenozooids, with feeding autozooids growing from these.", "Colonies of these types are generally unmineralized but may have exoskeletons made of chitin.", "Others look like small corals, producing heavy lime skeletons.", "Many species form colonies which consist of sheets of autozooids.", "These sheets may form leaves, tufts or, in the genus ''Thalamoporella'', structures that resemble an open head of lettuce.The most common marine form, however, is encrusting, in which a one-layer sheet of zooids spreads over a hard surface or over seaweed.", "Some encrusting colonies may grow to over and contain about 2,000,000 zooids.", "These species generally have exoskeletons reinforced with calcium carbonate, and the openings through which the lophophores protrude are on the top or outer surface.", "The moss-like appearance of encrusting colonies is responsible for the phylum's name (Ancient Greek words meaning 'moss' and meaning 'animal').", "Large colonies of encrusting species often have \"chimneys\", gaps in the canopy of lophophores, through which they swiftly expel water that has been sieved, and thus avoid re-filtering water that is already exhausted.", "They are formed by patches of non-feeding heterozooids.", "New chimneys appear near the edges of expanding colonies, at points where the speed of the outflow is already high, and do not change position if the water flow changes.Some freshwater species secrete a mass of gelatinous material, up to in diameter, to which the zooids stick.", "Other freshwater species have plant-like shapes with \"trunks\" and \"branches\", which may stand erect or spread over the surface.", "A few species can creep at about per day.Each colony grows by asexual budding from a single zooid known as the ancestrula, which is round rather than shaped like a normal zooid.", "This occurs at the tips of \"trunks\" or \"branches\" in forms that have this structure.", "Encrusting colonies grow round their edges.", "In species with calcareous exoskeletons, these do not mineralize until the zooids are fully grown.", "Colony lifespans range from one to about 12 years, and the short-lived species pass through several generations in one season.Species that produce defensive zooids do so only when threats have already appeared, and may do so within 48 hours.", "The theory of \"induced defenses\" suggests that production of defenses is expensive and that colonies which defend themselves too early or too heavily will have reduced growth rates and lifespans.", "This \"last minute\" approach to defense is feasible because the loss of zooids to a single attack is unlikely to be significant.", "Colonies of some encrusting species also produce special heterozooids to limit the expansion of other encrusting organisms, especially other bryozoans.", "In some cases this response is more belligerent if the opposition is smaller, which suggests that zooids on the edge of a colony can somehow sense the size of the opponent.", "Some species consistently prevail against certain others, but most turf wars are indecisive and the combatants soon turn to growing in uncontested areas.", "Bryozoans competing for territory do not use the sophisticated techniques employed by sponges or corals, possibly because the shortness of bryozoan lifespans makes heavy investment in turf wars unprofitable.Bryozoans have contributed to carbonate sedimentation in marine life since the Ordovician period.", "Bryozoans take responsibility for many of the colony forms, which have evolved in different taxonomic groups and vary in sediment producing ability.", "The nine basic bryozoan colony-forms include: encrusting, dome-shaped, palmate, foliose, fenestrate, robust branching, delicate branching, articulated and free-living.", "Most of these sediments come from two distinct groups of colonies: domal, delicate branching, robust branching and palmate; and fenestrate.", "Fenestrate colonies generate rough particles both as sediment and components of stromatoporoids coral reefs.", "The delicate colonies however, create both coarse sediment and form the cores of deep-water, subphotic biogenic mounds.", "Nearly all post- bryozoan sediments are made up of growth forms, with the addition to free-living colonies which include significant numbers of various colonies.", "\"In contrast to the Palaeozoic, post-Palaeozoic bryozoans generated sediment varying more widely with the size of their grains; they grow as they moved from mud, to sand, to gravel.\"" ], [ "Taxonomy", "''Peronopora'', a trepostome bryozoan from the Whitewater Formation (Upper Ordovician) of eastern Indiana, United States''Evactinopora bryozoan'' found in Jefferson County, Missouri, United StatesThe phylum was originally called \"Polyzoa\", but this name was eventually replaced by Ehrenberg's term \"Bryozoa\".", "The name \"Bryozoa\" was originally applied only to the animals also known as Ectoprocta (), in which the anus lies outside the \"crown\" of tentacles.", "After the discovery of the Entoprocta (), in which the anus lies within a \"crown\" of tentacles, the name \"Bryozoa\" was promoted to phylum level to include the two classes Ectoprocta and Entoprocta.", "However, in 1869 Hinrich Nitsche regarded the two groups as quite distinct for a variety of reasons, and coined the name \"Ectoprocta\" for Ehrenberg's \"Bryozoa\".", "Despite their apparently similar methods of feeding, they differed markedly anatomically; in addition to the different positions of the anus, ectoprocts have hollow tentacles and a coelom, while entoprocts have solid tentacles and no coelom.", "Hence the two groups are now widely regarded as separate phyla, and the name \"Bryozoa\" is now synonymous with \"Ectoprocta\".", "This has remained the majority view ever since, although most publications have preferred the name \"Bryozoa\" rather than \"Ectoprocta\".", "Nevertheless, some notable scientists have continued to regard the \"Ectoprocta\" and Entoprocta as close relatives and group them under \"Bryozoa\".The ambiguity about the scope of the name \"Bryozoa\" led to proposals in the 1960s and 1970s that it should be avoided and the unambiguous term \"Ectoprocta\" should be used.", "However, the change would have made it harder to find older works in which the phylum was called \"Bryozoa\", and the desire to avoid ambiguity, if applied consistently to all classifications, would have necessitated renaming of several other phyla and many lower-level groups.", "In practice, zoological naming of split or merged groups of animals is complex and not completely consistent.", "Works since 2000 have used various names to resolve the ambiguity, including: \"Bryozoa\", \"Ectoprocta\", \"Bryozoa (Ectoprocta)\", and \"Ectoprocta (Bryozoa)\".", "Some have used more than one approach in the same work.The common name \"moss animals\" is the literal meaning of \"Bryozoa\", from Greek ('moss') and ('animals'), based on the mossy appearance of encrusting species.Until 2008 there were \"inadequately known and misunderstood type species belonging to the Cyclostome Bryozoan family Oncousoeciidae.\"", "Modern research and experiments have been done using low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy of uncoated type material to critically examine and perhaps revise the taxonomy of three genera belonging to this family, including ''Oncousoecia'', ''Microeciella'', and ''Eurystrotos''.", "This method permits data to be obtained that would be difficult to recognize with an optical microscope.", "The valid type species of ''Oncousoecia'' was found to be ''Oncousoecia lobulata''.", "This interpretation stabilizes ''Oncousoecia'' by establishing a type species that corresponds to the general usage of the genus.", "Fellow Oncousoeciid ''Eurystrotos'' is now believed to be not conspecific with ''O.", "lobulata'', as previously suggested, but shows enough similarities to be considered a junior synonym of ''Oncousoecia''.", "''Microeciella suborbicularus'' has also been recently distinguished from ''O.", "lobulata'' and ''O.", "dilatans'', using this modern method of low vacuum scanning, with which it has been inaccurately synonymized with in the past.", "A new genus has also been recently discovered called ''Junerossia'' in the family Stomachetosellidae, along with 10 relatively new species of bryozoa such as ''Alderina flaventa'', ''Corbulella extenuata'', ''Puellina septemcryptica'', ''Junerossia copiosa'', ''Calyptotheca kapaaensis'', ''Bryopesanser serratus'', ''Cribellopora souleorum'', ''Metacleidochasma verrucosa'', ''Disporella compta'', and ''Favosipora adunca''.=== Classification and diversity ===Counts of formally described species range between 4,000 and 4,500.The Gymnolaemata and especially Cheilostomata have the greatest numbers of species, possibly because of their wide range of specialist zooids.", "Under the Linnaean system of classification, which is still used as a convenient way to label groups of organisms, living members of the phylum Bryozoa are divided into: Class Phylactolaemata Stenolaemata Gymnolaemata Order Plumatellida Cyclostomatida Ctenostomatida Cheilostomata Environments Freshwater Marine Mostly marine Lip-like epistome overhanging mouth Yes none Colony shapes Gelatinous masses or tubular branching structures Erect or encrusting Erect, encrusting or free-living Exoskeleton material Gelatinous or membranous; unmineralized Mineralized Chitin, gelatinous or membranous; unmineralized Mineralized Operculum (\"lid\") none none (except in family Eleidae) None in most species Yes (except in genus ''Bugula'') Shape of lophophore U-shaped appearance(except in genus ''Fredericella'', whose lophophore is circular) Circular How lophophore extended Compressing the whole body wall Compressing the membranous sac(separate inner layer of epithelium that lines the coelom) Compressing the whole body wall Pulling inwards of a flexible section of body wall, or making an internal sac expand.", "Types of zooid Autozooids only Limited heterozooids, mainly gonozooids Stolons and spines as well as autozooids Full range of types=== Fossil record ===Bryozoan fossils in an Upper Ordovician oil shale (kukersite), northern Estonia.Fossils of about 15,000 bryozoan species have been found.", "Bryozoans are among the three dominant groups of Paleozoic fossils.", "Bryozoans with calcitic skeletons were a major source of the carbonate minerals that make up limestones, and their fossils are incredibly common in marine sediments worldwide from the Ordovician onward.", "However, unlike corals and other colonial animals found in the fossil record, Bryozoan colonies did not reach large sizes.", "Fossil bryozoan colonies are typically found highly fragmented and scattered; the preservation of complete zoaria is uncommon in the fossil record, and relatively little study has been devoted to reassembling fragmented zoaria.", "The largest known fossil colonies are branching trepostome bryozoans from Ordovician rocks in the United States, reaching 66 centimeters in height.The oldest species with a mineralized skeleton occurs in the Lower Ordovician.", "It is likely that the first bryozoans appeared much earlier and were entirely soft-bodied, and the Ordovician fossils record the appearance of mineralized skeletons in this phylum.", "By the Arenigian stage of the Early Ordovician period, about , all the modern orders of stenolaemates were present, and the ctenostome order of gymnolaemates had appeared by the Middle Ordovician, about .", "The Early Ordovician fossils may also represent forms that had already become significantly different from the original members of the phylum.", "Ctenostomes with phosphatized soft tissue are known from the Devonian.", "Other types of filter feeders appeared around the same time, which suggests that some change made the environment more favorable for this lifestyle.", "Fossils of cheilostomates, an order of gymnolaemates with mineralized skeletons, first appear in the Mid Jurassic, about , and these have been the most abundant and diverse bryozoans from the Cretaceous to the present.", "Evidence compiled from the last 100 million years show that cheilostomatids consistently grew over cyclostomatids in territorial struggles, which may help to explain how cheilostomatids replaced cyclostomatids as the dominant marine bryozoans.", "Marine fossils from the Paleozoic era, which ended , are mainly of erect forms, those from the Mesozoic are fairly equally divided by erect and encrusting forms, and more recent ones are predominantly encrusting.", "Fossils of the soft, freshwater phylactolaemates are very rare, appear in and after the Late Permian (which began about ) and consist entirely of their durable statoblasts.", "There are no known fossils of freshwater members of other classes.=== Evolutionary family tree ===An Upper Ordovician cobble with the edrioasteroid ''Cystaster stellatus'' and the thin branching cyclostome bryozoan ''Corynotrypa''.", "Kope Formation, northern Kentucky, United States.Scientists are divided about whether the Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) are a monophyletic group (whether they include all and only a single ancestor species and all its descendants), about what are the phylum's closest relatives in the family tree of animals, and even about whether they should be regarded as members of the protostomes or deuterostomes, the two major groups that account for all moderately complex animals.Molecular phylogeny, which attempts to work out the evolutionary family tree of organisms by comparing their biochemistry and especially their genes, has done much to clarify the relationships between the better-known invertebrate phyla.", "However, the shortage of genetic data about \"minor phyla\" such as bryozoans and entoprocts has left their relationships to other groups unclear.====Traditional view====The traditional view is that the Bryozoa are a monophyletic group, in which the class Phylactolaemata is most closely related to Stenolaemata and Ctenostomatida, the classes that appear earliest in the fossil record.", "However, in 2005 a molecular phylogeny study that focused on phylactolaemates concluded that these are more closely related to the phylum Phoronida, and especially to the only phoronid species that is colonial, than they are to the other ectoproct classes.", "That implies that the Entoprocta are not monophyletic, as the Phoronida are a sub-group of ectoprocts but the standard definition of Entoprocta excludes the Phoronida.", "''Ropalonaria venosa'', an etching trace fossil of a Late Ordovician ctenostome bryozoan on a strophomenid brachiopod valve; Cincinnatian of southeastern Indiana, United States.In 2009 another molecular phylogeny study, using a combination of genes from mitochondria and the cell nucleus, concluded that Bryozoa is a monophyletic phylum, in other words includes all the descendants of a common ancestor that is itself a bryozoan.", "The analysis also concluded that the classes Phylactolaemata, Stenolaemata and Gymnolaemata are also monophyletic, but could not determine whether Stenolaemata are more closely related to Phylactolaemata or Gymnolaemata.", "The Gymnolaemata are traditionally divided into the soft-bodied Ctenostomatida and mineralized Cheilostomata, but the 2009 analysis considered it more likely that neither of these orders is monophyletic and that mineralized skeletons probably evolved more than once within the early Gymnolaemata.Bryozoans' relationships with other phyla are uncertain and controversial.", "Traditional phylogeny, based on anatomy and on the development of the adult forms from embryos, has produced no enduring consensus about the position of ectoprocts.", "Attempts to reconstruct the family tree of animals have largely ignored ectoprocts and other \"minor phyla\", which have received little scientific study because they are generally tiny, have relatively simple body plans, and have little impact on human economies – despite the fact that the \"minor phyla\" include most of the variety in the evolutionary history of animals.In the opinion of Ruth Dewel, Judith Winston, and Frank McKinney, \"Our standard interpretation of bryozoan morphology and embryology is a construct resulting from over 100 years of attempts to synthesize a single framework for all invertebrates,\" and takes little account of some peculiar features of ectoprocts.", "''Phaenopora superba'', a ptilodictyine bryozoan from the Silurian of Ohio, United StatesThe flat, branching bryozoan ''Sulcoretepora'', from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin, United StatesIn ectoprocts, all of the larva's internal organs are destroyed during the metamorphosis to the adult form and the adult's organs are built from the larva's epidermis and mesoderm, while in other bilaterians some organs including the gut are built from endoderm.", "In most bilaterian embryos the blastopore, a dent in the outer wall, deepens to become the larva's gut, but in ectoprocts the blastopore disappears and a new dent becomes the point from which the gut grows.", "The ectoproct coelom is formed by neither of the processes used by other bilaterians, enterocoely, in which pouches that form on the wall of the gut become separate cavities, nor schizocoely, in which the tissue between the gut and the body wall splits, forming paired cavities.====Entoprocts====When entoprocts were discovered in the 19th century, they and bryozoans (ectoprocts) were regarded as classes within the phylum Bryozoa, because both groups were sessile animals that filter-fed by means of a crown of tentacles that bore cilia.From 1869 onwards increasing awareness of differences, including the position of the entoproct anus inside the feeding structure and the difference in the early pattern of division of cells in their embryos, caused scientists to regard the two groups as separate phyla, and \"Bryozoa\" became just an alternative name for ectoprocts, in which the anus is outside the feeding organ.", "A series of molecular phylogeny studies from 1996 to 2006 have also concluded that bryozoans (ectoprocts) and entoprocts are not sister groups.However, two well-known zoologists, Claus Nielsen and Thomas Cavalier-Smith, maintain on anatomical and developmental grounds that bryozoans and entoprocts are member of the same phylum, Bryozoa.", "A molecular phylogeny study in 2007 also supported this old idea, while its conclusions about other phyla agreed with those of several other analyses.====Grouping into the Lophophorata====By 1891 bryozoans (ectoprocts) were grouped with phoronids in a super-phylum called \"Tentaculata\".", "In the 1970s comparisons between phoronid larvae and the cyphonautes larva of some gymnolaete bryozoans produced suggestions that the bryozoans, most of which are colonial, evolved from a semi-colonial species of phoronid.", "Brachiopods were also assigned to the \"Tentaculata\", which were renamed Lophophorata as they all use a lophophore for filter feeding.The majority of scientists accept this, but Claus Nielsen thinks these similarities are superficial.", "The Lophophorata are usually defined as animals with a lophophore, a three-part coelom and a U-shaped gut.", "In Nielsen's opinion, phoronids' and brachiopods' lophophores are more like those of pterobranchs, which are members of the phylum Hemichordata.", "Bryozoan's tentacles bear cells with multiple cilia, while the corresponding cells of phoronids', brachiopods' and pterobranchs' lophophores have one cilium per cell; and bryozoan tentacles have no hemal canal (\"blood vessel\"), which those of the other three phyla have.If the grouping of bryozoans with phoronids and brachiopods into Lophophorata is correct, the next issue is whether the Lophophorata are protostomes, along with most invertebrate phyla, or deuterostomes, along with chordates, hemichordates and echinoderms.The traditional view was that lophophorates were a mix of protostome and deuterostome features.", "Research from the 1970s onwards suggested they were deuterostomes, because of some features that were thought characteristic of deuterostomes: a three-part coelom; radial rather than spiral cleavage in the development of the embryo; and formation of the coelom by enterocoely.", "However the coelom of ectoproct larvae shows no sign of division into three sections, and that of adult ectoprocts is different from that of other coelomate phyla as it is built anew from epidermis and mesoderm after metamorphosis has destroyed the larval coelom.====Lophophorate molecular phylogenetics====Molecular phylogeny analyses from 1995 onwards, using a variety of biochemical evidence and analytical techniques, placed the lophophorates as protostomes and closely related to annelids and molluscs in a super-phylum called Lophotrochozoa.", "\"Total evidence\" analyses, which used both morphological features and a relatively small set of genes, came to various conclusions, mostly favoring a close relationship between lophophorates and Lophotrochozoa.", "A study in 2008, using a larger set of genes, concluded that the lophophorates were closer to the Lophotrochozoa than to deuterostomes, but also that the lophophorates were not monophyletic.", "Instead, it concluded that brachiopods and phoronids formed a monophyletic group, but bryozoans (ectoprocts) were closest to entoprocts, supporting the original definition of \"Bryozoa\".They are the only major phylum of exclusively clonal animals, composed of modular units known as zooids.", "Because they thrive in colonies, colonial growth allows them to develop unrestricted variations in form.", "Despite this, only a small number of basic growth forms have been found and have commonly reappeared throughout the history of the bryozoa.====Ectoproct molecular phylogenetics====The phylogenetic position of the ectoproct bryozoans remains uncertain, but it remains certain that they belong to the Protostomia and more specifically to the Lophotrochozoa.", "This implies that the ectoproct larva is a trochophore with the corona being a homologue of the prototroch; this is supported from the similarity between the coronate larvae and the Type 1 pericalymma larvae of some molluscs and sipunculans, where the prototroch zone is expanded to cover the hyposphere.A study of the mitochondrial DNA sequence suggests that the Bryozoa may be related to the Chaetognatha." ], [ "Physiology", "=== Feeding and excretion ===Most species are filter feeders that sieve small particles, mainly phytoplankton (microscopic floating plants), out of the water.", "The freshwater species ''Plumatella emarginata'' feeds on diatoms, green algae, cyanobacteria, non-photosynthetic bacteria, dinoflagellates, rotifers, protozoa, small nematodes, and microscopic crustaceans.", "While the currents that bryozoans generate to draw food towards the mouth are well understood, the exact method of capture is still debated.", "All species also flick larger particles towards the mouth with a tentacle, and a few capture zooplankton (planktonic animals) by using their tentacles as cages.", "In addition the tentacles, whose surface area is increased by microvilli (small hairs and pleats), absorb organic compounds dissolved in the water.", "Unwanted particles may be flicked away by tentacles or shut out by closing the mouth.", "A study in 2008 showed that both encrusting and erect colonies fed more quickly and grew faster in gentle than in strong currents.In some species the first part of the stomach forms a muscular gizzard lined with chitinous teeth that crush armored prey such as diatoms.", "Wave-like peristaltic contractions move the food through the stomach for digestion.", "The final section of the stomach is lined with cilia (minute hairs) that compress undigested solids, which then pass through the intestine and out through the anus.There are no nephridia (\"little kidneys\") or other excretory organs in bryozoa, and it is thought that ammonia diffuses out through the body wall and lophophore.", "More complex waste products are not excreted but accumulate in the polypide, which degenerates after a few weeks.", "Some of the old polypide is recycled, but much of it remains as a large mass of dying cells containing accumulated wastes, and this is compressed into a \"brown body\".", "When the degeneration is complete, the cystid (outer part of the animal) produces a new polypide, and the brown body remains in the coelom, or in the stomach of the new polypide and is expelled next time the animal defecates.=== Respiration and circulation ===There are no respiratory organs, heart or blood vessels.", "Instead, zooids absorb oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxide through diffusion.", "Bryozoa accomplish diffusion through the use of either a thin membrane (in the case of anascans and some polyzoa) or through pseudopores located on the outer dermis of the zooid.", "The different bryozoan groups use various methods to share nutrients and oxygen between zooids: some have quite large gaps in the body walls, allowing the coelomic fluid to circulate freely; in others, the funiculi (internal \"little ropes\") of adjacent zooids connect via small pores in the body wall.=== Reproduction and life cycles ===thecideide brachiopod and S = sabellid worm tube; Jurassic of Poland.Zooids of all phylactolaemate species are simultaneous hermaphrodites.", "Although those of many marine species are protandric, in other words function first as males and then as females, their colonies contain a combination of zooids that are in their male and female stages.", "In all species the ovaries develop on the inside of the body wall, and the testes on the funiculus connecting the stomach to the body wall.", "Eggs and sperm are released into the coelom, and sperm exit into the water through pores in the tips of some of the tentacles, and then are captured by the feeding currents of zooids that are producing eggs.", "Some species' eggs are fertilized externally after being released through a pore between two tentacles, which in some cases is at the tip of a small projection called the \"intertentacular organ\" in the base of a pair of tentacles.", "Others' are fertilized internally, in the intertentacular organ or in the coelom.", "In ctenostomes the mother provides a brood chamber for the fertilized eggs, and her polypide disintegrates, providing nourishment to the embryo.", "Stenolaemates produce specialized zooids to serve as brood chambers, and their eggs divide within this to produce up to 100 identical embryos.The cleavage of bryozoan eggs is biradial, in other words the early stages are bilaterally symmetrical.", "It is unknown how the coelom forms, since the metamorphosis from larva to adult destroys all of the larva's internal tissues.", "In many animals the blastopore, an opening in the surface of the early embryo, tunnels through to form the gut.", "However, in bryozoans the blastopore closes, and a new opening develops to create the mouth.Bryozoan larvae vary in form, but all have a band of cilia round the body which enables them to swim, a tuft of cilia at the top, and an adhesive sac that everts and anchors them when they settle on a surface.", "Some gymnolaemate species produce cyphonautes larvae which have little yolk but a well-developed mouth and gut, and live as plankton for a considerable time before settling.", "These larvae have triangular shells of chitin, with one corner at the top and the base open, forming a hood round the downward-facing mouth.", "In 2006 it was reported that the cilia of cyphonautes larvae use the same range of techniques as those of adults to capture food.", "Species that brood their embryos form larvae that are nourished by large yolks, have no gut and do not feed, and such larvae quickly settle on a surface.", "In all marine species the larvae produce cocoons in which they metamorphose completely after settling: the larva's epidermis becomes the lining of the coelom, and the internal tissues are converted to a food reserve that nourishes the developing zooid until it is ready to feed.", "The larvae of phylactolaemates produce multiple polypides, so that each new colony starts with several zooids.", "In all species the founder zooids then grow the new colonies by budding clones of themselves.", "In phylactolaemates, zooids die after producing several clones, so that living zooids are found only round the edges of a colony.Phylactolaemates can also reproduce asexually by a method that enables a colony's lineage to survive the variable and uncertain conditions of freshwater environments.", "Throughout summer and autumn they produce disc-shaped statoblasts, masses of cells that function as \"survival pods\" rather like the gemmules of sponges.", "Statoblasts form on the funiculus connected to the parent's gut, which nourishes them.", "As they grow, statoblasts develop protective bivalve-like shells made of chitin.", "When they mature, some statoblasts stick to the parent colony, some fall to the bottom (\"sessoblasts\"), some contain air spaces that enable them to float (\"floatoblasts\"), and some remain in the parent's cystid to re-build the colony if it dies.", "Statoblasts can remain dormant for considerable periods, and while dormant can survive harsh conditions such as freezing and desiccation.", "They can be transported across long distances by animals, floating vegetation, currents and winds, and even in the guts of larger animals.", "When conditions improve, the valves of the shell separate and the cells inside develop into a zooid that tries to form a new colony.", "''Plumatella emarginata'' produces both \"sessoblasts\", which enable the lineage to control a good territory even if hard times decimate the parent colonies, and \"floatoblasts\", which spread to new sites.", "New colonies of ''Plumatella repens'' produce mainly \"sessoblasts\" while mature ones switch to \"floatoblasts\".", "A study estimated that one group of colonies in a patch measuring produced 800,000 statoblasts.Cupuladriid Bryozoa are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction.", "The sexually reproducing colonies (aclonal) are the result of a larval cupuladriid growing into an adult stage whereas the asexual colonies(clonal) are a result of a fragment of a colony of cupuladriids growing into its own colony.", "The different forms of reproduction in cupuladriids are achieved through a variety of methods depending on the morphology and classification of the zooid." ], [ "Ecology", "=== Habitats and distribution ===Most marine species live in tropical waters at depths less than .", "However, a few have been found in deep-sea trenches, especially around cold seeps, and others near the poles.The great majority of bryozoans are sessile.", "Typically, sessile bryozoans live on hard substrates including rocks, sand or shells.", "Encrusting forms are much the commonest of these in shallow seas, but erect forms become more common as the depth increases.", "An example of incrustation on pebbles and cobbles is found in the diverse Pleistocene bryozoans found in northern Japan, where fossils have been found of single stones covered with more than 20 bryozoan species.", "Sediments with smaller particles, like sand or silt, are usually unsuitable habitat for bryozoans, but tiny colonies have been found encrusting grains of coarse sand.", "Some bryozoan species specialize in colonizing marine algae, seagrasses, and even mangrove roots; the genus ''Amphibiobeania'' lives on the leaves of mangrove trees and is called \"amphibious\" because it can survive regular exposure to air at low tide.There are a variety of \"free-living\" bryozoans that live un-attached to a substrate.", "A few forms such as ''Cristatella'' can move.", "Lunulitiform cheilostomes are one group of free-living bryozoans with mobile colonies.", "They form small round colonies un-attached to any substrate; colonies of the genus Selenaria have been observed to \"walk\" around using setae.", "Another cheilostome family, the Cupuladriidae, convergently evolved similarly shaped colonies capable of movement.", "When observed in an aquarium, Selenaria maculata colonies were recorded to crawl at a speed of one meter per hour, climb over each other, move toward light, and right themselves when turned upside-down.", "Later study of this genus showed that neuroelectrical activity in the colonies increased in correlation with movement toward light sources.", "It is theorized that the capacity for movement arose as a side effect when colonies evolved longer setae for unburying themselves from sediment.1851 watercolor of ''Alcyonidium'' by Jacques Burkhardt.Other free-living bryozoans are moved freely by waves, currents, or other phenomena.", "An Antarctic species, ''Alcyonidium pelagosphaera'', consists of floating colonies.", "The pelagic species is between in diameter, has the shape of a hollow sphere and consists of a single layer of autozooids.", "It is still not known if these colonies are pelagic their whole life or only represents a temporarily and previously undescribed juvenile stage.", "Colonies of the species ''Alcyonidium disciforme'', which is disc-shaped and similarly free-living, inhabit muddy seabeds in the Arctic and can sequester sand grains they have engulfed, potentially using the sand as ballast to turn themselves right-side-up after they have been overturned.", "Some bryozoan species can form bryoliths, sphere-shaped free-living colonies that grow outward in all directions as they roll about on the seabed.", "In 2014 it was reported that the bryozoan ''Fenestrulina rugula'' had become a dominant species in parts of Antarctica.", "Global warming has increased the rate of scouring by icebergs, and this species is particularly adept at recolonizing scoured areas.The phylactolaemates live in all types of freshwater environment – lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, and estuaries – and are among the most abundant sessile freshwater animals.", "Some ctenostomes are exclusively freshwater while others prefer brackish water but can survive in freshwater.", "Scientists' knowledge of freshwater bryozoan populations in many parts of the world is incomplete, even in some parts of Europe.", "It was long thought that some freshwater species occurred worldwide, but since 2002 all of these have been split into more localized species.Bryozoans grow in clonal colonies.", "A larval Bryozoan settles on a hard substance and produces a colony asexually through budding.", "These colonies can grow thousands of individual zooids in a relatively short period of time.", "Even though colonies of zooids grow through asexual reproduction, Bryozoans are hermaphrodites and new colonies can be formed through sexual reproduction and the generation of free swimming larvae.", "When colonies grow too large, however, they can split in two.", "This is the only case where asexual reproduction results in a new colony separate from its predecessor.", "Most colonies are stationary.", "Indeed, these colonies tend to be settled on immobile substances such as sediment and coarse substances.", "There are some colonies of freshwater species such as ''Cristatella mucedo'' that are able to move slowly on a creeping foot.=== Interactions with non-human organisms ===lacelike ''Membranipora membranacea''Marine species are common on coral reefs, but seldom a significant proportion of the total biomass.", "In temperate waters, the skeletons of dead colonies form a significant component of shell gravels, and live ones are abundant in these areas.", "The marine lace-like bryozoan ''Membranipora membranacea'' produces spines in response to predation by several species of sea slugs (nudibranchs).", "Other predators on marine bryozoans include fish, sea urchins, pycnogonids, crustaceans, mites and starfish.", "In general marine echinoderms and molluscs eat masses of zooids by gouging pieces of colonies, breaking their mineralized \"houses\", while most arthropod predators on bryozoans eat individual zooids.In freshwater, bryozoans are among the most important filter feeders, along with sponges and mussels.", "Freshwater bryozoans are attacked by many predators, including snails, insects, and fish.In Thailand the introduced species ''Pomacea canaliculata'' (golden apple snail), which is generally a destructive herbivore, has wiped out phylactolaemate populations wherever it has appeared.", "''P.", "canaliculata'' also preys on a common freshwater gymnolaemate, but with less devastating effect.", "Indigenous snails do not feed on bryozoans.Several species of the hydroid family Zancleidae have symbiotic relationships with bryozoans, some of which are beneficial to the hydroids while others are parasitic.", "Modifications appear in the shapes of some these hydroids, for example smaller tentacles or encrustation of the roots by bryozoans.", "The bryozoan ''Alcyonidium nodosum'' protects the whelk ''Burnupena papyracea'' against predation by the powerful and voracious rock lobster ''Jasus lalandii''.", "While whelk shells encrusted by the bryozoans are stronger than those without this reinforcement, chemical defenses produced by the bryozoans are probably the more significant deterrent.Mauritanian bryolith formed by circumrotatory growth of the bryozoan species ''Acanthodesia commensale''In the Banc d'Arguin offshore Mauritania the species ''Acanthodesia commensale'', which is generally growing attached to gravel and hard-substrate, has formed a facultative symbiotic relationship with hermit crabs of the species ''Pseudopagurus cf.", "granulimanus'' resulting in egg-size structures known as bryoliths.", "Nucleating on an empty gastropod shell, the bryozoan colonies form multilamellar skeletal crusts that produce spherical encrustations and extend the living chamber of the hermit crab through helicospiral tubular growth.Some phylactolaemate species are intermediate hosts for a group of myxozoa that have also been found to cause proliferative kidney disease, which is often fatal in salmonid fish, and has severely reduced wild fish populations in Europe and North America.", "''Membranipora membranacea'', whose colonies feed and grow exceptionally fast in a wide range of current speeds, was first noticed in the Gulf of Maine in 1987 and quickly became the most abundant organism living on kelps.", "This invasion reduced the kelp population by breaking their fronds, so that its place as the dominant \"vegetation\" in some areas was taken by another invader, the large alga ''Codium fragile tomentosoides''.", "These changes reduced the area of habitat available for local fish and invertebrates.", "''M.", "membranacea'' has also invaded the northwest coast of the US.", "A few freshwater species have been also found thousands of kilometers from their native ranges.", "Some may have been transported naturally as statoblasts.", "Others more probably were spread by humans, for example on imported water plants or as stowaways on ships.=== Interaction with humans ===Fish farms and hatcheries have lost stock to proliferative kidney disease, which is caused by one or more myxozoans that use bryozoans as alternate hosts.Some fishermen in the North Sea have had to find other work because of a form of eczema (a skin disease) known as \"Dogger Bank itch\", caused by contact with bryozoans that have stuck to nets and lobster pots.Marine bryozoans are often responsible for biofouling on ships' hulls, on docks and marinas, and on offshore structures.", "They are among the first colonizers of new or recently cleaned structures.", "Freshwater species are occasional nuisances in water pipes, drinking water purification equipment, sewage treatment facilities, and the cooling pipes of power stations.A group of chemicals called bryostatins can be extracted from the marine bryozoan ''Bugula neritina''.", "In 2001 pharmaceutical company GPC Biotech licensed bryostatin 1 from Arizona State University for commercial development as a treatment for cancer.", "GPC Biotech canceled development in 2003, saying that bryostatin 1 showed little effectiveness and some toxic side effects.", "In January 2008 a clinical trial was submitted to the United States National Institutes of Health to measure the safety and effectiveness of Bryostatin 1 in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.", "However, no participants had been recruited by the end of December 2008, when the study was scheduled for completion.", "More recent work shows it has positive effects on cognition in patients with Alzheimer's disease with few side effects.", "About of bryozoans must be processed to extract of bryostatin, As a result, synthetic equivalents have been developed that are simpler to produce and apparently at least as effective.<!-- Hide until mined out; then delete ****" ], [ "Anatomy", "''Costazia costazi'', a coralline bryozoanBryozoan skeletons grow in a variety of shapes and patterns: mound-shaped, lacy fans, branching twigs, and even corkscrew-shaped.", "Their skeletons have numerous tiny openings, each of which is the home of a minute animal called a '''zooid'''.", "They also have a coelomate body with a looped alimentary canal or gut, opening at the mouth and terminating at the anus.", "They feed with a specialized, ciliated structure called a lophophore, which is a crown of tentacles surrounding the mouth.", "Their diet consists of small microorganisms, including diatoms and other unicellular algae.", "In turn, bryozoans are preyed on by grazing organisms such as sea urchins and fish.", "Bryozoans do not have any defined respiratory, or circulatory systems due to their small size.", "However, they do have a simple nervous system and a hydrostatic skeletal system.", "Several studies have been undertaken on the crystallography of bryozoan skeletons, revealing a complex fabric suite of oriented calcite or aragonite crystallites within an organic matrix – see for example Hall ''et al.''", "(2002).bryozoan lophophoresThe tentacles of the bryozoans are ciliated, and the beating of the cilia creates a powerful current of water which drives water together with entrained food particles (mainly phytoplankton) towards the mouth.", "The gut is U-shaped, and consists of a pharynx which passes into the esophagus, followed by the stomach, which has three parts: the cardia, the caecum, and the pylorus.", "The pylorus leads to an intestine and a short rectum terminating at the anus, which opens outside the lophophore.", "In some groups, notably some ctenostomes, a specialized gizzard may be formed from the proximal part of the cardia.", "Gut and lophophore are the principal components of the polypide.", "Cyclical degeneration and regeneration of the polypide is characteristic of marine bryozoans.", "After the final polypide degeneration, the skeletal aperture of the feeding zooid may become sealed by the secretion of a terminal diaphragm.", "In many bryozoans only the zooids within a few generations of the growing edge are in an actively feeding state; older, more proximal zooids (e.g.", "in the interiors of bushy colonies) are usually dormant.Freshwater bryozoanBecause of their small size, bryozoans have no need of a blood system.", "Gaseous exchange occurs across the entire surface of the body, but particularly through the tentacles of the lophophore.Bryozoans can reproduce both sexually and asexually.", "All bryozoans, as far as is known, are hermaphroditic (meaning they are both male and female).", "Asexual reproduction occurs by budding off new zooids as the colony grows, and is the main way by which a colony expands in size.", "If a piece of a bryozoan colony breaks off, the piece can continue to grow and will form a new colony.", "A colony formed this way is composed entirely of clones (genetically identical individuals) of the first animal, which is called the '''ancestrula'''.One species of bryozoan, ''Bugula neritina'', is of current interest as a source of cytotoxic chemicals, bryostatins, under clinical investigation as anti-cancer agents." ], [ "Fossils", "Twig-like bryozoan fossils, Upper Ordovician, near Brookville, Indiana.", "''Prasopora'', a trepostome bryozoan from the Ordovician of Iowa.A section through ''Prasopora'' showing \"brown bodies\" in many of the zooecia; Ordovician of Iowa.Bryozoans in an Ordovician oil shale, northern Estonia.Detail of Hallopora fossil specimen on display at Smithsonian, Washington, DCFossil bryozoans are found in rocks beginning in the Early Ordovician as part of the Ordovician radiation.", "They were often major components of Ordovician seabed communities and, like modern-day bryozoans, played an important role in sediment stabilization and binding, as well as providing sources of food for other benthic organisms.", "During the Mississippian (354 to 323 million years ago) bryozoans were so common that their broken skeletons form entire limestone beds.", "Bryozoan fossil record comprises more than 1,000 described species.", "It is plausible that the Bryozoa existed in the Cambrian but were soft-bodied or not preserved for some other reason; perhaps they evolved from a phoronid-like ancestor at about this time.Bryozoans are important members of sclerobiont (organisms which dwell on hard substrates such as shells and rocks) communities in the fossil record and in the Recent.", "For a review of sclerobiont evolution, history and ecology, see Taylor & Wilson (2003).Most fossil bryozoans have mineralized skeletons.", "The skeletons of individual zooids vary from tubular to box-shaped and contain a terminal aperture from which the lophophore is protruded to feed.", "No pores are present in the great majority of Ordovician bryozoans, but skeletal evidence shows that epithelia were continuous from one zooid to the next.With regard to the bryozoan groups lacking mineralized skeletons, the statoblasts of freshwater phylactolaemates have been recorded as far back as the Permian, and the ctenostome fossils date from the Triassic.One of the most important events during bryozoan evolution was the acquisition of a calcareous skeleton and the related change in the mechanism of tentacle protrusion.", "The rigidity of the outer body walls allowed a greater degree of zooid contiguity and the evolution of massive, multiserial colony forms." ], [ "Classification", "The bryozoans were formerly considered to contain two subgroups: the ''ectoprocta'' and the ''entoprocta'', based on the similar bodyplans and mode of life of these two groups.", "(Some researchers also included the Cycliophora, which are thought to be closely related to the entoprocta.)", "However, the ectoprocta are ''coelomate'' (possessing a body cavity) and their embryos undergo radial cleavage, while the entoprocta are ''acoelemate'' and undergo spiral cleavage.", "Molecular studies are ambiguous about the exact position of the entoprocta, but do not support a close relationship with the ectoprocta.", "For these reasons, the entoprocta are now considered a phylum of their own.", "The removal of the 150 species of entoprocta leaves ''bryozoa'' synonymous with ''ectoprocta''; some authors have adopted the latter name for the group, but the majority continue to use the former.The closest relations of the bryozoans appear to be the brachiopods.", "The sister group to this clade is still unclear but this seems most likely to be the phoronids.", "***** End of Hide until mined out; then delete -->" ], [ "See also", "International Bryozoology AssociationList of prehistoric bryozoan generaColony (biology)" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", " ===Further reading===* Hayward, P.G., J.S.", "Ryland and P.D.", "Taylor (eds.", "), 1992.", "''Biology and Palaeobiology of Bryozoans'', Olsen and Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark.", " Robison, R.A.", "(ed.", "), 1983.", "''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part G, Bryozoa'' (revised).", "Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press.", "* * * Woollacott, R.M.", "and R.L.", "Zimmer (eds), 1977.", "''The Biology of Bryozoans'', Academic Press, New York." ], [ "External links", "* Index to Bryozoa Bryozoa Home Page, was at RMIT; now bryozoa.net* Other Bryozoan WWW Resources* International Bryozoology Association official website* Neogene Bryozoa of Britain* Bryozoan Introduction* The Phylum Ectoprocta (Bryozoa)Phylum Bryozoa at Wikispecies Bryozoans in the Connecticut River* Bryozoa Fact Sheet" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Biennial plant" ], [ "Introduction", "Parsley is a common example of a biennial plant.A '''biennial plant''' is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle.In its first year, the biennial plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures (leaves, stems, and roots) develop.", "Usually, the stem of the plant remains short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming a rosette.", "After one year's growing season, the plant enters a period of dormancy for the colder months.", "Many biennials require a cold treatment, or vernalization before they will flower.", "During the next spring or summer, the stem of the biennial plant elongates greatly, or \"bolts\".", "The plant then flowers, producing fruits and seeds before it finally dies.", "There are far fewer biennials than either perennial plants or annual plants.Biennials do not always follow a strict two-year life cycle and the majority of plants in the wild can take 3 or more years to fully mature.", "Rosette leaf size has been found to predict when a plant may enter its second stage of flowering and seed production.", "Alternatively, under extreme climatic conditions, a biennial plant may complete its life cycle rapidly (e.g., in three months instead of two years).", "This is quite common in vegetable or flower seedlings that were vernalized before they were planted in the ground.", "This behavior leads to many normally biennial plants being treated as annuals in some areas.", "Conversely, an annual grown under extremely favorable conditions may have highly successful seed propagation, giving it the appearance of being biennial or perennial.", "Some short-lived perennials may appear to be biennial rather than perennial.", "True biennials flower only once, while many perennials will flower every year once mature.The Sweet William Dwarf plant is a biennial plant.Biennials grown for flowers, fruits, or seeds are grown for two years, whereas those grown for edible leaves or roots are harvested after one year—and are not kept a second year to run to seed.Examples of biennial plants are members of the onion family including leek, some members of the cabbage family, common mullein, parsley, fennel, ''Lunaria'', silverbeet, black-eyed Susan, sweet William, colic weed, carrot, and some hollyhocks.", "Plant breeders have produced annual cultivars of several biennials that will flower the first year from seed, for example, foxglove and stock." ], [ "See also", "* * *" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bay leaf" ], [ "Introduction", "Bay laurel leaves (''Laurus nobilis'')Indian bay leaf ''Cinnamomum tamala''Indonesian bay leaf ''Syzygium polyanthum''The '''bay leaf''' is an aromatic leaf commonly used as an herb in cooking.", "It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form.", "The flavor that a bay leaf imparts to a dish has not been universally agreed upon, but most agree it is a subtle addition.Bay leaves come from various plants and are used for their distinctive flavor and fragrance.", "The most common source is the bay laurel (''Laurus nobilis'').", "Other types include California bay laurel, Indian bay leaf, West Indian bay laurel, and Mexican bay laurel.", "Bay leaves contain essential oils, such as eucalyptol, terpenes, and methyleugenol, which contribute to their taste and aroma.Bay leaves are used in various cuisines around the world, including Indian, Filipino, European, and Caribbean.", "They are typically used in soups, stews, meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes.", "The leaves should be removed from the cooked food before eating as they can be abrasive in the digestive tract.Bay leaves are used as an insect repellent in pantries and as an active ingredient in killing jars for entomology.", "In Eastern Orthodoxy liturgy, they are used to symbolize Jesus' destruction of Hades and freeing of the dead.While some visually similar plants have poisonous leaves, bay leaves are not toxic and can be eaten without harm.", "However, they remain stiff even after cooking and may pose a choking hazard or cause harm to the digestive tract if swallowed whole or in large pieces.", "Canadian food and drug regulations set specific standards for bay leaves, including limits on ash content, moisture levels, and essential oil content." ], [ "Sources", "Bay leaves come from several plants, such as:* Bay laurel (''Laurus nobilis'', Lauraceae).", "Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavour and fragrance.", "The leaves should be removed from the cooked food before eating (see safety section below).", "The leaves are often used to flavour soups, stews, braises and pâtés in many countries.", "The fresh leaves are very mild and do not develop their full flavour until several weeks after picking and drying.", "* California bay leaf.", "The leaf of the California bay tree (''Umbellularia californica'', Lauraceae), also known as California laurel, Oregon myrtle, and pepperwood, is similar to the Mediterranean bay laurel but contains the toxin umbellulone, which can cause methemoglobinemia.", "* Indian bay leaf or malabathrum (''Cinnamomum tamala'', Lauraceae) differs from bay laurel leaves, which are shorter and light- to medium-green in colour, with one large vein down the length of the leaf.", "Indian bay leaves are about twice as long and wider, usually olive green in colour, and have three veins running the length of the leaf.", "Culinarily, Indian bay leaves are quite different, having a fragrance and taste similar to cinnamon (cassia) bark, but milder.", "* Indonesian bay leaf or Indonesian laurel (''salam'' leaf, ''Syzygium polyanthum'', Myrtaceae) is not commonly found outside Indonesia; this herb is applied to meat and, less often, to rice and to vegetables.", "* West Indian bay leaf, the leaf of the West Indian bay tree (''Pimenta racemosa'', Myrtaceae) is used culinarily (especially in Caribbean cuisine) and to produce the cologne called bay rum.", "* Mexican bay leaf (''Litsea glaucescens'', Lauraceae)." ], [ "Chemical constituents", "The leaves of the European / Mediterranean plant ''Laurus nobilis'' contain about 1.3% essential oils (''ol.", "lauri folii''), consisting of 45% eucalyptol, 12% other terpenes, 8-12% terpinyl acetate, 3–4% sesquiterpenes, 3% methyleugenol, and other α- and β-pinenes, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol, terpineol, and also contain lauric acid." ], [ "Taste and aroma", "If eaten whole, ''Laurus nobilis'' bay leaves are pungent and have a sharp, bitter taste.", "As with many spices and flavourings, the fragrance of the bay leaf is more noticeable than its taste.", "When the leaf is dried, the aroma is herbal, slightly floral, and somewhat similar to oregano and thyme.", "Myrcene, a component of many essential oils used in perfumery, can be extracted from this bay leaf.", "They also contain eugenol." ], [ "Uses", "In Indian cuisine, bay laurel leaves are sometimes used in place of Indian bay leaf, although they have a different flavour.", "They are most often used in rice dishes like biryani and as an ingredient in garam masala.", "Bay leaves are called (, in Hindi), Tejpātā (তেজপাতা) in Bengali, তেজ পাত in Assamese and usually rendered into English as Tej Patta.In the Philippines, dried bay laurel leaves are used in several Filipino dishes, such as menudo, beef pares, and adobo.Bay leaves were used for flavouring by the ancient Greeks.", "They are a fixture in the cooking of many European cuisines (particularly those of the Mediterranean), as well as in the Americas.", "They are used in soups, stews, brines, meat, seafood, vegetable dishes, and sauces.", "The leaves also flavour many classic French and Italian dishes.", "The leaves are most often used whole (sometimes in a ) and removed before serving (they can be abrasive in the digestive tract).", "Thai and Laotian cuisine employs bay leaf (, ) in a few Arab-influenced dishes, notably massaman curry.Bay leaves can also be crushed or ground before cooking.", "Crushed bay leaves impart more fragrance than whole leaves, but are more difficult to remove and thus they are often used in a muslin bag or tea infuser.", "Ground bay laurel may be substituted for whole leaves and does not need to be removed, but it is much stronger.Bay leaves are also used in the making of jerk chicken in the Caribbean Islands.", "The bay leaves are soaked and placed on the cool side of the grill.", "Pimento sticks are placed on top of the leaves, and the chicken is placed on top and smoked.", "The leaves are also added whole to soups, stews, and other Caribbean dishes.Bay leaves can also be used scattered in a pantry to repel meal moths, flies, and cockroaches.", "Mediouni-Ben Jemaa and Tersim 2011 find the essential oil to be usable as an insect repellent.Bay leaves have been used in entomology as the active ingredient in killing jars.", "The crushed, fresh, young leaves are put into the jar under a layer of paper.", "The vapors they release kill insects slowly but effectively and keep the specimens relaxed and easy to mount.", "The leaves discourage the growth of molds.", "They are not effective for killing large beetles and similar specimens, but insects that have been killed in a cyanide killing jar can be transferred to a laurel jar to await mounting.", "There is confusion in the literature about whether ''Laurus nobilis'' is a source of cyanide to any practical extent, but there is no evidence that cyanide is relevant to its value in killing jars.", "It certainly is rich in various essential oil components that could incapacitate insects in high concentrations; such compounds include 1,8-cineole, alpha-terpinyl acetate, and methyl eugenol.", "It also is unclear to what extent the alleged effect of cyanide released by the crushed leaves has been mis-attributed to ''Laurus nobilis'' in confusion with the unrelated ''Prunus laurocerasus'', the so-called cherry laurel, which certainly does contain dangerous concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides together with the enzymes to generate the hydrogen cyanide from the glycocides if the leaf is physically damaged.Bay leaves are used in Eastern Orthodoxy liturgy.", "To mark Jesus' destruction of Hades and freeing of the dead, parishioners throw bay leaves and flowers into the air, letting them flutter to the ground." ], [ "Safety", "Some members of the laurel family, as well as the unrelated but visually similar mountain laurel and cherry laurel, have leaves that are poisonous to humans and livestock.", "While these plants are not sold anywhere for culinary use, their visual similarity to bay leaves has led to the oft-repeated belief that bay leaves should be removed from food after cooking because they are poisonous.", "This is not true; bay leaves may be eaten without toxic effect.", "However, they remain unpleasantly stiff even after thorough cooking, and if swallowed whole or in large pieces they may pose a risk of harming the digestive tract or causing choking.", "Thus, most recipes that use bay leaves will recommend their removal after the cooking process has finished.=== Canadian food and drug regulations ===The Canadian government requires that the bay leaves contain no more than 4.5% total ash material, with a maximum of 0.5% of which is insoluble in hydrochloric acid.", "To be considered dried, they must contain 7% moisture or less.", "The oil content cannot be less than 1 milliliter per 100 grams of the spice." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Basis" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Basis''' may refer to:" ], [ "Finance and accounting", "Adjusted basis, the net cost of an asset after adjusting for various tax-related itemsBasis point, 0.01%, often used in the context of interest ratesBasis trading, a trading strategy consisting of the purchase of a security and the sale of a similar securityBasis of futures, the value differential between a future and the spot priceBasis (options), the value differential between a call option and a put optionBasis swap, an interest rate swapCost basis, in income tax law, the original cost of property adjusted for factors such as depreciationTax basis, cost of an asset" ], [ "{{visible anchor\|Mathematics\|Mathematics}} and technology", "Basis functionBasis (linear algebra)Dual basisOrthonormal basisSchauder basisBasis (universal algebra)Basis of a matroidGenerating set of an ideal:Gröbner basisHilbert's basis theoremGenerating set of a groupBase (topology)Change of basisGreedoidNormal basisPolynomial basisRadial basis functionStandard basisTranscendence basis of a field extensionBasis database" ], [ "Chemistry", "Basis (crystal structure), the positions of the atoms inside the unit cellBasis set (chemistry)Dry basis, an expression of a calculation in which the presence of water is ignored" ], [ "Organizations", "Bangladesh Association of Software and Information ServicesBasis Educational GroupBasis Schools, a group of schools in Arizona, Washington, D.C., and TexasBasis Technology Corp., a text analytics company" ], [ "People", "Dimitris Basis, Greek singerLiron Basis (born 1974), Israeli footballer" ], [ "See also", "*Base (disambiguation)Basic (disambiguation)Basis of Union (disambiguation)Basis set (disambiguation)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Burgess Shale" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Burgess Shale''' is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada.", "It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils.", "At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest fossil beds containing soft-part imprints.The rock unit is a black shale and crops out at a number of localities near the town of Field in Yoho National Park and the Kicking Horse Pass.", "Another outcrop is in Kootenay National Park 42 km to the south." ], [ "History and significance", "The first complete ''Anomalocaris'' fossil found.The Burgess Shale was discovered by palaeontologist Charles Walcott on 30 August 1909, towards the end of the season's fieldwork.", "He returned in 1910 with his sons, daughter, and wife, establishing a quarry on the flanks of Fossil Ridge.", "The significance of soft-bodied preservation, and the range of organisms he recognised as new to science, led him to return to the quarry almost every year until 1924.At that point, aged 74, he had amassed over 65,000 specimens.", "Describing the fossils was a vast task, pursued by Walcott until his death in 1927.Walcott, led by scientific opinion at the time, attempted to categorise all fossils into living taxa, and as a result, the fossils were regarded as little more than curiosities at the time.", "It was not until 1962 that a first-hand reinvestigation of the fossils was attempted, by Alberto Simonetta.", "This led scientists to recognise that Walcott had barely scratched the surface of information available in the Burgess Shale, and also made it clear that the organisms did not fit comfortably into modern groups.Excavations were resumed at the Walcott Quarry by the Geological Survey of Canada under the persuasion of trilobite expert Harry Blackmore Whittington, and a new quarry, the Raymond, was established about 20 metres higher up Fossil Ridge.", "Whittington, with the help of research students Derek Briggs and Simon Conway Morris of the University of Cambridge, began a thorough reassessment of the Burgess Shale, and revealed that the fauna represented were much more diverse and unusual than Walcott had recognized.", "Many of the animals present had bizarre anatomical features and only the slightest resemblance to other known animals.", "Examples include ''Opabinia'', with five eyes and a snout like a vacuum cleaner hose and ''Hallucigenia'', which was originally reconstructed upside down, walking on bilaterally symmetrical spines.With Parks Canada and UNESCO recognising the significance of the Burgess Shale, collecting fossils became politically more difficult from the mid-1970s.", "Collections continued to be made by the Royal Ontario Museum.", "The curator of invertebrate palaeontology, Desmond Collins, identified a number of additional outcrops, stratigraphically both higher and lower than the original Walcott quarry.", "These localities continue to yield new organisms faster than they can be studied.Stephen Jay Gould's book ''Wonderful Life'', published in 1989, brought the Burgess Shale fossils to the public's attention.", "Gould suggests that the extraordinary diversity of the fossils indicates that life forms at the time were much more disparate in body form than those that survive today, and that many of the unique lineages were evolutionary experiments that became extinct.", "Gould's interpretation of the diversity of Cambrian fauna relied heavily on Simon Conway Morris's reinterpretation of Charles Walcott's original publications.", "However, Conway Morris strongly disagreed with Gould's conclusions, arguing that almost all the Cambrian fauna could be classified into modern day phyla.The Burgess Shale has attracted the interest of paleoclimatologists who want to study and predict long-term future changes in Earth's climate.", "According to Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee in the 2003 book ''The Life and Death of Planet Earth'', climatologists study the fossil records in the Burgess Shale to understand the climate of the Cambrian explosion.", "It can be used to predict what Earth's climate would look like 500 million years in the future as a warming and expanding Sun, combined with declining CO2 and oxygen levels, eventually heat the Earth toward temperatures not seen since the Archean Eon 3 billion years ago (before the first plants and animals appeared).", "This in turn furthers understanding of how and when the last living things on Earth could potentially die out.", "See also Future of the Earth.After the Burgess Shale site was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1980, it was included in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation in 1984.In 2012, the discovery was announced of another Burgess Shale outcrop in Kootenay National Park to the south.", "In just 15 days of field collecting in 2013, 50 animal species were unearthed at the new site.===IUGS geological heritage site===In respect of the site being 'characterized by exceptional soft-tissue preservation, and containing the most complete fossil record of Cambrian (Wuliuan) marine ecosystems', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Burgess Shale Cambrian Paleontological Record' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.The organisation defines an 'IUGS Geological Heritage Site' as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'" ], [ "Geological setting", "Satellite image of the area.The fossil-bearing deposits of the Burgess Shale correlate to the Stephen Formation, a collection of slightly calcareous dark mudstones, about old.", "The beds were deposited at the base of a cliff about 160 m tall, below the depth agitated by waves during storms.", "This vertical cliff was composed of the calcareous reefs of the Cathedral Formation, which probably formed shortly before the deposition of the Burgess Shale.", "The precise formation mechanism is not known for certain, but the most widely accepted hypothesis suggests that the edge of the Cathedral Formation reef became detached from the rest of the reef, slumping and being transported some distance – perhaps kilometers – away from the reef edge.", "Later reactivation of faults at the base of the formation led to its disintegration from about .", "This would have left a steep cliff, the bottom of which would be protected from tectonic decompression because the limestone of the Cathedral Formation is difficult to compress.", "This protection explains why fossils preserved further from the Cathedral Formation are impossible to work with – tectonic squeezing of the beds has produced a vertical cleavage that fractures the rocks, so they split perpendicular to the fossils.", "The Walcott quarry produced such spectacular fossils because it was so close to the Stephen Formation – indeed the quarry has now been excavated to the very edge of the Cambrian cliff.It was originally thought that the Burgess Shale was deposited in anoxic conditions, but mounting research shows that oxygen was continually present in the sediment.", "The anoxic setting had been thought to not only protect the newly dead organisms from decay, but it also created chemical conditions allowing the preservation of the soft parts of the organisms.", "Further, it reduced the abundance of burrowing organisms – burrows and trackways ''are'' found in beds containing soft-bodied organisms, but they are rare and generally of limited vertical extent.", "Brine seeps are an alternative hypothesis; see Burgess Shale type preservation for a more thorough discussion." ], [ "Stratigraphy", "Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale showing the Walcott Quarry Shale Member.", "The white parallel vertical streaks are remnants of drill holes made during excavations in mid-1990s.The Burgess Shale Formation comprises 10 members, the most famous being the Walcott Quarry Shale Member comprising the greater phyllopod bed." ], [ "Taphonomy and diagenesis", "There are many other comparable Cambrian ''lagerstätten''; indeed such assemblages are far more common in the Cambrian than in any other period.", "This is mainly due to the limited extent of burrowing activity; as such bioturbation became more prevalent throughout the Cambrian, environments capable of preserving organisms' soft parts became much rarer.", "(The pre-Cambrian fossil record of animals is sparse and ambiguous, cf ediacaran biota.)" ], [ "Biota", "The biota of the Burgess Shale appears to be typical of middle Cambrian deposits.", "Although the hard-part bearing organisms make up as little as 14% of the community, these same organisms are found in similar proportions in other Cambrian localities.", "This means that there is no reason to assume that the organisms without hard parts are exceptional in any way; many appear in other lagerstätten of different age and locations.The biota consists of a range of organisms.", "Free-swimming (nectonic) organisms are relatively rare, with the majority of organisms being bottom dwelling (benthic) — either moving about (vagrant) or permanently attached to the sea floor (sessile).", "About two-thirds of the Burgess Shale organisms lived by feeding on the organic content in the muddy sea floor, while almost a third filtered out fine particles from the water column.", "Under 10% of organisms were predators or scavengers, although since these organisms were larger, the biomass was split equally among each of the filter feeding, deposit feeding, predatory and scavenging organisms.Many Burgess Shale organisms represent stem group members of the modern animal phyla, though crown group representatives of certain phyla are also present.A comprehensive list can be found at Paleobiota of the Burgess Shale." ], [ "Working with the Burgess Shale", "The fossils of the Burgess Shale are preserved as black carbon films on black shales, and so are difficult to photograph; however, various photographic techniques can improve the quality of the images that can be acquired.", "Other techniques include backscatter SEM, elemental mapping and ''camera lucida'' drawing.Once images have been acquired, the effects of decay and taphonomy must be accounted for before a correct anatomical reconstruction can be made.", "A consideration of the combination of characters allows researchers to establish the taxonomic affinity." ], [ "See also", "Body planFezouata Formation, a fossil site in Morocco that helped bridge the gap of the Cambrian-Ordovician transition Castle BankHistory of invertebrate paleozoologyInvertebrate paleontologyList of fossil sites ''(with link directory)''Maotianshan Shales, which is often compared to Burgess ShalePaleobiota of the Burgess Shale''Waputikia'', a possible red algaWheeler Shale, also compared to Burgess Shale" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "Gould, Stephen Jay & Conway Morris, Simon.", "Debating the significance of the Burgess Shale: Conway Morris, Simon.", "''The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998 (paperback 1999) (hbk), (pbk)Fortey, Richard.", "''Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution'', Flamingo, 2001.", "Gould, Stephen Jay.", "''Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History'', Vintage, 2000.", "Briggs, D. E. G.; Erwin, Douglas H. & Collier, Frederick J.", "''The Fossils of the Burgess Shale'', Smithsonian, 1994." ], [ "External links", " * (includes links to resource pages)*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Beavis and Butt-Head" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''Beavis and Butt-Head''''' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge for MTV (seasons 1–8) and later Paramount+ (season 9–present, as '''''Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head''''').", "The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, and love for hard rock and heavy metal.The characters originated in Judge's 1992 short film ''Frog Baseball'' with the second film being called Peace, Love and Understanding, which was broadcast by MTV's animation showcase ''Liquid Television''.", "After MTV commissioned a full series, ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 1997.It was revived with an eighth season aired on MTV in 2011.A second revival, consisting of an initial two-season order, premiered on Paramount+ in 2022.During its initial run, ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' received critical acclaim for its satirical, scathing commentary on society, as well as criticism for its alleged influence on adolescents.", "It produced various other media, including the theatrical film ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do America'' in 1996.A second film, ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe'', was released in 2022 on Paramount+." ], [ "Premise", "Beavis and Butt-Head are unintelligent teenage boys who live in the town of Highland, Texas.", "''Rolling Stone'' described them as \"thunderously stupid and excruciatingly ugly\".", "They spend time watching television, drinking unhealthy beverages, eating, and embarking on \"mundane, sordid\" adventures, which often involve vandalism, abuse, violence, or animal cruelty.", "According to ''The Baltimore Sun'', Beavis and Butt-Head are \"at their most incorrect when it comes to sexuality and matters of gender.", "The nicest thing you can say about them in this regard is that they are budding misogynists.\"", "When Beavis consumes too much caffeine or sugar, he becomes Cornholio, a hyperactive alter ego.", "Over the course of the series, Beavis and Butt-Head developed more distinct personalities; Butt-Head is the leader and \"devious visionary\", while Beavis, the sidekick, is the \"loose cannon\".Most episodes integrate sequences where Beavis and Butt-Head watch music videos and offer commentary.", "They prefer videos with \"explosions, loud guitars, screaming and death\", and favor rock bands such as the Butthole Surfers, Corrosion of Conformity, and Metallica.", "Judge said he saw Beavis and Butt-Head as \"pretty positive characters, generally speaking ...", "They usually think everything's pretty cool.", "Or, in one way or another, everything sucks.\"", "He said his perception of the characters changed over the years: \"When I first started out with the first show, which was ''Frog Baseball'', they were just two guys that I would definitely want to keep my distance from ...", "But, by the end of the series, I would think that two guys like that would at least be fun to sit and watch TV with.\"" ], [ "Voice cast", "* Mike Judge as Beavis, Butt-Head, Principal McVicker, Coach Buzzcut, David Van Driessen, Tom Anderson, and others* Tracy Grandstaff as Daria Morgendorffer and Mrs. Stevenson* Kristofer Brown as various* Toby Huss as Todd and others" ], [ "History", "===1993–1997: First seven seasons and first film===Mike Judge (pictured 2011) created ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' and voices most of the characters.", "''Beavis and Butt-Head'' was created by the American animator Mike Judge for his short film ''Frog Baseball'', which was played on MTV's animation showcase ''Liquid Television''.", "MTV ordered a full series, which ran for seven seasons from March 8, 1993, to November 28, 1997.Judge is critical of the animation in earlier episodes, in particular the first two—\"Give Blood/Blood Drive\" and \"Door to Door\"—which he described as \"Horrible.", "Those first two episodes were awful, I don't know why anybody liked it...", "I was burying my head in the sand.\"", "In addition, the studio which worked on the first season was supposed to have 22 episodes done by March 8, 1993, and only had two finished (\"Give Blood/Blood Drive\" and \"Door to Door\").In 1993, ''Rolling Stone'' described ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' as the \"biggest phenomenon on MTV since the heyday of Michael Jackson\".", "In ''Time'', Kurt Andersen wrote that ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' \"may be the bravest show ever run on national television\".", "In 1997, Judge said the show was \"my reaction to the whole fringe aspects of the political correctness movement\".", "Beavis and Butt-Head became pop culture icons and their sniggering and dialogue became catchphrases.From 1994 to 1996, Marvel Comics published a monthly ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' comic under the Marvel Absurd imprint by a variety of writers, but with each issue drawn by artist Rick Parker.", "It was also reprinted by Marvel UK, which created new editorial material.A theatrical film, ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do America,'' released in the US 1996 and later in the UK and Europe in 1997.It features the voices of Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Cloris Leachman, Robert Stack, Eric Bogosian, Richard Linklater, Greg Kinnear (in an uncredited role) and David Letterman (credited as Earl Hofert).", "It opened at number one at the US box office and grossed more than $60 million===2011: Eighth season===On July 14, 2010, a spokesperson for MTV Networks informed a ''New York Post'' reporter that Mike Judge was creating a new ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' series, that Judge would reprise his voice-acting roles for the show, and that the animation would be hand-drawn.", "According to TMZ, MTV had not asked Tracy Grandstaff to reprise her role as Daria Morgendorffer.", "Later, in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview, Judge was asked if ''Daria'' was coming back, and he said: \"No.", "There's sort of a cameo in one episode.", "That'll be a surprise.", "\"As in the old series, Beavis and Butt-Head are high school students who, among other things, criticize contemporary music videos.", "In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', MTV president Van Toffler said the duo would also watch ''Jersey Shore'', Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, and amateur videos from YouTube, as well as give movie reviews.", "\"The biggest change is obviously the references are updated, it's set in modern day, and there's going to be a movie review segment,\" Linn said, \"Otherwise they're still true to their prior passions.", "\"John Altschuler, formerly a writer for ''King of the Hill'', told a ''Rolling Stone'' reporter that he saw signs that Mike Judge was thinking of reviving ''Beavis and Butt-Head''.", "On more than one occasion, Judge told the writers that one of their ideas for an episode of ''King of the Hill'' would work well for ''Beavis and Butt-Head''; eventually he concluded, \"Maybe we should just actually make some good ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' episodes.\"", "Later, a Lady Gaga video convinced Van Toffler of the tenability of a ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' revival: \"I felt like there was a whole crop of new artists—and what the world sorely missed was the point of view that only Beavis and Butt-Head could bring.", "\"As part of a promotional campaign for the new series, cinemas screening ''Jackass 3D'' opened the feature film with a 3-D ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' short subject.", "Months later, in a media presentation on February 2, 2011, MTV announced that the series would premiere in mid-2011.On July 21, 2011, Judge spoke and fielded questions on a panel at Comic-Con International.", "A preview of the episode \"Holy Cornholio\" was also shown.", "Judge told ''Rolling Stone'' that at least 24 episodes (12 half-hour programs) will definitely air.The new episodes debuted in the United States and Canada on October 27, 2011.Conflicting with the actual season number, MTV incorrectly refers to this season as \"Season 9\", even though it is technically the eighth season.", "The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers.", "This number eventually dwindled to 900,000 by the season's end, mainly due to its challenging time slot pitted against regular prime time shows on other networks.", "According to Mike Judge, MTV's modern demographic are females 12–14 years old.On July 28, 2016, it was reported that VH1 Classic was to be rebranded as MTV Classic on August 1, 2016, on the 35th anniversary of the original MTV.", "With a focus on 1990s programming, ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' were a major part of this alongside ''Daria'' and ''Æon Flux'' at the launch; they were also a major focus in the promotion of the re-brand.", "MTV Classic only broadcast episodes from the 2011 reboot.", "However, it and all non-music video programming only lasted a few months before being pulled.===2022–present: Second film and revival===In May 2008, Judge stated that he previously hated the idea of producing a live-action film, but had come to believe that \"maybe there's something there.\"", "He also revealed that Johnny Depp had expressed interest in the role of Beavis, having imitated the character while Marlon Brando imitated Butt-Head during the production of ''Don Juan DeMarco'' (1995).", "He also stated in an interview that \"Seann William Scott's kinda got Butt-Head eyes.\"", "In 2016, Judge told ''Radio Times'' \"Maybe it could be a live-action someday\", then went on to speculate that Beavis might be homeless by now.In August 2009, Judge stated, \"I like to keep the door open on ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', because it's my favorite thing that I've ever done.", "It's the thing I'm most proud of.\"", "While promoting his film ''Extract'' that month, Judge said he would like to see the characters on the big screen again, and that \"I kind of think of them as being either 15 or in their 60s....", "I wouldn't mind doing something with them as these two dirty old men sitting on the couch.", "\"On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that, while he was busy working on ''Silicon Valley'', there was a chance of his pitching ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' to another network and that he would not mind making more episodes.", "During an interview with Howard Stern on May 6, 2014, Judge mentioned that the show's ratings on MTV were second only to ''Jersey Shore'', but the show did not fit MTV's target demographic of young women, which is why the revived series has not been brought back on MTV.", "He also said that MTV was close to selling it to another network, but it became \"lost in deal stuff\".On July 1, 2020, Comedy Central announced it had ordered a second revival of the series consisting of two new seasons along with spin-offs and specials.", "In the new series, Beavis and Butt-Head will enter a \"whole new Gen Z world\" with meta-themes that are said to be relatable to both new fans, who may be unfamiliar with the original series, and old.", "Mike Judge would return as the writer, producer, and principal voice actor for the series.In February 2022, it was announced that the revival would instead premiere on Paramount+, following a second ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' feature film entitled ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe''.", "Originally, Paramount executives wanted a live-action ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' movie.", "Judge held auditions over Zoom for the project.", "He eventually talked the company into doing an animated movie instead to reestablish the characters first, with a future live-action movie still a possibility.", "In June 2022, it was confirmed that new episodes would debut later that year, along with the full library of over 227 original episodes, newly remastered, with music videos intact.", "One month later, it was announced that the revival would premiere on August 4, 2022.Season 9 continued the concept of the Beavis and Butt-Head multiverse initially explored in ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe''.", "Teenage Beavis and Butt-Head, Old Beavis and Butt-Head, and Smart Beavis and Butt-Head all get their own dedicated episodes in the revival.On March 8, 2023, Paramount+ announced that the series would return with a new season, which would premiere on April 20, 2023 in the US and Canada, and in Australia and the UK on April 21, with further international markets to follow." ], [ "Episodes" ], [ "Reception", "During its original run, ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' was MTV's highest rated show.", "It was one of the most popular series when it premiered in 1993.Over its run, ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' received both positive and negative reactions from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.", "It became the focus of criticism from some social critics such as Michael Medved, while others such as David Letterman and the ''National Review'' defended it as a cleverly subversive vehicle for social criticism and a particularly creative and intelligent comedy.", "Either way, the show captured the attention of many young television viewers and is often considered a classic piece of 1990s youth culture and Generation X. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of ''South Park'', cite the series as an influence and compared it to the blues.In 1997, Dan Tobin of ''The Boston Phoenix'' commented on the series' humor, saying it transformed \"stupidity into a crusade, forcing us to acknowledge how little it really takes to make us laugh.\"", "In 1997, Ted Drozdowski of ''The Boston Phoenix'' described the 1997 ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' state as \"reduced to self-parody of their self-parody\".", "In the ''Baltimore Sun'', David Zurawik said that ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' was \"intelligent social satire that especially speaks in a meaningful way to a generation of teenage boys who are going through a uniquely complicated socialization at the hands of their baby-boomer parents\".", "He said that its popularity may have taught audiences about male adolescence in the 1990s; he wrote that they were the postmodern descendants of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, who were the \"exemplars of males coming of age in American popular culture\".In December 2005, ''TV Guide'' ranked the duo's distinct laughing at #66 on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases.", "In 2012, ''TV Guide'' ranked ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' as one of the top 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time.===Controversies===The show was blamed for the death of two-year-old Jessica Matthews in Moraine, Ohio, in October 1993.The girl's five-year-old brother, Austin Messner, set fire to his mother's mobile home with a cigarette lighter, killing the two-year-old.", "The mother later claimed that her son watched an episode in which the characters said \"fire was fun\".", "However, the neighbors stated that the family did not even have cable television and would thus be unable to view the show.As a result, all references to fire were removed from subsequent airings and prompted the show to a later time slot.", "The creators found a censorship loophole and took delight in sometimes making Beavis scream things that sounded very similar to his previous \"Fire!", "Fire!\"", "(such as \"Fryer!", "Fryer!\"", "when he and Butt-Head are working the late shift at Burger World) and also having him almost say the forbidden word (such as one time when he sang \"Liar, liar, pants on...\" and pausing before \"fire\").", "There was also a music video where a man runs on fire in slow motion (\"California\" by Wax).", "Beavis is hypnotized by it and can barely say \"fire\".", "However, MTV eventually removed the episode entirely, leading it to be locked away in the MTV vault.", "References to fire were cut from earlier episodes—even the original master tapes were altered permanently.", "Other episodes MTV opted not to rerun included \"Stewart's House\" and \"Way Down Mexico Way\".", "Copies of early episodes with the controversial content intact are rare, and the copies that exist are made from home video recordings of the original broadcasts, typically on VHS.", "In an interview included with the ''Mike Judge Collection'' DVD set, Judge said he is uncertain whether some of the earlier episodes still exist in their original, uncensored form.When the series returned in 2011, MTV allowed Beavis to use the word \"fire\" once again uncensored.", "During the first video segment, \"Werewolves of Highland\", the first new episode of the revival, Beavis utters the word \"fire\" a total of seven times within 28 seconds, with Butt-Head saying it once as well.In February 1994, watchdog group Morality in Media claimed that the death of eight-month-old Natalia Rivera, struck by a bowling ball thrown from an overpass onto a highway in Jersey City, New Jersey, near the Holland Tunnel by 18-year-old Calvin J.", "Settle, was partially inspired by ''Beavis and Butt-Head''.", "The group said that Settle was influenced by the episode \"Ball Breakers\", in which Beavis and Butt-Head load a bowling ball with explosives and drop it from a rooftop.", "While Morality in Media claimed that the show inspired Settle's actions, the case's prosecutors did not.", "It was later revealed by both prosecutors and the defendant that Settle did not have cable TV, nor did he watch the show.MTV also responded by broadcasting the program after 11:00 p.m. and included a disclaimer, reminding viewers:Beavis and Butt-Head are not real.", "They are stupid cartoon people completely made up by this Texas guy whom we hardly even know.", "Beavis and Butt-Head are dumb, crude, thoughtless, ugly, sexist, self-destructive fools.", "But for some reason, the little wienerheads make us laugh.This was later changed to:Beavis and Butt-Head are not role models.", "They're not even human.", "They're cartoons.", "Some of the things they do would cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, possibly deported.", "To put it another way: don't try this at home.This disclaimer also appears before the opening of their Sega Genesis and Super NES games as well as their Windows game ''Beavis and Butt-Head in Virtual Stupidity''.They were famously lambasted by Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) as \"Buffcoat and Beaver\".", "This subsequently became a running gag on the show where adults mispronounced their names.", "For example, one character on the show, Tom Anderson, originally called them \"Butthole\" and \"Joe\" and believed the two to be of Asian ethnicity (describing them to the police as \"Oriental\").", "In later episodes, Anderson uses the Hollings mispronunciation once and, on at least one occasion, refers to them as \"Penis and Butt-Munch\".", "President Clinton called them \"Beavis and Bum-head\" in \"Citizen Butt-head\", as well as in the movie, where an old lady (voiced by Cloris Leachman) consistently calls them \"Travis\" and \"Bob-head\".", "In \"Incognito\", when another student threatens to kill them, the duo uses this to their advantage, pretending to be exchange students named \"Crevis and Bung-Head\".", "The bully, seeing through the disguises, calls them \"Beaver and Butt-Plug\".", "In \"Right On!", "\", when the duo appear on the ''Gus Baker Show'', host Gus Baker (a caricature of Rush Limbaugh) introduces them as \"Beavis and Buffcoat\".", "And in the original series finale, \"Beavis and Butt-head Are Dead\", a news reporter refers to the two boys as \"Brevis and Head-Butt\".", "In the Season 9 episode \"Locked Out\" Tom Anderson mistakes Beavis and Butt-Head for honest and responsible boys, and blames \"Buford\" and \"Bernardo\" for the alleged damage to the paint on his new truck, though Beavis and Butt-Head lied about the damage.Beavis and Butt-Head have been compared to idiot savants because of their creative and subversively intelligent observations of music videos.", "This part of the show was mostly improvised by Mike Judge.", "With regard to criticisms of the two as \"idiots\", Judge responded that a show about straight-A students would not be funny." ], [ "Guinness World Records", "On September 25, 2022, Beavis and Butt-Head and Paramount+ attempted to break the world record for the largest serving of nachos at S. Alameda St in Los Angeles to celebrate the return of the show.", "They were successful and were given a ceremonial plaque from the Guinness World Records representative which stated \"The largest serving of nachos was achieved by Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head and Paramount+.\"" ], [ "Related media", "===''Daria''===A spin-off based on classmate Daria Morgendorffer premiered in 1997.Mike Judge was not involved at all except to give permission for use of the character (created by Glenn Eichler and designed by Bill Peckmann).", "The only reference to the original show is Daria's mentioning that Lawndale cannot be a second Highland \"unless there's uranium in the drinking water here too\".===Video games===* ''MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head'', a set of games released by Viacom New Media for the Game Gear, Genesis and Super NES in 1994.All three games featured music composed by Gwar.", "* ''Talking MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head: This Game Rules'', a handheld LCD video game released by Tiger Electronics in 1994.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head in Virtual Stupidity'', a graphic adventure game released for Windows 95 in 1995.A PlayStation port was released exclusively in Japan in 1998 featuring dubbed voice acting by Atsushi Tamura and Ryō Tamura from Owarai duo London Boots Ichi-gō Ni-gō.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head in Calling All Dorks'', a collection of desktop themes for Windows 95 released in 1995 by Viacom New Media.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head in Wiener Takes All'', a ''Beavis and Butt-Head''-themed trivia game by Viacom New Media.", "Released as a PC/Macintosh-compatible CD-ROM in 1996.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head in Little Thingies'', a mini-game collection released for Windows 95 in 1996 featuring four mini-games from the previously released ''Virtual Stupidity'' and three new ones.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', a coin-operated video game developed by Atari Games for a 3DO Interactive Multiplayer-based hardware.", "The game underwent location testing 1996, but was unreleased due to poor reception.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head in Screen Wreckers'', a collection of screensavers released for Windows 95 in 1997.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head: Bunghole in One'', a ''Beavis and Butt-Head''-themed golf video game released for Windows 95 by GT Interactive in 1998.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', an overhead action game released by GT Interactive for the Game Boy in 1998.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood'' (originally ''Beavis and Butt-Head: Get Big in Hollywood''), an unreleased 3D action game that was being produced by GT Interactive.", "It was announced for the PlayStation in 1998.", "* ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do U.", "'', a graphic adventure game released by GT Interactive for Windows 95 in 1999.===Books===* * * * * * * * * * * * * * (''NOTE: This book is a bundle of four previous books 'Ensucklopedia,' 'Huh Huh for Hollywood,' 'The Butt-Files,' and 'Chicken Soup for the Butt' which are no longer in print separately'').===Album===A CD, ''The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience'', was released featuring many hard rock and heavy metal bands such as Megadeth, Primus, Nirvana and White Zombie.", "Moreover, Beavis and Butt-Head do a duet with Cher on \"I Got You Babe\" and a track by themselves called \"Come to Butt-Head\".", "The track with Cher also resulted in a music video directed by Tamra Davis and Yvette Kaplan.====Chart success====Beavis and Butt-Head duet with Cher UK single which includes a ''Beavis and Butt-Head Experience'' sticker to promote the releaseThe Beavis and Butt-Head duet with Cher on \"I Got You Babe\" was released as a single in the UK, Australia, Europe and the US, the UK CD had a special limited edition sticker to promote ''The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience'' available with the release.", "On January 15, 1994, the song charted at number 35 in the UK charts and stayed on the charts for 4 weeks.", "On December 4, 1993, the song charted on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in the US peaking at number 8.The single also charted at number 69 in Australia, 19 in Belgium, 18 in Denmark, 69 on the European Hot 100, 9 on the Netherlands Dutch Top 40, 10 on the Netherlands top 100 and number 40 in Sweden.===Slot game===In 2019, Gauselmann Group's UK-based games studio Blueprint Gaming launched the Beavis and Butt-Head online slot game.", "The game features moments and scenes from the TV show and film.The branded game was among the 10 most exposed slot games in UK online casinos days after its release in late May 2019." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bromeliales" ], [ "Introduction", "''Bromelia humilis'''''Bromeliales''' is an order of flowering plants.", "Such an order has been recognized by a few systems of plant taxonomy, with a various placement.", "It appears that it always has had the same circumscription: consisting only of the family Bromeliaceae, the bromeliad or pineapple family.", "The order is not recognized in the APG II system, of 2003, which places the plants involved in the order Poales.", "Some examples are:* The Cronquist system of 1981 placed this order in subclass Zingiberidae, of class Liliopsida =monocotyledons.", "* The Thorne system (1992) placed the order in superorder Commelinanae in subclass Liliidae =monocotyledons.", "* The Dahlgren system placed the order in superorder Bromeliiflorae (also known as Bromelianae) in subclass Liliidae =monocotyledons together with five other orders.", "* The Engler system, in its update of 1964, placed the order in class Monocotyledoneae." ], [ "References", "* ITIS 42329" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Brassicales" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Brassicales''' (or '''Cruciales''') are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the eurosids II group of dicotyledons under the APG II system.", "One character common to many members of the order is the production of glucosinolate (mustard oil) compounds.", "Most systems of classification have included this order, although sometimes under the name '''Capparales''' (the name chosen depending on which is thought to have priority).The order typically contains the following families:* Akaniaceae – two species of turnipwood trees, native to Asia and eastern Australia* Bataceae – salt-tolerant shrubs from America and Australasia* Brassicaceae – mustard and cabbage family; may include the Cleomaceae* Capparaceae – caper family, sometimes included in Brassicaceae* Caricaceae – papaya family* Cleomaceae* Gyrostemonaceae – several genera of small shrubs and trees endemic to temperate parts of Australia* Koeberliniaceae – one species of thorn bush native to Mexico and the US Southwest* Limnanthaceae – meadowfoam family* Moringaceae – thirteen species of trees from Africa and India* Pentadiplandraceae – African species whose berries have two highly sweet tasting proteins* Resedaceae – mignonette family* Salvadoraceae – three genera found from Africa to Java* Setchellanthaceae* Tiganophytaceae* Tovariaceae* Tropaeolaceae – nasturtium family" ], [ "Classification", "The following diagram shows the phylogeny of the Brassicales families along with their estimated ages, based on a 2018 study of plastid DNA:On 20 April 2020, a newly described monotypic species from Namibia, namely, ''Tiganophyton karasense'' is placed under this order as a monotypic member of new family Tiganophytaceae, which is closely related to Bataceae, Salvadoraceae and Koeberliniaceae." ], [ "Historic classifications", "Under the Cronquist system, the Brassicales were called the Capparales, and included among the \"Dilleniidae\".", "The only families included were the Brassicaceae and Capparaceae (treated as separate families), the Tovariaceae, Resedaceae, and Moringaceae.", "Other taxa now included here were placed in various other orders.The families Capparaceae and Brassicaceae are closely related.", "One group, consisting of ''Cleome'' and related genera, was traditionally included in the Capparaceae but doing so results in a paraphyletic Capparaceae.", "Therefore, this group is generally now either included in the Brassicaceae or as its own family, Cleomaceae." ], [ "Gallery of type genera", " Akania bidwillii leaves.jpg \|''Akania bidwillii'' (turnipwood family) alt=\"foliage\"Batis maritima male.jpg \|''Batis maritima'' (turtleweed family) alt=\"flowers and foliage\"Cabbage fertilized with compost and urine (15470416069).jpg \|''Brassica oleracea'' (cabbage family) \|alt=\"foliage\"Kappari01.jpg \|''Capparis spinosa'' (caper family) \|alt=\"flowers and foliage\"Carica papaya 005.JPG \|''Carica papaya'' (papaya family) \|alt=\"fruit and foliage\"Cleome (Spider Flower) in Gavi.jpg \|''Cleome hassleriana'' (spiderflower family) \|alt=\"flowers and foliage\"Emblingia calceoliflora.jpg \|''Emblingia calceoliflora'' (slippercreeper family) alt=\"botanical illustration\"Gyrostemon ramulosis habitus.jpg \|''Gyrostemon ramulosis'' (buttoncreeper family) \|alt=\"tree\"Koeberlinia spinosa, the Crucifixion Thorn (10584228396).jpg \|''Koeberlinia spinosa'' (allthorn family) alt=\"flowers\"Limnanthes douglasii flowers.JPG \|''Limnanthes douglasii'' (meadowfoam family) alt=\"flowers\"辣木 Moringa oleifera -新加坡植物園 Singapore Botanic Gardens- (9237473791).jpg \|''Moringa oleifera'' (horseradish-tree family) alt=\"flowers\"Pentadiplandra etching 1909.jpg \|''Pentadiplandra brazzeana'' (oubli family) \|alt=\"botanical illustration\"Reseda lutea RHu.JPG \|''Reseda lutea'' (mignonette family) \|alt=\"flowers\"Salvadora persica kz04.jpg \|''Salvadora persica'' (toothbrush-tree family) \|alt=\"flowers\"Tovaria pendula 03.jpg \|''Tovaria pendula'' (stinkbush family) \|alt=\"flowers, fruit and foliage\"Nasturtium-Tropaeolum.jpg \|''Tropaeolum majus'' (nasturtium family) \|alt=\"flowers\"Setchellanthaceae is sometimes known as the azulita family." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bulletin board system" ], [ "Introduction", "A welcome screen for the Free-net bulletin board, from 1994A '''bulletin board system''' ('''BBS'''), also called a '''computer bulletin board service''' ('''CBBS'''), was a computer server running software that allowed users to connect to the system using a terminal program.", "Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting.", "In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email.Many BBSes also offered online games in which users could compete with each other.", "BBSes with multiple phone lines often provided chat rooms, allowing users to interact with each other.", "Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web, social networks, and other aspects of the Internet.", "Low-cost, high-performance asynchronous modems drove the use of online services and BBSes through the early 1990s.", "''InfoWorld'' estimated that there were 60,000 BBSes serving 17 million users in the United States alone in 1994, a collective market much larger than major online services such as CompuServe.The introduction of inexpensive dial-up internet service and the Mosaic web browser offered ease of use and global access that BBS and online systems did not provide, and led to a rapid crash in the market starting in late 1994 to early 1995.Over the next year, many of the leading BBS software providers went bankrupt and tens of thousands of BBSes disappeared.", "Today, BBSing survives largely as a nostalgic hobby in most parts of the world, but it is still a popular form of communication for Taiwanese youth (see PTT Bulletin Board System).", "Most surviving BBSes are accessible over Telnet and typically offer free email accounts, FTP services, IRC and all the protocols commonly used on the Internet.", "Some offer access through packet switched networks or packet radio connections." ], [ "History", "=== Precursors ===A precursor to the public bulletin board system was Community Memory, started in August 1973 in Berkeley, California.", "Useful microcomputers did not exist at that time, and modems were both expensive and slow.", "Community Memory therefore ran on a mainframe computer and was accessed through terminals located in several San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods.", "The poor quality of the original modem connecting the terminals to the mainframe prompted Community Memory hardware person, Lee Felsenstein, to invent the Pennywhistle modem, whose design was highly influential in the mid-1970s.Community Memory allowed the user to type messages into a computer terminal after inserting a coin, and offered a \"pure\" bulletin board experience with public messages only (no email or other features).", "It did offer the ability to tag messages with keywords, which the user could use in searches.", "The system acted primarily in the form of a buy and sell system with the tags taking the place of the more traditional classifications.", "But users found ways to express themselves outside these bounds, and the system spontaneously created stories, poetry and other forms of communications.", "The system was expensive to operate, and when their host machine became unavailable and a new one could not be found, the system closed in January 1975.Similar functionality was available to most mainframe users, which might be considered a sort of ultra-local BBS when used in this fashion.", "Commercial systems, expressly intended to offer these features to the public, became available in the late 1970s and formed the online service market that lasted into the 1990s.", "One particularly influential example was PLATO, which had thousands of users by the late 1970s, many of whom used the messaging and chat room features of the system in the same way that would later become common on BBSes.===The first BBSes===Ward Christensen holds an expansion card from the original CBBS S-100 host machine.Early modems were generally either expensive or very simple devices using acoustic couplers to handle telephone operation.", "The user would pick up the phone, dial a number, then press the handset into rubber cups on the top of the modem.", "Disconnecting at the end of a call required the user to pick up the handset and return it to the phone.", "Examples of direct-connecting modems did exist, and these often allowed the host computer to send it commands to answer or hang up calls, but these were very expensive devices used by large banks and similar companies.With the introduction of microcomputers with expansion slots, like the S-100 bus machines and Apple II, it became possible for the modem to communicate instructions and data on separate lines.", "These machines typically only supported asynchronous communications, and synchronous modems were much more expensive than asynchronous modems.", "A number of modems of this sort were available by the late 1970s.", "This made the BBS possible for the first time, as it allowed software on the computer to pick up an incoming call, communicate with the user, and then hang up the call when the user logged off.The first public dial-up BBS was developed by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE).", "According to an early interview, when Chicago was snowed under during the Great Blizzard of 1978, the two began preliminary work on the Computerized Bulletin Board System, or CBBS.", "The system came into existence largely through a fortuitous combination of Christensen having a spare S-100 bus computer and an early Hayes internal modem, and Suess's insistence that the machine be placed at his house in Chicago where it would be a local phone call for more users.", "Christensen patterned the system after the cork board his local computer club used to post information like \"need a ride\".", "CBBS officially went online on 16 February 1978.CBBS, which kept a count of callers, reportedly connected 253,301 callers before it was finally retired.=== Smartmodem ===The 300 baud Smartmodem led to an initial wave of early BBS systems.A key innovation required for the popularization of the BBS was the Smartmodem manufactured by Hayes Microcomputer Products.", "Internal modems like the ones used by CBBS and similar early systems were usable, but generally expensive due to the manufacturer having to make a different modem for every computer platform they wanted to target.", "They were also limited to those computers with internal expansion, and could not be used with other useful platforms like video terminals.", "External modems were available for these platforms but required the phone to be dialed using a conventional handset.", "Internal modems could be software-controlled to perform both outbound and inbound calls, but external modems had only the data pins to communicate with the host system.Hayes' solution to the problem was to use a small microcontroller to implement a system that examined the data flowing into the modem from the host computer, watching for certain command strings.", "This allowed commands to be sent to and from the modem using the same data pins as all the rest of the data, meaning it would work on any system that could support even the most basic modems.", "The Smartmodem could pick up the phone, dial numbers, and hang up again, all without any operator intervention.", "The Smartmodem was not necessary for BBS use but made overall operation dramatically simpler.", "It also improved usability for the caller, as most terminal software allowed different phone numbers to be stored and dialed on command, allowing the user to easily connect to a series of systems.The introduction of the Smartmodem led to the first real wave of BBS systems.", "Limited in both speed and storage capacity, these systems were normally dedicated solely to messaging, both private email and public forums.", "File transfers were extremely slow at these speeds, and file libraries were typically limited to text files containing lists of other BBS systems.", "These systems attracted a particular type of user who used the BBS as a unique type of communications medium, and when these local systems were crowded from the market in the 1990s, their loss was lamented for many years.=== Higher speeds, commercialization ===Speed improved with the introduction of 1200 bit/s asynchronous modems in the early 1980s, giving way to 2400 bit/s fairly rapidly.", "The improved performance led to a substantial increase in BBS popularity.", "Most of the information was displayed using ordinary ASCII text or ANSI art, but a number of systems attempted character-based graphical user interfaces which began to be practical at 2400 bit/s.There was a lengthy delay before 9600 bit/s models began to appear on the market.", "9600 bit/s was not even established as a strong standard before V.32bis at 14.4 kbit/s took over in the early 1990s.", "This period also saw the rapid rise in capacity and a dramatic drop in the price of hard drives.", "By the late 1980s, many BBS systems had significant file libraries, and this gave rise to leechingusers calling BBSes solely for their files.", "These users would use the modem for some time, leaving less time for other users, who got busy signals.", "The resulting upheaval eliminated many of the pioneering message-centric systems.This also gave rise to a new class of BBS systems, dedicated solely to file upload and downloads.", "These systems charged for access, typically a flat monthly fee, compared to the per-hour fees charged by ''Event Horizons BBS'' and most online services.", "Many third-party services were developed to support these systems, offering simple credit card merchant account gateways for the payment of monthly fees, and entire file libraries on compact disk that made initial setup very easy.", "Early 1990s editions of ''Boardwatch'' were filled with ads for single-click install solutions dedicated to these new sysops.", "While this gave the market a bad reputation, it also led to its greatest success.", "During the early 1990s, there were a number of mid-sized software companies dedicated to BBS software, and the number of BBSes in service reached its peak.Towards the early 1990s, BBS became so popular that it spawned three monthly magazines, ''Boardwatch'', ''BBS Magazine'', and in Asia and Australia, ''Chips 'n Bits Magazine'' which devoted extensive coverage of the software and technology innovations and people behind them, and listings to US and worldwide BBSes.", "In addition, in the US, a major monthly magazine, ''Computer Shopper'', carried a list of BBSes along with a brief abstract of each of their offerings.===GUIs===ANSI art BBS logoThrough the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was considerable experimentation with ways to develop user-friendly interfaces for BBSes.", "Almost every popular system used ANSI-based color menus to make reading easier on capable hardware and terminal emulators, and most also allowed cursor commands to offer command-line recall and similar features.", "Another common feature was the use of autocomplete to make menu navigation simpler, a feature that would not re-appear on the Web until decades later.A number of systems also made forays into GUI-based interfaces, either using character graphics sent from the host, or using custom GUI-based terminal systems.", "The latter initially appeared on the Macintosh platform, where TeleFinder and FirstClass became very popular.", "FirstClass offered a host of features that would be difficult or impossible under a terminal-based solution, including bi-directional information flow and non-blocking operation that allowed the user to exchange files in both directions while continuing to use the message system and chat, all in separate windows.", "Will Price's \"Hermes\", released in 1988, combined a familiar PC style with Macintosh GUI interface.", "(Hermes was already \"venerable\" by 1994 although the Hermes II release remained popular.)", "Skypix featured on Amiga a complete markup language.", "It used a standardized set of icons to indicate mouse driven commands available online and to recognize different filetypes present on BBS storage media.", "It was capable of transmitting data like images, audio files, and audio clips between users linked to the same BBS or off-line if the BBS was in the circuit of the FidoNet organization.On the PC, efforts were more oriented to extensions of the original terminal concept, with the GUI being described in the information on the host.", "One example was the Remote Imaging Protocol, essentially a picture description system, which remained relatively obscure.", "Probably the ultimate development of this style of operation was the dynamic page implementation of the University of Southern California BBS (USCBBS) by Susan Biddlecomb, which predated the implementation of the HTML Dynamic web page.", "A complete Dynamic web page implementation was accomplished using TBBS with a TDBS add-on presenting a complete menu system individually customized for each user.===Rise of the Internet and decline of BBS===The demand for complex ANSI and ASCII screens and larger file transfers taxed available channel capacity, which in turn increased demand for faster modems.", "14.4 kbit/s modems were standard for a number of years while various companies attempted to introduce non-standard systems with higher performancenormally about 19.2 kbit/s.", "Another delay followed due to a long V.34 standards process before 28.8 kbit/s was released, only to be quickly replaced by 33.6 kbit/s, and then 56 kbit/s.These increasing speeds had the side effect of dramatically reducing the noticeable effects of channel efficiency.", "When modems were slow, considerable effort was put into developing the most efficient protocols and display systems possible.", "TCP/IP ran slowly over 1200 bit/s modems.", "56 kbit/s modems could access the protocol suite more quickly than with slower modems.", "Dial-up Internet service became widely available in the mid-1990s to the general public outside of universities and research laboratories, and connectivity was included in most general-use operating systems by default as Internet access became popular.These developments together resulted in the sudden obsolescence of bulletin board technology in 1995 and the collapse of its supporting market.", "Technically, Internet service offered an enormous advantage over BBS systems, as a single connection to the user's Internet service provider allowed them to contact services around the world.", "In comparison, BBS systems relied on a direct point-to-point connection, so even dialing multiple local systems required multiple phone calls.", "Internet protocols also allowed a single connection to be used to contact multiple services simultaneously; for example, downloading files from an FTP library while checking the weather on a local news website.", "Even with a shell account, it was possible to multitask using job control or a terminal multiplexer such as GNU Screen.", "In comparison, a connection to a BBS allowed access only to the information on that system.=== Estimating numbers ===According to the FidoNet Nodelist, BBSes reached their peak usage around 1996, which was the same period that the World Wide Web and AOL became mainstream.", "BBSes rapidly declined in popularity thereafter, and were replaced by systems using the Internet for connectivity.", "Some of the larger commercial BBSes, such as MaxMegabyte and ExecPC BBS, evolved into Internet service providers.The website ''textfiles.com'' serves as an archive that documents the history of the BBS.", "The historical BBS list on ''textfiles.com'' contains over 105,000 BBSes that have existed over a span of 20 years in North America alone.", "The owner of ''textfiles.com'', Jason Scott, also produced ''BBS: The Documentary'', a DVD film that chronicles the history of the BBS and features interviews with well-known people (mostly from the United States) from the heyday BBS era.In the 2000s, most traditional BBS systems migrated to the Internet using Telnet or SSH protocols.", "As of September 2022, between 900 and 1000 are thought to be active via the Internet fewer than 30 of these being of the traditional \"dial-up\" (modem) variety." ], [ "Software and hardware", "Amiga 3000 running a two-line BBSUnlike modern websites and online services that are typically hosted by third-party companies in commercial data centers, BBS computers (especially for smaller boards) were typically operated from the system operator's home.", "As such, access could be unreliable, and in many cases, only one user could be on the system at a time.", "Only larger BBSes with multiple phone lines using specialized hardware, multitasking software, or a LAN connecting multiple computers, could host multiple simultaneous users.The first BBSes used homebrew software, quite often written or customized by the system operators themselves, running on early S-100 bus microcomputer systems such as the Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080 and Cromemco under the CP/M operating system.", "Soon after, BBS software was being written for all of the major home computer systems of the late 1970s erathe Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore and TRS-80 being some of the most popular.A few years later, in 1981, IBM introduced the first DOS based IBM PC, and due to the overwhelming popularity of PCs and their clones, DOS soon became the operating system on which the majority of BBS programs were run.", "RBBS-PC, ported over from the CP/M world, and ''Fido'' BBS, developed by Tom Jennings (who later founded FidoNet) were the first notable DOS BBS programs.", "Many successful commercial BBS programs were developed for DOS, such as PCBoard BBS, RemoteAccess BBS, Magpie and Wildcat!", "BBS.", "Some popular freeware BBS programs for DOS included Telegard BBS and Renegade BBS, which both had early origins from leaked WWIV BBS source code.", "There were several dozen other BBS programs developed over the DOS era, and many were released under the shareware concept, while some were released as freeware including iniquity.BBS systems on other systems remained popular, especially home computers, largely because they catered to the audience of users running those machines.", "The ubiquitous Commodore 64 (introduced in 1982) was a common platform in the 1980s.", "Popular commercial BBS programs were Blue Board, Ivory BBS, Color64 and CNet 64.In the early 1990s, a small number of BBSes were also running on the Commodore Amiga.", "Popular BBS software for the Amiga were ABBS, Amiexpress, C-Net, StormforceBBS, Infinity and Tempest.", "There was also a small faction of devoted Atari BBSes that used the Atari 800, then the 800XL, and eventually the 1040ST.", "The earlier machines generally lacked hard drive capabilities, which limited them primarily to messaging.MS-DOS continued to be the most popular operating system for BBS use up until the mid-1990s, and in the early years, most multi-node BBSes were running under a DOS based multitasker such as DESQview or consisted of multiple computers connected via a LAN.", "In the late 1980s, a handful of BBS developers implemented multitasking communications routines inside their software, allowing multiple phone lines and users to connect to the same BBS computer.", "These included Galacticomm's MajorBBS (later WorldGroup), eSoft The Bread Board System (TBBS), and Falken.", "Other popular BBS's were Maximus and Opus, with some associated applications such as BinkleyTerm being based on characters from the Berkley Breathed cartoon strip of Bloom County.", "Though most BBS software had been written in BASIC or Pascal (with some low-level routines written in assembly language), the C language was starting to gain popularity.By 1995, many of the DOS-based BBSes had begun switching to modern multitasking operating systems, such as OS/2, Windows 95, and Linux.", "One of the first graphics-based BBS applications was Excalibur BBS with low-bandwidth applications that required its own client for efficiency.", "This led to one of the earliest implementations of Electronic Commerce in 1996 with replication of partner stores around the globe.", "TCP/IP networking allowed most of the remaining BBSes to evolve and include Internet hosting capabilities.", "Recent BBS software, such as Synchronet, Mystic BBS, EleBBS, DOC, Magpie or Wildcat!", "BBS, provide access using the Telnet protocol rather than dialup, or by using legacy DOS-based BBS software with a FOSSIL-to-Telnet redirector such as NetFoss." ], [ "Presentation", "Welcome screen of Neon#2 BBS (Tornado)BBSes were generally text-based, rather than GUI-based, and early BBSes conversed using the simple ASCII character set.", "However, some home computer manufacturers extended the ASCII character set to take advantage of the advanced color and graphics capabilities of their systems.", "BBS software authors included these extended character sets in their software, and terminal program authors included the ability to display them when a compatible system was called.", "Atari's native character set was known as ATASCII, while most Commodore BBSes supported PETSCII.", "PETSCII was also supported by the nationwide online service Quantum Link.The use of these custom character sets was generally incompatible between manufacturers.", "Unless a caller was using terminal emulation software written for, and running on, the same type of system as the BBS, the session would simply fall back to simple ASCII output.", "For example, a Commodore 64 user calling an Atari BBS would use ASCII rather than the native character set of either.", "As time progressed, most terminal programs began using the ASCII standard, but could use their native character set if it was available.COCONET, a BBS system made by Coconut Computing, Inc., was released in 1988 and only supported a GUI (no text interface was initially available but eventually became available around 1990), and worked in EGA/VGA graphics mode, which made it stand out from text-based BBS systems.", "COCONET's bitmap and vector graphics and support for multiple type fonts were inspired by the PLATO system, and the graphics capabilities were based on what was available in the Borland Graphics Interface library.", "A competing approach called Remote Imaging Protocol (RIP) emerged and was promoted by Telegrafix in the early to mid-1990s but it never became widespread.", "A teletext technology called NAPLPS was also considered, and although it became the underlying graphics technology behind the Prodigy service, it never gained popularity in the BBS market.", "There were several GUI-based BBSes on the Apple Macintosh platform, including TeleFinder and FirstClass, but these were mostly confined to the Mac market.In the UK, the BBC Micro based OBBS software, available from Pace for use with their modems, optionally allowed for color and graphics using the Teletext based graphics mode available on that platform.", "Other systems used the Viewdata protocols made popular in the UK by British Telecom's Prestel service, and the on-line magazine Micronet 800 whom were busy giving away modems with their subscriptions.Over time, terminal manufacturers started to support ANSI X3.64 in addition to or instead of proprietary terminal control codes, e.g., color, cursor positioning.The most popular form of online graphics was ANSI art, which combined the IBM Extended ASCII character set's blocks and symbols with ANSI escape sequences to allow changing colors on demand, provide cursor control and screen formatting, and even basic musical tones.", "During the late 1980s and early 1990s, most BBSes used ANSI to make elaborate welcome screens, and colorized menus, and thus, ANSI support was a sought-after feature in terminal client programs.", "The development of ANSI art became so popular that it spawned an entire BBS \"artscene\" subculture devoted to it.BBS ANSI Login Screen exampleThe Amiga ''Skyline BBS'' software was the first in 1987 featuring a script markup language communication protocol called Skypix which was capable of giving the user a complete graphical interface, featuring rich graphics, changeable fonts, mouse-controlled actions, animations and sound.Today, most BBS software that is still actively supported, such as Worldgroup, Wildcat!", "BBS and Citadel/UX, is Web-enabled, and the traditional text interface has been replaced (or operates concurrently) with a Web-based user interface.", "For those more nostalgic for the true BBS experience, one can use NetSerial (Windows) or DOSBox (Windows/nix) to redirect DOS COM port software to telnet, allowing them to connect to Telnet BBSes using 1980s and 1990s era modem terminal emulation software, like Telix, Terminate, Qmodem and Procomm Plus.", "Modern 32-bit terminal emulators such as mTelnet and SyncTerm include native telnet support." ], [ "Content and access", "Since most early BBSes were run by computer hobbyists, they were typically technical in topic, with user communities revolving around hardware and software discussions.As the BBS phenomenon grew, so did the popularity of special interest boards.", "Bulletin Board Systems could be found for almost every hobby and interest.", "Popular interests included politics, religion, music, dating, and alternative lifestyles.", "Many system operators also adopted a theme in which they customized their entire BBS (welcome screens, prompts, menus, and so on) to reflect that theme.", "Common themes were based on fantasy, or were intended to give the user the illusion of being somewhere else, such as in a sanatorium, wizard's castle, or on a pirate ship.In the early days, the file download library consisted of files that the system operators obtained themselves from other BBSes and friends.", "Many BBSes inspected every file uploaded to their public file download library to ensure that the material did not violate copyright law.", "As time went on, shareware CD-ROMs were sold with up to thousands of files on each CD-ROM.", "Small BBSes copied each file individually to their hard drive.", "Some systems used a CD-ROM drive to make the files available.", "Advanced BBSes used Multiple CD-ROM disc changer units that switched 6 CD-ROM disks on demand for the caller(s).", "Large systems used all 26 DOS drive letters with multi-disk changers housing tens of thousands of copyright-free shareware or freeware files available to all callers.", "These BBSes were generally more family-friendly, avoiding the seedier side of BBSes.", "Access to these systems varied from single to multiple modem lines with some requiring little or no confirmed registration.Some BBSes, called elite, WaReZ or pirate boards, were exclusively used for distributing cracked software, phreaking, and other questionable or unlawful content.", "These BBSes often had multiple modems and phone lines, allowing several users to upload and download files at once.", "Most elite BBSes used some form of new user verification, where new users would have to apply for membership and attempt to prove that they were not a law enforcement officer or a ''lamer.''", "The largest elite boards accepted users by invitation only.", "Elite boards also spawned their own subculture and gave rise to the slang known today as leetspeak.Another common type of board was the ''support BBS'' run by a manufacturer of computer products or software.", "These boards were dedicated to supporting users of the company's products with question and answer forums, news and updates, and downloads.", "Most of them were not a free call.", "Today, these services have moved to the Web.Some general-purpose Bulletin Board Systems had special levels of access that were given to those who paid extra money, uploaded useful files or knew the system operator personally.", "These specialty and pay BBSes usually had something unique to offer their users, such as large file libraries, warez, pornography, chat rooms or Internet access.Pay BBSes such as The WELL and Echo NYC (now Internet forums rather than dial-up), ExecPC, PsudNetwork and MindVox (which folded in 1996) were admired for their tight-knit communities and quality discussion forums.", "However, many free BBSes also maintained close knit communities, and some even had annual or bi-annual events where users would travel great distances to meet face-to-face with their on-line friends.", "These events were especially popular with BBSes that offered chat rooms.Some of the BBSes that provided access to illegal content faced opposition.", "On July 12, 1985, in conjunction with a credit card fraud investigation, the Middlesex County, New Jersey Sheriff's department raided and seized The Private Sector BBS, which was the official BBS for grey hat hacker quarterly 2600 Magazine at the time.", "The notorious Rusty n Edie's BBS, in Boardman, Ohio, was raided by the FBI in January 1993 for trading unlicensed software, and later sued by Playboy for copyright infringement in November 1997.In Flint, Michigan, a 21-year-old man was charged with distributing child pornography through his BBS in March 1996." ], [ "Networks", "Most early BBSes operated as individual systems.", "Information contained on that BBS never left the system, and users would only interact with the information and user community on that BBS alone.", "However, as BBSes became more widespread, there evolved a desire to connect systems together to share messages and files with distant systems and users.", "The largest such network was FidoNet.As is it was prohibitively expensive for the hobbyist system operator to have a dedicated connection to another system, FidoNet was developed as a store and forward network.", "Private email (Netmail), public message boards (Echomail) and eventually even file attachments on a FidoNet-capable BBS would be bundled into one or more archive files over a set time interval.", "These archive files were then compressed with ARC or ZIP and forwarded to (or polled by) another nearby node or hub via a dialup Xmodem session.", "Messages would be relayed around various FidoNet hubs until they were eventually delivered to their destination.", "The hierarchy of FidoNet BBS nodes, hubs, and zones was maintained in a routing table called a Nodelist.", "Some larger BBSes or regional FidoNet hubs would make several transfers per day, some even to multiple nodes or hubs, and as such, transfers usually occurred at night or in the early morning when toll rates were lowest.", "In Fido's heyday, sending a Netmail message to a user on a distant FidoNet node, or participating in an Echomail discussion could take days, especially if any FidoNet nodes or hubs in the message's route only made one transfer call per day.FidoNet was platform-independent and would work with any BBS that was written to use it.", "BBSes that did not have integrated FidoNet capability could usually add it using an external FidoNet front-end mailer such as SEAdog, FrontDoor, BinkleyTerm, InterMail or D'Bridge, and a mail processor such as FastEcho or Squish.", "The front-end mailer would conduct the periodic FidoNet transfers, while the mail processor would usually run just before and just after the mailer ran.", "This program would scan for and pack up new outgoing messages, and then unpack, sort and \"toss\" the incoming messages into a BBS user's local email box or into the BBS's local message bases reserved for Echomail.", "As such, these mail processors were commonly called \"scanner/tosser/packers\".Many other BBS networks followed the example of FidoNet, using the same standards and the same software.", "These were called FidoNet Technology Networks (FTNs).", "They were usually smaller and targeted at selected audiences.", "Some networks used QWK doors, and others such as RelayNet (RIME) and WWIVnet used non-Fido software and standards.Before commercial Internet access became common, these networks of BBSes provided regional and international e-mail and message bases.", "Some even provided gateways, such as UFGATE, by which members could send and receive e-mail to and from the Internet via UUCP, and many FidoNet discussion groups were shared via gateway to Usenet.", "Elaborate schemes allowed users to download binary files, search gopherspace, and interact with distant programs, all using plain-text e-mail.As the volume of FidoNet Mail increased and newsgroups from the early days of the Internet became available, satellite data downstream services became viable for larger systems.", "The satellite service provided access to FidoNet and Usenet newsgroups in large volumes at a reasonable fee.", "By connecting a small dish and receiver, a constant downstream of thousands of FidoNet and Usenet newsgroups could be received.", "The local BBS only needed to upload new outgoing messages via the modem network back to the satellite service.", "This method drastically reduced phone data transfers while dramatically increasing the number of message forums.FidoNet is still in use today, though in a much smaller form, and many Echomail groups are still shared with Usenet via FidoNet to Usenet gateways.", "Widespread abuse of Usenet with spam and pornography has led to many of these FidoNet gateways to cease operation completely." ], [ "Shareware and freeware", "Much of the shareware movement was started via user distribution of software through BBSes.", "A notable example was Phil Katz's PKARC (and later PKZIP, using the same \".zip\" algorithm that WinZip and other popular archivers now use); also other concepts of software distribution like freeware, postcardware like JPEGview and donationware like Red Ryder for the Macintosh first appeared on BBS sites.", "Doom from id Software and nearly all Apogee Software games were distributed as shareware (Apogee is, in fact, credited for adding an order form to a shareware demo).", "The Internet has largely erased the distinction of sharewaremost users now download the software directly from the developer's website rather than receiving it from another BBS user 'sharing' it.", "Today shareware is commonly used to mean electronically-distributed software from a small developer.Many commercial BBS software companies that continue to support their old BBS software products switched to the shareware model or made it entirely free.", "Some companies were able to make the move to the Internet and provide commercial products with BBS capabilities." ], [ "Features", "A classic BBS had: A computer* One or more modems* One or more phone lines, with more allowing for increased concurrent users* A BBS software package* A sysop – system operator* A user communityThe BBS software usually provides:* Menu systems* One or more message bases* Uploading and downloading of message packets in QWK format using XMODEM, YMODEM or ZMODEM* File areas* Live viewing of all caller activity by the system operator * Voting – opinion booths* Statistics on message posters, top uploaders / downloaders* Online games (usually single player or only a single active player at a given time)* A doorway to third-party online games* Usage auditing capabilities* Multi-user chat (only possible on multi-line BBSes)* Internet email (more common in later Internet-connected BBSes)* Networked message boards* Most modern BBSes allow telnet access over the Internet using a telnet server and a virtual FOSSIL driver.", "* A \"yell for SysOp\" page caller side menu item that sounded an audible alarm to the system operator.", "If chosen, the system operator could then initiate a text-to-text chat with the caller.", "* Primitive social networking features, such as leaving messages on a user's profile" ], [ "See also", "* ANSI art* Free-net* Imageboard* Internet forum* Internet Relay Chat* List of BBS software* List of bulletin board systems* Minitel* Online magazine* PODSnet* Shell account* Terminal emulator* Textboard* User-generated content* Usenet" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== Sources ===* * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", " The BBS Corner* The BBS Documentary – (Video Collection)* ()* The Telnet BBS Guide (BBSes available via the Internet)* Textfiles.com – Collection of historical BBS documents, files and history* The BBS organization (longest running bbs services site)* The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems (The Atlantic, 2016)*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''String Quartet No.", "16''' in F major, Op.", "135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 and was the last major work he completed.", "Only the final movement of the Quartet Op.", "130, written as a replacement for the ''Große Fuge'', was composed later.", "The work was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.The Op.", "135 quartet is the shortest of Beethoven's late quartets.", "Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, which is headed \"Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß\" (The Difficult Decision), Beethoven wrote in the manuscript \"Muß es sein?\"", "(Must it be?)", "to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement, \"Es muß sein!\"", "(It must be!).", "It is in four movements:# Allegretto (F major)# Vivace (F major)# Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo (D major)# \"Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß\".", "Grave, ma non troppo tratto (\"Muss es sein?\")", "– Allegro (\"Es muss sein!\")", "– Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro (F minor – F major)The autograph manuscript of the work is preserved in the Beethoven House.The performance of the work takes around 22–25 minutes.The work features in Czech author Milan Kundera's ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'', where the character Tomas uses the phrases \"Muß es sein?\"", "and \"Es muß sein!\"", "to describe his approach to fate." ], [ "Notes" ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "External links", " ''String Quartet in F major'', Op.", "135.Beethoven's autograph in the Beethoven House* Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet* * Performance by the Borromeo String Quartet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Symphony No.", "9''' in D minor, Op.", "125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824.It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824.The symphony is regarded by many critics and musicologists as a masterpiece of Western classical music and one of the supreme achievements in the history of music.", "One of the best-known works in common practice music, it stands as one of the most frequently performed symphonies in the world.The Ninth was the first example of a major composer scoring vocal parts in a symphony.", "The final (4th) movement of the symphony features four vocal soloists and a chorus in the parallel modulated key of D major, commonly known as the '''Ode to Joy'''.", "The text was adapted from the \"An die Freude (Ode to Joy)\", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additional text written by Beethoven.", "In the 20th century, an instrumental arrangement of the chorus was adopted by the Council of Europe, and later the European Union, as the Anthem of Europe.In 2001, Beethoven's original, hand-written manuscript of the score, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to the Memory of the World Programme Heritage list established by the United Nations, becoming the first musical score so designated." ], [ "History", "===Composition===The Philharmonic Society of London originally commissioned the symphony in 1817.Preliminary sketches (rough outlines) for the work were also made that year, with the key set as D minor and vocal participation also forecast.", "The main composition work was done between autumn 1822 and the completion of the autograph in February 1824.The symphony emerged from other pieces by Beethoven that, while completed works in their own right, are also in some sense forerunners of the future symphony.", "The 1808 ''Choral Fantasy'', Op.", "80, basically a piano concerto movement, brings in a choir and vocal soloists near the end for the climax.", "The vocal forces sing a theme first played instrumentally, and this theme is reminiscent of the corresponding theme in the Ninth Symphony.Going further back, an earlier version of the Choral Fantasy theme is found in the song \"Gegenliebe\" (Returned Love) for piano and high voice, which dates from before 1795.According to Robert W. Gutman, Mozart's Offertory in D minor, \"Misericordias Domini\", K. 222, written in 1775, contains a melody that foreshadows \"Ode to Joy\".===Premiere===Although most of his major works had been premiered in Vienna, Beethoven was keen to have his latest composition performed in Berlin as soon as possible after finishing it, as he thought that musical taste in Vienna had become dominated by Italian composers such as Rossini.", "When his friends and financiers heard this, they urged him to premiere the symphony in Vienna in the form of a petition signed by a number of prominent Viennese music patrons and performers.Theater am Kärntnertor in 1830Beethoven was flattered by the adoration of Vienna, so the Ninth Symphony was premiered on 7 May 1824 in the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna along with the overture ''The Consecration of the House'' () and three parts of the ''Missa solemnis'' (the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei).", "This was the composer's first onstage appearance in 12 years; the hall was packed with an eager and curious audience and a number of musicians and figures in Vienna including Franz Schubert, Carl Czerny, and the Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich.The premiere of Symphony No.", "9 involved the largest orchestra ever assembled by Beethoven and required the combined efforts of the Kärntnertor house orchestra, the Vienna Music Society (Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde), and a select group of capable amateurs.", "While no complete list of premiere performers exists, many of Vienna's most elite performers are known to have participated.The soprano and alto parts were sung by two famous young singers: Henriette Sontag and Caroline Unger.", "German soprano Henriette Sontag was 18 years old when Beethoven personally recruited her to perform in the premiere of the Ninth.", "Also personally recruited by Beethoven, 20-year-old contralto Caroline Unger, a native of Vienna, had gained critical praise in 1821 appearing in Rossini's ''Tancredi''.", "After performing in Beethoven's 1824 premiere, Unger then found fame in Italy and Paris.", "Italian composers Donizetti and Bellini were known to have written roles specifically for her voice.", "Anton Haizinger and Joseph Seipelt sang the tenor and bass/baritone parts, respectively.Portrait of Beethoven in 1824, the year his Ninth Symphony was premiered.", "He was almost completely deaf by the time of its composition.Caroline Unger, who sang the contralto part at the first performance and is credited with turning Beethoven to face the applauding audienceAlthough the performance was officially directed by Michael Umlauf, the theatre's Kapellmeister, Beethoven shared the stage with him.", "However, two years earlier, Umlauf had watched as the composer's attempt to conduct a dress rehearsal for a revision of his opera ''Fidelio'' ended in disaster.", "So this time, he instructed the singers and musicians to ignore the almost completely deaf Beethoven.", "At the beginning of every part, Beethoven, who sat by the stage, gave the tempos.", "He was turning the pages of his score and beating time for an orchestra he could not hear.There are a number of anecdotes concerning the premiere of the Ninth.", "Based on the testimony of some of the participants, there are suggestions that the symphony was under-rehearsed (there were only two full rehearsals) and somewhat uneven in execution.", "On the other hand, the premiere was a great success.", "In any case, Beethoven was not to blame, as violinist Joseph Böhm recalled:Beethoven himself conducted, that is, he stood in front of a conductor's stand and threw himself back and forth like a madman.", "At one moment he stretched to his full height, at the next he crouched down to the floor, he flailed about with his hands and feet as though he wanted to play all the instruments and sing all the chorus parts.", "—The actual direction was in Louis Duport's hands; we musicians followed his baton only.", "Reportedly, the scherzo was completely interrupted at one point by applause.", "Either at the end of the scherzo or the end of the symphony (testimonies differ), Beethoven was several bars off and still conducting; the contralto Caroline Unger walked over and gently turned Beethoven around to accept the audience's cheers and applause.", "According to the critic for the ''Theater-Zeitung'', \"the public received the musical hero with the utmost respect and sympathy, listened to his wonderful, gigantic creations with the most absorbed attention and broke out in jubilant applause, often during sections, and repeatedly at the end of them.\"", "The audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, and raised hands, so that Beethoven, who they knew could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovations.===Editions===The first German edition was printed by B. Schott's Söhne (Mainz) in 1826.The Breitkopf & Härtel edition dating from 1864 has been used widely by orchestras.", "In 1997, Bärenreiter published an edition by Jonathan Del Mar.", "According to Del Mar, this edition corrects nearly 3,000 mistakes in the Breitkopf edition, some of which were \"remarkable\".", "David Levy, however, criticized this edition, saying that it could create \"quite possibly false\" traditions.", "Breitkopf also published a new edition by Peter Hauschild in 2005." ], [ "Instrumentation", "The symphony is scored for the following orchestra.", "These are by far the largest forces needed for any Beethoven symphony; at the premiere, Beethoven augmented them further by assigning two players to each wind part.", "'''Woodwinds'''::2 Flutes:2 Oboes:2 Clarinets in A, B and C:2 Bassoons:'''Brass''':4 Horns in D, B and E:2 Trumpets in D and B:'''Percussion''':Timpani:Bass drum (fourth movement only):Triangle (fourth movement only):Cymbals (fourth movement only):Soprano solo:Alto solo:Tenor solo::'''Strings''':Violins I, II:Violas:Cellos:Double basses" ], [ "Form", "The symphony is in four movements.", "The structure of each movement is as follows::Tempo markingMeterKeyMovement IAllegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso = 88 dMovement IIMolto vivace = 116 dPresto = 116 DMolto vivace dPresto DMovement IIIAdagio molto e cantabile = 60 BAndante moderato = 63 DTempo I BAndante moderato GAdagio ELo stesso tempo BMovement IVPresto = 96 dAllegro assai = 80 DPresto (\"O Freunde\") dAllegro assai (\"Freude, schöner Götterfunken\") DAlla marcia; Allegro assai vivace = 84 (\"Froh, wie seine Sonnen\") BAndante maestoso = 72 (\"Seid umschlungen, Millionen!\")", "GAllegro energico, sempre ben marcato = 84(\"Freude, schöner Götterfunken\" – \"Seid umschlungen, Millionen!\")", "DAllegro ma non tanto = 120 (\"Freude, Tochter aus Elysium!\")", "DPrestissimo = 132 (\"Seid umschlungen, Millionen!\")", "DBeethoven changes the usual pattern of Classical symphonies in placing the scherzo movement before the slow movement (in symphonies, slow movements are usually placed before scherzi).", "This was the first time he did this in a symphony, although he had done so in some previous works, including the String Quartet Op.", "18 no.", "5, the \"Archduke\" piano trio Op.", "97, the ''Hammerklavier'' piano sonata Op.", "106.And Haydn, too, had used this arrangement in a number of his own works such as the String Quartet No.", "30 in E major, as did Mozart in three of the Haydn Quartets and the G minor String Quintet.=== I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso ===The first movement is in sonata form without an exposition repeat.", "It begins with open fifths (A and E) played ''pianissimo'' by tremolo strings, steadily building up until the first main theme in D minor at bar 17.The opening, with its perfect fifth quietly emerging, resembles the sound of an orchestra tuning up.At the outset of the recapitulation (which repeats the main melodic themes) in bar 301, the theme returns, this time played ''fortissimo'' and in D ''major'', rather than D ''minor''.", "The movement ends with a massive coda that takes up nearly a quarter of the movement, as in Beethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies.A typical performance lasts about 15 minutes.=== II.", "Molto vivace ===The second movement is a scherzo and trio.", "Like the first movement, the scherzo is in D minor, with the introduction bearing a passing resemblance to the opening theme of the first movement, a pattern also found in the ''Hammerklavier'' piano sonata, written a few years earlier.", "At times during the piece, Beethoven specifies one downbeat every three bars—perhaps because of the fast tempo—with the direction ''ritmo di tre battute'' (rhythm of three beats) and one beat every four bars with the direction ''ritmo di quattro battute'' (rhythm of four beats).", "Normally, a scherzo is in triple time.", "Beethoven wrote this piece in triple time but punctuated it in a way that, when coupled with the tempo, makes it sound as if it is in quadruple time.While adhering to the standard compound ternary design (three-part structure) of a dance movement (scherzo-trio-scherzo or minuet-trio-minuet), the scherzo section has an elaborate internal structure; it is a complete sonata form.", "Within this sonata form, the first group of the exposition (the statement of the main melodic themes) starts out with a fugue in D minor on the subject below.For the second subject, it modulates to the unusual key of C major.", "The exposition then repeats before a short development section, where Beethoven explores other ideas.", "The recapitulation (repeating of the melodic themes heard in the opening of the movement) further develops the exposition's themes, also containing timpani solos.", "A new development section leads to the repeat of the recapitulation, and the scherzo concludes with a brief codetta.The contrasting trio section is in D major and in duple time.", "The trio is the first time the trombones play.", "Following the trio, the second occurrence of the scherzo, unlike the first, plays through without any repetition, after which there is a brief reprise of the trio, and the movement ends with an abrupt coda.The duration of the movement is about 11 minutes, but this may vary depending on whether two (frequently omitted) repeats are played.=== III.", "Adagio molto e cantabile ===The third movement is a lyrical, slow movement in B major—a minor sixth away from the symphony's main key of D minor.", "It is in a double variation form, with each pair of variations progressively elaborating the rhythm and melodic ideas.", "The first variation, like the theme, is in time, the second in .", "The variations are separated by passages in , the first in D major, the second in G major, the third in E major, and the fourth in B major.", "The final variation is twice interrupted by episodes in which loud fanfares from the full orchestra are answered by octaves by the first violins.", "A prominent French horn solo is assigned to the fourth player.A performance lasts about 16 minutes.===IV.", "Finale===The choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of universal brotherhood based on the \"Ode to Joy\" theme and is in theme and variations form.The movement starts with an introduction in which musical material from each of the preceding three movements—though none are literal quotations of previous music—are successively presented and then dismissed by instrumental recitatives played by the low strings.", "Following this, the \"Ode to Joy\" theme is finally introduced by the cellos and double basses.", "After three instrumental variations on this theme, the human voice is presented for the first time in the symphony by the baritone soloist, who sings words written by Beethoven himself: ''O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!'", "Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere''.", "(\"Oh friends, not these sounds!", "Let us instead strike up more pleasing and more joyful ones!", "\").At about 24 minutes in length, the last movement is the longest of the four movements.", "Indeed, it is longer than some entire symphonies of the Classical era.", "Its form has been disputed by musicologists, as Nicholas Cook explains:Cook gives the following table describing the form of the movement:+Bar Key Stanza Description11 dIntroduction with instrumental recitative and review of movements 1–39292 D\"Joy\" theme116116\"Joy\" variation 1140140\"Joy\" variation 2164164\"Joy\" variation 3, with extension 208 1 dIntroduction with vocal recitative2414 D V.1\"Joy\" variation 426933 V.2\"Joy\" variation 529761 V.3\"Joy\" variation 6, with extension providing transition to3311 BIntroduction to34313\"Joy\" variation 7 (\"Turkish march\")37545 C.4\"Joy\" variation 8, with extension431101Fugato episode based on \"Joy\" theme543213 D V.1\"Joy\" variation 95951 G C.1Episode: \"Seid umschlungen\"62776 g C.3Episode: \"Ihr stürzt nieder\"6551 D V.1, C.3Double fugue (based on \"Joy\" and \"Seid umschlungen\" themes)73076 C.3Episode: \"Ihr stürzt nieder\"74591 C.17631 D V.1Coda figure 1 (based on \"Joy\" theme)83270Cadenza8511 D C.1Coda figure 290454 V.192070Coda figure 3 (based on \"Joy\" theme)In line with Cook's remarks, Charles Rosen characterizes the final movement as a symphony within a symphony, played without interruption.", "This \"inner symphony\" follows the same overall pattern as the Ninth Symphony as a whole, with four \"movements\":# Theme and variations with slow introduction.", "The main theme, first in the cellos and basses, is later recapitulated by voices.# Scherzo in a military style.", "It begins at ''Alla marcia'' (bar 331 - 594) and concludes with a variation of the main theme with chorus.# Slow section with a new theme on the text \"Seid umschlungen, Millionen!\"", "It begins at ''Andante maestoso'' (bar 595–654).# Fugato finale on the themes of the first and third \"movements\".", "It begins at ''Allegro energico'' (bar 655–762), and two canons on main theme and \"Seid unschlungen, Millionen!\"", "respectively.", "It begins at ''Allegro ma non tanto'' (bar 763–940).Rosen notes that the movement can also be analysed as a set of variations and simultaneously as a concerto sonata form with double exposition (with the fugato acting both as a development section and the second tutti of the concerto).====Text of the fourth movement====Portrait of Friedrich Schiller by Ludovike Simanowiz (1794)The text is largely taken from Friedrich Schiller's \"Ode to Joy\", with a few additional introductory words written specifically by Beethoven (shown in italics).", "The text, without repeats, is shown below, with a translation into English.", "The score includes many repeats.", "''O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!", "''''Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen,''''und freudenvollere.", "''''Oh friends, not these sounds!", "''''Let us instead strike up more pleasing''''and more joyful ones!''''Freude!''''Freude!''''Joy!''''Joy!", "''Freude, schöner GötterfunkenTochter aus Elysium,Wir betreten feuertrunken,Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!Deine Zauber binden wiederWas die Mode streng geteilt;Alle Menschen werden Brüder,Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.Joy, beautiful spark of divinity,Daughter from Elysium,We enter, burning with fervour,heavenly being, your sanctuary!Your magic brings togetherwhat custom has sternly divided.All men shall become brothers,wherever your gentle wings hover.Wem der große Wurf gelungen,Eines Freundes Freund zu sein;Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,Mische seinen Jubel ein!Ja, wer auch nur eine SeeleSein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehleWeinend sich aus diesem Bund!Whoever has been lucky enoughto become a friend to a friend,Whoever has found a beloved wife,let him join our songs of praise!Yes, and anyone who can call one soulhis own on this earth!Any who cannot, let them slink awayfrom this gathering in tears!Freude trinken alle WesenAn den Brüsten der Natur;Alle Guten, alle BösenFolgen ihrer Rosenspur.Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.Every creature drinks in joyat nature's breast;Good and Evil alikefollow her trail of roses.She gives us kisses and wine,a true friend, even in death;Even the worm was given desire,and the cherub stands before God.Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegenDurch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.Gladly, just as His suns hurtlethrough the glorious universe,So you, brothers, should run your course,joyfully, like a conquering hero.Seid umschlungen, Millionen!Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!Brüder, über'm SternenzeltMuß ein lieber Vater wohnen.Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!Über Sternen muß er wohnen.Be embraced, you millions!This kiss is for the whole world!Brothers, above the canopy of starsmust dwell a loving father.Do you bow down before Him, you millions?Do you sense your Creator, O world?Seek Him above the canopy of stars!He must dwell beyond the stars.Towards the end of the movement, the choir sings the last four lines of the main theme, concluding with \"Alle Menschen\" before the soloists sing for one last time the song of joy at a slower tempo.", "The chorus repeats parts of \"Seid umschlungen, Millionen!", "\", then quietly sings, \"Tochter aus Elysium\", and finally, \"Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Götterfunken!", "\"." ], [ "Reception", "The symphony was dedicated to the King of Prussia, Frederick William III.Music critics almost universally consider the Ninth Symphony one of Beethoven's greatest works, and among the greatest musical works ever written.", "The finale, however, has had its detractors: \"early critics rejected the finale as cryptic and eccentric, the product of a deaf and ageing composer.\"", "Verdi admired the first three movements but lamented what he saw as the bad writing for the voices in the last movement:" ], [ "Performance challenges", "Handwritten page of the fourth movement===Metronome markings===Conductors in the historically informed performance movement, notably Roger Norrington, have used Beethoven's suggested tempos, to mixed reviews.", "Benjamin Zander has made a case for following Beethoven's metronome markings, both in writing and in performances with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra of London.", "Beethoven's metronome still exists and was tested and found accurate, but the original heavy weight (whose position is vital to its accuracy) is missing and many musicians have considered his metronome marks to be unacceptably high.===Re-orchestrations and alterations===A number of conductors have made alterations in the instrumentation of the symphony.", "Notably, Richard Wagner doubled many woodwind passages, a modification greatly extended by Gustav Mahler, who revised the orchestration of the Ninth to make it sound like what he believed Beethoven would have wanted if given a modern orchestra.", "Wagner's Dresden performance of 1864 was the first to place the chorus and the solo singers behind the orchestra as has since become standard; previous conductors placed them between the orchestra and the audience.====2nd bassoon doubling basses in the finale====Beethoven's indication that the 2nd bassoon should double the basses in bars 115–164 of the finale was not included in the Breitkopf & Härtel parts, though it was included in the full score.Rivoli Theatre in Porto, Portugal (1955)\|alt=" ], [ "Notable performances and recordings", "The British premiere of the symphony was presented on 21 March 1825 by its commissioners, the Philharmonic Society of London, at its Argyll Rooms conducted by Sir George Smart and with the choral part sung in Italian.", "The American premiere was presented on 20 May 1846 by the newly formed New York Philharmonic at Castle Garden (in an attempt to raise funds for a new concert hall), conducted by the English-born George Loder, with the choral part translated into English for the first time.", "Leopold Stokowski's 1934 Philadelphia Orchestra and 1941 NBC Symphony Orchestra recordings also used English lyrics in the fourth movement.Richard Wagner inaugurated his Bayreuth Festspielhaus by conducting the Ninth; since then it is traditional to open each Bayreuth Festival with a performance of the Ninth.", "Following the festival's temporary suspension after World War II, Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra reinaugurated it with a performance of the Ninth.Leonard Bernstein conducted a version of the Ninth Symphony at the Konzerthaus Berlin with (Freedom) replacing (Joy), to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall during Christmas of 1989.This concert was performed by an orchestra and chorus made up of many nationalities: from East and West Germany, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Chorus of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and members of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Philharmonischer Kinderchor Dresden (Philharmonic Children's Choir Dresden); from the Soviet Union, members of the orchestra of the Kirov Theatre; from the United Kingdom, members of the London Symphony Orchestra; from the US, members of the New York Philharmonic; and from France, members of the Orchestre de Paris.", "Soloists were June Anderson, soprano, Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano, Klaus König, tenor, and Jan-Hendrik Rootering, bass.", "Bernstein conducted the Ninth Symphony one last time with soloists Lucia Popp, soprano, Ute Trekel-Burckhardt, contralto, Wiesław Ochman, tenor, and , bass, at the Prague Spring Festival with the Czech Philharmonic and in June 1990; he died four months later in October of the same year.In 1998, Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa conducted the fourth movement for the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, with six different choirs simultaneously singing from Japan, Germany, South Africa, China, the United States, and Australia.In 1923, the first complete recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was made by the acoustic recording process and conducted by Bruno Seidler-Winkler.", "The recording was issued by Deutsche Grammophon in Germany; the records were issued in the United States on the Vocalion label.", "The first electrical recording of the Ninth was recorded in England in 1926, with Felix Weingartner conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, issued by Columbia Records.", "The first complete American recording was made by RCA Victor in 1934 with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.", "Since the late 20th century, the Ninth has been recorded regularly by period performers, including Roger Norrington, Christopher Hogwood, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.The BBC Proms Youth Choir performed the piece alongside Georg Solti's UNESCO World Orchestra for Peace at the Royal Albert Hall during the 2018 Proms at Prom 9, titled \"War & Peace\" as a commemoration to the centenary of the end of World War One.At 79 minutes, one of the longest Ninths recorded is Karl Böhm's, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in 1981 with Jessye Norman and Plácido Domingo among the soloists." ], [ "Influence", "Plaque at building Ungargasse No.", "5, Vienna.", "\"Ludwig van Beethoven completed in this house during the winter of 1823/24 his Ninth Symphony.", "In memory of the centenary of its first performance on 7 May 1824 the Wiener Schubertbund dedicated this memorial plaque to the master and his work on 7 May 1924.", "\"Many later composers of the Romantic period and beyond were influenced by the Ninth Symphony.An important theme in the finale of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No.", "1 in C minor is related to the \"Ode to Joy\" theme from the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.", "When this was pointed out to Brahms, he is reputed to have retorted \"Any fool can see that!\"", "Brahms's first symphony was, at times, both praised and derided as \"Beethoven's Tenth\".The Ninth Symphony influenced the forms that Anton Bruckner used for the movements of his symphonies.", "His Symphony No.", "3 is in the same key (D minor) as Beethoven's 9th and makes substantial use of thematic ideas from it.", "The slow movement of Bruckner's Symphony No.", "7 uses the A–B–A–B–A form found in the 3rd movement of Beethoven's piece and takes various figurations from it.In the opening notes of the third movement of his Symphony No.", "9 (''From the New World''), Antonín Dvořák pays homage to the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with his falling fourths and timpani strokes.Béla Bartók borrowed the opening motif of the scherzo from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to introduce the second movement (scherzo) in his own Four Orchestral Pieces, Op.", "12 (Sz 51).Michael Tippett in his Third Symphony (1972) quotes the opening of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth and then criticises the utopian understanding of the brotherhood of man as expressed in the Ode to Joy and instead stresses man's capacity for both good and evil.In the film ''The Pervert's Guide to Ideology'', the philosopher Slavoj Žižek comments on the use of the Ode by Nazism, Bolshevism, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the East-West German Olympic team, Southern Rhodesia, Abimael Guzmán (leader of the Shining Path), and the Council of Europe and the European Union.===Compact disc format===One legend is that the compact disc was deliberately designed to have a 74-minute playing time so that it could accommodate Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.", "Kees Immink, Philips' chief engineer, who developed the CD, recalls that a commercial tug-of-war between the development partners, Sony and Philips, led to a settlement in a neutral 12-cm diameter format.", "The 1951 performance of the Ninth Symphony conducted by Furtwängler was brought forward as the perfect excuse for the change, and was put forth in a Philips news release celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Compact Disc as the reason for the 74-minute length.===TV theme music===''The Huntley–Brinkley Report'' used the opening to the second movement as its theme music during the run of the program on NBC from 1956 until 1970.The theme was taken from the 1952 RCA Victor recording of the Ninth Symphony by the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini.", "A synthesized version of the opening bars of the second movement were also used as the theme for ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' on MSNBC and Current TV.", "A rock guitar version of the \"Ode to Joy\" theme was used as the theme for ''Suddenly Susan'' in its first season.===Use as (national) anthem===During the division of Germany in the Cold War, the \"Ode to Joy\" segment of the symphony was played in lieu of a national anthem at the Olympic Games for the United Team of Germany between 1956 and 1968.In 1972, the musical backing (without the words) was adopted as the Anthem of Europe by the Council of Europe and subsequently by the European Communities (now the European Union) in 1985.The \"Ode to Joy\" was also used as the national anthem of Rhodesia between 1974 and 1979, as \"Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia\".", "During the early 1990s, South Africa used an instrumental version of \"Ode to Joy\" in lieu of its national anthem at the time \"Die Stem van Suid-Afrika\" at sporting events, though it was never actually adopted as an official national anthem.===Use as a hymn melody===In 1907, the Presbyterian pastor Henry van Dyke Jr. wrote the hymn \"Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee\" while staying at Williams College.", "The hymn is commonly sung in English-language churches to the \"Ode to Joy\" melody from this symphony.===Year-end tradition===The German workers' movement began the tradition of performing the Ninth Symphony on New Year's Eve in 1918.Performances started at 11 p.m. so that the symphony's finale would be played at the beginning of the new year.", "This tradition continued during the Nazi period and was also observed by East Germany after the war.The Ninth Symphony is traditionally performed throughout Japan at the end of the year.", "In December 2009, for example, there were 55 performances of the symphony by various major orchestras and choirs in Japan.Uranaka, Taiga, \" Beethoven concert to fete students' wartime sendoff\", ''The Japan Times'', 1 December 1999, retrieved on 24 December 2010.It was introduced to Japan during World War I by German prisoners held at the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp.", "Japanese orchestras, notably the NHK Symphony Orchestra, began performing the symphony in 1925 and during World War II; the Imperial government promoted performances of the symphony, including on New Year's Eve.", "In an effort to capitalize on its popularity, orchestras and choruses undergoing economic hard times during Japan's reconstruction performed the piece at year's end.", "In the 1960s, these year-end performances of the symphony became more widespread, and included the participation of local choirs and orchestras, firmly establishing a tradition that continues today.", "Some of these performances feature massed choirs of up to 10,000 singers.WQXR-FM, a classical radio station serving the New York metropolitan area, ends every year with a countdown of the pieces of classical music most requested in a survey held every December; though any piece could win the place of honor and thus welcome the New Year, i.e.", "play through midnight on January 1, Beethoven's Choral has won in every year on record.===Other choral symphonies===Prior to Beethoven's ninth, symphonies had not used choral forces and the piece thus established the genre of choral symphony.", "Numbered choral symphonies as part of a cycle of otherwise instrumental works have subsequently been written by numerous composers, including Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Charles Ives among many others.===Other ninth symphonies===The scale and influence of Beethoven's ninth led later composers to ascribe a special significance to their own ninth symphonies, which may have contributed to the cultural phenomenon known as the curse of the ninth.", "A number of other composers' ninth symphonies also employ a chorus, such as those by Kurt Atterberg, Mieczysław Weinberg, Edmund Rubbra, Hans Werner Henze, and Robert Kyr.", "Anton Bruckner had not originally intended his unfinished ninth symphony to feature choral forces, however the use of his choral ''Te Deum'' in lieu of the uncompleted Finale was supposedly sanctioned by the composer.", "Dmitri Shostakovich had originally intended his Ninth Symphony to be a large work with chorus and soloists, although the symphony as it eventually appeared was a relatively short work without vocal forces.Of his own Ninth Symphony, George Lloyd wrote: \"When a composer has written eight symphonies he may find that the horizon has been blacked out by the overwhelming image of Beethoven and his one and only Ninth.", "There are other very good No.", "5s and No.", "3s, for instance, but how can one possibly have the temerity of trying to write another Ninth Symphony?\"", "Niels Gade composed only eight symphonies, despite living for another twenty years after completing the eighth.", "He is believed to have replied, when asked why he did not compose another symphony, \"There is only one ninth\", in reference to Beethoven." ], [ "References", "'''Notes''''''Citations''''''Sources'''* ** * * * * * *** ( Review by Philip Hensher, ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London), 5 July 2010)." ], [ "Further reading", "* Buch, Esteban, ''Beethoven's Ninth: A Political History'', translated by Richard Miller, (University of Chicago Press)* * Rasmussen, Michelle, \"All Men Become Brothers: The Decades-Long Struggle for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony\", Schiller Institute, June, 2015.", "* Taruskin, Richard, \"Resisting the Ninth\", in his ''Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance'' (Oxford University Press, 1995).", "Wegner, Sascha (2018).", "''Symphonien aus dem Geiste der Vokalmusik : Zur Finalgestaltung in der Symphonik im 18.und frühen 19.Jahrhundert''.", "Stuttgart: J.", "B. Metzler." ], [ "External links", "'''Scores, manuscripts and text''' * * Original manuscript (site in German)* Score, William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music* Text/libretto, with translation, in English and GermanSources for the metronome marks.", "'''Analysis''' Analysis for students (with timings) of the final movement, at Washington State University* * Signell, Karl, \"The Riddle of Beethoven's Alla Marcia in his Ninth Symphony\" (self-published)* Beethoven 9, Benjamin Zander advocating a stricter adherence to Beethoven's metronome indications, with reference to Jonathan del Mar's research (before the Bärenreiter edition was published) and to Stravinsky's intuition about the correct tempo for the Scherzo Trio'''Audio'''* Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra from National Public Radio* Felix Weingartner conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (1935 recording) from the Internet Archive* Otto Klemperer conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (1956 live recording) from the Internet Archive'''Video'''* , Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on the eve of Hitler's 53rd birthday* , , , , Nicholas McGegan conducting the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, graphical score* , Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti conductor, Camilla Nylund soprano, Ekaterina Gubanova mezzo-soprano, Matthew Polenzani tenor, Eric Owens bass-baritone, anniversary May 2015'''Other material'''* Official EU page about the anthem* Program note by Richard Freed, Kennedy Center, February 2004* ''Following the Ninth: In the Footsteps of Beethoven's Final Symphony'', Kerry Candaele's 2013 documentary film about the Ninth Symphony" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven)" ], [ "Introduction", "Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 1 is a set of three piano trios (written for piano, violin, and cello), first performed in 1795 in the house of Prince Lichnowsky, to whom they are dedicated.", "The trios were published in 1795.Despite the Op.", "1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven's first published compositions; this distinction belongs rather to his ''Dressler Variations'' for keyboard (WoO 63).", "Clearly he recognized the Op.", "1 compositions as the earliest ones he had produced that were substantial enough (and marketable enough) to fill out a first major publication to introduce his style of writing to the musical public." ], [ "Op. 1 No. 1 - Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat major", "* Allegro (E-flat major), * Adagio cantabile (A-flat major), * Scherzo.", "Allegro assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major), * Finale.", "Presto (E-flat major), The first movement opens with an ascending arpeggiated figure (a so-called Mannheim Rocket, like that opening the first movement of the composer's own Piano Sonata no 1, Opus 2 no 1)," ], [ "Op. 1 No. 2 - Piano Trio No. 2 in G major", "* Adagio, - Allegro vivace, (G major)* Largo con espressione (E major), * Scherzo.", "Allegro (G major, with a trio in B minor), * Finale.", "Presto (G major)," ], [ "Op. 1 No. 3 - Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor", "* Allegro con brio (C minor), * Andante cantabile con Variazioni (E-flat major), * Minuetto.", "Quasi allegro (C minor, with a trio in C major), * Finale.", "Prestissimo (C minor, concluding in C major), Unlike the other piano trios in this opus, the third trio does not have a scherzo as its third movement but a minuet instead.This third piano trio was later reworked by Beethoven into the C minor string quintet, Op.", "104." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * Performance of Piano Trio No.", "1 by the Claremont Trio from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format* Performance of Piano Trio No.", "3, I Allegro con brio" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Piano Trios, Op. 70 (Beethoven)" ], [ "Introduction", "''Piano trio in D Major'', op.", "70, no.", "1, musical autographOp.", "70 is a set of two '''Piano Trios''' by Ludwig van Beethoven, written for piano, violin, and cello.", "Both trios were composed during Beethoven's stay at Countess Marie von Erdödy's estate, and both are dedicated to her for her hospitality.", "They were published in 1809.The first, in D major, known as the ''Ghost'', is one of his best known works in the genre (rivaled only by the ''Archduke Trio'').", "The D major trio features themes found in the second movement of Beethoven's Symphony No.", "2.The All-Music Guide states that \"because of its strangely scored and undeniably eerie-sounding slow movement, it was dubbed the 'Ghost' Trio.", "The name has stuck with the work ever since.", "The ghostly music may have had its roots in sketches for a Macbeth opera that Beethoven was contemplating at the time.\"", "According to Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven's pupil Carl Czerny wrote in 1842 that the slow movement reminded him (Czerny) of the ghost scene at the opening of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', and this was the origin of the nickname.", "James Keller also attributes the nickname to Czerny, adding, \"You may discard as erroneous the oft-encountered claim that this movement of the ''Ghost'' Trio is a reworking of music Beethoven originally sketched as the Witches Chorus for his ''Macbeth''.These pieces are representative of Beethoven's \"Middle\" stylistic period, which went from roughly 1803 to 1812, and which included many of his most famous works.", "Beethoven wrote the two piano trios while spending the summer of 1808 back once again in Heiligenstadt, Vienna, where he had completed his Symphony No.", "5 the previous summer.", "He wrote the two trios immediately after finishing his ''Sinfonia pastorale'', Symphony No.", "6.This was a period of uncertainty in Beethoven's life, in particular because he had no dependable source of income at the time.Although these two trios are sometimes numbered as \"No.", "5\" and \"No.", "6\", the numbering of Beethoven's twelve piano trios is not standardized, and in other sources the two Op.", "70 trios may be shown as having different numbers, if any." ], [ "Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1 \"Ghost\"", "* Allegro vivace e con brio, D major, 3/4* Largo assai ed espressivo, D minor, 2/4 This movement is what gave the \"Ghost Trio\" its name* Presto, D major, 4/4" ], [ "Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 70 No. 2", "* Poco sostenuto – Allegro, ma non troppo, E-flat major, 4/4 - 6/8* Allegretto, C major/minor, 2/4* Allegretto ma non troppo, A-flat major, 3/4* Finale.", "Allegro, E-flat major, 2/4The second movement is in double variation form." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "**Performances of Piano Trio Op.", "70 No.", "1 and Piano Trio Op.", "70 No.", "2 by the Claremont Trio from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Piano Trio, Op. 97 (Beethoven)" ], [ "Introduction", "Sketches for the third and fourth movements of Piano Trio, op.", "97, 1810–1811, musical autographThe '''Piano Trio''' in B-flat major, Op.", "97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811.It is commonly referred to as the '''''Archduke Trio''''', because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.", "Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven.", "Beethoven dedicated about a dozen compositions to him.The Archduke Trio was written late in Beethoven's so-called \"middle period\".", "He sketched out the draft for it in the summer of 1810 and completed the composition in March 1811.It follows the traditional four movement structure with sonata form in the first and rondo sonata form in the last movement.", "It also allows for a more prominent part for the piano than previous compositions." ], [ "Historical Context", "The Archduke Trio came to fruition just months after a highly successful premiere of his Battle Symphony (Wellingtons Sieg, Op.", "91).", "Though the relationship between Beethoven and Archduke Rudolf had its challenges, Beethoven was indebted to him for his unwavering financial support, on which account Beethoven continued to dedicate works to him.", "In this work, Beethoven increases the independence of the piano's role in relation to the violin and cello and in comparison with his earlier piano trios.", "There is much debate over the amount of time Beethoven dedicated to composing the Archduke Trio, though an earlier autograph from March 1811 could prove that it was composed in only three weeks' time.", "At this time, Beethoven was experiencing great success with his compositions and pitting publishers against each other.", "He may have been considering marriage according to personal correspondence via letters.", "Beethoven also wrote personally to Archduke Rudolf with the newly composed trio to have it copied within the archduke's palace out of fear that it would be stolen.", "This was a frequent transaction between the two and resulted in the archduke establishing a library of all of Beethoven's compositions with manuscript copies for preservation." ], [ "First performances", "Two days after completion in 1811, Beethoven played the Archduke Trio in an informal setting at the Baron Neuworth's residency with no known performance after until 1814.The first public performance was given by Beethoven himself, Ignaz Schuppanzigh (violin), and Josef Linke (cello) at the Viennese hotel ''Zum römischen Kaiser'' on April 11, 1814.At the time, Beethoven's deafness compromised his ability as a performer, and after a repeat performance a few weeks later, Beethoven never appeared again in public as a pianist.The violinist and composer Louis Spohr witnessed a rehearsal of the work, and wrote, \"on account of his deafness there was scarcely anything left of the virtuosity of the artist which had formerly been so greatly admired.", "In ''forte'' passages the poor deaf man pounded on the keys until the strings jangled, and in ''piano'' he played so softly that whole groups of notes were omitted, so that the music was unintelligible unless one could look into the pianoforte part.", "I was deeply saddened at so hard a fate.", "\"The pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles attended the premiere, and wrote about the work, \"in the case of how many compositions is the word 'new' misapplied!", "But never in Beethoven's, and least of all in this, which again is full of originality.", "His playing, aside from its intellectual element, satisfied me less, being wanting in clarity and precision; but I observed many traces of the grand style of playing which I had long recognized in his compositions.\"" ], [ "Structure", "The work is in four movements.", "A typical performance runs more than 40 minutes in length.=== Allegro moderato===This first movement is in the home key of B-flat major and is in Sonata form.", "The first two measures present a motif consisting of five notes which are used throughout the trio in various altered forms.", "The main theme remains ''piano'' until the coda where it returns at a ''fortissimo'' indication.=== Scherzo (Allegro)===Also in the home key of B-flat major, the second movement consists of a fast scherzo and trio rather than the traditional slow movement.", "Some editions show the repeats of scherzo and trio sections, but Beethoven published it originally as written out repeats.", "The triad used as motivic material in the first movement is presented as scales here in the second.=== Andante cantabile, ma però con moto===The third movement is in the key of D major and follows variation form and is approached attacca to the finale movement.", "There has been some debate over the specific tempo intended by Beethoven as to the authenticity of the inclusion of \"con moto\" in the score.=== Allegro moderato===This finale movement is as expected in the home key of B-flat major and employs a loose interpretation of the Rondo Sonata form structure: A B A' B A' (Coda) The similarities between all four movements rhythm can be seem culminated here where Beethoven increasingly shortens the rhythmic values before bar lines.", "During the lengthy coda, there is a stray in key centers as far as A major and E flat Major until returning to B-flat major at the end.", "Beethoven himself indicated during a rehearsal of the piece that it should not be played in a gentle manner, but with much energy and force." ], [ "Reception", "Though there were complaints directed towards Beethoven after the public premiere regarding his abilities as a performer due to his increasing deafness, the trio itself enjoyed much success and was quickly considered as one of his masterpieces.", "His reputation and credibility as a composer did not diminish, but rather continued to soar.", "Music journals such as the ''Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung'' viewed the trio as typical of the composer's output with nothing out of the ordinary.", "They considered the scherzo to be contrapuntal in nature, which speaks to what music textures were still acceptable for audiences at this time between the Classical and Romantic eras.", "Likewise, in 1823 the ''Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung'' issued a call to musicians to perform the piece with much dedication and inspiration." ], [ "References in popular culture", "* The trio, referred to as ''The Archduke'', plays a significant role in Elizabeth George's mystery ''A Traitor to Memory'' (2001)* In Haruki Murakami's novel ''Kafka on the Shore'' (2002), the piece and its history are used to explain the relationship between two main characters, Nakata and Hoshino, and the latter's development as a person.", "* In the Coen Brothers's film ''The Man Who Wasn't There'' (2001), the melancholic third movement of this work plays a central role, particularly in the climactic final scene in the electric chair.", "* In Colm Toibin's Nora Webster the recording figures prominently in the title character's musical development as well as the foil (the album cover) for an internal examination of how her life might have been different" ], [ "Footnotes" ], [ "External links", "** BBC Discovering Music* Concert Podcast from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum* Information and digitized early editions at the Beethoven-Haus Digital Archives" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Violin Sonata No. 5 (Beethoven)" ], [ "Introduction", "Beethoven in 1801The '''Violin Sonata No.", "5''' in F major, Op.", "24, is a four movement work for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven.", "It was first published in 1801.The work is commonly known as the '''''Spring Sonata''''' (''Frühlingssonate''), although the name \"Spring\" was apparently given to it after Beethoven's death.", "The sonata was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries, a patron to whom Beethoven also dedicated two other works of the same year—the String Quintet in C major, Op.", "29 and the Violin Sonata No.", "4—as well as his later Symphony No.", "7 in A major.The autograph manuscript of the sonata is preserved in the Austrian National Library." ], [ "Origin", "Beethoven initially intended to pair this work with his Violin Sonata No.", "4, Opus 23, and the two sonatas complement each other in both key and character.", "However, the two were not published together and thus have different opus numbers.", "The reason for the separation is unknown." ], [ "Structure", "The work is in four movements:The entire sonata takes approximately 22 minutes to perform." ], [ "See also", "Violin Sonata in A major (Beethoven)" ], [ "References", "'''Notes''''''Sources''' " ], [ "External links", " Violin Sonata Op.", "24: Beethoven's autograph manuscript in the Austrian National Library*** Performance of Violin Sonata No.", "5 by Corey Cerovsek (violin) and Paavali Jumppanen (piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Barratry (common law)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Barratry''' ( , from Old French (\"deceit, trickery\")) is a legal term that, at common law, described a criminal offense committed by people who are overly officious in instigating or encouraging prosecution of groundless litigation, or who bring repeated or persistent acts of litigation for the purposes of profit or harassment.", "Although it remains a crime in some jurisdictions, barratry has frequently been abolished as being anachronistic and obsolete.If barratrous litigation is deemed to be for the purpose of silencing critics, it is known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP).", "Jurisdictions that otherwise have no barratry laws may have SLAPP laws." ], [ "Barratry by country", "===Australia===In Australia, the term barratry is predominantly used in the first sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant.", "The concept has fallen into disuse in Australia.==== New South Wales ====The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in New South Wales by Section 4A of the Maintenance, Champerty and Barratry Abolition Act 1993.==== Victoria ====The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in Victoria by section 2 of the Abolition of Obsolete Offences Act 1969.=== Canada ===In Canada, barratry, alongside all common law offences except contempt of court, were abolished by the 1953 consolidation of the Criminal Code.=== United Kingdom =======England and Wales====In England and Wales the common law offence of '''being a common barrator''' was abolished by section 13(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Act 1967.===== History =====Being a common barrator was an offence under the common law of England.", "It was classified as a misdemeanor.", "It consisted of \"persistently stirring up quarrels in the Courts or out of them\".", "It is uncertain whether, in the ordinary way, persons charged with commission of the offence were dealt with by indictment.In 1966, the Law Commission recommended for the offence to be abolished.", "It said that there had been no indictments for this offence for \"many years\" and that, as an indictable misdemeanor, it was \"wholly obsolete\".", "Its recommendation was implemented by the Criminal Law Act 1967.==== Scotland ====In Scots law, barratry referred to the crime committed by a judge who is induced by bribery to pronounce judgment.===United States===Several jurisdictions in the United States have declared barratry (in the sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant) to be a crime as part of their tort reform efforts.", "For example, in the U.S. states of California, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, barratry is a misdemeanor.", "In Texas, barratry is a misdemeanor on the first conviction, but a felony on subsequent convictions.", "* California Penal Code Section 158: \"Common barratry is the practice of exciting groundless judicial proceedings, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months and by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000).", "\"* California Penal Code Section 159: \"No person can be convicted of common barratry except upon proof that he has excited suits or proceedings at law in at least three instances, and with a corrupt or malicious intent to vex and annoy.", "\"* Revised Code of Washington 9.12.010: \"Every person who brings on his or her own behalf, or instigates, incites, or encourages another to bring, any false suit at law or in equity in any court of this state, with intent thereby to distress or harass a defendant in the suit, or who serves or sends any paper or document purporting to be or resembling a judicial process, that is not in fact a judicial process, is guilty of a misdemeanor; and in case the person offending is an attorney, he or she may, in addition thereto be disbarred from practicing law within this state.", "\"* Virginia laws on barratry, champerty, and maintenance were overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in ''NAACP v. Button'' 371 U.S. 415 (1963).", "* Vermont Statutes Title 13, § 701: \"A person who is a common barrator shall be fined not more than $50.00 and become bound with sufficient surety for his or her good behavior for not less than one year.\"" ], [ "See also", "* Abuse of process* Ambulance chasing* ''Bleak House''* Champerty* Collegatary* Forum shopping* Frivolous or vexatious* In terrorem* Legal threat* Legal advertising* Malicious prosecution* Vexatious litigation* Isaac Wunder order" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bomber" ], [ "Introduction", "A U.S. Air Force B-52 flying over TexasA '''bomber''' is a military combat aircraft air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles.", "The first use of bombs dropped from an aircraft occurred in the Italo-Turkish War, with the first major deployments coming in the First World War and Second World War by all major airforces causing devastating damage to cities, towns, and rural areas.", "The first purpose built bombers were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913.Some bombers were decorated with nose art or victory markings.", "There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical.", "Strategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets to diminish the enemy's ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure or reducing industrial output.", "Tactical bombing is aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, and is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping.During WWII with engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles.", "Early in the Cold War however, bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and held the role of deterrence.", "With the advent of guided air-to-air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception.", "High-speed and high-altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack.", "With the advent of ICBMs the role of the bomber was brought to a more tactical focus in close air support roles, and a focus on stealth technology for strategic bombers." ], [ "Classification", "===Strategic===A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomberStrategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets such as supply bases, bridges, factories, shipyards, and cities themselves, to diminish the enemy's ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure or reducing industrial output.", "Current examples include the strategic nuclear-armed bombers: B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear', Tupolev Tu-22M 'Backfire' and Tupolev Tu-160 \"Blackjack\"; historically notable examples are the: Gotha G.IV, Avro Lancaster, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju 88, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger'.===Tactical===Tactical bombing, aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping.", "This role is filled by tactical bomber class, which crosses and blurs with various other aircraft categories: light bombers, medium bombers, dive bombers, interdictors, fighter-bombers, attack aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, and others.", "Current examples: Xian JH-7, Dassault Mirage 2000D, and the Panavia Tornado IDSHistorical examples: Ilyushin Il-2 ''Shturmovik'', Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka'', Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon and Mikoyan MiG-27." ], [ "History", "The first use of an air-dropped bomb (actually four hand grenades specially manufactured by the Italian naval arsenal) was carried out by Italian Second Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti on 1 November 1911 during the Italo-Turkish war in Libya – although his plane was not designed for the task of bombing, and his improvised attacks on Ottoman positions had little impact.", "These picric acid-filled steel spheres were nicknamed \"ballerinas\" from the fluttering fabric ribbons attached.===Early bombers===British Handley Page Type O, 1918On 16 October 1912, Bulgarian observer Prodan Tarakchiev dropped two of those bombs on the Turkish railway station of Karağaç (near the besieged Edirne) from an Albatros F.2 aircraft piloted by Radul Milkov, during the First Balkan War.", "This is deemed to be the first use of an aircraft as a bomber.The first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913.The Bristol T.B.8 was an early British single engined biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company.", "They were fitted with a prismatic Bombsight in the front cockpit and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying twelve 10 lb (4.5 kg) bombs, which could be dropped singly or as a salvo as required.The aircraft was purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and three T.B.8s, that were being displayed in Paris during December 1913 fitted with bombing equipment, were sent to France following the outbreak of war.", "Under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke, Belgium was executed on 25 November 1914.The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century.", "Early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin.", "Prior to the outbreak of war, Zeppelins, a larger and more streamlined form of airship designed by German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, were outfitted to carry bombs to attack targets at long range.", "These were the first long range, strategic bombers.", "Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, as well as navigational issues.", "German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured.", "The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the German Army lost 26 of its 50 ships.The Caproni Ca 30 was built by Gianni Caproni in Italy.", "It was a twin-boom biplane with three 67 kW (80 hp) Gnome rotary engines and first flew in October 1914.Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, and Caproni soon adopted a more conventional approach installing three 81 kW (110 hp) Fiat A.10s.", "The improved design was bought by the Italian Army and it was delivered in quantity from August 1915.While mainly used as a trainer, Avro 504s were also briefly used as bombers at the start of the First World War by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) when they were used for raids on the German airship sheds.===Strategic bombing===Bombing raids and interdiction operations were mainly carried out by French and British forces during the War as the German air arm was forced to concentrate its resources on a defensive strategy.", "Notably, bombing campaigns formed a part of the British offensive at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915, with Royal Flying Corps squadrons attacking German railway stations in an attempt to hinder the logistical supply of the German army.", "The early, improvised attempts at bombing that characterized the early part of the war slowly gave way to a more organized and systematic approach to strategic and tactical bombing, pioneered by various air power strategists of the Entente, especially Major Hugh Trenchard; he was the first to advocate that there should be \"... sustained strategic bombing attacks with a view to interrupting the enemy's railway communications ... in conjunction with the main operations of the Allied Armies.", "\"When the war started, bombing was very crude (hand-held bombs were thrown over the side) yet by the end of the war long-range bombers equipped with complex mechanical bombing computers were being built, designed to carry large loads to destroy enemy industrial targets.", "The most important bombers used in World War I were the French Breguet 14, British de Havilland DH-4, German Albatros C.III and Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets.", "The Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, was the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit during World War I.", "This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the early stages of the war, as the Central Powers had no comparable aircraft until much later.Long range bombing raids were carried out at night by multi-engine biplanes such as the Gotha G.IV (whose name was synonymous with all multi-engine German bombers) and later the Handley Page Type O; the majority of bombing was done by single-engined biplanes with one or two crew members flying short distances to attack enemy lines and immediate hinterland.", "As the effectiveness of a bomber was dependent on the weight and accuracy of its bomb load, ever larger bombers were developed starting in World War I, while considerable money was spent developing suitable bombsights.", "A USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber from World War II===World War II===With engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles.", "By the start of the war this included:* dive bomber – specially strengthened for vertical diving attacks for greater accuracy* light bomber, medium bomber and heavy bomber – subjective definitions based on size and/or payload capacity* torpedo bomber – specialized aircraft armed with torpedoes* ground attack aircraft – aircraft used against targets on a battlefield such as troop or tank concentrations* night bomber – specially equipped to operate at night when opposing defences are limited* maritime patrol – long range bombers that were used against enemy shipping, particularly submarines* fighter-bomber – a modified fighter aircraft used as a light bomberBombers of this era were not intended to attack other aircraft although most were fitted with defensive weapons.", "World War II saw the beginning of the widespread use of high speed bombers which began to minimize defensive weaponry in order to attain higher speed.", "Some smaller designs were used as the basis for night fighters.", "A number of fighters, such as the Hawker Hurricane were used as ground attack aircraft, replacing earlier conventional light bombers that proved unable to defend themselves while carrying a useful bomb load.===Cold War=== File:XH558 (G-VLCN) Avro Vulcan - Last Flight over Farnborough (cropped).jpg\|left\|thumb\|An RAF Avro Vulcan At the start of the Cold War, bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and had the role of deterrence.", "With the advent of guided air-to-air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception.", "High-speed and high-altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack.", "Designs such as the English Electric Canberra could fly faster or higher than contemporary fighters.", "When surface-to-air missiles became capable of hitting high-flying bombers, bombers were flown at low altitudes to evade radar detection and interception.Once \"stand off\" nuclear weapon designs were developed, bombers did not need to pass over the target to make an attack; they could fire and turn away to escape the blast.", "Nuclear strike aircraft were generally finished in bare metal or anti-flash white to minimize absorption of thermal radiation from the flash of a nuclear explosion.", "The need to drop conventional bombs remained in conflicts with non-nuclear powers, such as the Vietnam War or Malayan Emergency.The development of large strategic bombers stagnated in the later part of the Cold War because of spiraling costs and the development of the Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – which was felt to have similar deterrent value while being impossible to intercept.", "Because of this, the United States Air Force XB-70 Valkyrie program was cancelled in the early 1960s; the later B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft entered service only after protracted political and development problems.", "Their high cost meant that few were built and the 1950s-designed B-52s are projected to remain in use until the 2040s.", "Similarly, the Soviet Union used the intermediate-range Tu-22M 'Backfire' in the 1970s, but their Mach 3 bomber project stalled.", "The Mach 2 Tu-160 'Blackjack' was built only in tiny numbers, leaving the 1950s Tupolev Tu-16 and Tu-95 'Bear' heavy bombers to continue being used into the 21st century.The British strategic bombing force largely came to an end when the V bomber force was phased out; the last of which left service in 1983.The French Mirage IV bomber version was retired in 1996, although the Mirage 2000N and the Rafale have taken on this role.", "The only other nation that fields strategic bombing forces is China, which has a number of Xian H-6s.The U.S Air Force B-2 stealth bomber ===Modern era===Currently, only the United States Air Force, the Russian Aerospace Forces' Long-Range Aviation command, and China's People's Liberation Army Air Force operate strategic heavy bombers.", "Other air forces have transitioned away from dedicated bombers in favor of multirole combat aircraft.At present, these air forces are each developing stealth replacements for their legacy bomber fleets, the USAF with the Northrop Grumman B-21, the Russian Aerospace Forces with the PAK DA, and the PLAAF with the Xian H-20., the B-21 is expected to enter service by 2026–2027.The B-21 would be capable of loitering near target areas for extended periods of time.", "Currently the U.S Air bombers altitudes are in the range of SIPER-2 Air defense system (Turkish) and in the range of Russian S-400 air defense systems." ], [ "Other uses", "Occasionally, military aircraft have been used to bomb ice jams with limited success as part of an effort to clear them.", "In 2018, the Swedish Air Force dropped bombs on a forest fire, snuffing out flames with the aid of the blast waves.", "The fires had been raging in an area contaminated with unexploded ordnance, rendering them difficult to extinguish for firefighters." ], [ "See also", "* Aerial bombing of cities* Air interdiction* Assembly ship* Carpet bombing* Fighter aircraft* List of bomber aircraft* Offensive counter air* Strategic bomber" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Cue sports" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Cue sports''' are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as .", "Cue sports are also collectively referred to as '''billiards''', though this term has more specific connotations in some varieties of English.Interior view of billiard hall, Toledo, OhioThere are three major subdivisions of games within cue sports:Carom billiards, played on tables without , typically ten feet in length, including straight rail, balkline, one-cushion carom, three-cushion billiards, artistic billiards, and four-ballPocket billiards (or pool), played on six-pocket tables of seven, eight, nine, or ten-foot length, including among others eight-ball (the world's most widely played cue sport), nine-ball (the dominant professional game), ten-ball, straight pool (the formerly dominant pro game), one-pocket, and bank poolSnooker, English billiards, and Russian pyramid, played on a large, six-pocket table (dimensions just under 12 ft by 6 ft), all of which are classified separately from pool based on distinct development histories, player culture, rules, and terminology.Billiards has a long history from its inception in the 15th century, with many mentions in the works of Shakespeare, including the line \"let's to billiards\" in ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1606–07).", "Enthusiasts of the sport have included Mozart, Louis XIV of France, Marie Antoinette, Peter I, Immanuel Kant, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, George Washington, Jules Grévy, Charles Dickens, George Armstrong Custer, Theodore Roosevelt, Lewis Carroll, W. C. Fields, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason." ], [ "History", "Billiards in the 1620s was played with a port, a king pin, pockets, and maces.All cue sports are generally regarded to have evolved into indoor games from outdoor stick-and-ball lawn games, specifically those retroactively termed ground billiards, and as such to be related to the historical games jeu de mail and palle-malle, and modern trucco, croquet, and golf, and more distantly to the stickless bocce and bowls.The word ''billiard'' may have evolved from the French word or , meaning 'stick', in reference to the , an implement similar to a golf putter, and which was the forerunner to the modern cue; however, the term's origin could have been from French , meaning 'ball'.", "The modern term ''cue sports'' can be used to encompass the ancestral mace games, and even the modern cueless variants, such as finger billiards, for historical reasons.", "''Cue'' itself came from , the French word for 'tail'.", "This refers to the early practice of using the tail or butt of the mace, instead of its club foot, to strike the ball when it lay against a .The sons of Louis, Grand Dauphin, playing the 'royal game of fortifications', an early form of obstacle billiards with similarities to modern miniature golf A recognizable form of billiards was played outdoors in the 1340s, and was reminiscent of croquet.", "King Louis XI of France (1461–1483) had the first known indoor billiard table.", "Louis XIV further refined and popularized the game, and it swiftly spread among the French nobility.", "While the game had long been played on the ground, this version appears to have died out (aside from trucco) in the 17th century, in favor of croquet, golf and bowling games, even as table billiards had grown in popularity as an indoor activity.", "The imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, complained when her was taken away (by those who eventually became her executioners, who were to cover her body with the table's cloth).", "A 1588 inventory of the Duke of Norfolk's estate included a \"billyard bord coered with a greene cloth ... three billyard sticks and 11 balls of yvery\".", "Billiards grew to the extent that by 1727, it was being played in almost every Paris café.", "In England, the game was developing into a very popular activity for members of the gentry.By 1670, the thin butt end of the mace began to be used not only for shots under the cushion (which itself was originally only there as a preventative method to stop balls from rolling off), but players increasingly preferred it for other shots as well.", "The footless, straight cue as it is known today was finally developed by about 1800.Initially, the mace was used to push the balls, rather than strike them.", "The newly developed striking cue provided a new challenge.", "Cushions began to be stuffed with substances to allow the balls to rebound, in order to enhance the appeal of the game.", "After a transitional period where only the better players would use cues, the cue came to be the first choice of equipment.The demand for tables and other equipment was initially met in Europe by John Thurston and other furniture makers of the era.", "The early balls were made from wood and clay, but the rich preferred to use ivory.Early billiard games involved various pieces of additional equipment, including the \"arch\" (related to the croquet hoop), \"port\" (a different hoop, often rectangular), and \"king\" (a pin or skittle near the arch) in the early 17th to late 18th century, but other game variants, relying on the cushions (and pockets cut into them), were being formed that would go on to play fundamental roles in the development of modern billiards.Illustration of a three-ball pocket billiards game in early 19th century Tübingen, Germany, using a table much longer than the modern typeThe early croquet-like games eventually led to the development of the carom billiards category.", "These games are played with three or sometimes four balls on a table without holes in which the goal is generally to strike one with a , then have the cue ball rebound off of one or more of the cushions and strike a second object ball.", "Variations include straight rail, balkline, one-cushion, three-cushion, five-pins, and four-ball, among others.One type of obstacle remained a feature of many tables, originally as a hazard and later as a target, in the form of pockets, or holes partly cut into the table bed and partly into the cushions, leading to the rise of pocket billiards, including \"pool\" games such as eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, and one-pocket; Russian pyramid; snooker; English billiards; and others.In the United States, pool and billiards had died out for a bit, but between 1878 and 1956 the games became very popular.", "Players in annual championships began to receive their own cigarette cards.", "This was mainly due to the fact that it was a popular pastime for troops to take their minds off from battle.", "However, by the end of World War II, pool and billiards began to die down once again.", "It was not until 1961 when the film ''The Hustler'' came out that sparked a new interest in the game.", "Now the game is generally a well-known game and has many players of all different skill levels." ], [ "As a sport", "The games with regulated international professional competition, if not others, have been referred to as \"sports\" or \"sporting\" events, not simply \"games\", since 1893 at the latest.", "Quite a variety of particular games (i.e., sets of rules and equipment) are the subject of present-day competition, including many of those already mentioned, with competition being especially broad in nine-ball, snooker, three-cushion, and eight-ball.Snooker, though a pocket billiards variant and closely related in its equipment and origin to the game of English billiards, is a professional sport organized at an international level, and its rules bear little resemblance to those of modern pool, pyramid, and other such games.A \"Billiards\" category encompassing pool, snooker, and carom has been part of the World Games since 2001." ], [ "Equipment", "===Billiard balls=== from left to right: Billiard balls vary from game to game, in size, design and quantity.Russian pyramid and kaisa have a size of 68 mm ( in).", "In Russian pyramid there are 16 balls, as in pool, but 15 are white and numbered, and the is usually red.", "In kaisa, five balls are used: the yellow (called the ''kaisa'' in Finnish), two red object balls, and the two white cue balls (usually differentiated by one cue ball having a dot or other marking on it and each of which serves as an object ball for the opponent).Carom billiards balls are larger than pool balls, having a diameter of 61.5 mm ( in), and come as a set of two cue balls (one colored or marked) and an object ball (or two object balls in the case of the game four-ball).Standard pool balls are 57.15 mm ( in), are used in many pool games found throughout the world, come in sets of two of object balls, seven and seven , an and a ; the balls are racked differently for different games (some of which do not use the entire ball set).", "Blackball (English-style eight-ball) sets are similar, but have unmarked of and balls instead of solids and stripes, known as \"casino\" style.", "They are used principally in Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, though not exclusively, since they are unsuited for playing nine-ball.", "The diameter varies but is typically slightly smaller than that of standard solids-and-stripes sets.Snooker balls are smaller than American-style pool balls with a diameter of 52.5 mm ( in), and come in sets of 22 (15 reds, 6 \"\", and a cue ball).", "English billiard balls are the same size as snooker balls and come in sets of three balls (two cue balls and a red object ball).", "Other games, such as bumper pool, have custom ball sets.Billiard balls have been made from many different materials since the start of the game, including clay, bakelite, celluloid, crystallite, ivory, plastic, steel and wood.", "The dominant material from 1627 until the early 20th century was ivory.", "The search for a substitute for ivory use was not for environmental concerns, but based on economic motivation and fear of danger for elephant hunters.", "It was in part spurred on by a New York billiard table manufacturer who announced a prize of $10,000 for a substitute material.", "The first viable substitute was celluloid, invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1868, but the material was volatile, sometimes exploding during manufacture, and was highly flammable.===Tables===Pool table with equipmentThere are many sizes and styles of billiard tables.", "Generally, tables are rectangles twice as long as they are wide.", "Table sizes are typically referred to by the nominal length of their longer dimension.", "Full-size snooker tables are long.", "Carom billiards tables are typically .", "Regulation pool tables are , though pubs and other establishments catering to casual play will typically use tables which are often coin-operated, nicknamed .", "Formerly, ten-foot pool tables were common, but such tables are now considered antiques.High-quality tables have a made of thick slate, in three pieces to prevent warping and changes due to temperature and humidity.", "The slates on modern carom tables are usually heated to stave off moisture and provide a consistent playing surface.", "Smaller bar tables are most commonly made with a single piece of slate.", "Pocket billiards tables of all types normally have six pockets, three on each side (four corner pockets, and two side or middle pockets).===Cloth===Women playing on an elaborately decorated green-covered table in an early 1880s advertising posterAll types of tables are covered with billiard cloth (often called \"felt\", but actually a woven wool or wool/nylon blend called baize).", "Cloth has been used to cover billiards tables since the 15th century.Bar or tavern tables, which get a lot of play, use \"slower\", more durable cloth.", "The cloth used in upscale pool (and snooker) halls and home billiard rooms is \"faster\" (i.e., provides less friction, allowing the balls to roll farther across the table ), and competition-quality pool cloth is made from 100% worsted wool.", "Snooker cloth traditionally has a nap (consistent fiber directionality) and balls behave differently when rolling against versus along with the nap.The cloth of the billiard table has traditionally been green, reflecting its origin (originally the grass of ancestral lawn games), and has been so colored since at least the 16th century, but it is also produced in other colors such as red and blue.", "Television broadcasting of pool as well as 3 Cushion billiards prefers a blue colored cloth which was chosen for better visibility and contrast against colored balls.===Rack===Aluminium billiard rack that is used for 8-ball, 9-ball, and straight poolA rack is the name given to a frame (usually wood, plastic or aluminium) used to organize billiard balls at the beginning of a game.", "This is traditionally triangular in shape, but varies with the type of billiards played.", "There are two main types of racks; the more common triangular shape which is used for eight-ball and straight pool and the diamond-shaped rack used for nine-ball.There are several other types of less common rack types that are also used, based on a \"template\" to hold the billiard balls tightly together.", "Most commonly it is a thin plastic sheet with diamond-shaped cut-outs that hold the balls that is placed on the table with the balls set on top of the rack.", "The rack is used to set up the \"break\" and removed once the break has been completed and no balls are obstructing the template.===Cues===Billiards games are mostly played with a stick known as a cue.", "A cue is usually either a one-piece tapered stick or a two-piece stick divided in the middle by a joint of metal or phenolic resin.", "High-quality cues are generally two pieces and are made of a hardwood, generally maple for billiards and ash for snooker.The end of the cue is of larger circumference and is intended to be gripped by a player's hand.", "The of the cue is of smaller circumference, usually tapering to an terminus called a (usually made of fiberglass or brass in better cues), where a rounded leather is affixed, flush with the ferrule, to make final contact with balls.", "The tip, in conjunction with chalk, can be used to impart spin to the cue ball when it is not hit in its center.Cheap cues are generally made of pine, low-grade maple (and formerly often of ramin, which is now endangered), or other low-quality wood, with inferior plastic ferrules.", "A quality cue can be expensive and may be made of exotic woods and other expensive materials which are artfully inlaid in decorative patterns.", "Many modern cues are also made, like golf clubs, with high-tech materials such as woven graphite.", "Recently, carbon fiber woven composites have been developed and utilized by top professional players and amateurs.", "Advantages include less flexibility and no worry of nicks, scratches, or damages to the cue.", "Skilled players may use more than one cue during a game, including a separate cue with a hard phenolic resin tip for the opening break shot, and another, shorter cue with a special tip for .===Mechanical bridge===The mechanical bridge, sometimes called a \"rake\", \"crutch\", \"bridge stick\" or simply \"bridge\", and in the UK a \"rest\", is used to extend a player's reach on a shot where the cue ball is too far away for normal hand bridging.", "It consists of a stick with a grooved metal or plastic head which the cue slides on.Some players, especially current or former snooker players, use a screw-on cue butt extension instead of or in addition to the mechanical bridge.Bridge head design is varied, and not all designs (especially those with cue shaft-enclosing rings, or wheels on the bottom of the head), are broadly tournament-approved.In Italy, a longer, thicker cue is typically available for this kind of tricky shot.For snooker, bridges are normally available in three forms, their use depending on how the player is hampered; the standard rest is a simple cross, the 'spider' has a raised arch around 12 cm with three grooves to rest the cue in and for the most awkward of shots, the 'giraffe' (or 'swan' in England) which has a raised arch much like the 'spider' but with a slender arm reaching out around 15 cm with the groove.===Chalk===Billiard chalk is applied to the tip of the cue.Chalk is applied to the tip of the cue stick, ideally before every shot, to increase the tip's friction coefficient so that when it impacts the cue ball on a non-center hit, no (unintentional slippage between the cue tip and the struck ball) occurs.", "Chalk is an important element to make good shots in pool or snooker.", "Cue tip chalk is not actually the substance typically referred to as \"chalk\" (generally calcium carbonate), but any of several proprietary compounds, with a silicate base.", "It was around the time of the Industrial Revolution that newer compounds formed that provided better grip for the ball.", "This is when the English began to experiment with side spin or applying curl to the ball.", "This was shortly introduced to the American players and is how the term \"putting English on the ball\" came to be.", "\"Chalk\" may also refer to a cone of fine, white ; like talc (talcum powder) it can be used to reduce friction between the cue and bridge hand during shooting, for a smoother stroke.", "Some brands of hand chalk are made of compressed talc.", "(Tip chalk is not used for this purpose because it is abrasive, hand-staining and difficult to apply.)", "Many players prefer a slick pool glove over hand chalk or talc because of the messiness of these powders; buildup of particles on the cloth will affect ball behavior and necessitate more-frequent cloth cleaning.Cue tip chalk (invented in its modern form by straight rail billiard pro William A. Spinks and chemist William Hoskins in 1897) is made by crushing silica and the abrasive substance corundum or aloxite (aluminium oxide), into a powder.", "It is combined with dye (originally and most commonly green or blue-green, like traditional billiard cloth, but available today, like the cloth, in many colours) and a binder (glue).", "Each manufacturer's brand has different qualities, which can significantly affect play.", "High humidity can also impair the effectiveness of chalk.", "Harder, drier compounds are generally considered superior by most players." ], [ "Major games", "There are two main varieties of billiard games: '''carom''' and '''pocket'''.The main carom billiards games are straight rail, balkline and three cushion billiards.", "All are played on a pocketless table with three balls; two cue balls and one object ball.", "In all, players shoot a cue ball so that it makes contact with the opponent's cue ball as well as the object ball.", "Others of multinational interest are four-ball and five-pins.The most globally popular of the large variety of pocket games are pool and snooker.", "A third, English billiards, has some features of carom billiards.", "English billiards used to be one of the two most-competitive cue sports along with the carom game balkline, at the turn of the 20th century and is still enjoyed today in Commonwealth countries.", "Another pocket game, Russian pyramid and its variants like kaisa are popular in the former Eastern bloc.===Games played on a carom billiards table=======Straight rail====In straight rail, a player scores a point and may continue shooting each time his cue ball makes contact with both other balls.", "Some of the best players of straight billiards developed the skill to the balls in a corner or along the same rail for the purpose of playing a series of to score a seemingly limitless number of points.The first straight rail professional tournament was held in 1879 where Jacob Schaefer Sr. scored 690 points in a single turn (that is, 690 separate strokes without a miss).", "With the balls repetitively hit and barely moving in endless \"nursing\", there was little for the fans to watch.====Balkline====In light of these skill developments in straight rail, the game of balkline soon developed to make it impossible for a player to keep the balls gathered in one part of the table for long, greatly limiting the effectiveness of nurse shots.", "A is a line parallel to one end of a billiards table.", "In the game of balkline, the players have to drive at least one object ball past a balkline parallel to each rail after a specified number of points have been scored.====Cushion billiards====Another solution was to require a player's cue ball to make contact with the rail cushions in the process of contacting the other balls.", "This in turn saw the three-cushion version emerge, where the cue ball must make three separate cushion contacts during a shot.", "This is difficult enough that even the best players can only manage to average one to two points per turn.", "This is sometimes described as \"hardest to learn\" and \"require most skill\" of all billiards.Michael Phelan's 1859 book, ''The Game of Billiards''===Games played on a pool table===There are many variations of games played on a standard pool table.", "Popular pool games include eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool and one-pocket.", "Even within games types (e.g.", "eight-ball), there may be variations, and people may play recreationally using relaxed or local rules.", "A few of the more popular examples of pool games are given below.In eight-ball and nine-ball, the object is to sink object balls until one can legally pocket the winning eponymous \"\".", "Well-known but waning in popularity is straight pool, in which players seek to continue sinking balls, rack after rack if they can, to reach a pre-determined winning score (typically 150).", "Related to nine-ball, another well-known game is rotation, where the lowest-numbered object ball on the table must be struck first, although any object ball may be pocketed (i.e., combination shot).", "Each pocketed ball is worth its number, and the player with the highest score at the end of the rack is the winner.", "Since there are only 120 points available (1 + 2 + 3 ⋯ + 15 = 120), scoring 61 points leaves no opportunity for the opponent to catch up.", "In both one-pocket and bank pool, the players must sink a set number of balls; respectively, all in a particular , or all by .", "In snooker, players score points by alternately potting and various special \"\".====Two-player or -team games====Eight-ball: The goal is to () all of one's designated of balls (either vs. , or vs. , depending upon the equipment), and then pocket the in a pocket.", "Nine-ball: The goal is to pocket the 9 ball; the initial contact of the each turn must be with the lowest-numbered remaining on the table; there are numerous variants such as seven-ball, six-ball, and the older forms of three-ball and ten-ball, that simply use a different number of balls and have a different .", "Straight pool (a.k.a.", "14.1 continuous pool): The goal is to reach a predetermined number of (e.g.", "100); a point is earned by pocketing any called ball into a designated pocket; game play is by of 15 balls, and the last object ball of a rack is not pocketed, but left on the table with the opponent re-racking the remaining 14 before game play continues.", "Bank pool: The goal is to reach a predetermined number of points; a point is earned by pocketing any called ball by it into a designated pocket using one or more .====Speed pool====Speed pool is a standard billiards game where the balls must be pocketed in as little time as possible.", "Rules vary greatly from tournament to tournament.", "The International Speed Pool Challenge has been held annually since 2006.===Games played on a snooker table =======English billiards====Dating to approximately 1800, English billiards, called simply billiards in many former British colonies and in the UK where it originated, was originally called the ''winning and losing carambole game'', folding in the names of three predecessor games, ''the winning game'', ''the losing game'' and ''the carambole game'' (an early form of straight rail), that combined to form it.", "The game features both (caroms) and the pocketing of balls as objects of play.", "English billiards requires two and a red .", "The object of the game is to score either a fixed number of points, or score the most points within a set time frame, determined at the start of the game.Points are awarded for:Two-ball cannons: striking both the object ball and the other (opponent's) cue ball on the same shot (2 points).", ": the red ball (3 points); potting the other cue ball (2 points).", " (or \"in-offs\"): potting one's cue ball by cannoning off another ball (3 points if the red ball was hit first; 2 points if the other cue ball was hit first, or if the red and other cue ball were \"\", i.e., hit simultaneously).====Snooker====Snooker is a pocket billiards game originated by British officers stationed in India during the 19th century, based on earlier pool games such as black pool and life pool.", "The name of the game became generalized to also describe one of its prime strategies: to \"\" the opposing player by causing that player to foul or leave an opening to be exploited.In the United Kingdom, snooker is by far the most popular cue sport at the competitive level, and major national pastime along with association football and cricket.", "It is played in many Commonwealth countries as well, and in areas of Asia, becoming increasingly popular in China in particular.", "Snooker is uncommon in North America, where pool games such as eight-ball and nine-ball dominate, and Latin America and Continental Europe, where carom games dominate.", "The first World Snooker Championship was held in 1927, and it has been held annually since then with few exceptions.", "The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) was established in 1968 to regulate the professional game, while the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) regulates the amateur games." ], [ "List of cue sports and games", "===Carom games===Artistic billiardsBalklineFour-ball billiards (, )One-cushion billiardsStraight railThree-cushion billiards===Pocket games=======Pool games========Non-pool pocket games====Golf billiardsRussian pyramid===Snooker games===SnookerSix-red snookerAmerican snookerBrazilian snookerVolunteer snookerSnooker plusPower Snooker===Games with pockets and caroms===Bottle poolCowboy poolEnglish billiardsKaisa===Obstacle and target games===BagatelleBar billiardsBumper poolDanish pin billiardsFive-pin billiards'''' (or nine-pin billiards)===Disk games===Novuss (uses full-length cues)===Cueless games===BoccetteCrud" ], [ "See also", "Glossary of cue sports termsBCA Hall of FameHustlingCue sports techniques" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== Sources ===* " ], [ "External links", "" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Big Dipper (disambiguation)" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Big/Great Dipper''' is the American English term for seven stars of the Ursa Major constellation (The Plough in British English).", "'''Big Dipper''' also may refer to:" ], [ "Entertainment", "* Big Dipper (Battersea Park), a wooden roller coaster operating in Battersea Park, London, England, from 1951 until 1972* Big Dipper (Blackpool), a wooden roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England* Big Dipper (Geauga Lake), a wooden roller coaster formerly at the now defunct Geauga Lake Park in Ohio, US* Big Dipper (Luna Park Sydney), a wooden roller coaster operating at Luna Park Sydney, Australia from 1935 until 1981* Big Dipper (Michigan's Adventure), a steel roller coaster in Michigan, US* Cyclone (Dreamworld), a steel roller coaster which operated as Big Dipper at Luna Park Sydney, Australia from 1995 to 2001" ], [ "Sport", "* Wilt Chamberlain (1936–1999), American basketball player* Robert DiPierdomenico (born 1958), Australian rules footballer* Chris Duncan (born 1981), American baseball player" ], [ "Music", "* Big Dipper (band), a 1980s-1990s Boston alternative-rock band* Big Dipper, professional name of American rapper Dan Stermer.", "* ''Big Dipper'' (album), a 2003 album by Drop Trio* ''The Great Dipper'' (album), a 2015 album by Roy Kim* Big Dipper (Elton John song), a 1978 song by Elton John* \"Big Dipper\", a song by Jethro Tull from their 1976 album ''Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!", "''* \"Big Dipper\", a song by Built to Spill from their 1994 album ''There's Nothing Wrong with Love''* \"Big Dipper\", a song by Cracker from their 1996 album ''The Golden Age (Cracker album)''* \"Big Dipper\", a song by Death Grips from their 2014 album ''The Powers That B''" ], [ "Other uses", "* Big Dipper Ice Arena, in Fairbanks, Alaska" ], [ "See also", "* Beidou (disambiguation), Chinese equivalent of the asterism* Little Dipper (disambiguation)* Starry Plough (disambiguation)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bursa" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''' (; Greek: Προῦσα Prussa, Latin: Prusa), historically known as '''Prusa''', is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province.", "The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country.", "Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa.As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yıldırım and Nilüfer) plus Gürsu and Kestel.Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363.The city was referred to as (, meaning \"God's Gift\" in Ottoman Turkish, a name of Persian origin) during the Ottoman period, while a more recent nickname is (\"\") regarding the parks and gardens located across the city, as well as to the vast, varied forests of the surrounding region.", "Mount Uludağ, known in classical antiquity as the Mysian Olympus or alternatively Bithynian Olympus, towers over the city, and has a well-known ski resort.", "Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain.", "The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city's main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period.", "Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums.The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century." ], [ "History", "Athena, bronze, 2nd century AD, at Bursa Archaeological MuseumThe earliest known human settlement near Bursa's current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC.", "It was followed by the ancient Greek city of Cius, which Philip V of Macedon granted to Prusias I, the King of Bithynia, in 202 BC.", "King Prusias rebuilt the city with the advice of general Hannibal of Carthage, who took refuge with Prusias after losing the war with the Roman Republic and renamed it '''Prusa''' (; sometimes rendered as ''Prussa'').", "After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, bequeathed the entire kingdom to the Roman Empire in 74 BC.", "An early Roman Treasure was found near Bursa in the early 20th century.", "Composed of a woman's silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum.Under Byzantine rule, the town became a garrison city in 562 AD, where imperial guards were stationed there.", "Already by the mid-6th century, Bursa was known as a famous silk textile manufacturing centre.Bursa (from the Greek \"Prusa\") became the first major capital city of the early Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326.As a result, the city witnessed a considerable amount of urban growth such as the building of hospitals, caravanserais and madrasas throughout the 14th century, with the first official Ottoman mint established in the city.", "After conquering Edirne (Adrianople) in East Thrace, the Ottomans turned it into the new capital city in 1363, but Bursa retained its spiritual and commercial importance in the Ottoman Empire.", "The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I built the Bayezid Külliyesi (Bayezid I theological complex) in Bursa between 1390 and 1395 and the Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) between 1396 and 1400.After Bayezid was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the forces of Timur in 1402, the latter's grandson, Muhammad Sultan Mirza, had the city pillaged and burned.", "Despite this, Bursa remained as the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453.The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487.During the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal silk products.", "Aside from the local silk production, the city imported raw silk from Iran, and occasionally from China, and was the main production centre for the kaftans, pillows, embroidery and other silk products for the Ottoman palaces until the 17th century.", "Devshirme system was also implemented in Bursa and its surroundings where it was negotiated between the authorities and locals.", "For example, during the 1603-4 levy, the villagers of a Christian village called Eğerciler, in Bursa, declared that they were responsible for providing sheep to the capital, and the children of the village were very much needed as shepherds.", "They asserted that even though they were not obliged to give any children to the army, the officers took some anyway, and that they should be returned.", "The villagers’ claim that it was in tremendous need of future shepherds was taken seriously by the state, and a decree commanded the return of the children.", "Bursa was also notable for its numerous hammams (bath) built during the reign of Suleiman such as the Yeni Kaplıca.", "From 1867 until 1922, Bursa was the capital of Hüdavendigâr vilayet.", "As it was a significant cultural and trade hub, traders, most of whom were Armenians, became very wealthy.", "The most influential study of Bursa's silk trade and economic history is the work of Ottomanist Halil İnalcık.In July 1915, thousands of Greek Orthodox Christians sought refuge in Bursa after having been forced out of their coastal villages by orders of the Young Turk government.", "This worsened the situation of the native Greeks of Bursa, who had managed to survive through the attacks and boycotts of 1914.A short time late, deportation orders came for Bursa's Armenians.", "Protestant Armenians were initially spared from deportation, but villagers that tried to resist were massacred.", "Most of the deportees would perish in what became known as the Armenian Genocide.", "Subsequently, large numbers of Kurds and Circassians, as well as Syrians from the south, were settled in the homes and towns of the deported Christians, radically altering the demographic composition of the town and region.", "According to Mustafa Zahit Oner, in the last days of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, the Greek Army attempted to burn the center of Bursa however they were stopped by the allied commanders and were only able to burn the train station together with Turkish civilians in it.", "The Cretan artilleryman Vasilios Moustakis describes the event with the following words: \"The Infantry had come through and set fire to the station.", "We saw an English general on horseback, who ordered the fire to be put out because if Bursa were burned, it would be harming Greece\"Ottoman architecture in BursaFollowing the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Bursa became one of the industrial centres of the country.", "The economic development of the city was followed by population growth, and Bursa became the 4th most populous city in Turkey.The city has traditionally been a pole of attraction, and was a major centre for refugees from various ethnic backgrounds who immigrated to Anatolia from the Balkans during the loss of the Ottoman territories in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.", "The most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place between the 1940s and 1990s, when the People's Republic of Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey.", "About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa (especially in the Hürriyet neighbourhood).", "With the construction of new industrial zones in the period between 1980 and 2000, many people from the eastern provinces of Turkey came and settled in Bursa." ], [ "Geography", "The area covered by Bursa corresponds to 1.41% of Turkey's land area, which makes the city 27th in the country in terms of land area.", "Bursa stands on the northwestern slopes of Mount Uludağ (known as the Mysian Olympus in classical antiquity), on the banks of the Nilüfer River, in the southern Marmara Region.", "It is the capital city of Bursa Province, which borders the Sea of Marmara and Yalova to the north; Kocaeli and Sakarya to the northeast; Bilecik to the east; and Kütahya and Balıkesir to the south.=== Climate ===Bursa has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Csa'') under the Köppen classification, and a dry-hot summer subtropical climate (Csa) under the Trewartha classification.", "The city has hot, dry summers that last from June until September.", "Winters are cool and damp, also containing the most rainfall.", "There can be snow on the ground which will last for a week or two.", "Air pollution is a chronic problem in Bursa." ], [ "Economy", "Bursa is one of the leading industrial and agricultural production centres in Turkey.Bursa is the largest production centre of the Turkish automotive industry.", "Factories of motor vehicle producers like Fiat, Renault and Karsan, as well as automotive parts producers like Bosch, Mako, Valeo, Johnson Controls, Delphi have been active in the city for decades.", "The textile and food industries are equally strong, with Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola and other beverage brands, as well as fresh and canned food industries being present in the city's organized industrial zones.Apart from its large automotive industry, Bursa also produces a substantial amount of dairy products (by Sütaş), processed food (by ), and beverages (by ).Nilüfer River and Hüdavendigar ParkTraditionally, Bursa was famous for being the largest centre of silk trade in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman empires, during the period of the lucrative Silk Road.", "The city is still a major centre for textiles in Turkey and is home to the Bursa International Textiles and Trade Centre (, or ).", "Bursa was also known for its fertile soil and agricultural activities, which have decreased in the recent decades due to the heavy industrialization of the city.Bursa is a major centre for tourism.", "One of the most popular skiing resorts in Turkey is located on Mount Uludağ, just next to the city proper.", "Bursa's thermal baths have been used for therapeutical purposes since Roman times.", "Apart from the baths that are operated by hotels, Uludağ University has a physical therapy centre which also makes use of thermal water." ], [ "Transportation", "Tram type \"Silkworm\" is produced in Bursa by Turkish manufacturer Durmazlar.Bursa has a metro (Bursaray), trams and a bus system for inner-city public transport, while taxi cabs are also available.", "Bursa's Yenişehir Airport is away from the city centre.", "The citizens of Bursa also prefer Istanbul's airports such as Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport for flights to foreign countries, due to Istanbul's proximity to Bursa.", "There are numerous daily bus and ferry services between the two cities.Bursa – Mt.", "Uludağ gondola liftThe long Bursa Uludağ Gondola () connects Bursa with the ski resort areas high on the mountain Uludağ.The only railway station in Bursa is the Harmancık station on the Balıkesir-Kütahya railway, which was opened in 1930.The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bursa, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 62 min.", "12% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day.", "The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 18 min, while 31% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day.", "The average distance people usually ride in a single trip on public transit is , while 17% travel for over in a single direction." ], [ "Education", "Bursa Technical University campusBursa has two public universities and one private university.", "Uludağ University, founded in 1975 in Görükle, is the oldest institution of higher education in the city.", "Founded first as the Bursa University then renamed Uludağ University in 1982, the university has a student body of 47,000, one of the largest in Turkey.", "Bursa Technical University is the second public university of Bursa and was established in 2010, beginning education in the 2011–2012 academic year.The first private university in Bursa was the Bursa Orhangazi University, which started education in the 2012–2013 academic year.", "However, Orhangazi University was shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt of July 2016.Istanbul Commerce University has opened graduate programs in Bursa in 2013.The vocational high schools, Bursa Sports High School, and Bursa Agriculture Vocational High School, are located in Osmangazi district." ], [ "Sports", "Timsah Arena is the home of Bursaspor, which won the Süper Lig (Super League) championship title at the end of the 2009–10 season.The city has one professional football club, Bursaspor, which formerly competed in the Süper Lig (Super League), the top-tier of Turkish football, until finishing 16th at the end of the 2018–19 Süper Lig season and being relegated to the TFF First League.", "A few years earlier, Bursaspor had managed to become the Turkish champions at the end of the 2009–10 Süper Lig season, thereby becoming the second Anatolian club to ever win the Süper Lig championship title after Trabzonspor.", "Henceforth, Bursaspor was often considered to be one of the five biggest football clubs in Turkey, along with Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor.", "The club's relegation to the TFF First League at the end of the 2018–19 season was a major shock for its fans and became a first in the history of Turkish football.", "Never had a club which had won the Süper Lig championship title been relegated.Bursaspor plays its home games at the Timsah Arena (meaning \"Crocodile Arena\", crocodile being the mascot of the team), which has a seating capacity of 45,000.The city has a professional basketball team in the Turkish Basketball League, Tofaş S.K., which is among the most successful teams.", "The club plays its games at the Tofaş Nilüfer Sports Hall." ], [ "Politics", "The current Mayor of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality is Alinur Aktaş from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), in office since 2019, the AKP coalition won 49.6% of the vote against the CHP coalition which got 47% of the vote." ], [ "Main sights", "===Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque)===Grand Mosque and Orhan Gazi Square in BursaUlu Cami is the largest mosque in Bursa and a landmark of early Ottoman architecture, which incorporated many elements from Seljuk architecture.Ordered by Sultan Bayezid I, the mosque was designed and built by architect Ali Neccar in 1396–1400.It is a large and rectangular building, with a total of twenty domes that are arranged in four rows of five, and are supported by 12 columns.", "Supposedly the twenty domes were built instead of the twenty separate mosques which Sultan Bayezid I had promised for winning the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396.The mosque has two minarets.Bursa Atatürk MuseumInside the mosque, there are 192 monumental wall inscriptions written by the famous calligraphers of that period.", "There is also a fountain (şadırvan) where worshipers can perform ritual ablutions before prayer; the dome over the şadırvan is capped by a skylight which creates a soft, serene light below; thus playing an important role in the illumination of the large building.Yeşil MosqueThe horizontally spacious and dimly lit interior is designed to feel peaceful and contemplative.", "The subdivisions of space formed by multiple domes and pillars create a sense of privacy and even intimacy.", "This atmosphere contrasts with the later Ottoman mosques (see for example the works of Suleiman the Magnificent's chief architect, Mimar Sinan.)", "The mosques that were built after the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and influenced by the design of the 6th century Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sophia, had increasingly elevated and large central domes, which create a vertical emphasis that is intended to be more overwhelming; to convey the divine power of Allah, the majesty of the Ottoman Sultan, and the governmental authority of the Ottoman State.Botanical Park of BursaThe village of Cumalıkızık, near Bursa, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Ottoman era historic houses.=== Places of interest ===A brief list of the places of interest in and around Bursa is presented below.", "For a longer list, see the places of interest in Bursa.==== Mosques and külliye complexes ====* Bursa Grand Mosque and * Yeşil Mosque and * Bayezid I Mosque and * Muradiye Mosque and * Emir Sultan Mosque and * Orhan Gazi Mosque and * Hüdavendigar Mosque and * Koca Sinan Paşa Mosque and * İshak Paşa Mosque and * Karacabey Grand Mosque* Karabaş-i Veli Cultural Centre* Somuncu Baba Mosque* Üftade Tekkesi Mosque and complex* Babasultan Mosque and complex==== Bazaars and caravanserais ====* Yıldırım Bazaar (''bedesten'')* Koza Han* Pirinç Han* İpek Han==== Other historic monuments ====* Bursa Castle* Irgandı Bridge* İnkaya Sycamore, a massive and impressive 600-year-old tree (Platanus orientalis)==== Museums ====* Bursa Archaeological Museum* Bursa Atatürk Museum,* Bursa City Museum,* Bursa Energy Museum* Bursa Forestry Museum* Bursa Karagöz Museum* Bursa Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art* Bursa Turkish Architecture Museum* İznik Museum* Mudanya Armistice House* Museum of Ottoman House* Tofaş Museum of Cars and Anatolian Carriages==== Parks and gardens ====* Uludağ National Park* Bursa Zoo and Botanical Garden* Bursa Hüdavendigar Kent Park==== Hot springs and thermal baths ====* Keramet hot spring* Çekirge hot spring* Armutlu hot spring* Oylat hot spring* Gemlik hot spring* Çelik Palas thermal bath==== Beaches ====* Armutlu beach* Kumla beach* Kurşunlu beach* Orhangazi beach* Mudanya beach* Manastir beach* Kapakli beach" ], [ "Jewish community", "Bursa, initially home to a small Romaniote Jewish community, underwent a demographic shift with the arrival of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century.", "The Sephardic majority quickly absorbed the Romaniotes, leading to a cultural and numerical dominance.", "Judaeo-Spanish became the daily language, and the community paid its poll tax through the representative, the ''kahya''.Throughout the Ottoman period, most Jews resided in Kuruçeşme, Bursa's Jewish quarter, home to three synagogues.", "Etz Chaim (Eṣ Ḥayyim), the oldest, predated Ottoman conquest, while the Gerush and Mayor synagogues were established by Sephardic newcomers.", "Despite the 1851 fire destroying Etz Chaim, the other two remain, along with the Berut synagogue.", "Bursa also had a Jewish cemetery until recently.Though never a major center, Bursa's Jewish population fluctuated.", "Dubious data suggests 683 families in 1571/72, dropping to 141 by 1696/97.By 1883, there were 2,179 Jews, with an influx of 400 from Akkerman in 1887.Pre-World War I, the population reached 3,500, but emigration reduced it to 140 by the early 21st century.Engaged in the local economy, Bursa's Jews were shop owners and involved in guilds.", "In the 16th and 17th centuries, they excelled in textile manufacturing, silk trade, goldsmithing, and finance.", "Despite economic struggles in the 18th and 19th centuries, a 1886 report highlighted poverty.Bursa faced blood libels in 1592 and 1865.Despite its size, the community produced renowned halakhic scholars across centuries.", "Modern schooling arrived in 1886 with Alliance Israélite Universelle, but it closed in 1923 during the secularization program.", "Jewish children then attended Turkish schools for a modern education." ], [ "Gallery", "File:Bursa Turkey 2013 1.jpg\|Bursa Citadel Main GateFile:Bursa Orhan Gazi Mosque.jpg\|Orhan Gazi MosqueFile:EMİRSULTAN_CAMİİ_BURSA_-_panoramio_(2).jpg\|Emir Sultan MosqueFile:Bursa Koza Han (Silk Bazaar) 2.jpg\|Koza Han (Silk Bazaar) in BursaFile:Bursa001.jpg\|Entrance of the Yeşil Cami (Green Mosque)File:Muradiye Complex, exterior.jpg\|Muradiye Mosque and Külliye in BursaFile:Bursa, Governorate.jpg\|Governorate of BursaFile:Uludag range.JPG\|Mt.", "Uludağ is a popular ski destination.File:Bursa 7059.jpg\|Statue of Atatürk in BursaFile:Şehreküstü Mosque, Bursa.jpg\|Şehreküstü MosqueFile:Yeşil Cami Bursa.jpg\|Interior of Yeşil MosqueFile:Französische Kirche in Bursa.jpg\|Bursa French Catholic ChurchFile:Bursa Kalesi 1.jpg\|Saltanatkapı (Citadel Main Gate)File:Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi.jpg\|Old City HallFile:Clock Tower, Bursa.jpg\|Tophane ClocktowerFile:Türbe of Osman I, Bursa.jpg\|Tomb of Osman GaziFile:Türbe of Orhan Gazi, Bursa.jpg\|Tomb of Orhan GaziFile:Innenansicht Große Moschee in Bursa PIC 2004-08-24 19-22 0227.JPG\|Interior of the Grand MosqueFile:Bursapnc1.JPG\|Koza Han (Silk Bazaar)File:Irgandı_köprüsü_bursa_-_panoramio.jpg\|Irgandı BridgeFile:View of the city, Bursa, Turkey LOC 4211210430.jpg\|A view of Bursa in the late 19th centuryFile:Bursa, Turkey, ca.", "1895.jpg\|Bursa, circa 1895File:Atatürk 1924'te Bursa halkına hitap ediyor.jpg\|Atatürk delivering a speech in Bursa, 1924File:View of Bursa from the hills of Mount Uludag.jpg\|A view of Bursa from the foothills of Mt.", "Uludağ" ], [ "Twin towns – sister cities", "Bursa is twinned with:* Darmstadt, Germany (1971)* Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1972)* Oulu, Finland (1978)* Kairouan, Tunisia (1987)* Anshan, China (1991)* Bitola, North Macedonia (1996)* Ceadîr-Lunga, Moldova (1997)* Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan (1997)* Mascara, Algeria (1998)* Kulmbach, Germany (1998)* Pleven, Bulgaria (1998)* Plovdiv, Bulgaria (1998)* Tirana, Albania (1998)* Košice, Slovakia (2000)* Vinnytsia, Ukraine (2004)* Szentendre, Hungary (2005)* Pristina, Kosovo (2010)* Bakhchysarai, Ukraine (2010)* Momchilgrad, Bulgaria (2010)* Mogilev, Belarus (2013)* Hebron, Palestine (2014)* Herzliya, Israel (2014)* Veliko Tărnovo, Bulgaria (2017)* Galkayo, Somalia (2018)" ], [ "See also", "* 1855 Bursa earthquake* Complex of Mehmed I* Emirsultan Mosque* Grand Mosque of Bursa* Green Tomb and Mosque* List of people from Bursa* List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey* Siege of Bursa" ], [ "References", "<reflist\|refs=}}" ], [ "Further reading" ], [ "External links", "* Bursa Metropolitan Municipality* Bursa Governorship" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "The Bahamas" ], [ "Introduction", "'''The Bahamas''' ( ), officially the '''Commonwealth of The Bahamas''', is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean.", "It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88% of its population.", "The archipelagic state consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the U.S. state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys.", "The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence.", "The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing of ocean space.The Bahama islands were inhabited by the Arawak and Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taíno, for many centuries.", "Christopher Columbus was the first European to see the islands, making his first landfall in the \"New World\" in 1492 when he landed on the island of San Salvador.", "Later, the Spanish shipped the native Lucayans to Hispaniola and enslaved them there, after which the Bahama islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, nearly all native Bahamians having been forcibly removed for enslavement or having died of diseases that Europeans brought with them from Europe.", "In 1649, English colonists from Bermuda, known as the Eleutheran Adventurers, settled on the island of Eleuthera.The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy.", "After the American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists to The Bahamas; they took enslaved people with them and established plantations on land grants.", "Enslaved Africans and their descendants constituted the majority of the population from this period on.", "The slave trade was abolished by the British in 1807; slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834.Subsequently, The Bahamas became a haven for freed African slaves.", "Africans liberated from illegal slave ships were resettled on the islands by the Royal Navy, while some North American slaves and Seminoles escaped to The Bahamas from Florida.", "Bahamians were even known to recognise the freedom of enslaved people carried by the ships of other nations which reached The Bahamas.", "Today Black-Bahamians make up 90% of the population of 400,516.The country gained governmental independence in 1973, led by Sir Lynden O. Pindling.", "Charles III is currently its monarch, shared with other Commonwealth realms.", "The Bahamas has the third-largest gross domestic product per capita in the Americas, after the United States and Canada.", "Its economy is based on tourism and offshore finance." ], [ "Naming and etymology", "The name ''Bahamas'' is derived from the Lucayan name '''' ('large upper middle island'), used by the indigenous Taíno people for the island of Grand Bahama.", "Tourist guides often state that the name comes from the Spanish '''' ('shallow sea').", "Wolfgang Ahrens of York University argues that this is a folk etymology.", "Alternatively, it may originate from '''', a local name of unclear meaning.First attested on the 1523 Turin Map, ''Bahama'' originally referred to Grand Bahama alone but was used inclusively in English by 1670.Toponymist Isaac Taylor argues that the name was derived from ''Bimani'' (Bimini), which Spaniards in Haiti identified with Palombe, a legendary place where John Mandeville's ''Travels'' said there was a fountain of youth.The Bahamas is one of only two countries whose official names start with the article \"the.\"", "(The other is The Gambia.)", "The usage likely arose because the name also refers to the islands, a geographical feature that would take a definite article." ], [ "History", "===Pre-Hispanic era===The first inhabitants of The Bahamas were the Taino people, who moved into the uninhabited southern islands from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 800s–1000s AD, having migrated there from South America; they came to be known as the Lucayan people.", "An estimated 30,000 Lucayans inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492.===Arrival of the Spanish===A depiction of Columbus' first landing, claiming possession of the New World for the Crown of Castile in caravels; the ''Niña'' and the ''Pinta'', on Watling Island, an island of the Bahamas that the natives called Guanahani and that he named ''San Salvador'', on 12 October 1492.Columbus' first landfall in what was to Europeans a \"New World\" was on an island he named San Salvador (known to the Lucayans as ''Guanahani'').", "While there is a general consensus that this island lay within the Bahamas, precisely which island Columbus landed on is a matter of scholarly debate.", "Some researchers believe the site to be present-day San Salvador Island (formerly known as Watling's Island), situated in the southeastern Bahamas, whilst an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by ''National Geographic'' writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbus' log.", "On the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them, claiming the islands for the Crown of Castile, before proceeding to explore the larger isles of the Greater Antilles.The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas theoretically divided the new territories between the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal, placing the Bahamas in the Spanish sphere; however they did little to press their claim on the ground.", "The Spanish did however exploit the native Lucayan peoples, many of whom were enslaved and sent to Hispaniola for use as forced labour.", "The slaves suffered harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity; half of the Taino died from smallpox alone.", "As a result of these depredations the population of the Bahamas was severely diminished.===Arrival of the English===The English had expressed an interest in the Bahamas as early as 1629.However, it was not until 1648 that the first English settlers arrived on the islands.", "Known as the Eleutherian Adventurers and led by William Sayle, they migrated from Bermuda seeking greater religious freedom.", "These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera, Greek for ''free''.", "They later settled New Providence, naming it Sayle's Island.", "Life proved harder than envisaged however, and many – including Sayle – chose to return to Bermuda.", "To survive, the remaining settlers salvaged goods from wrecks.In 1670, King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America.", "They rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing governors, and administering the country from their base on New Providence.", "Piracy and attacks from hostile foreign powers were a constant threat.", "In 1684, Spanish corsair Juan de Alcon raided the capital Charles Town (later renamed Nassau), and in 1703, a joint Franco-Spanish expedition briefly occupied Nassau during the War of the Spanish Succession.===18th century===Continental Marines land at New Providence during the Battle of Nassau in 1776Sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park commemorating hundreds of African-American slaves who escaped to freedom in the early 1820s in The BahamasDuring proprietary rule, the Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including Blackbeard (''circa'' 1680–1718).", "To put an end to the \"Pirates' republic\" and restore orderly government, Britain made the Bahamas a crown colony in 1718, which they dubbed \"the Bahama islands\" under the governorship of Woodes Rogers.", "After a difficult struggle, he succeeded in suppressing piracy.", "In 1720, the Spanish attacked Nassau during the War of the Quadruple Alliance.", "In 1729, a local assembly was established giving a degree of self-governance for British settlers.", "The reforms had been planned by the previous Governor George Phenney and authorised in July 1728.During the American War of Independence in the late 18th century, the islands became a target for US naval forces.", "Under the command of Commodore Esek Hopkins, US Marines, the US Navy occupied Nassau in 1776, before being evacuated a few days later.", "In 1782 a Spanish fleet appeared off the coast of Nassau, and the city surrendered without a fight.", "Later, in April 1783, on a visit made by Prince William of the United Kingdom (later to become King William IV) to Luis de Unzaga at his residence in the Captaincy General of Havana, they made prisoner exchange agreements and also dealt with the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris (1783), in which the recently conquered Bahamas would be exchanged for East Florida, which would still have to conquer the city of St. Augustine, Florida in 1784 by order of Luis de Unzaga; after that, also in 1784, the Bahamas would be declared a British colony.After US independence, the British resettled some 7,300 Loyalists with their African slaves in the Bahamas, including 2,000 from New York and at least 1,033 European, 2,214 African descendants and a few Native American Creeks from East Florida.", "Most of the refugees resettled from New York had fled from other colonies, including West Florida, which the Spanish captured during the war.", "The government granted land to the planters to help compensate for losses on the continent.", "These Loyalists, who included Deveaux and also Lord Dunmore, established plantations on several islands and became a political force in the capital.", "European Americans were outnumbered by the African-American slaves they brought with them, and ethnic Europeans remained a minority in the territory.===19th century===The Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished slave trading to British possessions, including the Bahamas.", "The United Kingdom pressured other slave-trading countries to also abolish slave-trading, and gave the Royal Navy the right to intercept ships carrying slaves on the high seas.", "Thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships by the Royal Navy were resettled in the Bahamas.In the 1820s during the period of the Seminole Wars in Florida, hundreds of North American slaves and African Seminoles escaped from Cape Florida to the Bahamas.", "They settled mostly on northwest Andros Island, where they developed the village of Red Bays.", "From eyewitness accounts, 300 escaped in a mass flight in 1823, aided by Bahamians in 27 sloops, with others using canoes for the journey.", "This was commemorated in 2004 by a large sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.", "Some of their descendants in Red Bays continue African Seminole traditions in basket making and grave marking.In 1818, the Home Office in London had ruled that \"any slave brought to the Bahamas from outside the British West Indies would be manumitted.\"", "This led to a total of nearly 300 enslaved people owned by US nationals being freed from 1830 to 1835.The American slave ships ''Comet'' and ''Encomium'' used in the United States domestic coastwise slave trade, were wrecked off Abaco Island in December 1830 and February 1834, respectively.", "When wreckers took the masters, passengers and slaves into Nassau, customs officers seized the slaves and British colonial officials freed them, over the protests of the Americans.", "There were 165 slaves on the ''Comet'' and 48 on the ''Encomium''.", "The United Kingdom finally paid an indemnity to the United States in those two cases in 1855, under the Treaty of Claims of 1853, which settled several compensation cases between the two countries.lighthouse in Great Isaac Cay.Slavery was abolished in the British Empire on 1 August 1834.After that British colonial officials freed 78 North American slaves from the ''Enterprise'', which went into Bermuda in 1835; and 38 from the ''Hermosa'', which wrecked off Abaco Island in 1840.The most notable case was that of the ''Creole'' in 1841: as a result of a slave revolt on board, the leaders ordered the US brig to Nassau.", "It was carrying 135 slaves from Virginia destined for sale in New Orleans.", "The Bahamian officials freed the 128 slaves who chose to stay in the islands.", "The ''Creole'' case has been described as the \"most successful slave revolt in U.S. history\".These incidents, in which a total of 447 enslaved people belonging to US nationals were freed from 1830 to 1842, increased tension between the United States and the United Kingdom.", "They had been co-operating in patrols to suppress the international slave trade.", "However, worried about the stability of its large domestic slave trade and its value, the United States argued that the United Kingdom should not treat its domestic ships that came to its colonial ports under duress as part of the international trade.", "The United States worried that the success of the ''Creole'' slaves in gaining freedom would encourage more slave revolts on merchant ships.During the American Civil War of the 1860s, the islands briefly prospered as a focus for blockade runners aiding the Confederate States.===Early 20th century===The early decades of the 20th century were ones of hardship for many Bahamians, characterised by a stagnant economy and widespread poverty.", "Many eked out a living via subsistence agriculture or fishing.Duke of Windsor and Governor of the Bahamas from 1940 to 1945In August 1940, the Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII) was appointed Governor of the Bahamas.", "He arrived in the colony with his wife.", "Although disheartened at the condition of Government House, they \"tried to make the best of a bad situation\".", "He did not enjoy the position, and referred to the islands as \"a third-class British colony\".", "He opened the small local parliament on 29 October 1940.The couple visited the \"Out Islands\" that November, on Axel Wenner-Gren's yacht, which caused controversy; the British Foreign Office strenuously objected because they had been advised by United States intelligence that Wenner-Gren was a close friend of the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring of Nazi Germany.The Duke was praised at the time for his efforts to combat poverty on the islands.", "A 1991 biography by Philip Ziegler, however, described him as contemptuous of the Bahamians and other non-European peoples of the Empire.", "He was praised for his resolution of civil unrest over low wages in Nassau in June 1942, when there was a \"full-scale riot\".", "Ziegler said that the Duke blamed the trouble on \"mischief makers – communists\" and \"men of Central European Jewish descent, who had secured jobs as a pretext for obtaining a deferment of draft\".", "The Duke resigned from the post on 16 March 1945.===Post-Second World War===Crown colony until it gained independence in 1973.Modern political development began after the Second World War.", "The first political parties were formed in the 1950s, split broadly along ethnic lines, with the United Bahamian Party (UBP) representing the English-descended Bahamians (known informally as the \"Bay Street Boys\") and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) representing the Black-Bahamian majority.A new constitution granting the Bahamas internal autonomy went into effect on 7 January 1964, with Chief Minister Sir Roland Symonette of the UBP becoming the first Premier.", "In 1967, Lynden Pindling of the PLP became the first black Premier of the Bahamian colony; in 1968, the title of the position was changed to Prime Minister.", "In 1968, Pindling announced that the Bahamas would seek full independence.", "A new constitution giving the Bahamas increased control over its own affairs was adopted in 1968.In 1971, the UBP merged with a disaffected faction of the PLP to form a new party, the Free National Movement (FNM), a centre-right party which aimed to counter the growing power of Pindling's PLP.The United Kingdom Government gave the Bahamas its independence by an Order in Council dated 20 June 1973.The Order came into force on 10 July 1973, on which date Prince Charles delivered the official documents to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling.", "This date is now celebrated as the country's Independence Day.", "It joined the Commonwealth of Nations on the same day.", "Sir Milo Butler was appointed the first governor-general of The Bahamas (the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II) shortly after independence.===Post-independence===Shortly after independence, The Bahamas joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on 22 August 1973, and later the United Nations on 18 September 1973.Politically, the first two decades were dominated by Pindling's PLP, who went on to win a string of electoral victories.", "Allegations of corruption, links with drug cartels and financial malfeasance within the Bahamian government failed to dent Pindling's popularity.", "Meanwhile, the economy underwent a dramatic growth period fuelled by the twin pillars of tourism and offshore finance, significantly raising the standard of living on the islands.", "The Bahamas' booming economy led to it becoming a beacon for immigrants, most notably from Haiti.Hurricane Dorian's destruction in the BahamasIn 1992, Pindling was unseated by Hubert Ingraham of the FNM.", "Ingraham went on to win the 1997 Bahamian general election, before being defeated in 2002, when the PLP returned to power under Perry Christie.", "Ingraham returned to power from 2007 to 2012, followed by Christie again from 2012 to 2017.With economic growth faltering, Bahamians re-elected the FNM in 2017, with Hubert Minnis becoming the fourth prime minister.In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian struck the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama at Category 5 intensity, devastating the northwestern Bahamas.", "The storm inflicted at least US$7 billion in damages and killed more than 50 people, with 1,300 people missing after two weeks.The '''COVID-19 pandemic in the Bahamas''' was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).", "The outbreak was identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, declared to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.It was confirmed to have reached the Bahamas on 15 March 2020 with the announcement of the first case.In September 2021, the ruling Free National Movement lost to the opposition Progressive Liberal Party in a snap election, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971.On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Phillip \"Brave\" Davis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bahamas to succeed Hubert Minnis." ], [ "Geography", "Map of The BahamasMost of the Bahamas are the above-water part of the Bahama Banks (light blue).", "During the ice ages these would have been two large islands.The landmass that makes up what is the modern-day Bahamas, lies at the northern part of the Greater Antilles region and was believed to have been formed 200 million years ago when they began to separate from the supercontinent Pangaea.", "The Pleistocene Ice Age around 3 million years ago, had a profound impact on the archipelago's formation.The Bahamas consists of a chain of islands spread out over some in the Atlantic Ocean, located to the east of Florida in the United States, north of Cuba and Hispaniola and west of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands (with which it forms the Lucayan archipelago).", "It lies between latitudes 20° and 28°N, and longitudes 72° and 80°W and straddles the Tropic of Cancer.", "There are some 700 islands and 2,400 cays in total (of which 30 are inhabited) with a total land area of .Nassau, capital city of The Bahamas, lies on the island of New Providence; the other main inhabited islands are Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador Island, Ragged Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma, Berry Islands, Mayaguana, the Bimini islands, Great Abaco and Great Inagua.", "The largest island is Andros.All the islands are low and flat, with ridges that usually rise no more than .", "The highest point in the country is Mount Alvernia (formerly Como Hill) on Cat Island at .The country contains three terrestrial ecoregions: Bahamian dry forests, Bahamian pine mosaic, and Bahamian mangroves.", "It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.35/10, ranking it 44th globally out of 172 countries.===Climate===The Bahamas map of Köppen climate classification.", "According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of The Bahamas is mostly tropical savannah climate or ''Aw'', with a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season.", "The low latitude, warm tropical Gulf Stream, and low elevation give The Bahamas a warm and winterless climate.As with most tropical climates, seasonal rainfall follows the sun, and summer is the wettest season.", "There is only a difference between the warmest month and coolest month in most of the Bahama islands.", "Every few decades low temperatures can fall below for a few hours when a severe cold outbreak comes down from the North American mainland, however there has never been a frost or freeze recorded in the Bahamian Islands.", "Only once in recorded history has snow been seen in the air anywhere in The Bahamas.", "This occurred in Freeport on 19 January 1977, when snow mixed with rain was seen in the air for a short time.", "The Bahamas are often sunny and dry for long periods of time, and average more than 3,000 hours or 340 days of sunlight annually.", "Much of the natural vegetation is tropical scrub and cactus and succulents are common in landscapes.Tropical storms and hurricanes occasionally impact The Bahamas.", "In 1992, Hurricane Andrew passed over the northern portions of the islands, and Hurricane Floyd passed near the eastern portions of the islands in 1999.Hurricane Dorian of 2019 passed over the archipelago at destructive Category 5 strength with sustained winds of and wind gusts up to , becoming the strongest tropical cyclone on record to impact the northwestern islands of Grand Bahama and Great Abaco.===Geology===Dean's Blue Hole in Clarence Town on Long Island, BahamasThe Blue Lagoon Island, BahamasIt was generally believed that the Bahamas were formed approximately 200 million years ago, when Pangaea started to break apart.", "In current times, it endures as an archipelago containing over 700 islands and cays, fringed around different coral reefs.", "The limestone that comprises the Banks has been accumulating since at least the Cretaceous period, and perhaps as early as the Jurassic; today the total thickness under the Great Bahama Bank is over 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles).", "As the limestone was deposited in shallow water, the only way to explain this massive column is to estimate that the entire platform has subsided under its own weight at a rate of roughly 3.6 centimetres (2 inches) per 1,000 years.The Bahamas is part of the Lucayan Archipelago, which continues into the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Mouchoir Bank, the Silver Bank, and the Navidad Bank.", "The Bahamas Platform, which includes The Bahamas, Southern Florida, Northern Cuba, the Turks and Caicos, and the Blake Plateau, formed about 150 Ma, not long after the formation of the North Atlantic.", "The thick limestones, which predominate in The Bahamas, date back to the Cretaceous.", "These limestones would have been deposited in shallow seas, assumed to be a stretched and thinned portion of the North American continental crust.", "Sediments were forming at about the same rate as the crust below was sinking due to the added weight.", "Thus, the entire area consisted of a large marine plain with some islands.", "Then, at about 80 Ma, the area became flooded by the Gulf Stream.", "This resulted in the drowning of the Blake Plateau, the separation of The Bahamas from Cuba and Florida, the separation of the southeastern Bahamas into separate banks, the creation of the Cay Sal Bank, plus the Little and Great Bahama Banks.", "Sedimentation from the \"carbonate factory\" of each bank, or atoll, continues today at the rate of about per kyr.", "Coral reefs form the \"retaining walls\" of these atolls, within which oolites and pellets form.Coral growth was greater through the Tertiary, until the start of the ice ages, and hence those deposits are more abundant below a depth of .", "In fact, an ancient extinct reef exists half a kilometre seaward of the present one, below sea level.", "Oolites form when oceanic water penetrate the shallow banks, increasing the temperature about and the salinity by 0.5 per cent.", "Cemented ooids are referred to as grapestone.", "Additionally, giant stromatolites are found off the Exuma Cays.Sea level changes resulted in a drop in sea level, causing wind blown oolite to form sand dunes with distinct cross-bedding.", "Overlapping dunes form oolitic ridges, which become rapidly lithified through the action of rainwater, called eolianite.", "Most islands have ridges ranging from , though Cat Island has a ridge in height.", "The land between ridges is conducive to the formation of lakes and swamps.Solution weathering of the limestone results in a \"Bahamian Karst\" topography.", "This includes potholes, blue holes such as Dean's Blue Hole, sinkholes, beachrock such as the Bimini Road (\"pavements of Atlantis\"), limestone crust, caves due to the lack of rivers, and sea caves.", "Several blue holes are aligned along the South Andros Fault line.", "Tidal flats and tidal creeks are common, but the more impressive drainage patterns are formed by troughs and canyons such as Great Bahama Canyon with the evidence of turbidity currents and turbidite deposition.The stratigraphy of the islands consists of the Middle Pleistocene Owl's Hole Formation, overlain by the Late Pleistocene Grotto Beach Formation, and then the Holocene Rice Bay Formation.", "However, these units are not necessarily stacked on top of each other but can be located laterally.", "The oldest formation, Owl's Hole, is capped by a terra rosa paleosoil, as is the Grotto Beach, unless eroded.", "The Grotto Beach Formation is the most widespread." ], [ "Government and politics", "Bahamian Parliament, located in NassauNassauThe Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with King of the Bahamas Charles III as head of state represented locally by a governor-general.", "Political and legal traditions closely follow those of England and the Westminster system.", "The Bahamas is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares its head of state with some other Commonwealth realms.The prime minister is the head of government and is the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Assembly.", "Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet, selected by the prime minister and drawn from his supporters in the House of Assembly.", "The current governor-general is Cynthia A. Pratt, and the current prime minister is The Hon.", "Philip Davis MP.Legislative power is vested in a bicameral parliament, which consists of a 38-member House of Assembly (the lower house), with members elected from single-member districts, and a 16-member Senate, with members appointed by the governor-general, including nine on the advice of the Prime Minister, four on the advice of the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, and three on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition.", "As under the Westminster system, the prime minister may dissolve Parliament and call a general election at any time within a five-year term.Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement and association.", "The Judiciary of the Bahamas is independent of the executive and the legislature.", "Jurisprudence is based on English law.===Political culture===The Bahamas has a two-party system dominated by the centre-left Progressive Liberal Party and the centre-right Free National Movement.", "A handful of other political parties have been unable to win election to parliament; these have included the Bahamas Democratic Movement, the Coalition for Democratic Reform, Bahamian Nationalist Party and the Democratic National Alliance.", "There has been a growing republican movement in the Bahamas, particularly since the death of Elizabeth II, with a majority now supporting an elected head of state according to an opinion poll.===Foreign relations===United States Vice President Kamala Harris met with Prime Minister Philip Davis of The Bahamas at the Office of the Vice President in 2023.The Bahamas has strong bilateral relationships with the United States and the United Kingdom, represented by an ambassador in Washington and High Commissioner in London.", "The Bahamas also associates closely with other nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).The embassy of the United States in Nassau donated $3.6 million to the Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Management, and Reconstruction for modular shelters, medical evacuation boats, and construction materials.", "The donation was made two weeks after the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Dorian.===Armed forces===The Bahamian military is the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the navy of The Bahamas which includes a land unit called Commando Squadron (Regiment) and an Air Wing (Air Force).", "Under the Defence Act, the RBDF has been mandated, in the name of the King, to defend The Bahamas, protect its territorial integrity, patrol its waters, provide assistance and relief in times of disaster, maintain order in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies of The Bahamas, and carry out any such duties as determined by the National Security Council.", "The Defence Force is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)'s Regional Security Task Force.The RBDF came into existence on 31 March 1980.Its duties include defending The Bahamas, stopping drug smuggling, illegal immigration and poaching, and providing assistance to mariners.", "The Defence Force has a fleet of 26 coastal and inshore patrol craft along with 3 aircraft and over 1,100 personnel including 65 officers and 74 women.===Administrative divisions===The districts of The Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere except New Providence (which holds 70 per cent of the national population), whose affairs are handled directly by the central government.", "In 1996, the Bahamian Parliament passed the \"Local Government Act\" to facilitate the establishment of family island administrators, local government districts, local district councillors and local town committees for the various island communities.", "The overall goal of this act is to allow the various elected leaders to govern and oversee the affairs of their respective districts without the interference of the central government.", "In total, there are 32 districts, with elections being held every five years.", "There are 110 councillors and 281 town committee members elected to represent the various districts.Each councillor or town committee member is responsible for the proper use of public funds for the maintenance and development of their constituency.The districts other than New Providence are:Districts of The Bahamas" ], [ "Economy", "Taino Beach, Grand Bahama IslandIn terms of GDP per capita, The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas.", "Its currency (the Bahamian dollar) is kept at a 1-to-1 peg with the US dollar.The Bahamas relies heavily on tourism to generate most of its economic activity.", "Tourism as an industry accounts for about 70% of the Bahamian GDP and provides jobs for about half of the country's workforce.", "The Bahamas attracted 5.8 million visitors in 2012, more than 70% of whom were cruise visitors.After tourism, the next most important economic sector is banking and offshore international financial services, accounting for some 15% of GDP.", "It was revealed in the Panama Papers that The Bahamas is the jurisdiction with the most offshore entities or companies in the world.The economy has a very competitive tax regime (classified by some as a tax haven).", "The government derives its revenue from import tariffs, VAT, licence fees, property and stamp taxes, but there is no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax.", "Payroll taxes fund social insurance benefits and amount to 3.9% paid by the employee and 5.9% paid by the employer.", "In 2010, overall tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 17.2%.Agriculture and manufacturing form the third largest sector of the Bahamian economy, representing 5–7% of total GDP.", "An estimated 80% of the Bahamian food supply is imported.", "Major crops include onions, okra, tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit, cucumbers, sugar cane, lemons, limes, and sweet potatoes.Access to biocapacity in the Bahamas is much higher than world average.", "In 2016, the Bahamas had 9.2 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.", "In 2016 the Bahamas used 3.7 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption.", "This means they use less biocapacity than the Bahamas contains.", "As a result, the Bahamas is running a biocapacity reserve.===Transport===Leonard M. Thompson International AirportThe Bahamas contains about of paved roads.", "Inter-island transport is conducted primarily via ship and air.", "The country has 61 airports, the chief of which are Lynden Pindling International Airport on New Providence, Grand Bahama International Airport on Grand Bahama Island and Leonard M. Thompson International Airport (formerly Marsh Harbour Airport) on Abaco Island." ], [ "Demographics", "Demographics of Bahamas, data of FAO; number of inhabitants in thousandsThe Bahamas had a population of at the 2018 Census, of which 25.9% were 14 or under, 67.2% 15 to 64 and 6.9% over 65.It has a population growth rate of 0.925% (2010), with a birth rate of 17.81/1,000 population, death rate of 9.35/1,000, and net migration rate of −2.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population.", "The infant mortality rate is 23.21 deaths/1,000 live births.", "Residents have a life expectancy at birth of 69.87 years: 73.49 years for females, 66.32 years for males.", "The total fertility rate is 2.0 children born/woman (2010).", "The latest official estimate (as at 2022) is 400,516.The most populous islands are New Providence, where Nassau, the capital and largest city, is located; and Grand Bahama, home to the second largest city of Freeport.===Racial and ethnic groups===According to the 99% response rate obtained from the race question on the 2010 Census questionnaire, 90.6% of the population identified themselves as being Black, 4.7% White and 2.1% of a Mixed (African and European).", "Three centuries prior, in 1722 when the first official census of The Bahamas was taken, 74% of the population was native European and 26% native African.Afro-Bahamian children at a local schoolSince the colonial era of plantations, Africans or Afro-Bahamians have been the largest ethnic group in The Bahamas, whose primary ancestry was based in West Africa.", "The first Africans to arrive to The Bahamas were freed slaves from Bermuda; they arrived with the Eleutheran Adventurers looking for new lives.The Haitian community in The Bahamas is also largely of African descent and numbers about 80,000.Due to an extremely high immigration of Haitians to The Bahamas, the Bahamian government started deporting illegal Haitian immigrants to their homeland in late 2014.White Bahamians on the island of New ProvidenceThe white Bahamian population are mainly the descendants of the English Puritans and American Loyalists escaping the American Revolution who arrived in 1649 and 1783, respectively.", "Many Southern Loyalists went to the Abaco Islands, half of whose population was of European descent as of 1985.The term ''white'' is usually used to identify Bahamians with Anglo ancestry, as well as some light-skinned Afro-Bahamians.", "Sometimes Bahamians use the term ''Conchy Joe'' to describe people of Anglo descent.", "Generally, however, Bahamians self-identify as white or black along the lines similar to the distinction made in the US.A small portion of the Euro-Bahamian population are Greek Bahamians, descended from Greek labourers who came to help develop the sponging industry in the 1900s.", "They make up less than 2% of the nation's population, but have still preserved their distinct Greek Bahamian culture.Other ethnic groups in the Bahamas include Asians and people of Spanish and Portuguese origin.===Religion===The islands' population is predominantly Christian.", "Protestant denominations collectively account for more than 70% of the population, with Baptists representing 35% of the population, Anglicans 15%, Pentecostals 8%, Church of God 5%, Seventh-day Adventists 5% and Methodists 4%.", "There is also a significant Roman Catholic community accounting for about 14%.Jews in the Bahamas have a history dating back to the Columbus expeditions, where Luis De Torres, an interpreter and member of Columbus' party, is believed to have been secretly Jewish.", "Today, there is a small community with about 200 members, according to census data, although higher estimates place this figure at 300.Muslims also have a minority presence.", "While some slaves and free Africans in the colonial era were Muslim, the religion was absent until around the 1970s, when it experienced a revival.", "Today, there are about 300 Muslims.There are also smaller communities of Baháʼís, Hindus, Rastafarians and practitioners of traditional African religions such as Obeah.===Languages===The official language of The Bahamas is English.", "Many people speak an English-based creole language called ''Bahamian dialect'' (known simply as \"dialect\") or \"Bahamianese\".", "Laurente Gibbs, a Bahamian writer and actor, was the first to coin the latter name in a poem and has since promoted its usage.", "Both are used as autoglossonyms.", "Haitian Creole, a French-based creole language is spoken by Haitians and their descendants, who make up of about 25% of the total population.", "It is known simply as ''Creole'' to differentiate it from Bahamian English.===Education===According to 2011 estimates, 95% of the Bahamian adult population are literate.The University of the Bahamas (UB) is the national higher education/tertiary system.", "Offering baccalaureate, masters and associate degrees, UB has three campuses, and teaching and research centres throughout The Bahamas.", "The University of the Bahamas was chartered on 10 November 2016." ], [ "Culture", "Junkanoo celebration in NassauThe culture of the islands is a mixture of African (Afro-Bahamians being the largest ethnicity), British and American due to historical family ties, migration of freed slaves from the United States to The Bahamas, and as the dominant country in the region and source of most tourists).A form of African-based folk magic is practised by some Bahamians, mainly in the Family Islands (out-islands) of The Bahamas.", "The practice of obeah is illegal in The Bahamas and punishable in law.In the outer islands also called Family Islands, handicrafts include basketry made from palm fronds.", "This material, commonly called \"straw\", is plaited into hats and bags that are popular tourist items.Junkanoo is a traditional Afro-Bahamian street parade of 'rushing', music, dance and art held in Nassau (and a few other settlements) every Boxing Day and New Year's Day.", "Junkanoo is also used to celebrate other holidays and events such as Emancipation Day.Regattas are important social events in many family island settlements.", "They usually feature one or more days of sailing by old-fashioned work boats, as well as an onshore festival.Many dishes are associated with Bahamian cuisine, which reflects Caribbean, African and European influences.", "Some settlements have festivals associated with the traditional crop or food of that area, such as the \"Pineapple Fest\" in Gregory Town, Eleuthera or the \"Crab Fest\" on Andros.", "Other significant traditions include story telling.Bahamians have created a rich literature of poetry, short stories, plays and short fictional works.", "Common themes in these works are (1) an awareness of change, (2) a striving for sophistication, (3) a search for identity, (4) nostalgia for the old ways and (5) an appreciation of beauty.", "Some major writers are Susan Wallace, Percival Miller, Robert Johnson, Raymond Brown, O.M.", "Smith, William Johnson, Eddie Minnis and Winston Saunders.The best-known folklore and legends in The Bahamas include the lusca and chickcharney creatures of Andros, Pretty Molly on Exuma Bahamas and the Lost City of Atlantis on Bimini Bahamas.===Media======Symbols===The national flag of The BahamasThe Bahamian flag was adopted in 1973.Its colours symbolise the strength of the Bahamian people; its design reflects aspects of the natural environment (sun and sea) and economic and social development.", "The flag is a black equilateral triangle against the mast, superimposed on a horizontal background made up of three equal stripes of aquamarine, gold and aquamarine.Coat of arms of the BahamasThe coat of arms of The Bahamas contains a shield with the national symbols as its focal point.", "The shield is supported by a marlin and a flamingo, which are the national animals of The Bahamas.", "The flamingo is located on the land, and the marlin on the sea, indicating the geography of the islands.On top of the shield is a conch shell, which represents the marine life of the island chain.", "The conch shell rests on a helmet.", "Below this is the actual shield, the main symbol of which is a ship representing the ''Santa María'' of Christopher Columbus, shown sailing beneath the sun.", "Along the bottom, below the shield appears a banner upon which is the national motto:Forward, Upward, Onward Together.The national flower of The Bahamas is the yellow elder, as it is endemic to the Bahama islands and it blooms throughout the year.Selection of the yellow elder over many other flowers was made through the combined popular vote of members of all four of New Providence's garden clubs of the 1970s—the Nassau Garden Club, the Carver Garden Club, the International Garden Club and the YWCA Garden Club.", "They reasoned that other flowers grown there—such as the bougainvillea, hibiscus and poinciana—had already been chosen as the national flowers of other countries.", "The yellow elder, on the other hand, was unclaimed by other countries (although it is now also the national flower of the United States Virgin Islands) and also the yellow elder is native to the family islands.===Sport===Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau.Sport is a significant part of Bahamian culture.", "The national sport is cricket, which has been played in The Bahamas from 1846 and is the oldest sport played in the country today.", "The Bahamas Cricket Association was formed in 1936, and from the 1940s to the 1970s, cricket was played amongst many Bahamians.", "Bahamas is not a part of the West Indies Cricket Board, so players are not eligible to play for the West Indies cricket team.", "The late 1970s saw the game begin to decline in the country as teachers, who had previously come from the United Kingdom with a passion for cricket, were replaced by teachers who had been trained in the United States.", "The Bahamian physical education teachers had no knowledge of the game and instead taught track and field, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and association football where primary and high schools compete against each other.", "Today cricket is still enjoyed by a few locals and immigrants in the country, usually from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados.", "Cricket is played on Saturdays and Sundays at Windsor Park and Haynes Oval in Nassau, Bahamas.", "Whiles the main and only cricket grounds on Grand Bahama is the Lucaya Cricket Oval.The only other sporting event that began before cricket was horse racing, which started in 1796.The most popular spectator sports are those imported from the United States, such as basketball, American football, and baseball, rather than from the British Isles, due to the country's close proximity to the United States, unlike their other Caribbean counterparts, where cricket, soccer, and netball have proven to be more popular.Over the years American football has become much more popular than soccer.", "Leagues for teens and adults have been developed by the Bahamas American Football Federation.", "However soccer, as it is commonly known in the country, is still a very popular sport amongst high school pupils.", "Leagues are governed by the Bahamas Football Association.", "In 2013 the Bahamian government has been working closely with Tottenham Hotspur of London to promote the sport in the country as well as promoting The Bahamas in the European market.", "In 2013, 'Spurs' became the first Premier League club to play an exhibition match in The Bahamas, facing the Jamaica men's national team.", "Joe Lewis, the owner of the club, is based in The Bahamas.Other popular sports are swimming, tennis and boxing, where Bahamians have enjoyed some degree of success at the international level.", "Other sports such as golf, rugby league, rugby union, beach soccer, and netball are considered growing sports.", "Athletics, commonly known as 'track and field' in the country, is the most successful sport by far amongst Bahamians.", "Bahamians have a strong tradition in the sprints and jumps.", "Track and field is probably the most popular spectator sport in the country next to basketball due to their success over the years.", "Triathlons are gaining popularity in Nassau and the Family Islands.The Bahamas first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.", "The nation has never participated in any Winter Olympic Games.", "Bahamian athletes have won a total of sixteen medals, all in athletics and sailing.", "The Bahamas has won more Olympic medals than any other country with a population under one million.The Bahamas were hosts of the first men's senior FIFA tournament to be staged in the Caribbean, the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.", "The Bahamas also hosted the first three editions of the IAAF World Relays.", "The nation also hosted the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, along with annual events Bahamas Bowl and Battle 4 Atlantis." ], [ "See also", "Outline of the BahamasIndex of Bahamas-related articles" ], [ "References", "===Citations======Sources===*" ], [ "Further reading", "'''General history'''Cash Philip ''et al.''", "(Don Maples, Alison Packer).", "''The Making of The Bahamas: A History for Schools''.", "London: Collins, 1978.", "Miller, Hubert W. ''The Colonization of The Bahamas, 1647–1670, The William and Mary Quarterly'' 2 no.1 (January 1945): 33–46.", "Craton, Michael.", "''A History of The Bahamas''.", "London: Collins, 1962.", "Craton, Michael and Saunders, Gail.", "''Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People''.", "Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992Collinwood, Dean.", "\"Columbus and the Discovery of Self\", ''Weber Studies'', Vol.", "9 No.", "3 (Fall) 1992: 29–44.", "Dodge, Steve.", "''Abaco: The History of an Out Island and its Cays'', Tropic Isle Publications, 1983.", "Dodge, Steve.", "''The Compleat Guide to Nassau'', White Sound Press, 1987.", "Boultbee, Paul G. ''The Bahamas''.", "Oxford: ABC-Clio Press, 1990.", "Wood, David E., comp., ''A Guide to Selected Sources to the History of the Seminole Settlements of Red Bays, Andros, 1817–1980'', Nassau: Department of Archives'''Economic history'''Johnson, Howard.", "''The Bahamas in Slavery and Freedom''.", "Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1991.", "Johnson, Howard.", "''The Bahamas from Slavery to Servitude, 1783–1933''.", "Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1996.", "Alan A.", "Block.", "''Masters of Paradise'', New Brunswick and London, Transaction Publishers, 1998.", "Storr, Virgil H. ''Enterprising Slaves and Master Pirates: Understanding Economic Life in the Bahamas''.", "New York: Peter Lang, 2004.", "'''Social history'''Johnson, Wittington B.", "''Race Relations in the Bahamas, 1784–1834: The Nonviolent Transformation from a Slave to a Free Society'', Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2000.", "Shirley, Paul.", "\"Tek Force Wid Force\", ''History Today'' 54, no.", "41 (April 2004): 30–35.", "Saunders, Gail.", "''The Social Life in the Bahamas 1880s–1920s''.", "Nassau: Media Publishing, 1996.", "Saunders, Gail.", "''Bahamas Society After Emancipation''.", "Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1990.", "Curry, Jimmy.", "''Filthy Rich Gangster/First Bahamian Movie''.", "Movie Mogul Pictures: 1996.", "Curry, Jimmy.", "''To the Rescue/First Bahamian Rap/Hip Hop Song''.", "Royal Crown Records, 1985.", "Collinwood, Dean.", "''The Bahamas Between Worlds'', White Sound Press, 1989.", "Collinwood, Dean and Steve Dodge.", "''Modern Bahamian Society'', Caribbean Books, 1989.", "Dodge, Steve, Robert McIntire and Dean Collinwood.", "''The Bahamas Index'', White Sound Press, 1989.", "Collinwood, Dean.", "\"The Bahamas\", in ''The Whole World Handbook 1992–1995'', 12th ed., New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.", "Collinwood, Dean.", "\"The Bahamas\", chapters in Jack W. Hopkins, ed., ''Latin American and Caribbean Contemporary Record'', Vols.", "1,2,3,4, Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986.", "Collinwood, Dean.", "\"Problems of Research and Training in Small Islands with a Social Science Faculty\", in ''Social Science in Latin America and the Caribbean'', UNESCO, No.", "48, 1982.", "Collinwood, Dean and Rick Phillips, \"The National Literature of the New Bahamas\", ''Weber Studies'', Vol.7, No.", "1 (Spring) 1990: 43–62.", "Collinwood, Dean.", "\"Writers, Social Scientists and Sexual Norms in the Caribbean\", ''Tsuda Review'', No.", "31 (November) 1986: 45–57.", "Collinwood, Dean.", "\"Terra Incognita: Research on the Modern Bahamian Society\", ''Journal of Caribbean Studies'', Vol.", "1, Nos.", "2–3 (Winter) 1981: 284–297.", "Collinwood, Dean and Steve Dodge.", "\"Political Leadership in the Bahamas\", The Bahamas Research Institute, No.1, May 1987." ], [ "External links", "** The Bahamas from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' (archived 10 December 2012) The Bahamas from the BBC News* Key Development Forecasts for The Bahamas from International Futures* Maps of the Bahamas from the American Geographical Society Library* ''The Nassau Guardian'' newspaper, 1849–1922, at the Digital Library of the Caribbean." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Baker Island" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Baker Island''', formerly known as '''New Nantucket''', is an uninhabited atoll just north of the Equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu.", "The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia.", "Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north-northwest; both have been claimed as territories of the United States since 1857, though the United Kingdom considered them part of the British Empire between 1897 and 1936.The island covers , with of coastline.", "The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall, constant wind, and strong sunshine.", "The terrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a depressed central area devoid of a lagoon with its highest point being above sea level.The island now forms the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge and is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the U.S. which vouches for its defense.", "It is visited annually by the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service.", "For statistical purposes, Baker is grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands.", "Baker Island and Howland Island are also the last pieces of land that experience the New Year (furthest behind time zone – UTC−12:00).Baker Island is one of the most remote U.S. equatorial possessions." ], [ "Description", "A cemetery and rubble from earlier settlements are located near the middle of the west coast, where the boat landing area is located.", "There are no ports or harbors, with anchorage prohibited offshore.", "The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard, so there is a day beacon near the old village site.", "Baker's abandoned World War II runway, long, is completely covered with vegetation and is unserviceable.The United States claims an exclusive economic zone of and territorial sea of around Baker Island.During a 1935–1942 colonization attempt, the island was most likely on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5 hours behind UTC.", "Since it is uninhabited the island's time zone is unspecified, but it lies within a nautical time zone 12 hours behind UTC (UTC−12:00)." ], [ "History", "Orthographic projection over Baker IslandBaker was discovered in 1818 by Captain Elisha Folger of the Nantucket whaling ship ''Equator'', who called the island \"New Nantucket\".", "In August 1825 Baker was sighted by Captain Obed Starbuck of the ''Loper'', also a Nantucket whaler.", "The island is named for Michael Baker, who visited the island in 1834.Other references state that he visited in 1832, and again on August 14, 1839, in the whaler ''Gideon Howland'', to bury an American seaman.", "Captain Baker claimed the island in 1855, then he sold his interest to a group who later formed the American Guano Company.The United States took possession of the island in 1857, claiming it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856.Its guano deposits were mined by the American Guano Company from 1859 to 1878.Laborers for the mining operations came from around the Pacific, including from Hawaii; the Hawaiian laborers named Baker Island \"\" ('the ‘ilima flower').", "As an example of the scale of the guano mining and its destination the following ship movements were reported in late 1868.", "* British ship ''Montebello'', Capt Henderson, arrived Aug 17th 104 days from Liverpool, loaded 650 tons guano, departed for Liverpool 9th Sep.* American ship ''Eldorado'', Capt Woodside, arrived Sept 14th from Honolulu, loaded 1550 tons guano, departed for Liverpool Oct 5th.", "* British bark ''Florence Chipman'', Capt Smith, arrived Oct 13th from Rio, loaded 1400 tons guano, departed for Liverpool Nov 5th.On February 27, 1869, the British ship ''Shaftsbury'' under Captain John Davies, which had arrived at Baker's Island on 5 February from Montevideo, was wrecked after being driven onto the reef by a sudden wind shift and squall from the northwest, dragging her moorings with her.", "American ship ''Robin Hood'' was destroyed by fire while loading on 30 August 1869.On 7 December 1886, the American Guano Company sold all its rights to the British firm John T. Arundel and Company, which made the island its headquarters for guano digging operations in the Pacific from 1886 to 1891.Arundel applied in 1897 to the British Colonial Office for a licence to work the island on the presumption that the U.S. had abandoned their claim.", "The United Kingdom then considered Baker Island to be a British territory, although they never formally annexed it.", "The United States raised the question at the beginning of the 1920s and after some diplomatic exchanges, in 1935 they launched the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project and in May 1936 issued Executive Order 7358 to clarify their sovereignty.This short-lived attempt at colonization, via the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project, began when American colonists arrived aboard , the same vessel that brought colonists to neighboring Howland Island, on April 3, 1935.They built a lighthouse and substantial dwellings, and they attempted to grow various plants.", "The settlement was named Meyerton, after Captain H.A.", "Meyer of the United States Army, who helped establish the camps in 1935.One sad-looking clump of coconut palms was jokingly called King–Doyle Park after two well-known citizens of Hawaii who visited on the ''Taney'' in 1938.This clump was the best on the island, planted near a water seep, but the dry climate and seabirds, eager for anything upon which to perch, did not give the trees or shrubs much of a chance to survive.", "King–Doyle Park was later adopted as a geographic name by the United States Geological Survey.", "According to the 1940 U.S. Census, its population was three American civilians, all of whom were evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks.", "During World War II it was occupied by the U.S. military." ], [ "Airfield", "On August 11, 1943, a US Army defense force arrived on Baker Island as part of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign.", "In September 1943 a airfield was opened and was subsequently used as a staging base by Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator bombers for attacks on Mili Atoll.", "The 45th Fighter Squadron operated P-40 fighters from the airfield from September 1 – November 27, 1943.By January 1, 1944, the airfield was abandoned." ], [ "LORAN Station Baker", "LORAN radio navigation station Baker was a radio operations base in operation from September 1944 to July 1946.The station unit number was 91 and the radio call sign was NRN-1." ], [ "Flora and fauna", "Baker has no natural fresh water sources.", "It is treeless, with sparse vegetation consisting of four kinds of grass, prostrate vines and low-growing shrubs.", "The island, with its surrounding waters, is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, waders and marine wildlife.", "It has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of lesser frigatebirds, masked boobies and sooty terns, as the atoll remains home to over one million albatross seabirds.", "Several species of migratory, arctic-breeding waders visit the island seasonally, including ruddy turnstones, bar-tailed godwits, sanderlings, Pacific golden plovers, over various seabird species, most notably albatross, and bristle-thighed curlews, Gray Reef Sharks, Spinner dolphins, seals, and Green turtles & hawksbill turtles, both critically endangered, can be found along the reef." ], [ "National Wildlife Refuge", "On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton created Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge which was expanded in 2009 to add submerged lands within of the island.", "The refuge now includes of land and of water.", "Baker, along with six other islands, was administered by the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex.", "In January 2009, that entity was redesignated the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush.Environmental challenges include abandoned military debris from World War II and illegal fishing offshore.", "Invasive exotics introduced by human activity, including cockroaches and coconut palms, have also displaced native wildlife.", "Feral cats, first introduced in 1937, were eradicated in 1965.Public entry to the island is only by special use permit from the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service and it is generally restricted to scientists and educators, though do provide tour packages per year from early June to Mid-August.", "Visitation without authorized permission, swimming, fishing, and fires are strictly prohibited, and the atoll is only visited during daytime.", "Scuba diving is restricted only to scientists of the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service.", "Representatives from the agency visit the island on average once every two years, usually coordinating transportation with a NOAA vessel." ], [ "Ruins and artifacts", "Debris from past human occupation is scattered throughout the island and in offshore waters.", "Most is from the U.S. military occupation of the island from 1942 to 1946.The most noticeable remnant is the airstrip.", "It is completely overgrown with vegetation and is unusable.", "In the northeast section, apparently the main camp area, are the remains of several buildings and heavy equipment.", "Five wooden antenna poles about in height remain standing in the camp.", "Debris from several crashed airplanes and large equipment such as bulldozers are scattered around the island.", "Numerous bulldozer excavations containing the remnants of metal, fuel and water drums are scattered about the north central portion and northern edge of the island.", "The Navy reported the loss of 11 landing craft in the surf during World War II." ], [ "Gallery", "File:Baker Island Coastline.jpg\|Baker Island coastline with red-footed boobyFile:Fish and Wildlife sign on Baker Island.jpg\|Fish and Wildlife signFile:Baker Island Day Beacon content.jpg\|Hermit crabs taking shade in day beaconFile:Baker settlement remains.jpg\|Settlement remains, radio mast in backgroundFile:Baker Island Gravesite.JPG\|Masked booby on gravestoneFile:Baker Radio Towers.jpg\|Brown noddies with radio masts in backgroundFile:Baker Island wreck.JPG\|Landing craft wreckage on Baker Island coastFile:BakerIsland ISS010.jpg\|Baker Island satellite image" ], [ "See also", "* 64th Coast Artillery (United States)* History of the Pacific Islands* Howland and Baker Islands, includes coverage of the Howland-Baker EEZ* List of Guano Island claims* List of islands of the United States* List of lighthouses in the United States Minor Outlying Islands" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge* Baker Island.", "This article incorporates material from The World Factbook 2000." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bangladesh" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bangladesh''' (, ), officially the '''People's Republic of Bangladesh''', is a country in South Asia.", "It is the eighth-most populous country in the world and is among the most densely populated countries with a population of nearly 170 million in an area of .", "Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast.", "To the south, it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal.", "It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim in the north.", "Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre.", "Chittagong, the second-largest city, is the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal.", "Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet are other major cities.", "The official language of Bangladesh is Bengali.Bangladesh forms the sovereign part of the historic and ethnolinguistic region of Bengal, which was divided during the Partition of India in 1947 as part of majority-Muslim Pakistan, which it gained independence from in 1971.The country has a Bengali Muslim majority.", "Ancient Bengal was known as Gangaridai and was a bastion of pre-Islamic kingdoms.", "Muslim conquests after 1204 heralded the sultanate and Mughal periods, during which an independent Bengal Sultanate and a wealthy Mughal Bengal transformed the region into an important centre of regional affairs, trade, and diplomacy.", "After 1757, Bengal's administrative jurisdiction reached its greatest extent under the Bengal Presidency of the British Empire.", "The creation of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905 set a precedent for the emergence of Bangladesh.", "In 1940, the first Prime Minister of Bengal, A. K. Fazlul Huq, supported the Lahore Resolution.", "Before the partition of Bengal, a Bengali sovereign state was first proposed by premier H. S. Suhrawardy.", "A referendum and the announcement of the Radcliffe Line established the present-day territorial boundary.In 1947, East Bengal became the most populous province in the Dominion of Pakistan.", "It was renamed as East Pakistan, with Dhaka becoming the country's legislative capital.", "The Bengali Language Movement in 1952; the East Bengali legislative election, 1954; the 1958 Pakistani coup d'état; the six point movement of 1966; and the 1970 Pakistani general election resulted in the rise of Bengali nationalism and pro-democracy movements.", "The refusal of the Pakistani military junta to transfer power to the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.The Mukti Bahini, aided by India, waged a successful armed revolution.", "The conflict saw the Bangladesh genocide and the massacre of pro-independence Bengali civilians, including intellectuals.", "The new state of Bangladesh became the first constitutionally secular state in South Asia in 1972.Islam was declared the state religion in 1988.In 2010, the Bangladesh Supreme Court reaffirmed secular principles in the constitution.A middle power in the Indo-Pacific, Bangladesh is home to the sixth-most spoken language in the world, the third-largest Muslim-majority population in the world, and the second-largest economy in South Asia.", "It maintains the third-largest military in the region and is the largest contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations.", "Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary republic based on the Westminster system.", "Bengalis make up 99% of the total population.", "The country consists of eight divisions, 64 districts and 495 subdistricts, as well as the world's largest mangrove forest.", "It hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world due to the Rohingya genocide.", "Bangladesh faces many challenges, particularly corruption, political instability, overpopulation and effects of climate change.", "Bangladesh has been a leader within the Climate Vulnerable Forum.", "It hosts the headquarters of BIMSTEC.", "It is a founding member of the SAARC, as well as a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Commonwealth of Nations." ], [ "Etymology", "The etymology of ''Bangladesh'' (\"Bengali country\") can be traced to the early 20th century, when Bengali patriotic songs, such as ''Namo Namo Namo Bangladesh Momo'' by Kazi Nazrul Islam and ''Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy'' by Rabindranath Tagore, used the term.", "Starting in the 1950s, Bengali nationalists used the term in political rallies in East Pakistan.", "The term ''Bangla'' is a major name for both the Bengal region and the Bengali language.", "The origins of the term ''Bangla'' are unclear, with theories pointing to a Bronze Age proto-Dravidian tribe, and the Iron Age Vanga Kingdom.", "The earliest known usage of the term is the Nesari plate in 805 AD.", "The term ''Vangala Desa'' is found in 11th-century South Indian records.", "The term gained official status during the Sultanate of Bengal in the 14th century.", "Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah proclaimed himself as the first \"Shah of Bangala\" in 1342.The word ''Bangāl'' became the most common name for the region during the Islamic period.", "16th-century historian Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak mentions in his ''Ain-i-Akbari'' that the addition of the suffix ''\"al\"'' came from the fact that the ancient rajahs of the land raised mounds of earth in lowlands at the foot of the hills which were called \"al\".", "This is also mentioned in Ghulam Husain Salim's Riyaz-us-Salatin.", "The Indo-Aryan suffix ''Desh'' is derived from the Sanskrit word ''deśha'', which means \"land\" or \"country\".", "Hence, the name ''Bangladesh'' means \"Land of Bengal\" or \"Country of Bengal\"." ], [ "History", "===Ancient Bengal===The earliest form of the Bengali language developed during the Pala Empire, shown here on a map of Asia in 800 CE.Stone Age tools have been found in different parts of Bangladesh.", "Remnants of Copper Age settlements date back 4,000 years.", "Ancient Bengal was settled by Austroasiatics, Tibeto-Burmans, Dravidians and Indo-Aryans in consecutive waves of migration.", "Archaeological evidence confirms that by the second millennium BCE, rice-cultivating communities inhabited the region.", "By the 11th century, people lived in systemically aligned housing, buried their dead, and manufactured copper ornaments and black and red pottery.", "The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers were natural arteries for communication and transportation, and estuaries on the Bay of Bengal permitted maritime trade.", "The early Iron Age saw the development of metal weaponry, coinage, agriculture and irrigation.", "Major urban settlements formed during the late Iron Age, in the mid-first millennium BCE, when the Northern Black Polished Ware culture developed.", "In 1879, Alexander Cunningham identified Mahasthangarh as the capital of the Pundra Kingdom mentioned in the ''Rigveda''.", "The oldest inscription in Bangladesh was found in Mahasthangarh and dates from the 3rd century BCE, written in the Brahmi script.Greek and Roman records of the ancient Gangaridai Kingdom, which (according to legend) deterred the invasion of Alexander the Great, are linked to the fort city in Wari-Bateshwar.", "The site is also identified with the prosperous trading centre of Souanagoura listed on Ptolemy's world map.", "Roman geographers noted a large seaport in southeastern Bengal, corresponding to the present-day Chittagong region.Ancient Buddhist and Hindu states which ruled Bangladesh included the Vanga, Samatata and Pundra kingdoms, the Mauryan and Gupta Empires, the Varman dynasty, Shashanka's kingdom, the Khadga and Candra dynasties, the Pala Empire, the Sena dynasty, the Harikela kingdom and the Deva dynasty.", "These states had well-developed currencies, banking, shipping, architecture, and art, and the ancient universities of Bikrampur and Mainamati hosted scholars from other parts of Asia.", "Gopala I was the first ever elected ruler of the region in 750 AD; he went on to form the Pala dynasty that ruled until 1161 AD, during which time Bengal prospered.", "Xuanzang of China was a noted scholar who resided at the Somapura Mahavihara (the largest monastery in ancient India), and Atisa travelled from Bengal to Tibet to preach Buddhism.", "The earliest form of the Bengali language emerged during the eighth century.", "Seafarers in the Bay of Bengal sailed and traded with Southeast Asia and exported Buddhist and Hindu cultures to the region since the early Christian era.File:Ruins of Somapura Mahavihara, May 2017 47.jpg\|Pyramid-like ruins of PaharpurFile:Mohastangor.jpg\|MahasthangarhFile:শরতের বয়ে চলা নদী.jpg\|Mainamati===Islamic Bengal===The early history of Islam in Bengal is divided into two phases: the period of maritime trade with Arabia and Persia between the 8th and 12th centuries, and centuries of Muslim dynastic rule after the Islamic conquest of Bengal.", "The writings of Al-Idrisi, Ibn Hawqal, Al-Masudi, Ibn Khordadbeh and Sulaiman record the maritime links between Arabia, Persia and Bengal.", "Muslim trade with Bengal flourished after the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the Arab takeover of Persian trade routes.", "Much of this trade occurred with southeastern Bengal in areas east of the Meghna River.", "There is speculation regarding the presence of a Muslim community in Bangladesh as early as 690 CE; this is based on the discovery of one of South Asia's oldest mosques in northern Bangladesh.", "Bengal was possibly used as a transit route to China by the earliest Muslims.", "Abbasid coins have been discovered in the archaeological ruins of Paharpur and Mainamati.====Sultanate period====Coin featuring a horseman issued after the Muslim conquest of Bengal.The Muslim conquest of Bengal began with the 1204 Ghurid expeditions led by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, who overran the Sena capital in Gauda and led the first Muslim army into Tibet.", "Bengal was ruled by the Sultans of the Delhi Sultanate for a century under the Mamluk, Balban, and Tughluq dynasties.", "In the 14th century, three city-states emerged in Bengal, including Sonargaon led by Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, Satgaon led by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah and Lakhnauti led by Alauddin Ali Shah.", "These city-states were led by former governors who declared independence from Delhi.", "In 1352, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah united the three city-states into a single, unitary and independent Bengal Sultanate.", "The new Sultan of Bengal forced the Sultan of Delhi to retreat during an invasion.", "The army of Ilyas Shah reached as far as Varanasi in the northwest, Kathmandu in the north, Kamarupa in the east, and Orissa in the south.", "During the reign of Sikandar Shah, Delhi recognised Bengal's independence.", "The Bengal Sultanate established a network of mint towns that acted as provincial capitals where the Sultan's currency was minted.", "As Bengal became the easternmost frontier of the Islamic world, Bengali crystallized as an official court language, giving rise to various prominent writers.", "The sultanate was evolving as a commercialized and monetized economy and as a melting pot of Muslim political, mercantile and military elites.The two most prominent dynasties of the Bengal Sultanate were the Ilyas Shahi and Hussain Shahi dynasties.", "The reign of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah saw the opening of diplomatic relations with Ming China.", "The reign of the Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah saw the development of Bengali architecture.", "During the early 15th century, Bengal aided the Restoration of Min Saw Mon in Arakan, which led to the latter becoming a tributary state of Bengal.", "During the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah, Bengali forces penetrated deep into the Brahmaputra Valley—and being led by Shah Ismail Ghazi, conquered Assam, Jajnagar in Orissa, the Jaunpur Sultanate, Pratapgarh Kingdom and the island of Chandradwip.", "By 1500, Gaur became the fifth-most populous city in the world with a population of 200,000.Maritime trade linked Bengal with China, Malacca, Sumatra, Brunei, Portuguese India, East Africa, Arabia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Yemen and the Maldives.", "The Sultans permitted the opening of the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong.The disintegration of the Bengal Sultanate began with the intervention of the Suri Empire.", "Babur began invading Bengal after creating the Mughal Empire.", "The Bengal Sultanate collapsed with the overthrow of the Karrani dynasty during the reign of Akbar.", "However, the Bhati region of eastern Bengal continued to be ruled by aristocrats of the former Bengal Sultanate led by Isa Khan.", "They formed an independent federation called the Twelve Bhuiyans, with their capital in Sonargaon.", "The Bhuiyans ultimately succumbed to the Mughals after Musa Khan was defeated.Kusumba Mosque, Naogaon.jpg\|Kusumba MosqueDarashbari Mosque PRG 8155.jpg\|Mihrabs in Darasbari MosqueChoto Sona Mosque (Front view).jpg\|Choto Sona Mosqueগোয়ালদি মসজিদ 2cropped.jpg\|Goaldi MosqueFaridpur PatrailMoshjid MG 2967.jpg\|Pathrail Mosqueষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ, বাগেরহাটের সম্মুখ দৃশ্য.jpg\|Sixty Dome Mosqueবাঘা মসজিদ, রাজশাহী ০৩.jpg\|Bagha Mosque====Mughal period====Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of BengalThe Mughal Empire controlled Bengal by the 17th century.", "Musa Khan of Bengal, the last independent ruler of Sonargaon after resisting Mughal conquest for several years on 10 July 1610 was defeated and dethroned by Islam Khan Chishti, the army general of Mughal Emperor Jahangir.", "Islam Khan Chisty became the first Mughal Subahdar of Bengal.", "After his defeat Musa Khan became loyal to the Mughal Empire.", "He actively participated in the conquest of Tripura and the suppression of revolt in Kamrup.The Mughals established Dhaka as a fort city and commercial metropolis.", "It was the capital of Bengal Subah for 75 years.", "In 1666, the Mughals expelled the Arakanese from the port of Chittagong.", "Mughal Bengal attracted foreign traders for its muslin and silk goods, and the Armenians were a notable merchant community.", "A Portuguese settlement in Chittagong flourished in the southeast, and a Dutch settlement in Rajshahi existed in the north.", "Bengal accounted for 40% of overall Dutch imports from Asia, including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of raw silk.", "The Bengal Subah, described as the ''Paradise of the Nations'', was a major global exporter, a notable centre of worldwide industries such as muslin, cotton textiles, silk, and shipbuilding.", "Its citizens enjoyed one of the world's best living standards.During the 18th century, the Nawabs of Bengal became the region's de facto rulers, with a realm encompassing much of eastern South Asia.", "The Nawabs forged alliances with European colonial companies, making the region relatively prosperous early in the century.", "Bengal accounted for 50% of the gross domestic product of the empire.", "The Bengali economy relied on textile manufacturing, shipbuilding, saltpetre production, craftsmanship, and agricultural produce.", "Bengal was a major hub for international trade, renowned for its silk and cotton textiles worldwide.", "Bengal was also famed as a shipbuilding hub.Eastern Bengal was a thriving melting pot with strong trade and cultural networks.", "It was a relatively prosperous part of the subcontinent and the centre of the Muslim population in the eastern subcontinent.", "The Bengali Muslim population was a product of conversion and religious evolution, and their pre-Islamic beliefs included elements of Buddhism and Hinduism.", "The construction of mosques, Islamic academies (madrasas), and Sufi monasteries (khanqahs) facilitated conversion, and Islamic cosmology played a significant role in developing Bengali Muslim society.", "Scholars have theorised that Bengalis were attracted to Islam by its egalitarian social order, which contrasted with the Hindu caste system.", "By the 15th century, Muslim poets were widely writing in the Bengali language.", "Syncretic cults, such as the Baul movement, emerged on the fringes of Bengali Muslim society.", "The Persianate culture was significant in Bengal, where cities like Sonargaon became the easternmost centres of Persian influence.In 1756, nawab Siraj ud-Daulah sought to rein in the rising power of the British East India Company by revoking their free trade rights and demanding the dismantling of their fortification in Calcutta.", "A military conflict culminated in the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757.Robert Clive exploited rivalries within the nawab's family, bribing Mir Jafar, the nawab's uncle and commander in chief, to ensure Siraj-ud-Daula's defeat.", "Clive rewarded Mir Jafar by making him nawab in place of Siraj-ud-Daula, but henceforth the position was a figurehead appointed and controlled by the company.", "Historians often describe the battle as \"the beginning of British colonial rule in South Asia\".The Company replaced Mir Jafar with his son-in-law, Mir Kasim, in 1760.Mir Kasim challenged British control by allying with Mughal emperor Shah Alam II and the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja ud-Daulah, but the company decisively defeated the three at the Battle of Buxar on 23 October 1764.The resulting treaty made the Mughal emperor a puppet of the British and gave the company the right to collect taxes (''diwani'') in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, giving them de facto control of the region.", "The Company used Bengal's tax revenue to expand their territorial possession in rest of South Asia.File:DG 85 - 09 SAINT SHEKH NIAMOT ULLAH MOSQUE 15 CENTURY CHANPAI NAWAB GONJ IMG 3196.jpg\|Mughal TahakhanaFile:Rohanpur Octagonal Tomb 04.jpg\|Rohanpur Octagonal Tombইদ্রাকপুর দুর্গ 04.jpg\|Idrakpur FortFile:Atia mosque Tangail.jpg\|Atia MosqueFile:Lalbagh fort.jpg\|Lalbagh FortFile:Asiatic Society Heritage Museum.jpg\|Nimtali arch===European Arrival=======Initial period====Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, which led to the overthrow of the last independent Nawab of BengalThe Bengal Sultanate permitted the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong to be established in 1528.It became the first European colonial enclave in Bengal.", "The Bengal Sultanate lost control of Chittagong in 1531 after Arakan declared independence and the established Kingdom of Mrauk U. Portuguese ships from Goa and Malacca began frequenting the port city in the 16th century.", "The ''cartaz'' system was introduced and required all ships in the area to purchase naval trading licenses from the Portuguese.", "Portuguese piracy in the sea flourished.", "The nearby island of Sandwip was captured in 1602.In 1615, the Portuguese Navy defeated a joint Dutch East India Company and Arakanese fleet near the coast of Chittagong.The Bengal Sultan after 1534 allowed the Portuguese to create several settlements at Chitagoong, Satgaon, Hughli, Bandel, and Dhaka.", "In 1535, the Portuguese allied with the Bengal sultan and held the Teliagarhi pass from Patna helping to avoid the invasion by the Mughals.", "By then several of the products came from Patna and the Portuguese send in traders, establishing a factory there in 1580.The region accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia.", "In 1666, the Mughal government of Bengal led by viceroy Shaista Khan conquered Chittagong region from Portuguese and Arakanese control.", "The Anglo-Mughal War was witnessed in 1686.====British East India Company rule====Charles Cornwallis was responsible for enacting the Permanent Settlement.After the 1757 Battle of Plassey, and 1764 Battle of Buxar in 1772 Bengal was the first region of South Asia conquered by the British East India Company.", "The company formed the Presidency of Fort William, which administered the region until 1858.A notable aspect of Company rule was the Permanent Settlement, which established the feudal zamindari system; in addition, Company policies led to the deindustrialisation of Bengal's textile industry.", "The capital amassed by the East India Company in Bengal was invested in the emerging Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.", "Economic mismanagement, alongside drought and a smallpox epidemic, directly led to the Great Bengal famine of 1770, which is estimated to have caused the deaths of millions of people.", "Several rebellions broke out during the early 19th century, as Company rule had displaced the Muslim ruling class from power.", "A conservative Islamic cleric, Haji Shariatullah, sought to overthrow the British by propagating Islamic revivalism.", "Several towns in Bangladesh participated in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.====British Raj====Lord Curzon oversaw the creation of Eastern Bengal and Assam.The Bengal Presidency at its greatest extentWest Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam in the early 20th centuryThe challenge posed to company rule by the failed Indian Mutiny led to the creation of the British Indian Empire as a crown colony.", "The British established several schools, colleges, and a university in Bangladesh.", "Syed Ahmed Khan and Ram Mohan Roy promoted modern and liberal education in the subcontinent, inspiring the Aligarh movement and the Bengal Renaissance.", "During the late 19th century, novelists, social reformers, and feminists emerged from Muslim Bengali society.", "Electricity and municipal water systems were introduced in the 1890s; cinemas opened in many towns during the early 20th century.", "East Bengal's plantation economy was important to the British Empire, particularly its jute and tea.", "The British established tax-free river ports, such as the Port of Narayanganj, and large seaports like the Port of Chittagong.Bengal had the highest gross domestic product in British India.", "Bengal was one of the first regions in Asia to have a railway, which began operating in 1862.The main railway companies in the region were the Eastern Bengal Railway and Assam Bengal Railway.", "Railways competed with waterborne transport to become one of the main means of transport.Supported by the Muslim aristocracy, the British government created the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905; the new province received increased investment in education, transport, and industry.", "However, the first partition of Bengal created an uproar in Calcutta and the Indian National Congress.", "In response to growing Hindu nationalism, the All India Muslim League was formed in Dhaka in 1906.The British government reorganised the provinces in 1912, reuniting East and West Bengal and making Assam a second province.The Raj was slow to allow self-rule in the colonial subcontinent.", "It established the Bengal Legislative Council in 1862, and the council's native Bengali representation increased during the early 20th century.", "The Bengal Provincial Muslim League was formed in 1913 to advocate civil rights for Bengali Muslims.", "During the 1920s, the league was divided into factions supporting the Khilafat movement and favouring cooperation with the British to achieve self-rule.", "Segments of the Bengali elite supported Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's secularist forces.", "In 1929, the All Bengal Tenants Association was formed in the Bengal Legislative Council to counter the influence of the Hindu landed gentry, and the Indian Independence and Pakistan Movements strengthened during the early 20th century.", "After the Morley-Minto Reforms and the diarchy era in the legislatures of British India, the British government promised limited provincial autonomy in 1935.The Bengal Legislative Assembly, British India's largest legislature, was established in 1937.Although it won most seats in 1937, the Bengal Congress boycotted the legislature.", "A. K. Fazlul Huq of the Krishak Praja Party was elected as the first Prime Minister of Bengal.", "In 1940 Huq supported the Lahore Resolution, which envisaged independent states in the subcontinent's northwestern and eastern Muslim-majority regions.", "Huq was succeeded by Khawaja Nazimuddin, who grappled with the effects of the Burma Campaign, the Bengal famine of 1943, which killed millions of people, and the Quit India movement.", "In 1946, the Bengal Provincial Muslim League won the provincial election with the largest Muslim League mandate in British India.", "H. S. Suhrawardy, who made a final futile effort for a United Bengal in 1946, was the last premier of Bengal.File:Baliati Jamindar Bari (140699635).jpeg\|BaliatiFile:স্মৃতিরা যেথায় খেলে লুকোচুরি.jpg\|Panam NagarFile:Curzon Hall (185220146).jpg\|Curzon HallFile:Old Highcourt Bhaban (3).JPG\|Old High CourtFile:তাজহাট জমিদার বাড়ি, রংপুর, বাংলাদেশ.jpg\|Tajhat PalaceFile:Administration Building of Rajshshi College.jpg\|Rajshahi CollegeFile:Colonial-Era Court Building - Chittagong - Bangladesh (13081106214).jpg\|Chittagong Court HouseFile:Rani Vabani Rajbari.jpg\|NatoreFile:Shoshi Lodge Mymensingh (শশী লজ).jpg\|MymensinghFile:Mohera Zamindar Bari 3.jpg\|Tangail===Partition of Bengal (1947)===British Bengal's last premier H. S. Suhrawardy speaking about partitionOn 3 June 1947, the Mountbatten Plan outlined the partition of British India.", "On 6 July, the Sylhet region of Assam voted in a referendum to join East Bengal.", "Cyril Radcliffe was tasked with drawing the borders of Pakistan and India, and the Radcliffe Line established the boundaries of present-day Bangladesh.", "The Radcliffe Line awarded two-thirds of Bengal as the eastern wing of Pakistan, but the medieval and early modern Bengali capitals of Gaur, Pandua and Murshidabad fell on the Indian side close to the border with Pakistan.===Union with Pakistan===Women students of Dhaka University marching in defiance of the Section 144 prohibition on assembly during the Bengali Language Movement in early 1953Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (seated) at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States in 1958The Dominion of Pakistan was created on 14 August 1947.East Bengal, with Dhaka as its capital, was the most populous province of the 1947 Pakistani federation (led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who promised freedom of religion and secular democracy in the new state).Khawaja Nazimuddin was East Bengal's first chief minister with Frederick Chalmers Bourne its governor.", "The All Pakistan Awami Muslim League was formed in 1949.In 1950, the East Bengal Legislative Assembly enacted land reform, abolishing the Permanent Settlement and the zamindari system.", "The 1952 Bengali Language Movement was the first sign of friction between the country's geographically separated wings.", "The Awami Muslim League was renamed the more secular Awami League in 1953.The first constituent assembly was dissolved in 1954.The United Front coalition swept aside the Muslim League in a landslide victory in the 1954 East Bengali legislative election.", "The following year, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan as part of the One Unit programme, and the province became a vital part of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956.The Pakistan Army imposed military rule in 1958, and Ayub Khan was the country's strongman for 11 years.", "Political repression increased after the coup.", "Khan introduced a new constitution in 1962, replacing Pakistan's parliamentary system with a presidential and gubernatorial system (based on electoral college selection) known as Basic Democracy.", "In 1962, Dhaka became the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan, a move seen as appeasing increased Bengali nationalism.", "The Pakistani government built the controversial Kaptai Dam, displacing the Chakma people from their indigenous homeland in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.", "The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 blocked cross-border transport links with neighbouring India in what is described as a second partition.", "In 1966, Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced a six-point movement for a federal parliamentary democracy.According to senior World Bank officials, the Pakistani government practised extensively economic discrimination against East Pakistan.", "Despite generating 70 per cent of Pakistan's export revenue with jute and tea, East Pakistan received much less government spending than West Pakistan.", "Economists in East Pakistan, including Rehman Sobhan and Nurul Islam among others, demanded a separate foreign exchange account for the eastern wing.", "The economists paraphrased Pakistan's Two-Nation Theory ideology against India, by pointing to the existence of two different economies with Pakistan itself, dubbed the Two-Economies Theory.", "The central government also refused to release foreign aid allocated for East Pakistan.", "The populist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested for treason in the Agartala Conspiracy Case and was released during the 1969 uprising in East Pakistan which resulted in Ayub Khan's resignation.", "General Yahya Khan assumed power, reintroducing martial law.Ethnic and linguistic discrimination was common in Pakistan's civil and military services, in which Bengalis were under-represented.", "Cultural discrimination also prevailed, making East Pakistan forge a distinct political identity.", "Authorities banned Bengali literature and music in state media.", "A cyclone devastated the coast of East Pakistan in 1970, killing an estimated 500,000 people, and the central government was criticised for its poor response.", "After the December 1970 elections, the Bengali-nationalist Awami League won 167 of 169 East Pakistani seats in the National Assembly.", "The League claimed the right to form a government and develop a new constitution but was strongly opposed by the Pakistani military and the Pakistan Peoples Party (led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto).===War of Independence===In early 1971, negotiations began on the transfer of power.", "The Awami League wanted to develop a constitution based on its Six Points agenda; this was opposed by the Pakistani military, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muslim League factions.", "Talks eventually broke down as the junta led by Yahya Khan prepared for a military operation in East Pakistan.", "The Bengali population was angered when the newly elected National Assembly was not convened under pressure from the junta and West Pakistani politicians.", "Despite enjoying an absolute majority in the newly elected parliament, Prime Minister-elect Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was prevented from taking the oath.", "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto threatened to break the legs of West Pakistani MPs if they flew to Dhaka for the first session of parliament.", "Civil disobedience erupted across East Pakistan, with loud calls for independence.", "Mujib addressed a pro-independence rally of nearly 2 million people on 7 March 1971, where he said, \"This time the struggle is for our liberation.", "This time the struggle is for our independence\".", "The flag of Bangladesh was raised for the first time on 23 March, Pakistan's Republic Day.", "Museum of Independence, DhakaAround midnight on 26 March 1971, military operations under the code name of Operation Searchlight began.", "The first targets were the student dormitories of Dhaka University, the police barracks in Dhaka's Rajarbagh locality, and Hindu neighbourhoods in Old Dhaka.", "The Pakistan Army arrested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and flew him to a jail in West Pakistan.", "The army burnt down the ''Ittefaq'' newspaper's office.", "Before his arrest, Mujib proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh.", "Pakistani forces launched a widespread campaign of killings, torture, rape, arson and destruction across East Pakistan, targeting segments of the population perceived to be pro-Awami League and pro-independence.", "The Hindu minority was distinctly targeted because of Pakistan's hostility with neighbouring Hindu-majority India.During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Mukti Bahini emerged as the Bengali resistance force.", "A highly successful guerrilla war was fought against Pakistan.", "Bengalis continued to defect from Pakistan's diplomatic service, military, police, and bureaucracy.", "In April, they helped Awami League leaders to set up the Provisional Government of Bangladesh, which operated in exile from Calcutta with the support of the Indian government until December 1971.The Bangladesh Armed Forces was formally established in November 1971, when Bengali forces secured control of much of the countryside.", "The Mukti Bahini forced the railway network to shut down to stop Pakistani troop movements.", "Some of the notable operations of the Mukti Bahini included Operation Jackpot and Operation Barisal.India intervened in the war on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan's failed pre-emptive air strikes on India's northwestern flank.", "With a joint ground advance by Bangladeshi and Indian forces, coupled with air strikes by both India and the small Bangladeshi air contingent, the capital Dhaka was liberated from Pakistani occupation in mid-December.", "During the last phase of the war, both the Soviet Union and the United States dispatched naval forces to the Bay of Bengal in a Cold War standoff.", "The nine-month-long war ended with the surrender of the Pakistan Eastern Command to the Bangladesh-India Allied Forces on 16 December 1971.Under international pressure, Pakistan released Mujib from imprisonment on 8 January 1972 and he was flown to a million-strong homecoming in Dhaka.", "Remaining Indian troops were withdrawn by 12 March 1972.By August 1972, the new state was recognised by 86 countries.", "Pakistan recognised Bangladesh in 1974 after pressure from most of the Muslim countries.The Liberation War Museum in Dhaka has many exhibits on the victims of the 1971 war.The government of Bangladesh records the official death toll of the war at 3 million, including victims of atrocities and those who died from starvation.", "Minimum estimates for the number of those killed range between 300,000 and 500,000.An estimated 10 million refugees fled to neighboring India and 30 million were internally displaced.", "The war was one of the first to record the use of rape as a weapon of war, with an estimated 200,000 women being subjected to sexual abuse by the Pakistani army.", "The war saw the systematic targeting of Bengali elites, particularly intellectuals.", "The Jamaat-e-Islami formed paramilitary militias, which aided Pakistani troops and guided them to their intended targets.", "While Bengali Muslims bore the brunt of atrocities because of racial tensions with the largely Punjabi Muslim West Pakistani forces, the minority Bengali Hindu community was singled out for attacks by the Pakistani armed forces, a legacy which has led Hindu nationalist groups to claim that the war was a Hindu genocide.", "Archer Blood, the US Consul General in East Pakistan at the time of the war, described the situation as \"selective genocide\".", "In 1974 and 2002, Pakistan formally expressed \"regret\" for what happened.", "In 2015, Pakistan denied any atrocities took place.", "In 2022, a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the US Congress to \"Recognize the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971\".", "The International Association of Genocide Scholars regards the atrocities as a genocide.===Modern Bangladesh=======First parliamentary era====Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with a commander of the Bangladesh NavyThe new government of Bangladesh transformed East Pakistan's state apparatus into an independent Bangladeshi state.", "The Awami League successfully reorganised the bureaucracy, framed a written constitution, and rehabilitated war victims.", "In January 1972, Mujib introduced a parliamentary republic through a presidential decree.", "On 12 January 1972 Mujib took oath and assumed office as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.", "The emerging state structure was heavily influenced by the British Westminster model.", "The Constitution Drafting Committee led by Kamal Hossain established a bill of rights influenced by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.The constituent assembly adopted the constitution of Bangladesh on 4 November 1972, establishing a secular, multiparty parliamentary democracy.", "Bangladesh joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the UN, the OIC, and the Non-Aligned Movement.", "In his maiden speech to the UNGA, Mujib stated that \"the Bengali has struggled for many centuries for the right to live a free and honourable life as independent citizens of an independent country.", "They expected to live in peace and harmony with all the nations in the world\".", "He strengthened relations with India by signing a 25-year friendship treaty, a border demarcation agreement, and protocols on cross-border trade.", "The land boundary treaty was aimed at resolving border disputes inherited from East Pakistan and swapping the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves.", "The land boundary agreement was challenged in court, which ruled that the government needed the prior approval of parliament to implement the land boundary treaty.", "Mujib was a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights despite Israel being one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh's independence.", "In what became Bangladesh's first dispatch of military aid overseas, Mujib sent an army medical unit to Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.In economic policy, the first five years of Bangladesh was the only socialist period in its history.", "Mujib nationalized 580 industrial plants, as well as banks and insurance companies.", "In 1974, the government invited international oil companies to explore the Bay of Bengal for oil and natural gas.", "Petrobangla was established as the national oil and gas corporation.", "The Mujib government faced huge economic problems exacerbated by the resettlement of millions of people displaced in 1971, a breakdown in the food supply chain, poor health services and a lack of other necessities.", "The effects of the 1970 cyclone were still being felt, and the economy needed reconstruction after the war.", "The Bangladesh famine of 1974 damaged Mujib's popularity.Mujib presided over a regime that was built around his personality cult.", "Sycophants and loyalists developed an ideology called Mujibism.====Presidential era (1975–1991)====Ziaur Rahman (second from right) with members of the Dutch royal family in 1978In January 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced one-party socialist rule under BAKSAL.", "Rahman banned all newspapers except four state-owned publications and amended the constitution to increase his power.", "He was assassinated during a coup on 15 August 1975, and the presidency passed to the usurper Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad for four months.", "Ahmad is widely regarded as a traitor by Bangladeshis.", "Tajuddin Ahmad, the nation's first prime minister, and four other independence leaders were assassinated on 4 November 1975.Chief Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem was installed as president by the military on 6 November 1975.Bangladesh was governed by a military junta led by the Chief Martial Law Administrator for three years.", "In 1977, the army chief Ziaur Rahman became president.", "Rahman reinstated multiparty politics, privatised industries and newspapers, re-opened the Dhaka Stock Exchange, established BEPZA and held the country's second general election in 1979.In 1978, 200,000 Arakanese Muslim refugees crossed the Naf River into Bangladesh due to a Burmese military crackdown.", "The refugees were later repatriated.", "A semi-presidential system evolved, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) governing until 1982.Rahman was assassinated in 1981 and was succeeded by vice-president Abdus Sattar.After a year in office, Sattar was overthrown in the 1982 Bangladesh coup d'état.", "Chief Justice A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury was installed as president, but army chief Hussain Muhammad Ershad became the country's ''de facto'' leader and assumed the presidency in 1983.Ershad lifted martial law in 1986.He governed with four successive prime ministers (Ataur Rahman Khan, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, Moudud Ahmed and Kazi Zafar Ahmed) and a parliament dominated by his Jatiyo Party.", "Ershad pursued administrative decentralisation, dividing the country into 64 districts, and pushed Parliament to make Islam the state religion in 1988.Bangladesh dispatched its first contingent of UN peacekeepers in 1988.In 1990, Bangladesh joined the US-led coalition to liberate Kuwait during the Gulf War.", "A mass uprising forced Ershad to resign, and Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed led the country's first caretaker government as part of the transition to parliamentary rule.====Parliamentary era (1991–present)====Khaleda Zia (standing second from right) with the Emir of Bahrain in 1994.Sheikh Hasina with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street in 2011.After the 1991 general election, the twelfth amendment to the constitution restored the parliamentary republic, and Begum Khaleda Zia became Bangladesh's first female prime minister.", "Zia, a former first lady, led a BNP government from 1990 to 1996.In 1991, her finance minister, Saifur Rahman, began a major programme to liberalise the Bangladeshi economy.", "In addition to setting up the Chittagong Stock Exchange; banking, pharmaceuticals, aviation, ceramics, steel, telecoms, and tertiary education were opened up for investments, resulting in increased market competition.", "In 1992, an estimated 250,000 refugees from Burma took shelter in Bangladesh due to the suppression of the Burmese pro-democracy movement; most of these refugees returned to Burma by 1993.In 1994, Bangladesh provided the largest non-US contingent in Operation Uphold Democracy, a military intervention in Haiti.In 1996, a year of political upheaval saw a boycotted February election, an attempted military coup, and mediation efforts producing a caretaker government to oversee elections.", "For three months, Muhammad Habibur Rahman served as the interim leader of the country.", "The Awami League returned to power in the June election after 21 years.", "One of the first initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was to repeal the deeply controversial Indemnity Ordinance, which protected her father's killers from prosecution.", "Hasina also signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, which ended an insurgency in the southeastern hill districts.", "She reached an agreement with India for sharing the water of the Ganges.The economic reform momentum lost steam due to political instability, including frequent hartals and strikes by the opposition.", "In 2001, the BNP returned to power on the back of promises to improve the economy.", "The second Zia administration saw higher economic growth, but security and political problems gripped the country between 2004 and 2006.A radical Islamist militant group, the JMB, carried out a series of terror attacks.", "At the end of the BNP's term in 2006, there was widespread political unrest.", "The Bangladeshi military urged President Iajuddin Ahmed to impose a state of emergency and a caretaker government, led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, was installed from January 2007 to December 2008 to implement reforms to the electoral system, judiciary, and bureaucracy.", "The JMB leaders were arrested and later executed in March 2007.After achieving a landslide victory in the 2008 Bangladeshi general election the Awami League government returned to power, taking their oath on 6 January 2009, with Sheikh Hasina once again becoming the Prime Minister and bringing political stability and economic growth to the nation.", "In 2010, the Supreme Court reduced the scope for military interventions through legal loopholes and reaffirmed secular principles in the constitution.", "The Awami League set up a war crimes tribunal to prosecute surviving Bengali Islamist collaborators of the 1971 atrocities.", "Human rights abuses increased under Hasina and her administration, particularly enforced disappearances by the Rapid Action Battalion, with the government being described as increasingly authoritarian since returning to power in 2008.The 2014 elections and 2024 elections were boycotted by the BNP-Jamaat alliance.", "The BNP and Jamaat have often engaged in violent protests to overthrow the government.", "In 2017, Bangladesh experienced the largest influx of Arakanese refugees in its history.", "An estimated 700,000 Rohingya refugees took shelter in Cox's Bazar after a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State, Myanmar.The national poverty rate went down from 80% in 1971 to 44.2% in 1991 to 12.9% in 2021.Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, which Yunus founded, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering microfinance and their efforts to eradicate poverty.", "Bangladesh has emerged as the second-largest economy in South Asia, surpassing the per capita income levels of both India and Pakistan.", "Since 2009, Bangladesh has launched a series of infrastructure megaprojects.", "On 25 June 2022, the Padma Bridge opened and connected southwestern Bangladesh with the rest of the country, while the Dhaka Metro was opened in 2023.As part of the green transition, Bangladesh's industrial sector emerged as a leader in building green factories, with the country having the largest number of certified green factories in the world in 2023.In January 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured her fourth straight term in Bangladesh's controversial general election, which was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party." ], [ "Geography", "Physical map of BangladeshBangladesh is in South Asia on the Bay of Bengal.", "It is surrounded almost entirely by neighbouring India, and shares a small border with Myanmar to its southeast, though it lies very close to Nepal, Bhutan, and China.", "The country is divided into three regions.", "Most of the country is dominated by the fertile Ganges Delta, the largest river delta in the world.", "The northwest and central parts of the country are formed by the Madhupur and the Barind plateaus.", "The northeast and southeast are home to evergreen hill ranges.The Ganges delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma or ''Pôdda''), Brahmaputra (Jamuna or ''Jomuna''), and Meghna rivers and their tributaries.", "The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later join the Meghna, finally flowing into the Bay of Bengal.", "Bangladesh is called the \"Land of Rivers\"; as it is home to over 57 trans-boundary rivers, the most of any nation-state.", "Water issues are hence politically complicated since the country is a lower riparian state to India.Bangladesh is predominantly rich fertile flat land.", "Most of it is less than above sea level, and it is estimated that about 10% of its land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by .", "17% of the country is covered by forests and 12% is covered by hill systems.", "The country's haor wetlands are of significance to global environmental science.", "The highest point in Bangladesh is the Saka Haphong, located near the border with Myanmar, with an elevation of .", "Previously, either Keokradong or Tazing Dong were considered the highest.===Administrative divisions===Bangladesh is divided into eight administrative divisions, each named after their respective divisional headquarters: Barisal (officially ''Barishal''), Chittagong (officially ''Chattogram''), Dhaka, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet.Divisions are subdivided into districts (''zila'').", "There are 64 districts in Bangladesh, each further subdivided into ''upazila'' (subdistricts) or ''thana''.", "The area within each police station, except for those in metropolitan areas, is divided into several ''unions'', with each union consisting of multiple villages.", "In the metropolitan areas, police stations are divided into wards, further divided into ''mahallas''.There are no elected officials at the divisional or district levels, and the administration is composed only of government officials.", "Direct elections are held in each union (or ward) for a chairperson and several members.", "In 1997, a parliamentary act was passed to reserve three seats (out of 12) in every union for female candidates.+ Administrative Divisions of Bangladesh Division Capital Established Area (km2) 2021 Population (projected) Density2021 Barisal Division Barisal 1 January 1993 13,225 9,713,000 734 Chittagong Division Chittagong 1 January 1829 33,909 34,747,000 1,025 Dhaka Division Dhaka 1 January 1829 20,594 42,607,000 2,069 Khulna Division Khulna 1 October 1960 22,284 18,217,000 817 Mymensingh Division Mymensingh 14 September 2015 10,584 13,457,000 1,271 Rajshahi Division Rajshahi 1 January 1829 18,153 21,607,000 1,190 Rangpur Division Rangpur 25 January 2010 16,185 18,868,000 1,166 Sylhet Division Sylhet 1 August 1995 12,635 12,463,000 986===Climate===Flooding after the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone, which killed around 140,000 peopleStraddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh's climate is tropical, with a mild winter from October to March and a hot, humid summer from March to June.", "The country has never recorded an air temperature below , with a record low of in the northwest city of Dinajpur on 3 February 1905.A warm and humid monsoon season lasts from June to October and supplies most of the country's rainfall.", "Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores occur almost every year, combined with the effects of deforestation, soil degradation and erosion.", "The cyclones of 1970 and 1991 were particularly devastating, the latter killing approximately 140,000 people.In September 1998, Bangladesh saw the most severe flooding in modern history, after which two-thirds of the country went underwater, along with a death toll of 1,000.As a result of various international and national level initiatives in disaster risk reduction, the human toll and economic damage from floods and cyclones have come down over the years.", "The 2007 South Asian floods ravaged areas across the country, leaving five million people displaced, had a death toll around 500.Bangladesh is recognised to be one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.", "Over the course of a century, 508 cyclones have affected the Bay of Bengal region, 17 percent of which are believed to have made landfall in Bangladesh.", "Natural hazards that come from increased rainfall, rising sea levels, and tropical cyclones are expected to increase as the climate changes, each seriously affecting agriculture, water and food security, human health, and shelter.", "It is estimated that by 2050, a three-foot rise in sea levels will inundate some 20 percent of the land and displace more than 30 million people.", "To address the sea level rise threat in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 has been launched.===Biodiversity===A Bengal tiger, the national animal, in the SundarbansBangladesh is located in the Indomalayan realm, and lies within four terrestrial ecoregions: Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests, Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests, Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests, and Sundarbans mangroves.", "Its ecology includes a long sea coastline, numerous rivers and tributaries, lakes, wetlands, evergreen forests, semi evergreen forests, hill forests, moist deciduous forests, freshwater swamp forests and flat land with tall grass.", "The Bangladesh Plain is famous for its fertile alluvial soil which supports extensive cultivation.", "The country is dominated by lush vegetation, with villages often buried in groves of mango, jackfruit, bamboo, betel nut, coconut, and date palm.", "The country has up to 6000 species of plant life, including 5000 flowering plants.", "Water bodies and wetland systems provide a habitat for many aquatic plants.", "Water lilies and lotuses grow vividly during the monsoon season.", "The country has 50 wildlife sanctuaries.Bangladesh is home to much of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, covering an area of in the southwest littoral region.", "It is divided into three protected sanctuaries–the South, East, and West zones.", "The forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.", "The northeastern Sylhet region is home to haor wetlands, a unique ecosystem.", "It also includes tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, a freshwater swamp forest, and mixed deciduous forests.", "The southeastern Chittagong region covers evergreen and semi-evergreen hilly jungles.", "Central Bangladesh includes the plainland Sal forest running along with the districts of Gazipur, Tangail, and Mymensingh.", "St. Martin's Island is the only coral reef in the country.Bangladesh has an abundance of wildlife in its forests, marshes, woodlands, and hills.", "The vast majority of animals dwell within a habitat of .", "The Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, saltwater crocodile, black panther and fishing cat are among the chief predators in the Sundarbans.", "Northern and eastern Bangladesh is home to the Asian elephant, hoolock gibbon, Asian black bear and oriental pied hornbill.", "The Chital deer are widely seen in southwestern woodlands.", "Other animals include the black giant squirrel, capped langur, Bengal fox, sambar deer, jungle cat, king cobra, wild boar, mongooses, pangolins, pythons and water monitors.", "Bangladesh has one of the largest populations of Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins.", "The country has numerous species of amphibians (53), reptiles (139), marine reptiles (19) and marine mammals (5).", "It also has 628 species of birds.Several animals became extinct in Bangladesh during the last century, including the one-horned and two-horned rhinoceros and common peafowl.", "The human population is concentrated in urban areas, limiting deforestation to a certain extent.", "Rapid urban growth has threatened natural habitats.", "The country has widespread environmental issues, pollution of the Dhaleshwari River by the textile industry and shrimp cultivation in Chakaria Sundarbans have both been described by academics as ecocides.", "Although many areas are protected under law, some Bangladeshi wildlife is threatened by this growth.", "The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act was enacted in 1995.The government has designated several regions as Ecologically Critical Areas, including wetlands, forests, and rivers.", "The Sundarbans tiger project and the Bangladesh Bear Project are among the key initiatives to strengthen conservation.", "It ratified the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 3 May 1994., the country was set to revise its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan." ], [ "Politics and government", "Bangabhaban (literally ''Bengal House'') is the presidential palace of Bangladesh.", "It was originally a house for the Viceroy of India and the Governor of Bengal.National Parliament building in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, a neighborhood named after the first Prime Minister of BengalBangladesh is a ''de jure'' representative democracy under its constitution, with a Westminster-style parliamentary republic that has universal suffrage.", "The head of government is the Prime Minister, who forms a government every five years.", "The President invites the leader of the largest party in parliament to become Prime Minister.The Jatiya Sangshad (National Parliament) is the unicameral parliament.", "It has 350 Members of Parliament (MPs), including 300 MPs elected on the first past the post system and 50 MPs appointed to reserved seats for women's empowerment.", "Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh forbids MPs from voting against their party.", "However, several laws proposed independently by MPs have been transformed into legislation, including the anti-torture law.", "The parliament is presided over by the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, who is second in line to the president as per the constitution.The Government of Bangladesh is overseen by a cabinet headed by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.", "The tenure of a parliamentary government is five years.", "The Bangladesh Civil Service assists the cabinet in running the government.", "Recruitment for the civil service is based on a public examination.", "In theory, the civil service should be a meritocracy.", "But a disputed quota system coupled with politicisation and preference for seniority have allegedly affected the civil service's meritocracy.", "The President of Bangladesh is the ceremonial head of state whose powers include signing bills passed by parliament into law.", "The President is the Supreme Commander of the Bangladesh Armed Forces and the chancellor of all universities.The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is the highest court of the land, followed by the High Court and Appellate Divisions.", "The head of the judiciary is the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, who sits on the Supreme Court.", "The courts have wide latitude in judicial review, and judicial precedent is supported by Article 111 of the constitution.", "The judiciary includes district and metropolitan courts divided into civil and criminal courts.", "Due to a shortage of judges, the judiciary has a large backlog.===Military===Map of Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force deploymentsThe Bangladesh Armed Forces have inherited the institutional framework of the British military and the British Indian Army.", "In 2022, the active personnel strength of the Bangladesh Army was around 250,000, excluding the Air Force and the Navy (24,000).", "In addition to traditional defence roles, the military has supported civil authorities in disaster relief and provided internal security during periods of political unrest.", "For many years, Bangladesh has been the world's largest contributor to UN peacekeeping forces.", "The military budget of Bangladesh accounts for 1.3% of GDP, amounting to US$4.3 billion in 2021.The Bangladesh Navy, one of the largest in the Bay of Bengal, includes a fleet of frigates, submarines, corvettes, and other vessels.", "The Bangladesh Air Force has a small fleet of multi-role combat aircraft.", "Most of Bangladesh's military equipment comes from China.", "In recent years, Bangladesh and India have increased joint military exercises, high-level visits of military leaders, counter-terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing.", "Bangladesh is vital to ensuring stability and security in northeast India.Bangladesh's strategic importance in the eastern subcontinent hinges on its proximity to China, its frontier with Burma, the separation of mainland and northeast India, and its maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal.", "In 2002, Bangladesh and China signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement.", "The United States has pursued negotiations with Bangladesh on a Status of Forces Agreement, an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement and a General Security of Military Information Agreement.", "In 2019, Bangladesh ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.===Foreign relations===Bangladesh is considered a middle power in global politics.", "It plays an important role in the geopolitical affairs of the Indo-Pacific, due to its strategic location between South and Southeast Asia.", "Bangladesh joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1972 and the United Nations in 1974.It relies on multilateral diplomacy on issues like climate change, nuclear nonproliferation, trade policy and non-traditional security issues.", "Bangladesh pioneered the creation of SAARC, which has been the preeminent forum for regional diplomacy among the countries of the Indian subcontinent.", "It joined the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in 1974, and is a founding member of the Developing 8 Countries.", "In recent years, Bangladesh has focused on promoting regional trade and transport links with support from the World Bank.", "Dhaka hosts the headquarters of BIMSTEC, an organisation that brings together countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.Relations with neighbouring Myanmar have been severely strained since 2016–2017, after over 700,000 Rohingya refugees illegally entered Bangladesh.", "The parliament, government, and civil society of Bangladesh have been at the forefront of international criticism against Myanmar for military operations against the Rohingya, and have demanded their right of return to Arakan.Bangladesh shares an important bilateral and economic relationship with its largest neighbour India, which is often strained by water politics of the Ganges and the Teesta, and the border killings of Bangladeshi civilians.", "Post-independent Bangladesh has continued to have a problematic relationship with Pakistan, mainly due to its denial of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide.", "It maintains a warm relationship with China, which is its largest trading partner, and the largest arms supplier.", "Japan is Bangladesh's largest economic aid provider, and the two maintain a strategic and economic partnership.", "Political relations with Middle Eastern countries are robust.", "Bangladesh receives 59% of its remittances from the Middle East, despite poor working conditions affecting over four million Bangladeshi workers.", "Bangladesh plays a major role in global climate diplomacy as a leader of the Climate Vulnerable Forum.===Civil society===Since the colonial period, Bangladesh has had a prominent civil society.", "There are various special interest groups, including non-governmental organisations, human rights organisations, professional associations, chambers of commerce, employers' associations, and trade unions.", "The National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh was set up in 2007.Notable human rights organisations and initiatives include the Centre for Law and Mediation, Odhikar, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee.", "The world's largest international NGO BRAC is based in Bangladesh.", "There have been concerns regarding the shrinking space for independent civil society in recent years.===Human rights===The Rapid Action Battalion has been sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses.Torture is banned by the Constitution of Bangladesh, but is rampantly used by Bangladesh's security forces.", "Bangladesh joined the Convention against Torture in 1998 and it enacted its first anti-torture law, the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, in 2013.The first conviction under this law was announced in 2020.Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience from Bangladesh have included Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Shahidul Alam.", "The Digital Security Act of 2018 has greatly reduced freedom of expression in Bangladesh and has been used to target critics of the government.On International Human Rights Day in December 2021, the United States Department of Treasury announced sanctions on commanders of the Rapid Action Battalion for extrajudicial killings, torture, and other human rights abuses.", "Freedom House has criticised the ruling party for human rights abuses, the crackdown on the opposition, mass media, and civil society through politicized enforcement.", "Bangladesh is ranked \"partly free\" in Freedom House's ''Freedom in the World'' report, but its press freedom has deteriorated from \"free\" to \"not free\" in recent years due to increasing pressure from the authoritarian government.", "According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, the country has a hybrid regime: the third of four rankings in its Democracy Index.", "Bangladesh was ranked 96th among 163 countries in the 2022 Global Peace Index.", "According to National Human Rights Commission, 70% of alleged human-rights violations are committed by law-enforcement agencies.LGBT rights are heavily suppressed: homosexuality is punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment.", "However, Bangladesh recognises the third gender and accords limited rights for transgender people.", "According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 1,531,300 people are enslaved in Bangladesh, or roughly 1% of the population.===Corruption===Like many developing countries, institutional corruption is an issue of concern for Bangladesh.", "Bangladesh was ranked 146th among 180 countries on Transparency International's 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index.", "Land administration was the sector with the most bribery in 2015, followed by education, police and water supply.", "The Anti Corruption Commission was formed in 2004, and it was active during the 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis, indicting many leading politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen for graft." ], [ "Economy", "Office blocks on Kemal Ataturk Avenue in DhakaBangladesh is the second largest economy in South Asia after India.", "The country has outpaced India and Pakistan in terms of per capita income.", "According to the World Bank, \"when the newly independent country of Bangladesh was born on December 16, 1971, it was the second poorest country in the world—making the country's transformation over the next 50 years one of the great development stories.", "Since then, poverty has been cut in half at record speed.", "Enrollment in primary school is now nearly universal.", "Hundreds of thousands of women have entered the workforce.", "Steady progress has been made on maternal and child health.", "And the country is better buttressed against the destructive forces posed by climate change and natural disasters.", "Bangladesh's success comprises many moving parts—from investing in human capital to establishing macroeconomic stability.", "Building on this success, the country is now setting the stage for further economic growth and job creation by ramping up investments in energy, inland connectivity, urban projects, and transport infrastructure, as well as focusing on climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness on its path toward sustainable growth.\"", "Bangladesh has made one of the greatest leaps on the Human Development Index among Asian countries.", "According to UNDP, \"Asia and the Pacific has observed the fastest Human Development Index (HDI) progress in the world—with Bangladesh being one the best performers, moving from an HDI of 0.397 in 1990, the fourth lowest in the region, to a HDI of 0.661 in 2021.Only China had greater improvements in the region over this period\".Chittagong has the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal.In 2022, Bangladesh had the second largest foreign-exchange reserves in South Asia.", "The reserves have boosted the government's spending capacity despite tax revenues forming only 7.7% of government revenue.", "A big chunk of investments have gone into the power sector.", "In 2009, Bangladesh was experiencing daily blackouts several times a day.", "In 2022, the country achieved 100% electrification.", "One of the major anti-poverty schemes of the Bangladeshi government is the Ashrayan Project which aims to eradicate homelessness by providing free housing.", "The poverty rate has gone down from 80% in 1971, to 44.2% in 1991, to 12.9% in 2021.The literacy rate was 74.66% in 2022.Bangladesh has a labor force of roughly 70 million, which is the world's seventh-largest; with an unemployment rate of 5.2% .", "The government is setting up 100 special economic zones to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and generate 10 million jobs.", "The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) have been established to help investors in setting up factories; and to complement the longstanding Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA).The Bangladeshi taka is the national currency.", "The service sector accounts for about 51.3% of total GDP and employs 39% of the workforce.", "The industrial sector accounts for 35.1% of GDP and employs 20.4% of the workforce.", "The agriculture sector makes up 13.6% of the economy but is the biggest employment sector, with 40.6% of the workforce.", "In agriculture, the country is a major producer of rice, fish, tea, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and jute.", "Lobsters and shrimps are some of Bangladesh's well-known exports.===Private sector===The private sector accounts for 80% of GDP compared to the dwindling role of state-owned companies.", "Bangladesh's economy is dominated by family-owned conglomerates and small and medium-sized businesses.", "Some of the largest publicly traded companies in Bangladesh include Beximco, BRAC Bank, BSRM, GPH Ispat, Grameenphone, Summit Group, and Square Pharmaceuticals.", "Capital markets include the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange.", "Its telecommunications industry is one of the world's fastest-growing, with 171.854 million cellphone subscribers in January 2021.Over 80% of Bangladesh's export earnings come from the garments industry.", "Other major industries include shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, steel, ceramics, electronics, and leather goods.", "Muhammad Aziz Khan became the first person from Bangladesh to be listed as a billionaire by ''Forbes''.===Infrastructure===The Padma Bridge is a road-rail bridge which spans the Bangladeshi branch of the Ganges that is known as the Padma River.", "It is the longest bridge on the Ganges.", "When it was opened in June 2022, the bridge was expected to boost GDP by 1.23%.Since 2009, Bangladesh has embarked on a series of megaprojects.", "For instance, the 6.15 km long Padma Bridge was built for US$3.86 billion.", "The bridge was the first self-financed megaproject in the country's history.", "Other megaprojects include the Dhaka Metro, a mass rapid-transit system in the capital; Karnaphuli Tunnel, an underwater expressway in Chittagong; Dhaka Elevated Expressway; Chittagong Elevated Expressway; and the Bangladesh Delta Plan, designed to mitigate the impact of climate change.===Tourism===The tourism industry is expanding, contributing some 3.02% of total GDP.", "Bangladesh's international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $391 million.", "The country has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Mosque City, the Paharpur Buddhist Ruins and the Sundarbans) and five tentative-list sites.", "Activities for tourists include angling, water skiing, river cruising, hiking, rowing, yachting, and beachgoing.", "The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported in 2019 that the travel and tourism industry in Bangladesh directly generated 1,180,500 jobs in 2018 or 1.9% of the country's total employment.", "According to the same report, Bangladesh experiences around 125,000 international tourist arrivals per year.", "Domestic spending generated 97.7 percent of direct travel and tourism gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012.===Energy and electricity===Wind turbines on Kutubdia IslandBangladesh is gradually transitioning to a green economy.", "It has the largest off-grid solar power programme in the world, benefiting 20 million people.", "An electric car called the ''Palki'' is being developed for production in the country.", "Biogas is being used to produce organic fertilizer.Bangladesh continues to have huge untapped reserves of natural gas, particularly in its maritime territory.", "A lack of exploration and decreasing proven reserves have forced Bangladesh to import LNG from abroad.", "Gas shortages were further exasperated by the Russia-Ukraine War.While government-owned companies in Bangladesh generate nearly half of Bangladesh's electricity, privately owned companies like the Summit Group and Orion Group are playing an increasingly important role in both generating electricity, and supplying machinery, reactors, and equipment.", "Bangladesh increased electricity production from 5 gigawatts in 2009 to 25.5 gigawatts in 2022.It plans to produce 50 gigawatts by 2041.U.S.", "companies like Chevron and General Electric supply around 55% of Bangladesh's domestic natural gas production and are among the largest investors in power projects.", "80% of Bangladesh's installed gas-fired power generation capacity comes from turbines manufactured in the United States.The government stopped buying spot price LNG in June 2022.The country's forex reserves declined due to surging fuel imports.", "Bangladesh imported 30% of its LNG on the spot price market in 2022, down from 40% in 2021.Bangladesh continues to trade in LNG on the futures exchange markets.The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bangladesh's first operational nuclear plant, is nearing completion as of the end of 2023." ], [ "Demographics", "According to the 2022 Census, Bangladesh has a population of 165.1 million, and is the eighth-most-populous country in the world, the fifth-most populous country in Asia, and the most densely populated large country in the world, with a headline population density of 1,265 people/km2 .", "Its total fertility rate (TFR), once among the highest in the world, has experienced a dramatic decline, from 5.5 in 1985 to 3.7 in 1995, down to 2.0 in 2020, which is below the sub-replacement fertility of 2.1.The majority of Bangladeshis live in rural areas, with only 39% of the population living in urban areas .", "It has a median age of roughly 28 years, with 26% of the total population aged 14 or younger, and merely 5% aged 65 and above.Bangladesh is an ethnically and culturally homogeneous society, as Bengalis form 99% of the population.", "The Adivasi population includes the Chakmas, Marmas, Santhals, Mros, Tanchangyas, Bawms, Tripuris, Khasis, Khumis, Kukis, Garos, and Bisnupriya Manipuris.", "The Chittagong Hill Tracts region experienced unrest and an insurgency from 1975 to 1997 in an autonomy movement by its indigenous people.", "Although a peace accord was signed in 1997, the region remains militarised.", "Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis were given citizenship by the Supreme Court in 2008.Bangladesh also hosts over 700,000 Rohingya refugees since 2017, giving it one of the largest refugee populations in the world.===Urban centres===Bangladesh's capital Dhaka and the largest city and is overseen by two city corporations that manage between them the northern and southern parts of the city.", "There are 12 city corporations which hold mayoral elections: Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Chittagong, Comilla, Khulna, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Gazipur and Narayanganj.", "Mayors are elected for five-year terms.", "Altogether there are 506 urban centres in Bangladesh which 43 cities have a population of more than 100,000.===Language===The official and predominant language of Bangladesh is Bengali, which is spoken by more than 98% of the population as their native language.", "Bengali is described as a dialect continuum where there are various dialects spoken throughout the country.", "There is a diglossia in which much of the population can understand or speak Standard Colloquial Bengali, and their regional dialects.", "These include Chittagonian or Sylheti, though some linguists consider them as separate languages.English plays an important role in Bangladesh's judicial and educational affairs, due to the country's history as part of the British Empire.", "It is widely spoken and commonly understood, and is taught as a compulsory subject in all schools, colleges and universities, while the English-medium educational system is widely attended.Tribal languages, although increasingly endangered, include the Chakma language, another native Eastern Indo-Aryan language, spoken by the Chakma people.", "Others are Garo, Meitei, Kokborok and Rakhine.", "Among the Austroasiatic languages, the most spoken is the Santali language, native to the Santal people.The stranded Pakistanis and some sections of the Old Dhakaites often use Urdu as their native tongue.", "Still, the usage of the latter remains highly reproached.=== Religion ===Bangladesh was constitutionally proclaimed as the first secular state of South Asia in 1972.It grants freedom of religion, ensures separation of church and state, and claims to be \"secular in practise\" while establishing Islam as the state religion.", "The constitution bans religion-based politics and discrimination, and proclaims equal recognition of people adhering to all faiths.", "Islam is the largest religion across the country, being followed by about 91.1% of the population.", "The vast majority of Bangladeshi citizens are Bengali Muslims, adhering to Sunni Islam.", "The country is the third-most populous Muslim-majority state in the world and has the fourth-largest overall Muslim population.Hinduism is followed by 7.9% of the population, mainly by the Bengali Hindus, who form the country's second-largest religious group and the third-largest Hindu community globally, after those in India and Nepal.", "Buddhism is the third-largest religion, at 0.6% of the population.", "Bangladeshi Buddhists are concentrated among the tribal ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.", "At the same time, coastal Chittagong is home to many Bengali Buddhists.", "Christianity is the fourth-largest religion at 0.3%, followed mainly by a small Bengali Christian minority.", "0.1% of the population practices other religions like Animism or is irreligious.=== Education ===Literacy rates in Bangladesh districtsThe constitution states that all children shall receive free and compulsory education.", "Education in Bangladesh is overseen by the Ministry of Education.", "The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education is responsible for implementing policy for primary education and state-funded schools at a local level.", "Primary and secondary education is compulsory, and is financed by the state and free of charge in public schools.", "Bangladesh has a literacy rate of 74.7% per cent as of 2019: 77.4% for males and 71.9% for females.", "The country's educational system is three-tiered and heavily subsidised, with the government operating many schools at the primary, secondary and higher secondary levels and subsidising many private schools.", "In the tertiary education sector, the Bangladeshi government funds over 45 state universities through the University Grants Commission (UGC), created by Presidential Order 10 in 1973.The education system is divided into five levels: primary (first to fifth grade), junior secondary (sixth to eighth grade), secondary (ninth and tenth grade), higher secondary (11th and 12th grade), and tertiary which is university level.", "According to Hossain 2016, the formal schooling of secondary education in Bangladesh is seven years.", "The first three years are called junior secondary and include grades six to eight.", "The next two years are called secondary and include grades nine and ten.", "The final two years are called higher secondary and include grade eleven and twelve.", "Based on the information from Hossain 2016 and Daily Star 2010, to pass the fifth grade the Bangladesh Education Ministry requires a public exam called Primary School Certificate (PSC).", "During the eighth grade students have to pass the Junior School Certificate (JSC) exam to get enrolled in ninth grade, while tenth-grade students have to pass the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam to proceed to eleventh grade.", "Lastly, students have to pass the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam at grade twelve to apply for university.Universities in Bangladesh are of three general types: public (government-owned and subsidised), private (privately owned universities) and international (operated and funded by international organisations).", "The country has 47 public, 105 private and two international universities; Bangladesh National University has the largest enrolment, and the University of Dhaka (established in 1921) is the oldest.", "Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is a premiere university for engineering education.", "University of Chittagong, established in 1966, has the largest campus.", "Dhaka College, established in 1841, is the oldest educational institution for higher education in Bangladesh.", "Medical education is provided by 29 government and private medical colleges.", "All medical colleges are affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.Bangladesh was ranked 105th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.===Health===Historical development of life expectancy in Bangladesh, displaying significant strides since independenceBangladesh, by the constitution, guarantees healthcare services as a fundamental right to all of its citizens.", "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the largest institutional healthcare provider in Bangladesh, and contains two divisions: Health Service Division and Medical Education And Family Welfare Division.", "However, healthcare facilities in Bangladesh are considered less than adequate, although they have improved as the economy has grown and poverty levels have decreased significantly.", "Bangladesh faces a severe health workforce crisis, as formally trained providers make up a small percentage of the total health workforce.", "Significant deficiencies in the treatment practices of village doctors persist, with widespread harmful and inappropriate drug prescribing.Bangladesh's poor healthcare system suffers from severe underfunding from the government.", ", some 2.48% of total GDP was attributed to healthcare, and domestic general government spending on healthcare was 18.63% of the total budget, while out-of-pocket expenditures made up the vast majority of the total budget, totalling 72.68%.", "Domestic private health expenditure was about 75% of the total healthcare expenditure.", ", there are only 5.3 doctors per 10,000 people, and about six physicians and three nurses per 10,000 people, while the number of hospital beds is 8 per 10,000.The overall life expectancy in Bangladesh at birth was 73 years (71 years for males and 75 years for females) , and it has a comparably high infant mortality rate (24 per 1,000 live births) and child mortality rate (29 per 1,000 live births).", "Maternal mortality remains high, clocking at 173 per 100,000 live births.", "Bangladesh is a key source market for medical tourism for various countries, mainly India, due to its citizens dissatisfaction and distrust over their own healthcare system.The main causes of death are coronary artery disease, stroke, and chronic respiratory disease; comprising 62% and 60% of all adult male and female deaths, respectively.", "Malnutrition is a major and persistent problem in Bangladesh, mainly affecting the rural regions, more than half of the population suffers from it.", "Severe acute malnutrition affects 450,000 children, while nearly 2 million children have moderate acute malnutrition.", "For children under the age of five, 52% are affected by anaemia, 41% are stunted, 16% are wasted, and 36% are underweight.", "A quarter of women are underweight and around 15% have short stature, while over half also suffer from anaemia." ], [ "Culture", "===Visual arts and crafts===Embroidery on Nakshi kantha (embroidered quilt), a centuries-old Bengali art traditionThe recorded history of art in Bangladesh can be traced to the 3rd century BCE, when terracotta sculptures were made in the region.", "In classical antiquity, notable sculptural Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art developed in the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty.", "Islamic art has evolved since the 14th century.", "The architecture of the Bengal Sultanate saw a distinct style of domed mosques with complex niche pillars that had no minarets.", "Mughal Bengal's most celebrated artistic tradition was the weaving of Jamdani motifs on fine muslin, which is now classified by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.", "Jamdani motifs were similar to Iranian textile art (buta motifs) and Western textile art (paisley).", "The Jamdani weavers in Dhaka received imperial patronage.", "Ivory and brass were also widely used in Mughal art.", "Pottery is thoroughly used in Bengali culture.The modern art movement in Bangladesh took shape during the 1950s, particularly with the pioneering works of Zainul Abedin.", "East Bengal developed its own modernist painting and sculpture traditions, which were distinct from the art movements in West Bengal.", "The Art Institute Dhaka has been a significant centre for visual art in the region.", "Its annual Bengali New Year parade was enlisted as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2016.Modern Bangladesh has produced many of South Asia's leading painters, including SM Sultan, Mohammad Kibria, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Kafil Ahmed, Saifuddin Ahmed, Qayyum Chowdhury, Rashid Choudhury, Quamrul Hassan, Rafiqun Nabi and Syed Jahangir, among others.", "Novera Ahmed and Nitun Kundu were the country's pioneers of modernist sculpture.In recent times, photography as a medium of art has become popular.", "Biennial Chobi Mela is considered the largest photography festival in Asia.===Literature===Syed Mujtaba AliBengali literature is a millennium-old tradition; the Charyapadas are the earliest examples of Bengali poetry.", "Sufi spiritualism inspired many Bengali Muslim writers.", "During the Bengal Sultanate, medieval Bengali writers were influenced by Arabic and Persian works.", "Sultans of Bengal patronized Bengali literature.", "Examples include the writings of Maladhar Basu, Bipradas Pipilai, Vijay Gupta, and Yasoraj Khan.", "The Chandidas are notable lyric poets from the early Medieval Age.", "Syed Alaol was the bard of Middle Bengali literature.", "The Bengal Renaissance shaped modern Bengali literature, including novels, short stories, and science fiction.", "Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature and is described as the Bengali Shakespeare.", "Kazi Nazrul Islam was a revolutionary poet who espoused political rebellion against colonialism and fascism.", "Begum Rokeya is regarded as the pioneer feminist writer of Bangladesh.", "Other renaissance icons included Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.The writer Syed Mujtaba Ali is noted for his cosmopolitan Bengali worldview.", "Jasimuddin was a renowned pastoral poet.", "Shamsur Rahman and Al Mahmud are considered two of the greatest Bengali poets to have emerged in the 20th century.", "Farrukh Ahmad, Sufia Kamal, Syed Ali Ahsan, Ahsan Habib, Abul Hussain, Shahid Qadri, Fazal Shahabuddin, Abu Zafar Obaidullah, Omar Ali, Al Mujahidi, Syed Shamsul Huq, Nirmalendu Goon, Abid Azad, Hasan Hafizur Rahman and Abdul Hye Sikder are important figures of modern Bangladeshi poetry.", "Ahmed Sofa is regarded as the most important Bangladeshi intellectual in the post-independence era.", "Humayun Ahmed was a popular writer of modern Bangladeshi magical realism and science fiction.", "Notable writers of Bangladeshi fictions include Mir Mosharraf Hossain, Akhteruzzaman Elias, Alauddin Al Azad, Shahidul Zahir, Rashid Karim, Mahmudul Haque, Syed Waliullah, Shahidullah Kaiser, Shawkat Osman, Selina Hossain, Shahed Ali, Razia Khan, Anisul Hoque, and Abdul Mannan Syed.The annual Ekushey Book Fair and Dhaka Literature Festival, organised by the Bangla Academy, are among the enormous literary festivals in South Asia.===Women===Although , several women occupied a key political office in Bangladesh, its women continue to live under a patriarchal social regime where violence is common.", "Whereas in India and Pakistan, women participate less in the workforce as their education increases, the reverse is the case in Bangladesh.Bengal has a long history of feminist activism dating back to the 19th century.", "Begum Rokeya and Faizunnessa Chowdhurani played an important role in emancipating Bengali Muslim women from purdah, before the country's division, as well as promoting girls' education.", "Several women were elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in the British Raj.", "The first women's magazine, ''Begum'', was published in 1948.In 2008, Bangladeshi female workforce participation stood at 26%.", "According to a report published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in March 2023, the female labour force participation rate has reached to 42.68%.", "in 2022 Women dominate blue collar jobs in the Bangladeshi garment industry.", "Agriculture, social services, healthcare, and education are chosen occupations for Bangladeshi women, while their employment in white collar positions has steadily increased.===Architecture===The architectural traditions of Bangladesh have a 2,500-year-old heritage.", "Terracotta architecture is a distinct feature of Bengal.", "Pre-Islamic Bengali architecture reached its pinnacle in the Pala Empire when the Pala School of Sculptural Art established grand structures such as the Somapura Mahavihara.", "Islamic architecture began developing under the Bengal Sultanate, when local terracotta styles influenced medieval mosque construction.The Sixty Dome Mosque was the largest medieval mosque built in Bangladesh and is a fine example of Turkic-Bengali architecture.", "The Mughal style replaced indigenous architecture when Bengal became a province of the Mughal Empire and influenced urban housing development.", "The Kantajew Temple and Dhakeshwari Temple are excellent examples of late medieval Hindu temple architecture.", "Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, based on Indo-Islamic styles, flourished during the British period.", "The zamindar gentry in Bangladesh built numerous Indo-Saracenic palaces and country mansions, such as the Ahsan Manzil, Tajhat Palace, Dighapatia Palace, Puthia Rajbari and Natore Rajbari.Bengali vernacular architecture is noted for pioneering the bungalow.", "Bangladeshi villages consist of thatched roofed houses made of natural materials like mud, straw, wood, and bamboo.", "In modern times, village bungalows are increasingly made of tin.Muzharul Islam was the pioneer of Bangladeshi modern architecture.", "His varied works set the course of modern architectural practice in the country.", "Islam brought leading global architects, including Louis Kahn, Richard Neutra, Stanley Tigerman, Paul Rudolph, Robert Boughey and Konstantinos Doxiadis, to work in erstwhile East Pakistan.", "Louis Kahn was chosen to design the National Parliament Complex in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.", "Kahn's monumental designs, combining regional red brick aesthetics, his concrete and marble brutalism and the use of lakes to represent Bengali geography, are regarded as one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.", "In recent times, award-winning architects like Rafiq Azam have set the course of contemporary architecture by adopting influences from the works of Islam and Kahn.===Performing arts===Women dancers during the Bengali New Year in ChittagongA Baul playing the ''ektara'' at Lalon Shah's shrine in KushtiaTheatre in Bangladesh includes various forms with a history dating back to the 4th century CE.", "It includes narrative forms, song and dance forms, supra-personae forms, performances with scroll paintings, puppet theatre and processional forms.", "The Jatra is the most popular form of Bengali folk theatre.The dance traditions of Bangladesh include indigenous tribal and Bengali dance forms, as well as classical Indian dances, including the Kathak, Odissi and Manipuri dances.The music of Bangladesh features the Baul mystical tradition, listed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage.", "Fakir Lalon Shah popularised Baul music in the country in the 18th century and it has since been one of the most popular music genres in the country since then.", "Most modern Bauls are devoted to Lalon Shah.", "Numerous lyric-based musical traditions, varying from one region to the next, exist, including Gombhira, Bhatiali and Bhawaiya.", "Folk music is accompanied by a one-stringed instrument known as the ektara.", "Other instruments include the dotara, dhol, flute, and tabla.", "Bengali classical music includes Tagore songs and Nazrul Sangeet.", "Bangladesh has a rich tradition of Indian classical music, which uses instruments like the sitar, tabla, sarod, and santoor.", "Sabina Yasmin and Runa Laila were considered the leading playback singers in the 1990s, while musicians such as Ayub Bachchu and James are credited with popularising rock music in Bangladesh.===Textiles===A ramp walk by a model during a fashion show in Bangladesh in 2012The Nakshi Kantha is a centuries-old embroidery tradition for quilts, said to be indigenous to eastern Bengal (Bangladesh).", "The sari is the national dress for Bangladeshi women.", "Mughal Dhaka was renowned for producing the finest muslin saris, as well as the famed Dhakai and Jamdani, the weaving of which is listed by UNESCO as one of the masterpieces of humanity's intangible cultural heritage.", "Bangladesh also produces the Rajshahi silk.", "The shalwar kameez is also widely worn by Bangladeshi women.", "In urban areas, some women can be seen in Western clothing.", "The kurta and sherwani are the national dress of Bangladeshi men; the lungi and dhoti are worn in informal settings.", "Aside from ethnic wear, domestically tailored suits and neckties are customarily worn by the country's men in offices, in schools, and at social events.The handloom industry supplies 60–65% of the country's clothing demand.", "The Bengali ethnic fashion industry has flourished.", "The retailer Aarong is one of South Asia's most successful ethnic wear brands.", "The development of the Bangladesh textile industry, which supplies leading international brands, has promoted the local production and retail of modern Western attire.", "The country now has several expanding local brands like Westecs and Yellow.", "Bangladesh is the world's second-largest garment exporter.", "Among Bangladesh's fashion designers, Bibi Russell has received international acclaim for her \"Fashion for Development\" shows.===Cuisine===Traditional Bangladeshi meals: shorshe ilish, Dhakaiya biryani and pithaBangladeshi cuisine, formed by its geographic location and climate, is rich and diverse; sharing its culinary heritage with the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal.", "White rice is the staple, and along with fish, forms the culinary base.", "Varieties of leaf vegetables, potatoes, gourds and lentils (dal) also play an important role.", "Curries of beef, mutton, chicken and duck are commonly consumed, along with multiple types of bhortas, ''bhajis'' and ''torkaris''.", "Mughal-influenced dishes include kormas, kalias, biryanis, pulaos, teharis and khichuris.", "Among the various spices, turmeric, fenugreek, nigella, coriander, anise, cardamom and chili powder are widely used; a famous spice mix is the panch phoron.", "Condiments and herbs used include red onions, green chillies, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and mint.", "Coconut milk, mustard paste, mustard seeds, mustard oil, ghee, achars and chutneys are also widely used in the cuisine.Fish is the main source of protein, owing to the country's riverine geography, and it is often enjoyed with its roe.", "The hilsa is the national fish and is immensely popular; a famous dish is shorshe ilish.", "Rohu, pangas, tilapia, lobsters, shrimps and dried fish (''shutki'') are also widely consumed, with the chingri malai curry being a famous shrimp dish.", "In Chittagong, famous dishes include kala bhuna and mezban, the latter being a traditionally popular feast, featuring the serving of ''mezbani gosht'', a hot and spicy beef curry.", "In Sylhet, the ''shatkora'' lemons are used to marinate dishes, a notable one is beef hatkora.", "Among the tribal communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, cooking with bamboo shoots is popular.", "Khulna is renowned for using ''chui jhal'' (piper chaba) in its meat-based dishes.Bangladesh has a vast spread of desserts, including distinctive sweets such as the ''rôshogolla'', ''roshmalai'', ''chomchom'', ''sondesh'', ''mishti doi'' and ''kalojaam'', and ''jilapi''.", "Pithas are traditional boiled desserts made with rice or fruits.", "Halwa and shemai, the latter being a variation of vermicelli; are popular desserts during religious festivities.", "Ruti, naan, paratha, luchi and bakarkhani are the main local breads.", "Hot milk tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the country, being the centre of addas.", "Borhani, mattha and lassi are popular traditionally consumed beverages.", "Kebabs are widely popular, particularly seekh kebab, chapli kebab, shami kebab, chicken tikka and shashlik, along with various types of ''chaaps''.", "Popular street foods include chotpoti, jhal muri and fuchka.===Festivals===''Pahela Baishakh'', the Bengali new year, is the major festival of Bengali culture and sees widespread festivities.", "Of the major holidays celebrated in Bangladesh, only Pahela Baishakh comes without any pre-existing expectations (specific religious identity, a culture of gift-giving, etc.)", "and has become an occasion for celebrating the simpler, rural roots of Bengal.", "Other cultural festivals include Nabonno and Poush Parbon, Bengali harvest festivals.A fair in ComillaThe Muslim festivals of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Mawlid, Muharram, Chand Raat, Shab-e-Barat; the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja, Janmashtami and Rath Yatra; the Buddhist festival of Buddha Purnima, which marks the birth of Gautama Buddha, and the Christian festival of Christmas are national holidays in Bangladesh and see the most widespread celebrations in the country.", "The two Eids are celebrated with a long streak of public holidays and allow celebrating the festivals with their families outside the city.Alongside national days like the remembrance of 21 February 1952 Language Movement Day (declared as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO in 1999), Independence Day and Victory Day.", "On Language Movement Day, people congregate at the Shaheed Minar in Dhaka to remember the national heroes of the Bengali Language Movement.", "Similar gatherings are observed at the National Martyrs' Memorial on Independence Day and Victory Day to remember the national heroes of the Bangladesh Liberation War.===Sports===Bangladesh cricket teamIn rural Bangladesh, several traditional indigenous sports such as Kabaddi, Boli Khela, Lathi Khela and Nouka Baich remain fairly popular.", "While Kabaddi is the national sport, Cricket is the most popular sport in the country.", "The national cricket team participated in their first Cricket World Cup in 1999 and the following year was granted Test cricket status.", "Bangladesh reached the quarter-final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the semi-final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and they reached the final of the Asia Cup 3 times – in 2012, 2016, and 2018.Shakib Al Hasan is widely regarded as one of the greatest All-rounders in the history of Cricket and as one of the greatest Bangladeshi sportsman ever.", "On 9 February 2020, the Bangladesh youth national cricket team won the men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup, held in South Africa.", "This was Bangladesh's first World Cup victory.", "In 2018, the Bangladesh women's national cricket team won the 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup defeating India women's national cricket team in the final.Bangladesh football teamFootball is also a leading sport in Bangladesh.", "Although football was seen as the most popular sport in the country before the 21st century, success in cricket has overshadowed its previous popularity.", "The first instance of a national football team was the emergence of the Shadhin Bangla Team, which played friendly matches throughout India to raise international awareness about the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.On 26 July 1971, the team's captain, Zakaria Pintoo, became the first person to hoist the Bangladesh flag on foreign land before their match in Nadia district of West Bengal.", "Following independence, the national football team participated in the AFC Asian Cup (1980), becoming only the second South Asian team to do so.", "Bangladesh's most notable achievements in football include the 2003 SAFF Gold Cup and 1999 South Asian Games.", "In 2022, the Bangladesh women's national football team won the 2022 SAFF Women's Championship.Bangladesh archers Ety Khatun and Roman Sana won several gold medals winning all the 10 archery events (both individual and team events) in the 2019 South Asian Games.", "The National Sports Council regulates 42 sporting federations.", "Chess is very popular in Bangladesh.", "Bangladesh has five grandmasters in chess.", "Among them, Niaz Murshed was the first grandmaster in South Asia.", "In 2010, mountain climber Musa Ibrahim became the first Bangladeshi climber to conquer Mount Everest.", "Wasfia Nazreen is the first Bangladeshi climber to climb the Seven Summits.Bangladesh hosts several international tournaments.", "Bangabandhu Cup is an international football tournament hosted in the country.", "Bangladesh hosted the South Asian Games several times.", "Bangladesh co-hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 with India and Sri Lanka in 2011.Bangladesh solely hosted the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 championship.", "Bangladesh hosted the Cricket Asia Cup in 2000, 2012, 2014 and 2016.Bangladesh has also hosted the 1985 Men's Hockey Asia Cup.===Media and cinema===Anwar Hossain playing Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, in the 1967 film ''Nawab Sirajuddaulah''The Bangladeshi press is diverse and privately owned.", "Over 200 newspapers are published in the country.", "Bangladesh Betar is a state-run radio service.", "The British Broadcasting Corporation operates the popular BBC Bangla news and current affairs service.", "Bengali broadcasts from Voice of America are also very popular.", "Bangladesh Television (BTV) is a state-owned television network.", "More than 20 privately owned television networks, including several news channels.", "Freedom of the media remains a major concern due to government attempts at censorship and the harassment of journalists.The cinema of Bangladesh dates back to 1898 when films began screening at the Crown Theatre in Dhaka.", "The Dhaka Nawab Family patronised the production of several silent films in the 1920s and 30s.", "In 1931, the East Bengal Cinematograph Society released the first full-length feature film in Bangladesh, titled ''Last Kiss''.", "The first feature film in East Pakistan, ''Mukh O Mukhosh'', was released in 1956.During the 1960s, 25–30 films were produced annually in Dhaka.", "By the 2000s, Bangladesh produced 80–100 films a year.", "While the Bangladeshi film industry has achieved limited commercial success, the country has produced notable independent filmmakers.", "Zahir Raihan was a prominent documentary maker assassinated in 1971.Tareque Masud is regarded as one of Bangladesh's outstanding directors.", "Masud was honoured by FIPRESCI at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his film ''The Clay Bird''.", "Tanvir Mokammel, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Humayun Ahmed, Alamgir Kabir, Chashi Nazrul Islam and Sohanur Rahman Sohan, who was best known in Dhallywood for directing romantic films.", "His film ''Ananta Bhalobasha'' released in 1999 marked a turning point in Bangladeshi cinema by introducing Shakib Khan, who is now one of the biggest superstars in the industry, are some of the prominent directors of Bangladeshi cinema.", "Bangladesh has a very active film society culture.", "It started in 1963 in Dhaka.", "Now around 40 Film Societies are active all over Bangladesh.", "Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh is the parent organisation of the film society movement of Bangladesh.", "Active film societies include the Rainbow Film Society, Children's Film Society, Moviyana Film Society, and Dhaka University Film Society.===Museums and libraries===The Varendra Research Museum in Rajshahi is the oldest surviving museum in Bangladesh.The Varendra Research Museum is the oldest museum in Bangladesh.", "It houses important collections from both the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods, including the sculptures of the Pala-Sena School of Art and the Indus Valley civilisation, and Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian manuscripts and inscriptions.", "The Ahsan Manzil, the former residence of the Nawab of Dhaka, is a national museum housing collections from the British Raj.The Tajhat Palace Museum preserves artifacts of the rich cultural heritage of North Bengal, including Hindu-Buddhist sculptures and Islamic manuscripts.", "The Mymensingh Museum houses the personal antique collections of Bengali aristocrats in central Bengal.", "The Ethnological Museum of Chittagong showcases the lifestyle of various tribes in Bangladesh.", "The Bangladesh National Museum is located in Shahbagh, Dhaka, and has a rich collection of antiquities.", "The Liberation War Museum documents the Bangladeshi struggle for independence and the 1971 genocide.The Hussain Shahi dynasty established royal libraries during the Bengal Sultanate.", "Libraries were established in each district of Bengal by the Zamindar gentry during the Bengal Renaissance in the 19th century.", "The trend of establishing libraries continued until the beginning of World War II.", "In 1854, four major public libraries were opened, including the Bogra Woodburn Library, the Rangpur Public Library, the Jessore Institute Public Library, and the Barisal Public Library.The Northbrook Hall Public Library was established in Dhaka in 1882 in honour of Lord Northbrook, the Governor-General.", "Other libraries inaugurated in the British period included the Victoria Public Library, Natore (1901), the Sirajganj Public Library (1882), the Rajshahi Public Library (1884), the Comilla Birchandra Library (1885), the Shah Makhdum Institute Public Library, Rajshahi (1891), the Noakhali Town Hall Public Library (1896), the Prize Memorial Library, Sylhet (1897), the Chittagong Municipality Public Library (1904) and the Varendra Research Library (1910).", "The Great Bengal Library Association was formed in 1925.The Central Public Library of Dhaka was established in 1959.The National Library of Bangladesh was established in 1972.The World Literature Centre, founded by Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Abdullah Abu Sayeed, is noted for operating numerous mobile libraries across Bangladesh and was awarded the UNESCO Jon, Amos Comenius Medal." ], [ "See also", "* Index of Bangladesh-related articles* Outline of Bangladesh* Cinema of Bangladesh* Bangladeshi art* Bangladeshi cuisine" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Cited sources", "* * " ], [ "Further reading", " Ahmed, Nizam.", "''The Parliament of Bangladesh'' (Routledge, 2018).", "* * * Baxter, Craig.", "''Bangladesh: From a nation to a state'' (Routledge, 2018).", "* * * * * Hasnat, GN Tanjina, Md Alamgir Kabir, and Md Akhter Hossain.", "\"Major environmental issues and problems of South Asia, particularly Bangladesh.\"", "''Handbook of environmental materials management'' (2018): 1-40.online* Iftekhar Iqbal (2010) ''The Bengal Delta: Ecology, State and Social Change, 1840–1943'' (Palgrave Macmillan) * Islam, Saiful, and Md Ziaur Rahman Khan.", "\"A review of the energy sector of Bangladesh.\"", "''Energy Procedia'' 110 (2017): 611–618.online* Jannuzi, F. Tomasson, and James T. Peach.", "''The agrarian structure of Bangladesh: An impediment to development'' (Routledge, 2019).", "* * * M. Mufakharul Islam (edited) (2004) Socio-Economic History of Bangladesh: essays in memory of Professor Shafiqur Rahman, 1st Edition, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, * M. Mufakharul Islam (2007) ''Bengal Agriculture 1920–1946: A Quantitative Study'' (Cambridge University Press), * Prodhan, Mohit.", "\"The educational system in Bangladesh and scope for improvement.\"", "''Journal of International Social Issues'' 4.1 (2016): 11–23.online* * * Riaz, Ali.", "''Bangladesh: A political history since independence'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016).", "* * * * Shelley, Israt J., et al.", "\"Rice cultivation in Bangladesh: present scenario, problems, and prospects.\"", "''Journal of International Cooperation for Agricultural Development'' 14.4 (2016): 20–29.online* Sirajul Islam (edited) (1997) History of Bangladesh 1704–1971(Three Volumes: Vol 1: Political History, Vol 2: Economic History Vol 3: Social and Cultural History), 2nd Edition (Revised New Edition), The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, * Sirajul Islam (Chief Editor) (2003) Banglapedia: A National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.", "(10 Vols.", "Set), (written by 1300 scholars & 22 editors) The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, * * * * Van Schendel, Willem.", "''A history of Bangladesh'' (Cambridge University Press, 2020).", "* " ], [ "External links", "'''Government''' * Official Site of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority'''General information'''* * Bangladesh.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* * Bangladesh from the BBC News* Bangladesh from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''* * * Key Development Forecasts for Bangladesh from International Futures" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Barbados" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Barbados''' ( ; ; ) is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of North America, and is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands.", "It lies on the boundary of the South American and the Caribbean Plates.", "Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.Inhabited by Kalinago people since the 13th century, and prior to that by other Indigenous peoples, Spanish navigators took possession of Barbados in the late 15th century, claiming it for the Crown of Castile.", "It first appeared on a Spanish map in 1511.The Portuguese Empire claimed the island between 1532 and 1536, but abandoned it in 1620 with their only remnants being an introduction of wild boars for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited.", "An English ship, the ''Olive Blossom'', arrived in Barbados on 14 May 1625; its men took possession of the island in the name of King James I.", "In 1627, the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and Barbados became an English and later British colony.", "During this period, the colony operated on a plantation economy, relying on the labour of African slaves who worked on the island's plantations.", "Slavery continued until it was phased out through most of the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.On 30 November 1966, Barbados gained independence and became a Commonwealth realm with Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados.", "On 30 November 2021, Barbados transitioned to a republic within the Commonwealth.Barbados's population is predominantly of African ancestry.", "While it is technically an Atlantic island, Barbados is closely associated with the Caribbean and is ranked as one of its leading tourist destinations." ], [ "Etymology", "The name \"Barbados\" is from either the Portuguese term or the Spanish equivalent, , both meaning \"the bearded ones\".", "It is unclear whether \"bearded\" refers to the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree (''Ficus citrifolia''), a species of banyan indigenous to the island, or to the allegedly bearded Caribs who once inhabited the island, or, more fancifully, to a visual impression of a beard formed by the sea foam that sprays over the outlying coral reefs.", "In 1519, a map produced by the Genoese mapmaker Visconte Maggiolo showed and named Barbados in its correct position.", "Furthermore, the island of Barbuda in the Leewards is very similar in name and was once named \"\" by the Spanish.The original name for Barbados in the Pre-Columbian era was , according to accounts by descendants of the indigenous Arawakan-speaking tribes in other regional areas, with possible translations including \"Red land with white teeth\" or \"Redstone island with teeth outside (reefs)\" or simply \"Teeth\".Colloquially, Barbadians refer to their home island as \"Bim\" or other nicknames associated with Barbados, including \"Bimshire\".", "The origin is uncertain, but several theories exist.", "The National Cultural Foundation of Barbados says that \"Bim\" was a word commonly used by slaves, and that it derives from the Igbo term from meaning \"my home, kindred, kind\"; the Igbo phoneme in the Igbo orthography is very close to .", "The name could have arisen due to the relatively large percentage of Igbo slaves from modern-day southeastern Nigeria arriving in Barbados in the 18th century.", "The words \"Bim\" and \"Bimshire\" are recorded in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and ''Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionaries''.", "Another possible source for \"Bim\" is reported to be in the ''Agricultural Reporter'' of 25 April 1868, where the Rev.", "N. Greenidge (father of one of the island's most famous scholars, Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge) suggested that Bimshire was \"introduced by an old planter listing it as a county of England\".", "Expressly named were \"Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire and Bimshire\".", "Lastly, in the ''Daily Argosy'' (of Demerara, i.e.", "Guyana) of 1652, there is a reference to Bim as a possible corruption of \"Byam\", the name of a Royalist leader against the Parliamentarians.", "That source suggested the followers of Byam became known as \"Bims\" and that this became a word for all Barbadians." ], [ "History", "=== Geological history ===About 700 thousand years ago, the island emerged from the ocean as a result of a rising body of soft rock in the mantle known as a diapir, located under Barbados, pushing it upwards.", "This process is still happening, and makes the island rise about 30 centimeters on average every thousand years.", "Currently, dozens of inland sea reefs still dominate coastal features within terraces and cliffs of the island.=== Pre-colonial period ===Archeological evidence suggests humans may have first settled or visited the island circa 1600 BC.", "More permanent Amerindian settlement of Barbados dates to about the 4th to 7th centuries AD, by a group known as the Saladoid-Barrancoid.", "Settlements of Arawaks from South America appeared by around 800 AD and again in the 12th–13th century.", "The Kalinago (called \"Caribs\" by the Spanish) visited the island regularly, although there is no evidence of permanent settlement.=== European arrival ===Spanish map of the island (1632)It is uncertain which European nation arrived first in Barbados, which probably would have been at some point in the 15th century or 16th century.", "One lesser-known source points to earlier revealed works antedating contemporary sources, indicating it could have been the Spanish.", "Many, if not most, believe the Portuguese, en route to Brazil, were the first Europeans to come upon the island.", "The island was largely ignored by Europeans, though Spanish slave raiding is thought to have reduced the native population, with many fleeing to other islands.=== English settlement in the 17th century ===George Washington House was visited by George Washington in 1751, in what is believed to have been his only trip outside the present-day United States.The first English ship, which had arrived on 14 May 1625, was captained by John Powell.", "The first settlement began on 17 February 1627, near what is now Holetown (formerly Jamestown, after King James I of England), by a group led by John Powell's younger brother, Henry, consisting of 80 settlers and 10 English indentured labourers.", "Some sources state that some Africans were amongst these first settlers.The settlement was established as a proprietary colony and funded by Sir William Courten, a City of London merchant who acquired the title to Barbados and several other islands.", "The first colonists were actually tenants, and much of the profits of their labour returned to Courten and his company.", "Courten's title was later transferred to James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, in what was called the \"Great Barbados Robbery\".", "Carlisle then chose as governor Henry Powell, who established the House of Assembly in 1639, in an effort to appease the planters, who might otherwise have opposed his controversial appointment.In the period 1640–1660, the West Indies attracted more than two-thirds of the total number of English emigrants to the Americas.", "By 1650, there were 44,000 settlers in the West Indies, as compared to 12,000 on the Chesapeake and 23,000 in New England.", "Most English arrivals were indentured.", "After five years of labour, they were given \"freedom dues\" of about £10, usually in goods.", "Before the mid-1630s, they also received of land, but after that time the island filled and there was no more free land.", "During the Cromwellian era (1650s) this included a large number of prisoners-of-war, vagrants and people who were illicitly kidnapped, who were forcibly transported to the island and sold as servants.", "These last two groups were predominantly Irish, as several thousand were infamously rounded up by English merchants and sold into servitude in Barbados and other Caribbean islands during this period, a practice that came to be known as being ''Barbadosed''.", "Cultivation of sugar was thus handled primarily by European indentured labour until it became difficult to bring more indentured servants from England.Parish registers from the 1650s show that, for the white population, there were four times as many deaths as marriages.", "The mainstay of the infant colony's economy was the growth export of tobacco, but tobacco prices eventually fell in the 1630s as Chesapeake production expanded.==== Effects of the English Civil War ====Around the same time, fighting during the War of the Three Kingdoms and the Interregnum spilled over into Barbados and Barbadian territorial waters.", "The island was not involved in the war until after the execution of Charles I, when the island's government fell under the control of Royalists (ironically the Governor, Philip Bell, remaining loyal to Parliament while the Barbadian House of Assembly, under the influence of Humphrey Walrond, supported Charles II).", "To try to bring the recalcitrant colony to heel, the Commonwealth Parliament passed an act on 3 October 1650 prohibiting trade between England and Barbados, and because the island also traded with the Netherlands, further Navigation Acts were passed, prohibiting any but English vessels trading with Dutch colonies.", "These acts were a precursor to the First Anglo-Dutch War.", "The Commonwealth of England sent an invasion force under the command of Sir George Ayscue, which arrived in October 1651.Ayscue, with a smaller force that included Scottish prisoners, surprised a larger force of Royalists, but had to resort to spying and diplomacy ultimately.", "On 11 January 1652, the Royalists in the House of Assembly led by Lord Willoughby surrendered, which marked the end of royalist privateering as a major threat.", "The conditions of the surrender were incorporated into the Charter of Barbados (Treaty of Oistins), which was signed at the Mermaid's Inn, Oistins, on 17 January 1652.=== Irish people in Barbados ===Starting with Cromwell, a large percentage of the white labourer population were indentured servants and involuntarily transported people from Ireland.", "Irish servants in Barbados were often treated poorly, and Barbadian planters gained a reputation for cruelty.", "The decreased appeal of an indenture on Barbados, combined with enormous demand for labour caused by sugar cultivation, led to the use of involuntary transportation to Barbados as a punishment for crimes, or for political prisoners, and also to the kidnapping of labourers who were deported to Barbados.", "Irish indentured servants were a significant portion of the population throughout the period when white servants were used for plantation labour in Barbados, and while a \"steady stream\" of Irish servants entered the Barbados throughout the 17th century, Cromwellian efforts to pacify Ireland created a \"veritable tidal wave\" of Irish labourers who were sent to Barbados during the 1650s.", "Due to inadequate historical records, the total number of Irish labourers sent to Barbados is unknown, and estimates have been \"highly contentious\".", "While one historical source estimated that as many as 50,000 Irish people were deported to either Barbados or Virginia during the 1650s, this estimate is \"quite likely exaggerated\".", "Another estimate that 12,000 Irish prisoners had arrived in Barbados by 1655 has been described as \"probably exaggerated\" by historian Richard B. Sheridan.", "According to historian Thomas Bartlett, it is \"generally accepted\" that approximately 10,000 Irish were deported to the West Indies and approximately 40,000 came as voluntary indentured servants, while many also travelled as voluntary, un-indentured emigrants.==== The sugar revolution ====The introduction of sugar cane from Dutch Brazil in 1640 completely transformed society, the economy and the physical landscape.", "Barbados eventually had one of the world's biggest sugar industries.", "One group instrumental in ensuring the early success of the industry was the Sephardic Jews, who had originally been expelled from the Iberian peninsula, to end up in Dutch Brazil.", "As the effects of the new crop increased, so did the shift in the ethnic composition of Barbados and surrounding islands.", "The workable sugar plantation required a large investment and a great deal of heavy labour.", "At first, Dutch traders supplied the equipment, financing, and African slaves, in addition to transporting most of the sugar to Europe.", "In 1644 the population of Barbados was estimated at 30,000, of which about 800 were of African ancestry, with the remainder mainly of English ancestry.", "These English smallholders were eventually bought out and the island filled up with large sugar plantations worked by African slaves.", "By 1660 there was near parity with 27,000 blacks and 26,000 whites.", "By 1666 at least 12,000 white smallholders had been bought out, died, or left the island, many choosing to emigrate to Jamaica or the American Colonies (notably the Carolinas).", "As a result, Barbados enacted a slave code as a way of legislatively controlling its black slave population.", "The law's text was influential in laws in other colonies.By 1680 there were 20,000 free whites and 46,000 enslaved Africans; by 1724, there were 18,000 free whites and 55,000 enslaved Africans.=== 18th and 19th centuries ===Statue of Bussa, Bridgetown.", "Bussa led the largest slave rebellion in Barbadian history.The harsh conditions endured by the slaves resulted in several planned slave rebellions, the largest of which was Bussa's rebellion in 1816 which was rapidly suppressed by the colonial authorities.", "In 1819, another slave revolt broke out on Easter Day.", "The revolt was put down in blood, with heads being displayed on stakes.", "Nevertheless, the brutality of the repression shocked even England and strengthened the abolitionist movement.", "Growing opposition to slavery led to its abolition in the British Empire in 1833.The plantocracy class retained control of political and economic power on the island, with most workers living in relative poverty.The 1780 hurricane killed more than 4,000 people on Barbados.", "In 1854, a cholera epidemic killed more than 20,000 inhabitants.=== 20th century before independence ===Deep dissatisfaction with the situation on Barbados led many to emigrate.", "Things came to a head in the 1930s during the Great Depression, as Barbadians began demanding better conditions for workers, the legalisation of trade unions and a widening of the franchise, which at that point was limited to male property owners.", "As a result of the increasing unrest the British sent a commission, called the West Indies Royal Commission, or Moyne Commission, in 1938, which recommended enacting many of the requested reforms on the islands.", "As a result, Afro-Barbadians began to play a much more prominent role in the colony's politics, with universal suffrage being introduced in 1950.Prominent among these early activists was Grantley Herbert Adams, who helped found the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in 1938.He became the first Premier of Barbados in 1953, followed by fellow BLP-founder Hugh Gordon Cummins from 1958 to 1961.A group of left-leaning politicians who advocated swifter moves to independence broke off from the BLP and founded the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in 1955.The DLP subsequently won the 1961 Barbadian general election and their leader Errol Barrow became premier.Full internal self-government was enacted in 1961.Barbados joined the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962, later gaining full independence on 30 November 1966.Errol Barrow became the country's first prime minister.", "Barbados opted to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations.The effect of independence meant that the Queen of the United Kingdom ceased to have sovereignty over Barbados, Elizabeth II, instead, reigning in the country as Queen of Barbados.", "The monarch was represented locally by a governor-general.=== Post-independence era ===The Barrow government sought to diversify the economy away from agriculture, seeking to boost industry and the tourism sector.", "Barbados was also at the forefront of regional integration efforts, spearheading the creation of CARIFTA and CARICOM.", "The DLP lost the 1976 Barbadian general election to the BLP under Tom Adams.", "Adams adopted a more conservative and strongly pro-Western stance, allowing the Americans to use Barbados as the launchpad for their invasion of Grenada in 1983.Adams died in office in 1985 and was replaced by Harold Bernard St. John; however, St. John lost the 1986 Barbadian general election, which saw the return of the DLP under Errol Barrow, who had been highly critical of the US intervention in Grenada.", "Barrow, too, died in office, and was replaced by Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, who remained Prime Minister until 1994.Owen Arthur of the BLP won the 1994 Barbadian general election, remaining Prime Minister until 2008.Arthur was a strong advocate of republicanism, though a planned referendum to replace Queen Elizabeth as Head of State in 2008 never took place.", "The DLP won the 2008 Barbadian general election, but the new Prime Minister David Thompson died in 2010 and was replaced by Freundel Stuart.", "The BLP returned to power in 2018 under Mia Mottley, who became Barbados's first female Prime Minister.==== Transition to republic ====The Government of Barbados announced on 15 September 2020 that it intended to become a republic by 30 November 2021, the 55th anniversary of its independence, resulting in the replacement of the Barbadian monarchy with an elected president.", "Barbados would then cease to be a Commonwealth realm, but could maintain membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.On 20 September 2021, just over a full year after the announcement for the transition was made, the Constitution (Amendment) (No.", "2) Bill, 2021 was introduced to the Parliament of Barbados.", "Passed on 6 October, the Bill made amendments to the Constitution of Barbados, introducing the office of the president of Barbados to replace the role of Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados.", "The following week, on 12 October 2021, incumbent Governor-General of Barbados Sandra Mason was jointly nominated by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition as candidate to be the first president of Barbados, and was subsequently elected on 20 October.", "Mason took office on 30 November 2021.Prince Charles, the heir apparent to the Barbadian Crown at the time, attended the swearing-in ceremony in Bridgetown at the invitation of the Government of Barbados.Queen Elizabeth sent a message of congratulations to President Mason and the people of Barbados, saying: \"As you celebrate this momentous day, I send you and all Barbadians my warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future.", "\"A survey that was conducted between 23 October 2021, and 10 November 2021, by the University of the West Indies showed 34% of respondents being in favour of transitioning to a republic, while 30% were indifferent.", "Notably, no overall majority was found in the survey; with 24% not indicating a preference, and the remaining 12% being opposed to the removal of Queen Elizabeth.On 20 June 2022, a Constitutional Review Commission was formed and sworn in by Jeffrey Gibson (who, at the time, was serving temporarily as Acting President of Barbados) to review the Constitution of Barbados.The Commission will have an 18-month timeline to complete its work.", "They are expected to solicit input from members of the public in Barbados via a series of face-to-face and online events." ], [ "Geography and climate", "Map of Barbados.Barbados is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the other West Indies Islands.", "Barbados is the easternmost island in the Lesser Antilles.", "It is long and up to wide, covering an area of .", "It lies about east of both the countries of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; south-east of Martinique and north-east of Trinidad and Tobago.", "It is flat in comparison to its island neighbours to the west, the Windward Islands.", "The island rises gently to the central highland region known as Scotland District, with the highest point being Mount Hillaby above sea level.In the parish of Saint Michael lies Barbados's capital and main city, Bridgetown, containing one third of the country's population.", "Other major towns scattered across the island include Holetown, in the parish of Saint James; Oistins, in the parish of Christ Church; and Speightstown, in the parish of Saint Peter.=== Geology ===Barbados lies on the boundary of the South American and the Caribbean Plates.", "The subduction of the South American plate beneath the Caribbean plate scrapes sediment from the South American plate and deposits it above the subduction zone forming an accretionary prism.", "The rate of this depositing of material allows Barbados to rise at a rate of about per 1,000 years.", "This subduction means geologically the island is composed of coral roughly thick, where reefs formed above the sediment.", "The land slopes in a series of \"terraces\" in the west and goes into an incline in the east.", "A large proportion of the island is circled by coral reefs.The erosion of limestone in the northeast of the island, in the Scotland District, has resulted in the formation of various caves and gullies.", "On the Atlantic east coast of the island coastal landforms, including stacks, have been created due to the limestone composition of the area.", "Also notable in the island is the rocky cape known as Pico Teneriffe or Pico de Tenerife, which is named after the fact that the island of Tenerife in Spain is the first land east of Barbados according to the belief of the locals.=== Climate ===Bathsheba, Saint JosephThe country generally experiences two seasons, one of which includes noticeably higher rainfall.", "Known as the \"wet season\", this period runs from June to December.", "By contrast, the \"dry season\" runs from December to May.", "Annual precipitation ranges between .From December to May the average temperatures range from , while between June and November, they range from .On the Köppen climate classification scale, much of Barbados is regarded as a tropical monsoon climate (Am).", "However, breezes of abound throughout the year and give Barbados a climate which is moderately tropical.Infrequent natural hazards include earthquakes, landslips, and hurricanes.", "Barbados lies outside the principal Atlantic hurricane belt and is often spared the worst effects of the region's tropical storms and hurricanes during the rainy season.", "Its location in the south-east of the Caribbean region puts the country just outside the principal hurricane strike zone.", "On average, a major hurricane strikes about once every 26 years.", "The last significant hit from a hurricane to cause severe damage to Barbados was Hurricane Janet in 1955; in 2010 the island was struck by Hurricane Tomas, but this caused only minor damage across the country as it was only at Tropical Storm level of formation.=== Environmental issues ===Barbados, seen from the International Space StationBarbados is the twentieth most water stressed country in the world.Barbados is susceptible to environmental pressures.", "As one of the world's most densely populated isles, the government worked during the 1990s to aggressively integrate the growing south coast of the island into the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant to reduce contamination of offshore coral reefs.", "As of the first decade of the 21st century, a second treatment plant has been proposed along the island's west coast.", "Being so densely populated, Barbados has made great efforts to protect its underground aquifers.As a coral-limestone island, Barbados is highly permeable to seepage of surface water into the earth.", "The government has placed great emphasis on protecting the catchment areas that lead directly into the huge network of underground aquifers and streams.", "On occasion illegal squatters have breached these areas, and the government has removed squatters to preserve the cleanliness of the underground springs which provide the island's drinking water.The government has placed a huge emphasis on keeping Barbados clean with the aim of protecting the environment and preserving offshore coral reefs which surround the island.", "Many initiatives to mitigate human pressures on the coastal regions of Barbados and seas come from the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU).", "Barbados has nearly of coral reefs just offshore and two protected marine parks have been established off the west coast.", "Overfishing is another threat which faces Barbados.Although on the opposite side of the Atlantic, and some west of Africa, Barbados is one of many places in the American continent that experience heightened levels of mineral dust from the Sahara Desert.", "Some particularly intense dust episodes have been blamed partly for the impacts on the health of coral reefs surrounding Barbados or asthmatic episodes, but evidence has not wholly supported the former claim.Access to biocapacity in Barbados is much lower than world average.", "In 2016, Barbados had 0.17 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.", "In 2016 Barbados used 0.84 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption.", "This means they use approximately five times as much biocapacity as Barbados contains.", "As a result, Barbados is running a biocapacity deficit.=== Wildlife ===Barbados is host to four species of nesting turtles (green turtles, loggerheads, hawksbill turtles, and leatherbacks) and has the second-largest hawksbill turtle-breeding population in the Caribbean.", "The driving of vehicles on beaches can crush nests buried in the sand and such activity is discouraged in nesting areas.Barbados is also the host to the green monkey.", "The green monkey is found in West Africa from Senegal to the Volta River.", "It has been introduced to the Cape Verde islands off north-western Africa, and the West Indian islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis, Saint Martin, and Barbados.", "It was introduced to the West Indies in the late 17th century when slave trade ships travelled to the Caribbean from West Africa.", "The green monkey is considered a very curious and mischievous/troublesome animal by locals." ], [ "Demographics", "A bus stop in BarbadosThe 2010 national census conducted by the Barbados Statistical Service reported a resident population of 277,821, of which 144,803 were female and 133,018 were male.The life expectancy for Barbados residents is 80 years.", "The average life expectancy is 83 years for females and 79 years for males (2020).", "Barbados and Japan have the highest per capita occurrences of centenarians in the world.The crude birth rate is 12.23 births per 1,000 people, and the crude death rate is 8.39 deaths per 1,000 people.", "The infant mortality rate was 11.057 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021, according to UNICEF.=== Ethnicity ===People shopping in the capital BridgetownClose to 90% of all Barbadians (also known colloquially as \"Bajan\") are of Afro-Caribbean ancestry (\"Afro-Bajans\") and mixed ancestry.", "The remainder of the population includes groups of Europeans (\"Anglo-Bajans\" / \"Euro-Bajans\") mainly from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.", "Other European groups consisted of the French, Austrians, Spaniards, and Russians.", "Asians, predominantly from Hong Kong and India (both Hindu and Muslim) make up less than 1% of the population.Other groups in Barbados include people from the United States and Canada.", "Barbadians who return after years of residence in the United States and children born in America to Bajan parents are called \"Bajan Yankees\", a term considered derogatory by some.", "Generally, Bajans recognise and accept all \"children of the island\" as Bajans, and refer to each other as such.The biggest communities outside the Afro-Caribbean community are:# The Indo-Guyanese, an important part of the economy due to the increase of immigrants from partner country Guyana.", "There are reports of a growing Indo-Bajans diaspora originating from Guyana and India starting around 1990.Predominantly from southern India, they are growing in size but are smaller than the equivalent communities in Trinidad and Guyana.", "The Muslim Barbadians of Indian origin are largely of Gujarati ancestry.", "Many small businesses in Barbados are run and operated by Muslim-Indian Bajans.# Euro-Bajans (5% of the population) have settled in Barbados since the 17th century, originating from England, Ireland, Portugal, and Scotland.", "In 1643, there were 37,200 whites in Barbados (86% of the population).", "More commonly they are known as \"White Bajans\".", "Euro-Bajans introduced folk music, such as Irish music and Highland music, and certain place names, such as \"Scotland District\", a hilly region in the parish of St. Andrew.", "Among White Barbadians there exists an underclass known as Redlegs comprising followers of the Duke of Monmouth after his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor, as well as the descendants of Irish indentured labourers and prisoners imported to the island.", "Many additionally moved on to become the earliest settlers of modern-day North and South Carolina in the United States.", "Today the Redlegs number only around 400.# Chinese-Barbadians are a small portion of Barbados's wider Asian population.", "Chinese food and culture is becoming part of everyday Bajan culture.# Lebanese and Syrians form the island's Arab Barbadian community.# Jews arrived in Barbados just after the first settlers in 1627.Bridgetown is the home of Nidhe Israel Synagogue, one of the oldest Jewish synagogues in the Americas, dating from 1654, though the current structure was erected in 1833, replacing one ruined by the hurricane of 1831.Tombstones in the neighbouring cemetery date from the 1630s.", "Now under the care of the Barbados National Trust, the site was deserted in 1929 but was saved and restored by the Jewish community beginning in 1986.# In the 17th century, Romani people were sent from the United Kingdom to work as slaves in the plantations in Barbados.=== Languages ===English is the official language of Barbados, and is used for communications, administration, and public services all over the island.", "In its capacity as the official language of the country, the standard of English tends to conform to vocabulary, pronunciations, spellings, and conventions akin to, but not exactly the same as, those of British English.", "For most people, however, Bajan Creole is the language of everyday life.", "It does not have a standardised written form, but it is used by over 90% of the population.=== Religion ===Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, BridgetownChristianity is the largest religion in Barbados, with the largest denomination being Anglican (23.9% of the population in 2019).", "Other Christian denominations with significant followings in Barbados are the Catholic Church (administered by Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown), Pentecostals (19.5%), Jehovah's Witnesses, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Spiritual Baptists.", "The Church of England was the official state religion until its legal disestablishment by the Parliament of Barbados following independence.", "As of 2019, 21% of Barbadians report having no religion, making the non-religious the second largest group after Anglicans.", "Smaller religions in Barbados include Hinduism, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and Judaism.The state is considered secular, guaranteeing freedom of religion or belief to all and featuring only symbolic allusions to a higher power in the preamble to the constitution." ], [ "Government and politics", "Barbados parliament building in BridgetownBarbados has been an independent country since 30 November 1966.It functions as a parliamentary republic modelled on the British Westminster system.", "The head of state is the President of Barbados – presently Sandra Mason – elected by the Parliament of Barbados for a term of four years, and advised on matters of the Barbadian state by the Prime Minister of Barbados, who is head of government.", "There are 30 representatives within the House of Assembly, the lower chamber of Parliament.", "In the Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament, there are 21 senators.The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the country.", "Legislation is passed by the Parliament of Barbados but does not have the force of law unless the President grants her assent to that law.", "The right to withhold assent is absolute and cannot be overridden by Parliament.", "The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary.During the 1990s, at the suggestion of Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, Barbados attempted a political union with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.", "The project stalled after the then prime minister of Barbados, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, became ill and his Democratic Labour Party lost the next general election.", "Barbados continues to share close ties with Trinidad and Tobago and with Guyana, claiming the highest number of Guyanese immigrants after the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.Barbados is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.=== Political culture ===Barbados functions as a two-party system.", "The dominant political parties are the Democratic Labour Party and the incumbent Barbados Labour Party.", "Since independence on 30 November 1966, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has governed from 1966 to 1976; 1986 to 1994; and from 2008 to 2018; and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has governed from 1976 to 1986; 1994 to 2008; and from 2018 to present.=== Foreign relations ===Barbados follows a policy of nonalignment and seeks cooperative relations with all friendly states.", "Barbados is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).", "In 2005, Barbados replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal.==== World Trade Organization, European Commission, CARIFORUM ====Barbados is an original member (1995) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and participates actively in its work.", "It grants at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners.", "European Union relations and cooperation with Barbados are carried out both on a bilateral and a regional basis.", "Barbados is party to the Cotonou Agreement, through which, , it is linked by an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Commission.", "The pact involves the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) subgroup of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).", "CARIFORUM is the only part of the wider ACP-bloc that has concluded the full regional trade-pact with the European Union.", "There are also ongoing EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and EU-CARIFORUM dialogues.Trade policy has also sought to protect a small number of domestic activities, mostly food production, from foreign competition, while recognising that most domestic needs are best met by imports.==== The Double Taxation Relief (CARICOM) Treaty 1994 ====On 6 July 1994, at the Sherbourne Conference Centre, St. Michael, Barbados, representatives of eight countries signed the Double Taxation Relief (CARICOM) Treaties 1994.The countries which were represented were: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.On 19 August 1994, a representative of the Government of Guyana signed a similar treaty.=== Military and law enforcement ===The Barbados Defence Force has roughly 800 members.", "Within it, service members aged 14 to 18 years make up the Barbados Cadet Corps.", "The defence preparations of the island nation are closely tied to defence treaties with the United Kingdom, the United States, the People's Republic of China, and other eastern Caribbean countries.The Barbados Police Service is the sole law enforcement agency on the island of Barbados.=== Administrative divisions ===Barbados is divided into 11 parishes:# Christ Church# Saint Andrew# Saint George# Saint James# Saint John# Saint Joseph# Saint Lucy# Saint Michael# Saint Peter# Saint Philip# Saint Thomas" ], [ "Economy", "1 oz Silver Caribbean Seahorse - Sovereign coin backed by the Barbados governmentBarbados is the 52nd richest country in the world in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, has a well-developed mixed economy, and a moderately high standard of living.", "According to the World Bank, Barbados is one of 83 high income economies in the world.", "Despite this, a 2012 self-study in conjunction with the Caribbean Development Bank revealed 20% of Barbadians live in poverty, and nearly 10% cannot meet their basic daily food needs.Historically, the economy of Barbados had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but since the late 1970s and early 1980s it has diversified into the manufacturing and tourism sectors.", "Offshore finance and information services have become important foreign exchange earners.Partly due to the staging of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the island saw a construction boom, with the development and redevelopment of hotels, office complexes, and homes.", "This slowed during the 2008 to 2012 world economic crisis and the recession.There was a strong economy between 1999 and 2000 but the economy went into recession in 2001 and 2002 due to slowdowns in tourism, consumer spending and the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States and the 7 July 2005 London bombings in the United Kingdom.", "The economy rebounded in 2003 and has shown growth since 2004 which continued right through to 2008.The economy went into recession again from 2008 to 2013 before showing growth from 2014 to 2017.Then it declined to another recession from 2017 to 2019 during the world economic crisis.", "There were 23 downgrades by both Standard & Poor's and Moody's in 2016, 2017 and 2018.The economy showed signs of recovery with 3 upgrades from Standard and Poor's and Moody's in 2019.From 1 January to 31 March 2020 the economy had started to grow, but then it experienced another decline due to the COVID-19 economic recession.Traditional trading partners include Canada, the Caribbean Community (especially Trinidad and Tobago), the United Kingdom and the United States.", "Recent government administrations have continued efforts to reduce unemployment, encourage foreign direct investment, and privatise remaining state-owned enterprises.", "Unemployment was reduced to 10.7% in 2003.However, it has since increased to 11.9% in second quarter, 2015.The European Union is assisting Barbados with a program of modernisation of the country's International Business and Financial Services Sector.Barbados maintains the third largest stock exchange in the Caribbean region.", ", officials at the stock exchange were investigating the possibility of augmenting the local exchange with an International Securities Market (ISM) venture.=== Sovereign default and restructuring ===By May 2018, Barbados's outstanding debt climbed to , more than 1.7 times the country's GDP.", "In June 2018 the government defaulted on its sovereign debt when it failed to make a coupon on Eurobonds maturing in 2035.Outstanding bond debt of Barbados reached .In October 2019, Barbados concluded restructuring negotiations with a creditor group including investments funds Eaton Vance Management, Greylock Capital Management, Teachers Advisors and Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry.", "Creditors will exchange existing bonds for a new debt series maturing in 2029.The new bonds involve a principal \"haircut\" of approximately 26% and include a clause allowing for deferment of principal and capitalization of interest in the event of a natural disaster." ], [ "Health", "The main hospital on the island is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital; however, Barbados has eight polyclinics across five parishes.", "There are also well-known medical care centres in Barbados such as Bayview Hospital, Sandy Crest Medical Centre and FMH Emergency Medical Clinic." ], [ "Education", "Schoolchildren in Saint Philip, BarbadosThe Barbados literacy rate is ranked close to 100%.", "The mainstream public education system of Barbados is fashioned after the British model.", "The government of Barbados spends 6.7% of its GDP on education (2008).All young people in the country must attend school until age 16.Barbados has over 70 primary schools and over 20 secondary schools throughout the island.", "There are a number of private schools, including those offering Montessori and International Baccalaureate education.", "Student enrolment at these schools represents less than 5% of the total enrolment of the public schools.Certificate-, diploma- and degree-level education in the country is provided by the Barbados Community College, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, Codrington College, and the Cave Hill campus and Open Campus of the University of the West Indies.", "Barbados is also home to several overseas medical schools, such as Ross University School of Medicine and the American University of Integrative Sciences, School of Medicine.=== Educational testing ===Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination: Children who are 11 years old on 1 September in the year of the examination are required to write the examination as a means of allocation to secondary school.Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations are usually taken by students after five years of secondary school and mark the end of standard secondary education.", "The CSEC examinations are equivalent to the Ordinary Level (O-Levels) examinations and are targeted toward students 16 and older.Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) are taken by students who have completed their secondary education and wish to continue their studies.", "Students who sit for the CAPE usually possess CSEC or an equivalent certification.", "The CAPE is equivalent to the British Advanced Levels (A-Levels), voluntary qualifications that are intended for university entrance." ], [ "Culture", "Barbados is a blend of West African, Portuguese, Creole, Indian and British cultures.", "Citizens are officially called Barbadians.", "The term \"Bajan\" (pronounced BAY-jun) may have come from a localised pronunciation of the word Barbadian, which at times can sound more like \"Bar-bajan\"; or, more likely, from English ''bay'' (\"bayling\"), Portuguese .The largest carnival-like cultural event that takes place on the island is the Crop Over festival, which was established in 1974.As in many other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Crop Over is an important event for many people on the island, as well as the thousands of tourists that flock to there to participate in the annual events.", "The festival includes musical competitions and other traditional activities, and features the majority of the island's homegrown calypso and soca music for the year.", "The male and female Barbadians who harvested the most sugarcane are crowned as the King and Queen of the crop.", "Crop Over gets under way at the beginning of July and ends with the costumed parade on Kadooment Day, held on the first Monday of August.", "New calypso/soca music is usually released and played more frequently from the beginning of May to coincide with the start of the festival.=== Art ===Barbadian art has evolved over the centuries, influenced by the island's complex history, which includes indigenous cultures, colonial periods, and the subsequent emergence of a vibrant post-colonial identity.", "The interplay of African, European, and Caribbean influences has given rise to a unique artistic heritage that continues to inspire contemporary artists.The latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st century witnessed a cultural renaissance in Barbadian art now documented by '''Raskal Magazine'''.", "Artists began to explore diverse mediums and techniques, blending traditional practices with contemporary expressions.", "This period of experimentation contributed to the dynamic and multifaceted nature of Barbadian art, reflecting the island's openness to cultural exchange and adaptation.Barbadian artists, mindful of their place within the global art community, began to engage with international artistic trends.", "This global perspective led to a cross-pollination of ideas, as artists drew inspiration from diverse sources while simultaneously contributing to the broader discourse on Caribbean and diasporic art.===Media===* Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) === Cuisine ===Mount Gay Rum visitors centreBajan cuisine is a mixture of African, Indian, Irish, Creole and British influences.", "A typical meal consists of a main dish of meat or fish, normally marinated with a mixture of herbs and spices, hot side dishes, and one or more salads.", "A common Bajan side dish could be pickled cucumber, fish cakes, bake, etc.", "The meal is usually served with one or more sauces.", "The national dish of Barbados is cou-cou and flying fish with spicy gravy.", "Another traditional meal is pudding and souse, a dish of pickled pork with spiced sweet potatoes.", "A wide variety of seafood and meats are also available.The Mount Gay Rum visitor's centre in Barbados claims to be the world's oldest remaining rum company, with the earliest confirmed deed from 1703.Cockspur Rum and Malibu are also from the island.", "Barbados is home to the Banks Barbados Brewery, which brews Banks Beer, a pale lager, as well as Banks Amber Ale.", "Banks also brews Tiger Malt, a non-alcoholic malted beverage.", "10 Saints beer is brewed in Speightstown, St. Peter in Barbados and aged for 90 days in Mount Gay 'Special Reserve' Rum casks.", "It was first brewed in 2009 and is available in certain Caricom nations.=== Music ===pop star Rihanna, a native of Barbados, is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and one of the best selling music artists of all time, selling over 200 million records worldwide.In 2009, Rihanna was appointed as an Honorary Ambassador of Youth and Culture for Barbados by the late Prime Minister, David Thompson." ], [ "Sports", "A horse and rider at Garrison SavannahAs in other Caribbean countries of British colonial heritage, cricket is very popular on the island.", "The West Indies cricket team usually includes several Barbadian players.", "In addition to several warm-up matches and six \"Super Eight\" matches, the country hosted the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.", "Barbados has produced many great cricketers including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Everton Weekes, Gordon Greenidge, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Joel Garner, Desmond Haynes and Malcolm Marshall.In Track and Field Obadele Thompson won a bronze medal in the 100m at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games He's the first to win an Olympic medal.", "He is also the only Bajan to run sub 10 and sub 20 over 100m and 200m.Ryan Brathwaite won a gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.Rugby is also popular in Barbados.Horse racing takes place at the Historic Garrison Savannah close to Bridgetown.", "Spectators can pay for admission to the stands, or else can watch races from the public \"rail\", which encompasses the track.Basketball is an increasingly popular sport, played at school or college.", "Barbados's national team has shown some unexpected results as in the past it beat many much larger countries.Polo is very popular amongst the rich elite on the island and the \"High-Goal\" Apes Hill team is based at the St James's Club.", "It is also played at the private Holders Festival ground.Kensington Oval in Bridgetown hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup final.", "Cricket is one of the most followed games in Barbados and Kensington Oval is often referred to as the \"Mecca in Cricket\" due to its significance and contributions to the sport.", "In golf, the Barbados Open, played at Royal Westmoreland Golf Club, was an annual stop on the European Seniors Tour from 2000 to 2009.In December 2006 the WGC-World Cup took place at the country's Sandy Lane resort on the Country Club course, an 18-hole course designed by Tom Fazio.", "The Barbados Golf Club is another course on the island.", "It has hosted the Barbados Open on several occasions.Volleyball is also popular and is mainly played indoors.Tennis is gaining popularity and Barbados is home to Darian King, who has achieved a career-high ranking of 106 in May 2017 and has played in the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2017 US Open.Motorsports also play a role, with Rally Barbados occurring each summer and being listed on the FIA NACAM calendar.", "Also, the Bushy Park Circuit hosted the Race of Champions and Global RallyCross Championship in 2014.The presence of the trade winds along with favourable swells make the southern tip of the island an ideal location for wave sailing (an extreme form of the sport of windsurfing).Barbados also hosts several international surfing competitions.Netball is also popular with women in Barbados.Several players in the National Football League (NFL) are from Barbados, including Robert Bailey, Roger Farmer, Elvis Joseph, Ramon Harewood and Sam Seale." ], [ "Transport", "A Hino ACME Minibus B 163 in Speightstown, St. Peter, BarbadosAlthough Barbados is about across at its widest point, a car journey from Six Cross Roads in St. Philip (south-east) to North Point in St. Lucy (north-central) can take one and a half hours or longer due to traffic.", "Barbados has half as many registered cars as citizens.", "In Barbados, drivers drive on the left side of the road.Barbados is known for its many roundabouts.", "One famous roundabout is a roundabout located east of Bridgetown, where you will see an emancipation statue commonly associated with a slave named Bussa.Transport on the island is relatively convenient with \"route taxis\" called \"ZRs\" (pronounced \"Zed-Rs\") travelling to most points on the island.", "These small buses can at times be crowded, as passengers are generally never turned down regardless of the number.", "They will usually take the more scenic routes to destinations.", "They generally depart from the capital Bridgetown or from Speightstown in the northern part of the island.Including the ZRs, there are three bus systems running seven days a week (though less frequently on Sundays).", "There are ZRs, the yellow minibuses and the blue Transport Board buses.", "A ride on any of them costs .", "The smaller buses from the two privately owned systems (\"ZRs\" and \"minibuses\") can give change; the larger blue buses from the government-operated Barbados Transport Board system cannot, but do give receipts.", "The Barbados Transport Board buses travel in regular bus routes and scheduled timetables across Barbados.", "Schoolchildren in school uniform including some Secondary schools ride for free on the government buses and for on the ZRs.", "Most routes require a connection in Bridgetown.", "Barbados Transport Board's headquarters are located at Kay's House, Roebuck Street, St. Michael, and the bus depots and terminals are located in the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal in Fairchild Street and the Princess Alice Bus Terminal (which was formerly the Lower Green Bus Terminal in Jubilee Gardens, Bridgetown, St. Michael) in Princess Alice Highway, Bridgetown, St. Michael; the Speightstown Bus Terminal in Speightstown, St. Peter; the Oistins Bus Depot in Oistins, Christ Church; and the Mangrove Bus Depot in Mangrove, St. Philip.", "In July 2020, the Barbados Transport Board received 33 BYD electric buses which were obtained not only to add to the aging fleet of diesel buses but also to assist the Government in their goal of eliminating the use of fossil fuels by 2030.Some hotels also provide visitors with shuttles to points of interest on the island from outside the hotel lobby.", "There are several locally owned and operated vehicle rental agencies in Barbados but there are no multi-national companies.The island's lone airport is the Grantley Adams International Airport.", "It receives daily flights by several major airlines from points around the globe, as well as several smaller regional commercial airlines and charters.", "The airport serves as the main air-transportation hub for the eastern Caribbean.", "In the first decade of the 21st century it underwent a upgrade and expansion in February 2003 until completion in August 2005.The island also has a sea port which is the primary port of call for commercial container and cruise traffic.There was also a helicopter shuttle service, which offered air taxi services to a number of sites around the island, mainly on the West Coast tourist belt.", "Air and maritime traffic was regulated by the Barbados Port Authority." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Barbados* Index of Barbados-related articles* Barbadian people* List of people from Barbados* List of Barbadian Americans* List of Barbadian Britons" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Burns, Sir Alan, ''History of the British West Indies''.", "London: George Allen and Unwin, 1965.", "* Davis, David Brion.", "''Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World''.", "New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.", "* Frere, Samuel, ''A Short History of Barbados: From its First Discovery and Settlement, to the End of the Year 1767.''", "London: J. Dodsley, 1768.", "* Gragg, Larry Dale, ''Englishmen transplanted: The English Colonization of Barbados, 1627–1660''.", "Oxford University Press, 2003.", "* Hamshere, Cyril, ''The British in the Caribbean''.", "Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972.", "* Newman, Simon P. ''A New World of Labor: The Development of Slavery in the British Atlantic.''", "Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.", "* Northrup, David, ed.", "''The Atlantic Slave Trade, Second Edition''.", "Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.", "* O'Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson, ''An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean''.", "Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.", "* Rogozinski, January 1999.", "''A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and Carib to the Present''.", "Revised version, New York, USA.", "* Scott, Caroline 1999.", "''Insight Guide Barbados''.", "Discovery Channel and Insight Guides; fourth edition, Singapore.", "=== Videography ===* Overview Video—Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (Courtesy of US Television).", "* , by the Ministry of Energy and the Environment, under the Office of the Prime Minister.", "* Sandy Lane Hotel, Barbados 11 November 2011, on ''Where in the World is Matt Lauer?", "'', NBC ''Today Show''.", "" ], [ "External links", " * Government of Barbados Official Information Service* Official webpage of Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados* Parliament of Barbados official website* Barbados Tourism Authority—The Ministry of Tourism* Central Bank of Barbados website* Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I)* Barbados Investment and Development Corporation* Barbados Maritime Ship Registry* Barbados Museum & Historical Society === General information ===* * *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bassas da India" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bassas da India''' (; ) is an uninhabited, roughly circular French atoll that is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.", "Located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar (about further east) and around northwest of Europa Island, the rim of the atoll averages around in width and encloses a shallow lagoon of depth no greater than .", "Overall, the atoll is about in diameter, rising steeply from the seabed below to encircle an area (including lagoon) of .", "Its exclusive economic zone, in size, is contiguous with that of Europa Island.The atoll consists of ten barren rocky islets, with no vegetation, totaling in area.", "Those on the north and east sides are high, while those on the west and south sides are high.", "The reef, whose coastline measures , is entirely covered by the sea from three hours before high tide to three hours afterward.", "The region is also subject to cyclones, making the atoll a long-time maritime hazard and the site of numerous shipwrecks.Jaguar Seamount and Hall Tablemount lie, respectively, about further southwest." ], [ "History", "The Bassas da India was first recorded by Portuguese explorers in the early sixteenth century as the \"'''''Baixo da'' Judia'''\" (\"''Jewess'' Shoals\").", "The ''Judia'' (\"''Jewess''\", for the ancestry of its owner Fernão de Loronha) was the Portuguese ship that discovered the feature by running aground on it in 1506.The name became \"'''Bassas da India'''\" due to transcription errors by cartographers.", "The ''Santiago'' broke up on the shoal in 1585.It was rediscovered by the ''Europa'' in 1774, whence the name \"Europa Rocks\".", "The ''Malay'' was lost 27 July 1842 on the Europa Rocks.In 1897, the shoal became a French possession, later being placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Réunion in 1968.Madagascar became independent in 1960 and has claimed sovereignty over the shoal since 1972." ], [ "Wildlife", "The presence of Galapagos sharks was reported in 2003, which is a first in the Mozambique Channel." ], [ "Tourism", "Mooring at Bassas da India requires a permit from the French Government.", "Fishing without such a permit may result in the boat being expelled or even confiscated.", "Several illegal tourism charters departing from Mozambique or South Africa have been seized since 2013 by the French Navy." ], [ "Gallery", "File:Bassas da India atoll map-fr.png\|Detailed map.File:Bassas da india.jpg\|International Space Station (ISS) photograph.File:Bassas da India.png\|Landsat 7 image.File:Bassas da India-CIA WFB Map.png\|''CIA World Factbook'' map.File:Bassas da india 76.jpg\|Central Intelligence Agency map.File:Bassas da India in Sunglint.jpg\|ISS image of Bassas da India with varying degrees of sunglint." ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "External links", " * * Sailing Directions: East Africa and the South Indian Ocean* French Southern and Antarctic Lands.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Belarus" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Belarus''', officially the '''Republic of Belarus''', is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.", "It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.", "Covering an area of and with a population of 9.2 million, Belarus is the 13th-largest and the 20th-most populous country in Europe.", "The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions.", "Minsk is the capital and largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status.Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.", "In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amid the Civil War, ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922.After the Polish-Soviet War, Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland.", "Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II.", "During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources.", "In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union.", "The republic was home to a widespread and diverse anti-Nazi insurgent movement which dominated politics until well into the 1970s, overseeing Belarus' transformation from an agrarian to industrial economy.The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus gained independence on 25 August 1991.Following the adoption of a new constitution in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected Belarus's first president in the country's first and only free election after independence, serving as president ever since.", "Lukashenko heads a highly centralized authoritarian government.", "Belarus ranks low in international measurements of freedom of the press and civil liberties.", "It has continued a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy.", "Belarus is the only European country that continues to use capital punishment.", "In 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union State.Belarus is a developing country, ranking 60th on the Human Development Index.", "The country has been a member of the United Nations since its founding and has joined the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, the OSCE, and the Non-Aligned Movement.", "It has shown no aspirations of joining the European Union but nevertheless maintains a bilateral relationship with the bloc, and also participates in the Baku Initiative." ], [ "Etymology", "The name ''Belarus'' is closely related with the term ''Belaya Rus'', i.e., ''White Rus'''.", "There are several claims to the origin of the name ''White Rus''.", "An ethno-religious theory suggests that the name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had been populated mostly by Slavs who had been Christianized early, as opposed to Black Ruthenia, which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts.", "An alternative explanation for the name comments on the white clothing worn by the local Slavic population.", "A third theory suggests that the old Rus' lands that were not conquered by the Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev) had been referred to as ''White Rus''.", "A fourth theory suggests that the color white was associated with the west, and Belarus was the western part of Rus' in the 9th to 13th centuries.Cross of St. Euphrosyne by Lazar Bohsha from 1992The name ''Rus'' is often conflated with its Latin forms ''Russia'' and ''Ruthenia'', thus Belarus is often referred to as ''White Russia'' or ''White Ruthenia''.", "The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature; the chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother at \"\" in 1381.The first known use of ''White Russia'' to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey, who was known for his close contacts with the Russian royal court.", "During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used the term to describe the lands added from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.The term ''Belorussia'' (, the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я, ''Russia'') first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled \"the Tsar of All the Russias\", as ''Russia'' or the ''Russian Empire'' was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.", "This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people.After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term ''White Russia'' caused some confusion, as it was also the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks.", "During the period of the Byelorussian SSR, the term ''Byelorussia'' was embraced as part of a national consciousness.", "In western Belarus under Polish control, ''Byelorussia'' became commonly used in the regions of Białystok and Grodno during the interwar period.The term ''Byelorussia'' (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) was only used officially until 1991.Officially, the full name of the country is ''Republic of Belarus'' (, , ).", "In Russia, the usage of ''Belorussia'' is still very common.In Lithuanian, besides ''Baltarusija'' (White Russia), Belarus is also called ''Gudija''.", "The etymology of the word ''Gudija'' is not clear.", "By one hypothesis the word derives from the Old Prussian name ''Gudwa'', which, in turn, is related to the form ''Żudwa'', which is a distorted version of ''Sudwa, Sudovia.", "Sudovia'', in its turn, is one of the names of the Yotvingians.", "Another hypothesis connects the word with the Gothic Kingdom that occupied parts of the territory of modern Belarus and Ukraine in the 4th and 5th centuries.", "The self-naming of Goths was ''Gutans'' and ''Gytos'', which are close to Gudija.", "Yet another hypothesis is based on the idea that ''Gudija'' in Lithuanian means \"the other\" and may have been used historically by Lithuanians to refer to any people who did not speak Lithuanian." ], [ "History", "===Early history===From 5000 to 2000 BC, the Bandkeramik predominated in what now constitutes Belarus, and the Cimmerians as well as other pastoralists roamed through the area by 1,000 BC.", "The Zarubintsy culture later became widespread at the beginning of the 1st millennium.", "In addition, remains from the Dnieper–Donets culture were found in Belarus and parts of Ukraine.", "The region was first permanently settled by Baltic tribes in the 3rd century.", "Around the 5th century, the area was taken over by the Slavs.", "The takeover was partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts, but their gradual assimilation into Slavic culture was peaceful in nature.", "Invaders from Asia, among whom were the Huns and Avars, swept through c. 400–600 AD, but were unable to dislodge the Slavic presence.===Kievan Rus'===Principalities in Eastern Europe before the Mongol and Lithuanian invasionsIn the 9th century, the territory of modern Belarus became part of Kievan Rus', a vast East Slavic state ruled by the Rurikids.", "Upon the death of its ruler Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, the state split into independent principalities.", "The Battle on the Nemiga River in 1067 was one of the more notable events of the period, the date of which is considered the founding date of Minsk.", "Many early principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by a major Mongol invasion in the 13th century, but the lands of modern-day Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.", "There are no sources of military seizure, but the annals affirm the alliance and united foreign policy of Polotsk and Lithuania for decades.", "Trying to avoid the \"Tatar yoke\", the Principality of Minsk sought protection from Lithuanian princes further north and in 1242, the Principality of Minsk became a part of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania.Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an economic, political and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian lands.", "Of the principalities held by the duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become the Belarusians.", "During this time, the duchy was involved in several military campaigns, including fighting on the side of Poland against the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410; the joint victory allowed the duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of Eastern Europe.The Muscovites, led by Ivan III of Russia, began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to incorporate the former lands of Kievan Rus', including the territories of modern-day Belarus and Ukraine.===Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth===A map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century prior to its union with the Kingdom of Poland.", "Belarus was fully within its borders.On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland were joined in a personal union through a marriage of their rulers.", "This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin.The Lithuanian nobles were forced to seek rapprochement with the Poles because of a potential threat from Muscovy.", "To strengthen their independence within the format of the union, three editions of the Statutes of Lithuania were issued in the second half of the 16th century.", "The third Article of the Statutes established that all lands of the duchy will be eternally within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and never enter as a part of other states.", "The Statutes allowed the right to own land only to noble families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.", "Anyone from outside the duchy gaining rights to a property would actually own it only after swearing allegiance to the Grand Duke of Lithuania (a title dually held by the King of Poland).", "These articles were aimed to defend the rights of the Lithuanian nobility within the duchy against Polish and other nobles of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.In the years following the union, the process of gradual Polonization of both Lithuanians and Ruthenians gained steady momentum.", "In culture and social life, both the Polish language and Catholicism became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language, with Ruthenian being banned from administrative use.", "However, the Ruthenian peasants continued to speak their native language.", "Also, the Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church was formed by the Poles in order to bring Orthodox Christians into the See of Rome.", "The Belarusian church entered into a full communion with the Latin Church through the Union of Brest in 1595, while keeping its Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language.The Statutes were initially issued in the Ruthenian language alone and later also in Polish.", "Around 1840 the Statutes were banned by the Russian tsar following the November Uprising.", "Ukrainian lands used them until the 1860s.===Russian Empire===his invasion of Russia and crossing the Berezina river (near Barysaw, Belarus)The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland by Imperial Russia, Prussia, and Austria.", "The Belarusian territories acquired by the Russian Empire under the reign of Catherine II were included into the Belarusian Governorate () in 1796 and held until their occupation by the German Empire during World War I.Under Nicholas I and Alexander III the national cultures were repressed.", "Policies of Polonization changed by Russification, which included the return to Orthodox Christianity of Belarusian Uniates.", "Belarusian language was banned in schools while in neighboring Samogitia primary school education with Samogitian literacy was allowed.In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith.", "In 1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded in a revolt, led by Konstanty Kalinowski (also known as Kastus).", "After the failed revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic to Belarusian in 1864 and no documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905.During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Belarus first declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic.", "Immediately afterwards, the Polish–Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland and Soviet Russia.", "The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic exists as a government in exile ever since then; in fact, it is currently the world's longest serving government in exile.===Early states and interwar period===The first government (\"activists\") of the Belarussian People's Republic (BNR, Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка), 1918.Sitting, left to right:Aliaksandar Burbis, Jan Sierada, Jazep Varonka, Vasil Zacharka.Standing, left to right:Arkadź Smolič, Pyotra Krecheuski, Kastuś Jezavitaŭ, Anton Ausianik, Liavon Zayats.The Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state under the name \"Belarus\".", "Despite significant efforts, the state ceased to exist, primarily because the territory was continually dominated by the German Imperial Army and the Imperial Russian Army in World War I, and then the Bolshevik Red Army.", "It existed from only 1918 to 1919 but created prerequisites for the formation of a Belarusian state.", "The choice of name was probably based on the fact that core members of the newly formed government were educated in tsarist universities, with corresponding emphasis on the ideology of West-Russianism.The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania in the historical confederacy state (it was also supposed to create Lithuania Upper and Lithuania Lower).", "The republic was created in 1920 following the staged rebellion of soldiers of the 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under Lucjan Żeligowski.", "Centered on the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilna (, ), for 18 months the entity served as a buffer state between Poland, upon which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area.", "After a variety of delays, a disputed election took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed to Poland.", "Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in 1943 condemned the annexation of the Republic by Poland, as well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski's confederation plans by Polish ally.Meeting in the Kurapaty woods, 1989, where between 1937 and 1941 from 30,000 to 250,000 people, including Belarusian intelligentsia members, were murdered by the NKVD during the Great PurgeIn January 1919, a part of Belarus under Bolshevik Russian control was declared the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB) for just two months, but then merged with the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) to form the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (SSR LiB), which lost control of its territories by August.The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was created in July 1920.The contested lands were divided between Poland and the Soviet Union after the war ended in 1921, and the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922.In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet agricultural and economic policies, including collectivization and five-year plans for the national economy, led to famine and political repression.The western part of modern Belarus remained part of the Second Polish Republic.", "After an early period of liberalization, tensions between increasingly nationalistic Polish government and various increasingly separatist ethnic minorities started to grow, and the Belarusian minority was no exception.", "The polonization drive was inspired and influenced by the Polish National Democracy, led by Roman Dmowski, who advocated refusing Belarusians and Ukrainians the right for a free national development.", "A Belarusian organization, the ''Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union'', was banned in 1927, and opposition to Polish government was met with state repressions.", "Nonetheless, compared to the (larger) Ukrainian minority, Belarusians were much less politically aware and active, and thus suffered fewer repressions than the Ukrainians.", "In 1935, after the death of Piłsudski, a new wave of repressions was released upon the minorities, with many Orthodox churches and Belarusian schools being closed.", "Use of the Belarusian language was discouraged.", "Belarusian leadership was sent to Bereza Kartuska prison.===World War II===German soldiers in Minsk, August 1941In September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland, following the German invasion of Poland two weeks earlier which marked the beginning of World War II.", "The territories of Western Belorussia were annexed and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR.", "The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People's Council officially took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on 28 October 1939 in Białystok.", "Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.The defense of Brest Fortress was the first major battle of Operation Barbarossa.The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained under German occupation until 1944.The German called for the extermination, expulsion, or enslavement of most or all Belarusians for the purpose of providing more living space in the East for Germans.", "Most of Western Belarus became part of the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' in 1941, but in 1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a client state, the Belarusian Central Council.During World War II, Belarus was home to a variety of guerrilla movements, including Jewish, Polish, and Soviet partisans.", "Belarusian partisan formations formed a large part of the Soviet partisans, and in the modern day these partisans have formed a core part of the Belarusian national identity, with Belarus continuing to refer to itself as the \"partisan republic\" since the 1970s.", "Following the war, many former Soviet partisans entered positions of government, among them Pyotr Masherov and Kirill Mazurov, both of whom were First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia.", "Until the late 1970s, the Belarusian government was almost entirely composed of former partisans.", "Numerous pieces of media have been made about the Belarusian partisans, including the 1985 film ''Come and See'' and the works of authors Ales Adamovich and Vasil Bykaŭ.The German occupation in 1941–1944 and war on the Eastern Front devastated Belarus.", "During that time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings.", "After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died and of those some 810,000 were combatants—some foreign.", "This figure represented a staggering quarter of the prewar population.", "In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million.", "The Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered.", "The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971.Belarus was also hit hard economically, losing around half of its economic resources.===Post-war===Belarusian poster where the text reads \"Long live the Stalinist constitution of victorious socialism and true democracy!\"", "(issued in 1940)After the war, Belarus was among the 51 founding member states of the United Nations Charter and as such it was allowed an additional vote at the UN, on top of the Soviet Union's vote.", "Vigorous postwar reconstruction promptly followed the end of the war and the Byelorussian SSR became a major center of manufacturing in the western USSR, creating jobs and attracting ethnic Russians.", "The borders of the Byelorussian SSR and Poland were redrawn, in accord with the 1919-proposed Curzon Line.Joseph Stalin implemented a policy of Sovietization to isolate the Byelorussian SSR from Western influences.", "This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Byelorussian SSR government.", "After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued his predecessor's cultural hegemony program, stating, \"The sooner we all start speaking Russian, the faster we shall build communism.", "\"Soviet Belarusian communist politician Andrei Gromyko, who served as Soviet foreign minister (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988), was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he was replaced by Eduard Shevardnadze.", "In 1986, the Byelorussian SSR was contaminated with most (70%) of the nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant located 16 km beyond the border in the neighboring Ukrainian SSR.By the late 1980s, political liberalization led to a national revival, with the Belarusian Popular Front becoming a major pro-independence force.===Independence===Leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords, dissolving the Soviet Union, 8 December 1991.In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR took place.", "Though the opposition candidates, mostly associated with the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front, took only 10% of the seats, Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.Mass protests erupted in April 1991 and became known as the 1991 Belarusian strikes.", "With the support of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, the country's name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991.Stanislav Shushkevich, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, met with Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine on 8 December 1991 in Białowieża Forest to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.===Lukashenko era===1997 map of BelarusA national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus.", "A two-round election for the presidency on 24 June 1994 and 10 July 1994 catapulted the formerly unknown Alexander Lukashenko into national prominence.", "He garnered 45% of the vote in the first round and 80% in the second, defeating Vyacheslav Kebich who received 14% of the vote.", "The elections were the first and only free elections in Belarus after independence.The 2000s saw a number of economic disputes between Belarus and its primary economic partner, Russia.", "The first one was the 2004 Russia–Belarus energy dispute when Russian energy giant Gazprom ceased the import of gas into Belarus because of price disagreements.", "The 2007 Russia–Belarus energy dispute centered on accusations by Gazprom that Belarus was siphoning oil off of the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Belarus.", "Two years later the so-called Milk War, a trade dispute, started when Russia wanted Belarus to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and through a series of events ended up banning the import of dairy products from Belarus.In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's centralized control of the economy, with inflation reaching 108.7%.", "Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured.", "Two suspects, who were arrested within two days, confessed to being the perpetrators and were executed by shooting in 2012.The official version of events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of the UN Security Council statement condemning \"the apparent terrorist attack\" intimating the possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing.Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994.Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought a sixth term in office.", "Neighbouring countries Poland and Lithuania do not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus and the Lithuanian government has allotted a residence for main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other members of the Belarusian opposition in Vilnius.", "Neither is Lukashenko recognized as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom nor the United States.", "The European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have all imposed sanctions against Belarus because of the rigged election and political oppression during the ongoing protests in the country.", "Further sanctions were imposed in 2022 following the country's role and complicity in the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Russian troops were allowed to stage part of the invasion from Belarusian territory.", "These include not only corporate offices and individual officers of government but also private individuals who work in the state-owned enterprise industrial sector.", "Norway and Japan have joined the sanctions regime which aims to isolate Belarus from the international supply chain.", "Most major Belarusian banks are also under restrictions." ], [ "Geography", "Belarus lies between latitudes 51° and 57° N, and longitudes 23° and 33° E. Its extension from north to south is , from west to east is .", "It is landlocked, relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land.", "About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests.", "The country lies within two ecoregions: Sarmatic mixed forests and Central European mixed forests.Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus.", "Three major rivers run through the country: the Neman, the Pripyat, and the Dnieper.", "The Neman flows westward towards the Baltic sea and the Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the Black Sea.Strusta Lake in the Vitebsk RegionThe highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at , and the lowest point is on the Neman River at .", "The average elevation of Belarus is above sea level.", "The climate features mild to cold winters, with January minimum temperatures ranging from in southwest (Brest) to in northeast (Vitebsk), and cool and moist summers with an average temperature of .", "Belarus has an average annual rainfall of .", "The country is in the transitional zone between continental climates and maritime climates.Natural resources include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomite (limestone), marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay.", "About 70% of the radiation from neighboring Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster entered Belarusian territory, and about a fifth of Belarusian land (principally farmland and forests in the southeastern regions) was affected by radiation fallout.", "The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of caesium binders and rapeseed cultivation, which are meant to decrease soil levels of caesium-137.Belarus borders five countries: Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to the west, Russia to the north and the east, and Ukraine to the south.", "Treaties in 1995 and 1996 demarcated Belarus's borders with Latvia and Lithuania, and Belarus ratified a 1997 treaty establishing the Belarus-Ukraine border in 2009.Belarus and Lithuania ratified final border demarcation documents in February 2007." ], [ "Government and politics", "Government House, MinskBelarus, by constitution, is a presidential republic with separation of powers, governed by a president and the National Assembly.", "However, Belarus has been led by a highly centralized and authoritarian government, and has often been described as \"Europe's last dictatorship\" and president Alexander Lukashenko as \"Europe's last dictator\" by some media outlets, politicians and authors.", "Belarus has been considered an autocracy where power is ultimately concentrated in the hands of the president, elections are not free and judicial independence is weak.", "The Council of Europe removed Belarus from its observer status since 1997 as a response for election irregularities in the November 1996 constitutional referendum and parliament by-elections.", "Re-admission of the country into the council is dependent on the completion of benchmarks set by the council, including the improvement of human rights, rule of law, and democracy.The term for each presidency is five years.", "Under the 1994 constitution, the president could serve for only two terms as president, but a change in the constitution in 2004 eliminated term limits.", "Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus since 1994.In 1996, Lukashenko called for a controversial vote to extend the presidential term from five to seven years, and as a result the election that was supposed to occur in 1999 was pushed back to 2001.The referendum on the extension was denounced as a \"fantastic\" fake by the chief electoral officer, Viktar Hanchar, who was removed from the office for official matters only during the campaign.", "The National Assembly is a bicameral parliament comprising the 110-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 64-member Council of the Republic (the upper house).Victory Square in MinskThe House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on foreign and domestic policy.", "The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, conduct an impeachment trial of the president, and accept or reject the bills passed by the House of Representatives.", "Each chamber has the ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the constitution.The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister and five deputy prime ministers.", "The members of this council need not be members of the legislature and are appointed by the president.", "The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and specialized courts such as the Constitutional Court, which deals with specific issues related to constitutional and business law.", "The judges of national courts are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Council of the Republic.", "For criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court.", "The Belarusian Constitution forbids the use of special extrajudicial courts.===Elections===Lukashenko was officially re-elected as president in 2001, in 2006, in 2010, in 2015 and again in 2020, although none of those elections were considered free or fair nor democratic.former flag of Belarus, used in 1918, then in 1943–44 and then between 1991 and 1995, is widely used as a symbol of opposition to the government of Alexander Lukashenko.Neither the pro-Lukashenko parties, such as the Belarusian Social Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and Justice (RPTS), nor the People's Coalition 5 Plus opposition parties, such as the BPF Party and the United Civic Party, won any seats in the 2004 elections.", "The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ruled that the elections were unfair because opposition candidates were arbitrarily denied registration and the election process was designed to favor the ruling party.October Square in Minsk in 2006 after the 2006 Belarusian presidential electionIn the 2006 presidential election, Lukashenko was opposed by Alaksandar Milinkievič, who represented a coalition of opposition parties, and by Alyaksandr Kazulin of the Social Democrats.", "Kazulin was detained and beaten by police during protests surrounding the All Belarusian People's Assembly.", "Lukashenko won the election with 80% of the vote; the Russian Federation and the CIS deemed the vote open and fair while the OSCE and other organizations called the election unfair.After the December completion of the 2010 presidential election, Lukashenko was elected to a fourth straight term with nearly 80% of the vote in elections.", "The runner-up opposition leader Andrei Sannikov received less than 3% of the vote; independent observers criticized the election as fraudulent.", "When opposition protesters took to the streets in Minsk, many people, including some presidential candidates, were beaten and arrested by the riot police.", "Many of the candidates, including Sannikov, were sentenced to prison or house arrest for terms which are mainly and typically over four years.", "Six months later amid an unprecedented economic crisis, activists utilized social networking to initiate a fresh round of protests characterized by wordless hand-clapping.In the 2012 parliamentary election, 105 of the 110 members elected to the House of Representatives were not affiliated with any political party.", "The Communist Party of Belarus won 3 seats, and the Belarusian Agrarian Party and RPTS, one each.", "Most non-partisans represent a wide scope of social organizations such as workers' collectives, public associations, and civil society organizations, similar to the composition of the Soviet legislature.In the 2020 presidential election, Lukashenko won again with official results giving him 80% of the vote, leading to mass protests.", "The European Union and the United Kingdom did not recognise the result and the EU imposed sanctions.===Foreign relations===President Alexander Lukashenko shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2015The Byelorussian SSR was one of the two Soviet republics that joined the United Nations along with the Ukrainian SSR as one of the original 51 members in 1945.Belarus and Russia have been close trading partners and diplomatic allies since the breakup of the Soviet Union.", "Belarus is dependent on Russia for imports of raw materials and for its export market.The Union State, a supranational confederation between Belarus and Russia, was established in a 1996–99 series of treaties that called for monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common foreign and defense policy.", "However, the future of the union has been placed in doubt because of Belarus's repeated delays of monetary union, the lack of a referendum date for the draft constitution, and a dispute over the petroleum trade.", "Belarus was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).", "Belarus has trade agreements with several European Union member states (despite other member states' travel ban on Lukashenko and top officials), including neighboring Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.", "Travel bans imposed by the European Union have been lifted in the past in order to allow Lukashenko to attend diplomatic meetings and also to engage his government and opposition groups in dialogue.Minsk, 11–12 February 2015Bilateral relations with the United States are strained; the United States had not had an ambassador in Minsk since 2007 and Belarus never had an ambassador in Washington since 2008.Diplomatic relations remained tense, and in 2004, the United States passed the Belarus Democracy Act, which authorized funding for anti-government Belarusian NGOs, and prohibited loans to the Belarusian government, except for humanitarian purposes.Relations between China and Belarus are close, with Lukashenko visiting China multiple times during his tenure.", "Belarus also has strong ties with Syria, considered a key partner in the Middle East.", "In addition to the CIS, Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (previously the Eurasian Economic Community), the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the international Non-Aligned Movement since 1998, and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).", "As an OSCE member state, Belarus's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.", "Belarus is included in the European Union's Eastern Partnership program, part of the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which aims to bring the EU and its neighbours closer in economic and geopolitical terms.", "However, Belarus suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership program on 28 June 2021, after the EU imposed more sanctions against the country.===Military===Soldiers patrol in the Białowieża Forest on the Belarusian border with PolandLieutenant General Viktor Khrenin heads the Ministry of Defence, and Alexander Lukashenko (as president) serves as Commander-in-Chief.", "The armed forces were formed in 1992 using parts of the former Soviet Armed Forces on the new republic's territory.", "The transformation of the ex-Soviet forces into the Armed Forces of Belarus, which was completed in 1997, reduced the number of its soldiers by 30,000 and restructured its leadership and military formations.Most of Belarus's service members are conscripts, who serve for 12 months if they have higher education or 18 months if they do not.", "Demographic decreases in the Belarusians of conscription age have increased the importance of contract soldiers, who numbered 12,000 in 2001.In 2005, about 1.4% of Belarus's gross domestic product was devoted to military expenditure.Belarus has not expressed a desire to join NATO but has participated in the Individual Partnership Program since 1997, and Belarus provided refueling and airspace support for the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan.", "Belarus first began to cooperate with NATO upon signing documents to participate in their Partnership for Peace Program in 1995.However, Belarus cannot join NATO because it is a member of the CSTO.", "Tensions between NATO and Belarus peaked after the March 2006 presidential election in Belarus.===Human rights and corruption ===Graffiti in Gdańsk depicting Belarusian human rights activist Ales BialiatskiAmnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have criticized Lukashenko's violations of human rights.", "Belarus's Democracy Index rating is the lowest in Europe, the country is labelled as \"not free\" by Freedom House, as \"repressed\" in the Index of Economic Freedom, and in the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Belarus is ranked 153th out of 180 countries for 2022.The Belarusian government is also criticized for human rights violations and its persecution of non-governmental organizations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians.", "Lukashenko announced a new law in 2014 that will prohibit kolkhoz workers (around 9% of total work force) from leaving their jobs at will—a change of job and living location will require permission from governors.", "The law was compared with serfdom by Lukashenko himself.", "Similar regulations were introduced for the forestry industry in 2012.Belarus is the only European country still using capital punishment, having carried out executions in 2011.LGBT rights in the country are also ranked among the lowest in Europe.", "In March 2023, Lukashenko signed a law which allows to use capital punishment against officials and soldiers convicted of high treason.The judicial system in Belarus lacks independence and is subject to political interference.", "Corrupt practices such as bribery often took place during tender processes, and whistleblower protection and national ombudsman are lacking in Belarus's anti-corruption system.On 1 September 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights declared that its experts received reports of 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of people who were arrested during the protests following the presidential election.", "The experts also received reports of violence against women and children, including sexual abuse and rape with rubber batons.", "At least three detainees suffered injuries indicative of sexual violence in Okrestino prison in Minsk or on the way there.", "The victims were hospitalized with intramuscular bleeding of the rectum, anal fissure and bleeding, and damage to the mucous membrane of the rectum.", "In an interview from September 2020 Lukashenko claimed that detainees faked their bruises, saying, \"Some of the girls there had their butts painted in blue\".On 23 May 2021, Belarusian authorities forcibly diverted a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius in order to detain opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich along with his girlfriend; in response, the European Union imposed stricter sanctions on Belarus.", "In May 2021, Lukashenko threatened that he will flood the European Union with migrants and drugs as a response to the sanctions.", "In July 2021, Belarusian authorities launched a hybrid warfare by human trafficking of migrants to the European Union.", "Lithuanian authorities and top European officials Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell condemned the usage of migrants as a weapon and suggested that Belarus could be subject to further sanctions.", "In August 2021, Belarusian officials, wearing uniforms, riot shields and helmets, were recorded on camera near the Belarus–Lithuania border pushing and urging the migrants to cross the European Union border.", "Following the granting of humanitarian visas to an Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and her husband, Poland also accused Belarus for organizing a hybrid warfare as the number of migrants crossing the Belarus–Poland border sharply increased multiple times when compared to the 2020 statistics.", "Illegal migrants numbers also exceeded the previous annual numbers in Latvia.", "On 2 December 2021, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada imposed new sanctions on Belarus.===Administrative divisions===Administrative divisions of BelarusBelarus is divided into six regions called oblasts (; ), which are named after the cities that serve as their administrative centers: Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev, Minsk, and Vitebsk.", "Each region has a provincial legislative authority, called a region council (; ), which is elected by its residents, and a provincial executive authority called a region administration (; ), whose chairman is appointed by the president.", "The regions are further subdivided into 118 raions, commonly translated as districts (; ).", "Each raion has its own legislative authority, or raion council, (; ) elected by its residents, and an executive authority or raion administration appointed by oblast executive powers.", "The city of Minsk is split into nine districts and enjoys special status as the nation's capital at the same administration level as the oblasts.", "It is run by an executive committee and has been granted a charter of self-rule.===Local government===Local government in Belarus is administered by administrative-territorial units (; ), and occurs on two levels: basic and primary.", "At the basic level are 118 raions councils and 10 cities of oblast subordination councils, which are supervised by the governments of the oblasts.", "At the primary level are 14 cities of raion subordination councils, 8 urban-type settlements councils, and 1,151 village councils.", "The councils are elected by their residents, and have executive committees appointed by their executive committee chairs.", "The chairs of executive committees for raions and city of oblast subordinations are appointed by the regional executive committees at the level above; the chairs of executive committees for towns of raion subordination, settlements and villages are appointed by their councils, but upon the recommendation of the raion executive committees.", "In either case, the councils have the power to approve or reject a nonimee for executive committee chair.Settlements without their own local council and executive committee are called territorial units (; ).", "These territorial units may also be classified as a city of regional or raion subordination, urban-type settlement or rural settlement, but whose government is administered by the council of another primary or basic unit.", "In October 1995, a presidential decree abolished the local governments of cities of raion subordination and urban-type settlements which served as the administrative center of raions, demoting them from administrative-territorial units to territorial units.As for 2019, the administrative-territorial and territorial units include 115 cities, 85 urban-type settlements, and 23,075 rural settlements." ], [ "Economy", "Change in per capita GDP of Belarus, 1973–2018.Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars.", "Belarus regions by Gross Regional Product (GRP)Belarus is a developing country, but at 60th place in the United Nations' Human Development Index, it has a \"very high\" human development.", "It is one of the most equal countries in the world, with one of the lowest Gini-coefficient measures of national resource distribution, and it ranks 82nd in GDP per capita.", "In 2019, the share of manufacturing in GDP was 31%, over two-thirds of this amount fell on manufacturing industries.", "Manufacturing employed 34.7% of the workforce.", "Manufacturing growth is much smaller than for the economy as a whole—about 2.2% in 2021.Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat.===Trade===Belarus has trade relations with over 180 countries.", "As of 2007, its main trading partners were Russia, which accounted for about 45% of Belarusian exports and 55% of imports (which include petroleum), and the EU countries, with 25% of exports and 20% of imports.In April 2022, as a result of its facilitation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU imposed trade sanctions on Belarus.", "The sanctions were extended and expanded in August 2023.These sanctions are in addition to those imposed following the rigged 2020 \"election\" of Lukashenko.At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus was one of the world's most industrially developed states by proportion of GDP and the richest CIS member-state.", "In 2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies, 57.2% by private companies (in which the government has a 21.1% stake) and 3.5% by foreign companies.", "In 1994, Belarus's main exports included heavy machinery (especially tractors), agricultural products, and energy products.", "Economically, Belarus involved itself in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eurasian Economic Community, and Union with Russia.", "In the 1990s, industrial production plunged due to decreases in imports, investment, and demand for Belarusian products from its trading partners.", "GDP only began to rise in 1996; the country was the fastest-recovering former Soviet republic in the terms of its economy.", "In 2006, GDP amounted to US$83.1 billion in purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars (estimate), or about $8,100 per capita.", "In 2005, GDP increased by 9.9%; the inflation rate averaged 9.5%.", "Belarus was ranked 80th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, under Lukashenko's leadership, Belarus has maintained government control of key industries and eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other former Soviet republics.Belarus applied to become a member of the World Trade Organization in 1993.Due to its failure to protect labor rights, including passing laws forbidding unemployment or working outside state-controlled sectors, Belarus lost its EU Generalized System of Preferences status on 21 June 2007, which raised tariff rates to their prior most favored nation levels.===Employment===The labor force consists of more than 4 million people, of whom women are slightly more than men.", "In 2005, nearly a quarter of the population was employed in industrial factories.", "Employment is also high in agriculture, manufacturing sales, trading goods, and education.", "The unemployment rate was 1.5% in 2005, according to government statistics.", "There were 679,000 unemployed Belarusians, of whom two-thirds were women.", "The unemployment rate has been declining since 2003, and the overall rate of employment is the highest since statistics were first compiled in 1995.===Currency===Belarusian annual GDP and CPI rates 2001–2013The currency of Belarus is the Belarusian ruble.", "The currency was introduced in May 1992 to replace the Soviet ruble and it has undergone redenomination twice since then.", "The first coins of the Republic of Belarus were issued on 27 December 1996.The ruble was reintroduced with new values in 2000 and has been in use ever since.", "In 2007, The National Bank of Belarus abandoned pegging the Belarusian ruble to the Russian ruble.", "As part of the Union of Russia and Belarus, the two states have discussed using a single currency analogous to the Euro.", "This led to a proposal that the Belarusian ruble be discontinued in favor of the Russian ruble (RUB), starting as early as 1 January 2008.On 23 May 2011, the ruble depreciated 56% against the United States dollar.", "The depreciation was even steeper on the black market and financial collapse seemed imminent as citizens rushed to exchange their rubles for dollars, euros, durable goods, and canned goods.", "On 1 June 2011, Belarus requested an economic rescue package from the International Monetary Fund.", "A new currency, the new Belarusian ruble (ISO 4217 code: BYN) was introduced in July 2016, replacing the Belarusian ruble in a rate of 1:10,000 (10,000 old ruble = 1 new ruble).", "From 1 July until 31 December 2016, the old and new currencies were in parallel circulation and series 2000 notes and coins could be exchanged for series 2009 from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.This redenomination can be considered an effort to fight the high inflation rate.", "On 6 October 2022, Lukashenko banned price increases, to combat food inflation.", "In January 2023, Belarus legalized copyright infringement of media and intellectual property created by \"unfriendly\" foreign nations.The banking system of Belarus consists of two levels: Central Bank (National Bank of the Republic of Belarus) and 25 commercial banks." ], [ "Demographics", "According to the 2019 census the population was 9.41 million with ethnic Belarusians constituting 84.9% of Belarus's total population.", "Minority groups include: Russians (7.5%), Poles (3.1%), and Ukrainians (1.7%).Belarus has a population density of about 50 people per square kilometre (127 per sq mi); 70% of its total population is concentrated in urban areas.", "Minsk, the nation's capital and largest city, was home to 1,937,900 residents .", "Gomel, with a population of 481,000, is the second-largest city and serves as the capital of the Gomel Region.", "Other large cities are Mogilev (365,100), Vitebsk (342,400), Grodno (314,800) and Brest (298,300).Like many other Eastern European countries, Belarus has a negative population growth rate and a negative natural growth rate.", "In 2007, Belarus's population declined by 0.41% and its fertility rate was 1.22, well below the replacement rate.", "Its net migration rate is +0.38 per 1,000, indicating that Belarus experiences slightly more immigration than emigration.", ", 69.9% of Belarus's population is aged 14 to 64; 15.5% is under 14, and 14.6% is 65 or older.", "Its population is also aging; the median age of 30–34 is estimated to rise to between 60 and 64 in 2050.There are about 0.87 males per female in Belarus.", "The average life expectancy is 72.15 (66.53 years for men and 78.1 years for women).", "Over 99% of Belarusians aged 15 and older are literate.===Religion===Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk is one of the oldest churches in Belarus.", "Its current style is an ideal example of baroque architecture in the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.According to the census of November 2011, 58.9% of all Belarusians adhered to some kind of religion; out of those, Eastern Orthodoxy made up about 82%: Eastern Orthodox in Belarus are mainly part of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, though a small Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church also exists.", "Roman Catholicism is practiced mostly in the western regions, and there are also different denominations of Protestantism.", "Minorities also practice Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Islam and neo-paganism.", "Overall, 48.3% of the population is Orthodox Christian, 41.1% is not religious, 7.1% is Roman Catholic and 3.3% follows other religions.Belarus's Catholic minority is concentrated in the western part of the country, especially around Grodno, consisting in a mixture of Belarusians and the country's Polish and Lithuanian minorities.", "President Lukashenko has stated that Orthodox and Catholic believers are the \"two main confessions in our country\".Belarus was once a major center of European Jews, with 10% of the population being Jewish.", "But since the mid-20th century, the number of Jews has been reduced by the Holocaust, deportation, and emigration, so that today it is a very small minority of less than one percent.", "The Lipka Tatars, numbering over 15,000, are predominantly Muslims.", "According to Article 16 of the Constitution, Belarus has no official religion.", "While the freedom of worship is granted in the same article, religious organizations deemed harmful to the government or social order can be prohibited.===Languages===Bilingual Belarusian–Russian sign in Belarusian town Rakaw in 2014Belarus's two official languages are Russian and Belarusian; Russian is the most common language spoken at home, used by 70% of the population, while Belarusian, the official first language, is spoken at home by 23%.", "Minorities also speak Polish, Ukrainian and Eastern Yiddish.", "Belarusian, although not as widely used as Russian, is the mother tongue of 53.2% of the population, whereas Russian is the mother tongue of only 41.5%.After the election of Alexander Lukashenko as the President of Belarus in the 1994 elections, the positions of Belarusian language in Belarusian education system worsened as the number of first graders who were taught in Belarusian significantly decreased (e.g.", "in capital Minsk from 58.6% in 1994 to just 4.8% in 1998) and by 2001 most of the major Belarusian cities had no schools where its pupils were instructed in Belarusian (but capital Minsk still had 20 Belarusian-language schools).", "The usage of Belarusian in major Belarusian cities is rare.", "In 2006, Lukashenko stated that Belarusian is a poor language and nothing great can be expressed in Belarusian, while Russian and English are the only two great languages in the world.", "However, in 2014 Lukashenko emphasized that losing the ability to speak Belarusian will be losing a part of the country's history.", "According to poet Valzhyna Mort, who grew up in Belarus, the Belarusian language is mocked for its \"village sound\" and is considered useless in Belarus.", "Approximately 95% of Belarusian state operates in the Russian language and the Belarusian language is mostly absent in Belarusian education, state media and government affairs where the main information is provided in Russian.", "None of the universities in Belarus are providing a Belarusian-language education and Belarusian language lessons in schools are declining.", "In 2016, only 13% of pupils in Belarus attended elementary schools where the language of instruction was Belarusian.", "The annual circulation of Belarusian language literature significantly decreased from 1990 to 2020: magazines (from 312 mil to 39.6 mil), books and brochures (from 9.3 mil to 3.1 mil)." ], [ "Culture", "===Arts and literature===Opera and Ballet Theater in MinskThe Belarusian government sponsors annual cultural festivals such as the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, which showcases Belarusian performers, artists, writers, musicians, and actors.", "Several state holidays, such as Independence Day and Victory Day, draw big crowds and often include displays such as fireworks and military parades, especially in Vitebsk and Minsk.", "The government's Ministry of Culture finances events promoting Belarusian arts and culture both inside and outside the country.Belarusian literature began with 11th- to 13th-century religious scripture, such as the 12th-century poetry of Cyril of Turaw.By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian.", "It was published in Prague and Vilnius sometime between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book printed in Belarus or anywhere in Eastern Europe.", "The modern era of Belarusian literature began in the late 19th century; one prominent writer was Yanka Kupala.", "Many Belarusian writers of the time, such as Uładzimir Žyłka, Kazimir Svayak, Yakub Kolas, Źmitrok Biadula, and Maksim Haretski, wrote for ''Nasha Niva'', a Belarusian-language paper published that was previously published in Vilnius but now is published in Minsk.After Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the Soviet government took control of the Republic's cultural affairs.", "At first, a policy of \"Belarusianization\" was followed in the newly formed Byelorussian SSR.", "This policy was reversed in the 1930s, and the majority of prominent Belarusian intellectuals and nationalist advocates were either exiled or killed in Stalinist purges.", "The free development of literature occurred only in Polish-held territory until Soviet occupation in 1939.Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus and would not return until the 1960s.Poet and librettist Vintsent Dunin-MartsinkyevichThe last major revival of Belarusian literature occurred in the 1960s with novels published by Vasil Bykaŭ and Uladzimir Karatkievich.", "An influential author who devoted his work to awakening the awareness of the catastrophes the country has suffered, was Ales Adamovich.", "He was named by Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2015, as \"her main teacher, who helped her to find a path of her own\".Music in Belarus largely comprises a rich tradition of folk and religious music.", "The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.", "In the 19th century, Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko composed operas and chamber music pieces while living in Minsk.", "During his stay, he worked with Belarusian poet Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich and created the opera ''Sialanka'' (''Peasant Woman'').", "At the end of the 19th century, major Belarusian cities formed their own opera and ballet companies.", "The ballet ''Nightingale'' by M. Kroshner was composed during the Soviet era and became the first Belarusian ballet showcased at the National Academic Vialiki Ballet Theatre in Minsk.After the Second World War, music focused on the hardships of the Belarusian people or on those who took up arms in defense of the homeland.", "During this period, Anatoly Bogatyrev, creator of the opera ''In Polesye Virgin Forest'', served as the \"tutor\" of Belarusian composers.", "The National Academic Theatre of Ballet in Minsk was awarded the Benois de la Dance Prize in 1996 as the top ballet company in the world.", "Rock music has become increasingly popular in recent years, though the Belarusian government has attempted to limit the amount of foreign music aired on the radio in favor of traditional Belarusian music.", "Since 2004, Belarus has been sending artists to the Eurovision Song Contest.Marc Chagall was born in Liozna (near Vitebsk) in 1887.He spent the World War I years in Soviet Belarus, becoming one of the country's most distinguished artists and a member of the modernist avant-garde and was a founder of the Vitebsk Arts College.===Dress===The traditional Belarusian dress originates from the Kievan Rus' period.", "Due to the cool climate, clothes were designed to conserve body heat and were usually made from flax or wool.", "They were decorated with ornate patterns influenced by the neighboring cultures: Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Russians, and other European nations.", "Each region of Belarus has developed specific design patterns.", "One ornamental pattern common in early dresses currently decorates the hoist of the Belarusian national flag, adopted in a disputed referendum in 1995.===Cuisine===Draniki, the national dishBelarusian cuisine consists mainly of vegetables, meat (particularly pork), and bread.", "Foods are usually either slowly cooked or stewed.", "Typically, Belarusians eat a light breakfast and two hearty meals later in the day.", "Wheat and rye bread are consumed in Belarus, but rye is more plentiful because conditions are too harsh for growing wheat.", "To show hospitality, a host traditionally presents an offering of bread and salt when greeting a guest or visitor.===Sport===Belarus has competed in the Olympic Games since the 1994 Winter Olympics as an independent nation.", "Receiving heavy sponsorship from the government, ice hockey is the nation's second most popular sport after football.", "The national football team has never qualified for a major tournament; however, BATE Borisov has played in the Champions League.", "The national hockey team finished fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics following a memorable upset win over Sweden in the quarterfinals and regularly competes in the World Championships, often making the quarterfinals.", "Numerous Belarusian players are present in the Kontinental Hockey League in Eurasia, particularly for Belarusian club HC Dinamo Minsk, and several have also played in the National Hockey League in North America.", "The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted in Belarus and the 2021 IIHF World Championship was supposed to be co-hosted in Latvia and Belarus but it was cancelled due to widespread protests and security concerns.", "The 2021 UEC European Track Championships in cycling was also cancelled because Belarus was not considered a safe host.Victoria Azarenka, professional tennis player and a former world No.", "1 in singlesDarya Domracheva is a leading biathlete whose honours include three gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics.", "Tennis player Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 2012.She also won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Max Mirnyi, who holds ten Grand Slam titles in doubles.Other notable Belarusian sportspeople include cyclist Vasil Kiryienka, who won the 2015 Road World Time Trial Championship, and middle-distance runner Maryna Arzamasava, who won the gold medal in the 800m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.", "Andrei Arlovski, who was born in Babruysk, Byelorussian SSR, is a current UFC fighter and the former UFC heavyweight champion of the world.Belarus is also known for its strong rhythmic gymnasts.", "Noticeable gymnasts include Inna Zhukova, who earned silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Liubov Charkashyna, who earned bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and Melitina Staniouta, Bronze All-Around Medalist of the 2015 World Championships.", "The Belarusian senior group earned bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.===Telecommunications===* Country code: .byThe state telecom monopoly, Beltelecom, holds the exclusive interconnection with Internet providers outside of Belarus.", "Beltelecom owns all the backbone channels that linked to the Lattelecom, TEO LT, Tata Communications (former Teleglobe), Synterra, Rostelecom, Transtelekom and MTS ISPs.", "Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide commercial VoIP services in Belarus.===World Heritage Sites===Belarus has four UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites: the Mir Castle Complex, the Nesvizh Castle, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (shared with Poland), and the Struve Geodetic Arc (shared with nine other countries)." ], [ "See also", "* List of Belarus-related topics* Outline of Belarus* Republican Scientific Medical Library" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* * * * * * " ], [ "Further reading", " Bennett, Brian M. ''The Last Dictatorship in Europe: Belarus under Lukashenko'' (Columbia University Press, 2011)* Frear, Matthew.", "''Belarus Under Lukashenka: Adaptive Authoritarianism'' (Routledge, 2015)* Korosteleva, Elena A.", "(June 2016).", "\"The European Union and Belarus: Democracy Promotion by Technocratic Means?\"", "''Democratization'' '''23''': 4 pp. 678–698..", "* * * Marples, David.", "'''Our Glorious Past': Lukashenka's Belarus and the Great Patriotic War'' (Columbia University Press, 2014)* Parker, Stewart.", "''The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus'' (Trafford Publishing, 2007)* Rudling, Pers Anders.", "''The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906–1931'' (University of Pittsburgh Press; 2014) 436 pages* * * Snyder, Timothy (2004).", "''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999''* * * Vakar, Nicholas Platonovich.", "''Belorussia: The Making of a Nation: A Case Study'' (Harvard UP, 1956).", "* Vakar, Nicholas Platonovich.", "''A Bibliographical Guide to Belorussia'' (Harvard UP, 1956)" ], [ "External links", "* Website of the Republic of Belarus by BelTA news agency* Belarus.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* * FAO Country Profiles: Belarus" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Belize" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Belize''' (, ; ) is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America.", "It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south.", "It also shares a water boundary with Honduras to the southeast.The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BC and AD 300 and flourished until about 1200.European contact began in 1502–04 when Christopher Columbus sailed along the Gulf of Honduras.", "European exploration was begun by English settlers in 1638.Spain and Britain both laid claim to the land until Britain defeated the Spanish in the Battle of St. George's Caye (1798).", "It became a British colony in 1840, and a Crown colony in 1862.Belize achieved its independence from the United Kingdom on 21 September 1981.It is the only mainland Central American country which is a Commonwealth realm, with King Charles III as its monarch and head of state, represented by a governor-general.Belize's abundance of terrestrial and marine species and its diversity of ecosystems, including extensive coral reefs, give it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.", "It is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the American and Caribbean regions.It has an area of and a population of 441,471 (2022).", "Its mainland is about long and wide.", "It is the least populated and least densely populated country in Central America.", "Its population growth rate of 1.87% per year (2018 estimate) is the second-highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere.", "Its capital is Belmopan, and its largest city is the namesake city of Belize City.", "The country has a diverse society composed of many cultures and languages.", "It is the only Central American country where English is the official language, while Belizean Creole is the most widely spoken dialect.", "Spanish is the second-most-commonly-spoken language, followed by the Mayan languages, German dialects, and Garifuna.", "Over half the population is multilingual, due to the diverse linguistic backgrounds of the population.", "It is known for its September Celebrations and punta music." ], [ "Name", "The earliest known record of the name \"Belize\" appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677.Delgado recorded the names of three major rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast: Rio Soyte, Rio Kibum, and Rio Balis.", "The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River, and Belize River, were provided to Delgado by his translator.", "It has been proposed that Delgado's \"Balis\" was actually the Mayan word ''belix'' (or ''beliz''), meaning \"muddy water\", although no such Mayan word actually exists.", "More recently, it has been proposed that the name comes from the Mayan phrase \"bel Itza\", meaning \"the way to Itza\".In the 1820s, the Creole elite of Belize invented the legend that the toponym Belize derived from the Spanish pronunciation of the name of a Scottish buccaneer, Peter Wallace, who established a settlement at the mouth of the Belize River in 1638.There is no proof that buccaneers settled in this area and the very existence of Wallace is considered a myth.", "Writers and historians have suggested several other possible etymologies, including postulated French and African origins." ], [ "History", "===Early history===Extent of the Maya civilizationThe Maya civilization emerged at least three millennia ago in the lowland area of the Yucatán Peninsula and the highlands to the south, in the area of present-day southeastern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and western Honduras.", "Many aspects of this culture persist in the area, despite nearly 500 years of European domination.", "Prior to about 2500 BC, some hunting and foraging bands settled in small farming villages; they domesticated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers.A profusion of languages and subcultures developed within the Maya core culture.", "Between about 2500 BC and 250 AD, the basic institutions of Maya civilization emerged.===Maya civilization===The Maya civilization spread across the territory of present-day Belize around 1500BC, and flourished until about 900 AD.", "The recorded history of the middle and southern regions focuses on Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people.", "North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai.", "In the late Classic Era of Maya Civilization (600–1000AD), an estimated 400,000 to 1,000,000 people inhabited the area of present-day Belize.When Spanish explorers arrived in the 16th century, the area of present-day Belize included at least three distinct Maya territories:* Chetumal province, which encompassed the area around Corozal Bay* Dzuluinicob province, which encompassed the area between the lower New River and the Sibun River, west to Tipu* a southern territory controlled by the Manche Ch'ol Maya, encompassing the area between the Monkey River and the Sarstoon River.===Early colonial period (1506–1862)===Spanish conquistadors explored the land and declared it part of the Spanish Empire, but they failed to settle the territory because of its lack of resources and the hostile tribes of the Yucatán.English pirates sporadically visited the coast of what is now Belize, seeking a sheltered region from which they could attack Spanish ships ''(see English settlement in Belize)'' and cut logwood (''Haematoxylum campechianum'') trees.", "The first British permanent settlement was founded around 1716, in what became the Belize District, and during the 18th century, established a system using enslaved Africans to cut logwood trees.", "This yielded a valuable fixing agent for clothing dyes, and was one of the first ways to achieve a fast black before the advent of artificial dyes.", "The Spanish granted the British settlers the right to occupy the area and cut logwood in exchange for their help suppressing piracy.An excerpt from the 1898 Gazette that declared 10 September an official holiday, Battle of St. George's Caye DayThe British first appointed a superintendent over the Belize area in 1786.Before then the British government had not recognized the settlement as a colony for fear of provoking a Spanish attack.", "The delay in government oversight allowed the settlers to establish their own laws and forms of government.", "During this period, a few successful settlers gained control of the local legislature, known as the Public Meeting, as well as of most of the settlement's land and timber.Throughout the 18th century, the Spanish attacked Belize every time war broke out with Britain.", "The Battle of St. George's Caye was the last of such military engagements, in 1798, between a Spanish fleet and a force of Baymen and their slaves.", "From 3 to 5 September, the Spaniards tried to force their way through Montego Caye shoal, but were blocked by defenders.", "Spain's last attempt occurred on 10 September, when the Baymen repelled the Spanish fleet in a short engagement with no known casualties on either side.", "The anniversary of the battle has been declared a national holiday in Belize and is celebrated to commemorate the \"first Belizeans\" and the defence of their territory taken from the Spanish empire.===As part of the British Empire (1862–1981)===Colonial flag of British Honduras, 1870–1919Colonial flag of British Honduras, 1919–1981In the early 19th century, the British sought to reform the settlers, threatening to suspend the Public Meeting unless it observed the government's instructions to eliminate slavery outright.", "After a generation of wrangling, slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833.As a result of their enslaved Africans' abilities in the work of mahogany extraction, owners in British Honduras were compensated at £53.69 per enslaved African on average, the highest amount paid in any British territory.", "This was a form of reparation that was not given to the enslaved Africans at the time, nor since.The end of slavery did little to change the formerly enslaved Africans' working conditions if they stayed at their trade.", "A series of institutions restricted the ability of emancipated African individuals to buy land, in a debt-peonage system.", "Former \"extra special\" mahogany or logwood cutters undergirded the early ascription of the capacities (and consequently the limitations) of people of African descent in the colony.", "Because a small elite controlled the settlement's land and commerce, formerly enslaved Africans had little choice but to continue to work in timber cutting.In 1836, after the emancipation of Central America from Spanish rule, the British claimed the right to administer the region.", "In 1862, the United Kingdom formally declared it a British Crown Colony, subordinate to Jamaica, and named it British Honduras.", "Since 1854, the richest inhabitants elected an assembly of notables by censal vote, which was replaced by a legislative council appointed by the British monarchy.As a colony, Belize began to attract British investors.", "Among the British firms that dominated the colony in the late 19th century was the Belize Estate and Produce Company, which eventually acquired half of all privately held land and eventually eliminated peonage.", "Belize Estate's influence accounts in part for the colony's reliance on the mahogany trade throughout the rest of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.The Great Depression of the 1930s caused a near-collapse of the colony's economy as British demand for timber plummeted.", "The effects of widespread unemployment were worsened by a devastating hurricane that struck the colony in 1931.Perceptions of the government's relief effort as inadequate were aggravated by its refusal to legalize labour unions or introduce a minimum wage.", "Economic conditions improved during World War II, as many Belizean men entered the armed forces or otherwise contributed to the war effort.A British Honduras postage stamp overprinted in 1962 to mark Hurricane HattieFollowing the war, the colony's economy stagnated.", "Britain's decision to devalue the British Honduras dollar in 1949 worsened economic conditions and led to the creation of the People's Committee, which demanded independence.", "The People's Committee's successor, the People's United Party (PUP), sought constitutional reforms that expanded voting rights to all adults.", "The first election under universal suffrage was held in 1954 and was decisively won by the PUP, beginning a three-decade period in which the PUP dominated the country's politics.", "Pro-independence activist George Cadle Price became PUP's leader in 1956 and the effective head of government in 1961, a post he would hold under various titles until 1984.Progress toward independence was hampered by a Guatemalan claim to sovereignty over Belizean territory.", "In 1964 Britain granted British Honduras self-government under a new constitution.", "On 1 June 1973, British Honduras was officially renamed Belize.===Independent Belize (since 1981)===Belize was granted independence on 21 September 1981.Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation because of its longstanding territorial dispute, claiming that Belize belonged to Guatemala.", "After independence about 1,500 British troops remained in Belize to deter any possible Guatemalan incursions.With George Cadle Price at the helm, the PUP won all national elections until 1984.In that election, the first national election after independence, the PUP was defeated by the United Democratic Party (UDP).", "UDP leader Manuel Esquivel replaced Price as prime minister, with Price himself unexpectedly losing his own House seat to a UDP challenger.", "The PUP under Price returned to power after elections in 1989.The following year the United Kingdom announced that it would end its military involvement in Belize, and the RAF Harrier detachment was withdrawn the same year, having remained stationed in the country continuously since its deployment had become permanent there in 1980.British soldiers were withdrawn in 1994, but the United Kingdom left behind a military training unit to assist with the newly created Belize Defence Force.The UDP regained power in the 1993 national election, and Esquivel became prime minister for a second time.", "Soon afterwards, Esquivel announced the suspension of a pact reached with Guatemala during Price's tenure, claiming Price had made too many concessions to gain Guatemalan recognition.", "The pact may have curtailed the 130-year-old border dispute between the two countries.", "Border tensions continued into the early 2000s, although the two countries cooperated in other areas.In 1996, the Belize Barrier Reef, one of the Western Hemisphere's most pristine ecosystems, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The PUP won a landslide victory in the 1998 national elections, and PUP leader Said Musa was sworn in as prime minister.", "In the 2003 elections the PUP maintained its majority, and Musa continued as prime minister.", "He pledged to improve conditions in the underdeveloped and largely inaccessible southern part of Belize.In 2005, Belize was the site of unrest caused by discontent with the PUP government, including tax increases in the national budget.", "On 8 February 2008, Dean Barrow was sworn in as prime minister after his UDP won a landslide victory in general elections.", "Barrow and the UDP were re-elected in 2012 with a considerably smaller majority.", "Barrow led the UDP to a third consecutive general election victory in November 2015, increasing the party's number of seats from 17 to 19.He said the election would be his last as party leader and preparations are under way for the party to elect his successor.On 11 November 2020, the People's United Party (PUP), led by Johnny Briceño, defeated the United Democratic Party (UDP) for the first time since 2003, having won 26 seats out of 31 to form the new government of Belize.", "Briceño took office as Prime Minister on 12 November." ], [ "Government and politics", "National Assembly in BelmopanBelize is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.", "The structure of government is based on the British parliamentary system, and the legal system is modelled on the common law of England.", "The head of state is Charles III, who is the king of Belize.", "He lives in the United Kingdom, and is represented in Belize by the governor-general.", "Executive authority is exercised by the cabinet, which advises the governor-general and is led by the prime minister, who is head of government.", "Cabinet ministers are members of the majority political party in parliament and usually hold elected seats within it concurrent with their cabinet positions.The bicameral National Assembly of Belize comprises a House of Representatives and a Senate.", "The 31 members of the House are popularly elected to a maximum five-year term and introduce legislation affecting the development of Belize.", "The governor-general appoints the 12 members of the Senate, with a Senate president selected by the members.", "The Senate is responsible for debating and approving bills passed by the House.Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Belize.", "Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.", "The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.Members of the independent judiciary are appointed.", "The judicial system includes local magistrates grouped under the Magistrates' Court, which hears less serious cases.", "The Supreme Court (chief justice) hears murder and similarly serious cases, and the Court of Appeal hears appeals from convicted individuals seeking to have their sentences overturned.", "Defendants may, under certain circumstances, appeal their cases to the Caribbean Court of Justice.=== Political culture ===In 1935, elections were reinstated, but only 1.8 percent of the population was eligible to vote.", "In 1954, women won the right to vote.Since 1974, the party system in Belize has been dominated by the centre-left People's United Party and the centre-right United Democratic Party, although other small parties took part in all levels of elections in the past.", "Though none of these small political parties has ever won any significant number of seats or offices, their challenge has been growing over the years.===Foreign relations===Belize is a full participating member of the United Nations; the Commonwealth of Nations; the Organization of American States (OAS); the Central American Integration System (SICA); the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); the Association of Caribbean States (ACS); and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which currently serves as a final court of appeal for only Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Saint Lucia.", "In 2001 the Caribbean Community heads of government voted on a measure declaring that the region should work towards replacing the UK's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as final court of appeal with the Caribbean Court of Justice.", "It is still in the process of acceding to CARICOM treaties including the trade and single market treaties.A British Royal Marine training in the jungle of Belize in 2017Belize is an original member (1995) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and participates actively in its work.", "The pact involves the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) subgroup of the Group of African, Caribbean, and Pacific states (ACP).", "CARIFORUM presently the only part of the wider ACP-bloc that has concluded the full regional trade-pact with the European Union.The British Army Garrison in Belize is used primarily for jungle warfare training, with access to over of jungle terrain.Belize is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.===Armed forces===Belizean Coast Guard working with the United States NavyThe Belize Defence Force (BDF) serves as the country's military.", "The BDF, with the Belize National Coast Guard and the Immigration Department, is a department of the Ministry of Defence and Immigration.", "In 1997 the regular army numbered over 900, the reserve army 381, the air wing 45 and the maritime wing 36, amounting to an overall strength of approximately 1,400.In 2005, the maritime wing became part of the Belizean Coast Guard.", "In 2012, the Belizean government spent about $17 million on the military, constituting 1.08% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).After Belize achieved independence in 1981 the United Kingdom maintained a deterrent force (British Forces Belize) in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala (see Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory).", "During the 1980s this included a battalion and No.", "1417 Flight RAF of Harriers.", "The main British force left in 1994, three years after Guatemala recognized Belizean independence, but the United Kingdom maintained a training presence via the British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) and 25 Flight AAC until 2011 when the last British Forces left Ladyville Barracks, with the exception of seconded advisers.=== Administrative divisions ===Districts of BelizeBelize is divided into six districts.These districts are further divided into 31 constituencies.", "Local government in Belize comprises four types of local authorities: city councils, town councils, village councils and community councils.", "The two city councils (Belize City and Belmopan) and seven town councils cover the urban population of the country, while village and community councils cover the rural population.===Guatemalan territorial dispute===Throughout Belize's history, Guatemala has claimed sovereignty over all or part of Belizean territory.", "This claim is occasionally reflected in maps drawn by Guatemala's government, showing Belize as Guatemala's twenty-third department.The Guatemalan territorial claim involves approximately 53% of Belize's mainland, which includes significant portions of four districts: Belize, Cayo, Stann Creek, and Toledo.", "Roughly 43% of the country's population (≈154,949 Belizeans) reside in this region., the border dispute with Guatemala remains unresolved and contentious.", "Guatemala's claim to Belizean territory rests, in part, on Clause VII of the Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty of 1859, which obligated the British to build a road between Belize City and Guatemala.", "At various times, the issue has required mediation by the United Kingdom, Caribbean Community heads of government, the Organization of American States (OAS), Mexico, and the United States.", "On 15 April 2018, Guatemala's government held a referendum to determine if the country should take its territorial claim on Belize to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle the long-standing issue.", "Guatemalans voted 95% yes on the matter.", "A similar referendum was to be held in Belize on 10 April 2019, but a court ruling led to its postponement.", "The referendum was held on 8 May 2019, and 55.4% of voters opted to send the matter to the ICJ.Both countries submitted requests to the ICJ (in 2018 and 2019, respectively) and the ICJ ordered Guatemala's initial brief be submitted by December 2020 and Belize's response by 2022.===Indigenous land claims===Belize backed the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, which established legal land rights to indigenous groups.", "Other court cases have affirmed these rights like the Supreme Court of Belize's 2013 decision to uphold its ruling in 2010 that acknowledges customary land titles as communal land for indigenous peoples.", "Another such case is the Caribbean Court of Justice's (CCJ) 2015 order on the Belizean government, which stipulated that the country develop a land registry to classify and exercise traditional governance over Mayan lands.", "Despite these rulings, Belize has made little progress to support the land rights of indigenous communities; for instance, in the two years after the CCJ's decision, Belize's government failed to launch the Mayan land registry, prompting the group to take action into its own hands.The exact ramifications of these cases need to be examined.", ", Belize still struggles to recognize indigenous populations and their respective rights.", "According to the 50-page voluntary national report Belize created on its progress toward the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, indigenous groups are not factored into the country's indicators whatsoever.", "Belize's Maya population is only mentioned once in the entirety of the report." ], [ "Geography", "OpenStreetMap map of Belize, showing landcover, protected areas, major cities and administrative divisionsBelize is on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America.", "It shares a border on the north with the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the west with the Guatemalan department of Petén, and on the south with the Guatemalan department of Izabal.", "To the east in the Caribbean Sea, the second-longest barrier reef in the world flanks much of the of predominantly marshy coastline.", "The area of the country totals , an area slightly larger than El Salvador, Israel, New Jersey, or Wales.", "The many lagoons along the coasts and in the northern interior reduces the actual land area to .", "It is the only Central American country with no Pacific coastline.Belize is shaped roughly like a rhombus that extends about north-south and about east-west, with a total land boundary length of .", "The undulating courses of two rivers, the Hondo and the Sarstoon River, define much of the course of the country's northern and southern boundaries.", "The western border follows no natural features and runs north–south through lowland forest and highland plateau.The north of Belize consists mostly of flat, swampy coastal plains, in places heavily forested.", "The flora is highly diverse considering the small geographical area.", "The south contains the low mountain range of the Maya Mountains.", "The highest point in Belize is Doyle's Delight at .Belize's rugged geography has also made the country's coastline and jungle attractive to drug smugglers, who use the country as a gateway into Mexico.", "In 2011, the United States added Belize to the list of nations considered major drug producers or transit countries for narcotics.===Environment preservation and biodiversity===Belize has a rich variety of wildlife because of its position between North and South America and a wide range of climates and habitats for plant and animal life.", "Belize's low human population and approximately of undistributed land make for an ideal home for the more than 5,000 species of plants and hundreds of species of animals, including armadillos, snakes, and monkeys.The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is a nature reserve in south-central Belize established to protect the forests, fauna, and watersheds of an approximately area of the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains.", "The reserve was founded in 1990 as the first wilderness sanctuary for the jaguar and is regarded by one author as the premier site for jaguar preservation in the world.===Vegetation and flora===While over 60% of Belize's land surface is covered by lush forest, some 20% of the country's land is covered by cultivated land (agriculture) and human settlements.", "Belize had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.15/10, ranking it 85th globally out of 172 countries.", "Savanna, scrubland and wetland constitute the remainder of Belize's land cover.", "Important mangrove ecosystems are also represented across Belize's landscape.", "Four terrestrial ecoregions lie within the country's borders – the Petén–Veracruz moist forests, Belizian pine forests, Belizean Coast mangroves, and Belizean Reef mangroves.", "As a part of the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor that stretches from southern Mexico to Panama, Belize's biodiversity – both marine and terrestrial – is rich, with abundant flora and fauna.Belize is also a leader in protecting biodiversity and natural resources.", "According to the World Database on Protected Areas, 37% of Belize's land territory falls under some form of official protection, giving Belize one of the most extensive systems of terrestrial protected areas in the Americas.", "By contrast, Costa Rica only has 27% of its land territory protected.Around 13.6% of Belize's territorial waters, which contain the Belize Barrier Reef, are also protected.", "The Belize Barrier Reef is a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site and is the second-largest barrier reef in the world, behind Australia's Great Barrier Reef.A remote sensing study conducted by the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) and NASA, in collaboration with the Forest Department and the Land Information Centre (LIC) of the government of Belize's Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE), and published in August 2010 revealed that Belize's forest cover in early 2010 was approximately 62.7%, down from 75.9% in late 1980.A similar study by Belize Tropical Forest Studies and Conservation International revealed similar trends in terms of Belize's forest cover.", "Both studies indicate that each year, 0.6% of Belize's forest cover is lost, translating to the clearing of an average of each year.", "The USAID-supported SERVIR study by CATHALAC, NASA, and the MNRE also showed that Belize's protected areas have been extremely effective in protecting the country's forests.", "While only some 6.4% of forests inside of legally declared protected areas were cleared between 1980 and 2010, over a quarter of forests outside of protected areas were lost between 1980 and 2010.As a country with a relatively high forest cover and a low deforestation rate, Belize has significant potential for participation in initiatives such as REDD.", "Significantly, the SERVIR study on Belize's deforestation was also recognized by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), of which Belize is a member nation.===Natural resources and energy===Belize is known to have a number of economically important minerals, but none in quantities large enough to warrant mining.", "These minerals include dolomite, barite (source of barium), bauxite (source of aluminium), cassiterite (source of tin), and gold.", "In 1990 limestone, used in road construction, was the only mineral resource exploited for domestic or export use.In 2006, the cultivation of newly discovered crude oil in the town of Spanish Lookout has presented new prospects and problems for this developing nation.Access to biocapacity in Belize is much higher than world average.", "In 2016, Belize had 3.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.", "In 2016 Belize used 5.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption.", "This means they use more biocapacity than Belize contains.", "As a result, Belize is running a biocapacity deficit.===Belize Barrier Reef===Belize Barrier Reef; aerial view looking northThe Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly offshore in the north and in the south within the country limits.", "The Belize Barrier Reef is a section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, which is continuous from Cancún on the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula through the Riviera Maya up to Honduras making it one of the largest coral reef systems in the world.It is the top tourist destination in Belize, popular for scuba diving and snorkelling, and attracting almost half of its 260,000 visitors.", "It is also vital to its fishing industry.", "In 1842 Charles Darwin described it as \"the most remarkable reef in the West Indies\".The Belize Barrier Reef was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996 due to its vulnerability and the fact that it contains important natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biodiversity.====Species====The Belize Barrier Reef is home to a large diversity of plants and animals, and is one of the most diverse ecosystems of the world:* 70 hard coral species* 36 soft coral species* 500 species of fish* hundreds of invertebrate speciesWith ~90% of the reef still yet to be researched, some estimate that only 10% of all species have been discovered.====Conservation====The Great Blue Hole, a phenomenon of karst topographyBelize became the first country in the world to completely ban bottom trawling in December 2010.In December 2015, Belize banned offshore oil drilling within of the Barrier Reef and all of its seven World Heritage Sites.Despite these protective measures, the reef remains under threat from oceanic pollution as well as uncontrolled tourism, shipping, and fishing.", "Other threats include hurricanes, along with global warming and the resulting increase in ocean temperatures, which causes coral bleaching.", "It is claimed by scientists that over 40% of Belize's coral reef has been damaged since 1998.===Climate===Köppen climate classification of BelizeBelize has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons, although there are significant variations in weather patterns by region.", "Temperatures vary according to elevation, proximity to the coast, and the moderating effects of the northeast trade winds off the Caribbean.", "Average temperatures in the coastal regions range from in January to in July.", "Temperatures are slightly higher inland, except for the southern highland plateaus, such as the Mountain Pine Ridge, where it is noticeably cooler year round.", "Overall, the seasons are marked more by differences in humidity and rainfall than in temperature.Average rainfall varies considerably, from in the north and west to over in the extreme south.", "Seasonal differences in rainfall are greatest in the northern and central regions of the country where, between January and April or May, less than of rainfall per month.", "The dry season is shorter in the south, normally only lasting from February to April.", "A shorter, less rainy period, known locally as the \"little dry\", usually occurs in late July or August, after the onset of the rainy season.Hurricanes have played key—and devastating—roles in Belizean history.", "In 1931, an unnamed hurricane destroyed over two-thirds of the buildings in Belize City and killed more than 1,000 people.", "In 1955, Hurricane Janet levelled the northern town of Corozal.", "Only six years later, Hurricane Hattie struck the central coastal area of the country, with winds in excess of and storm tides.", "The devastation of Belize City for the second time in thirty years prompted the relocation of the capital some inland to the planned city of Belmopan.In 1978, Hurricane Greta caused more than US$25 million in damage along the southern coast.", "In 2000, Hurricane Keith, the wettest tropical cyclone in the nation's record, stalled, and hit the nation as a Category 4 storm on 1 October, causing 19 deaths and at least $280 million in damage.", "Soon after, on 9 October 2001, Hurricane Iris made landfall at Monkey River Town as a Category 4 storm.", "The storm demolished most of the homes in the village, and destroyed the banana crop.", "In 2007, Hurricane Dean made landfall as a Category 5 storm only north of the Belize–Mexico border.", "Dean caused extensive damage in northern Belize.In 2010, Belize was directly affected by the Category 2 Hurricane Richard, which made landfall approximately south-southeast of Belize City at around 00:45 UTC on 25 October 2010.The storm moved inland towards Belmopan, causing estimated damage of BZ$33.8 million ($17.4 million 2010 USD), primarily from damage to crops and housing.", "The most recent hurricane to make landfall in Belize was Hurricane Lisa in 2022." ], [ "Economy", "A sugar cane processing plant, Orange Walk Town, Belize.", "Sugar is one of Belize's top exports.Belize has a small, mostly private enterprise economy that is based primarily on agriculture, agro-based industry, and merchandising, with tourism and construction recently assuming greater importance.", "The country is also a producer of industrial minerals, crude oil, and petroleum.", ", oil production was .", "In agriculture, sugar, like in colonial times, remains the chief crop, accounting for nearly half of exports, while the banana industry is the largest employer.", "In 2007 Belize became the world's third largest exporter of papaya.The government of Belize faces important challenges to economic stability.", "Rapid action to improve tax collection has been promised, but a lack of progress in reining in spending could bring the exchange rate under pressure.", "The tourist and construction sectors strengthened in early 1999, leading to a preliminary estimate of revived growth at four percent.", "Infrastructure remains a major economic development challenge; Belize has the region's most expensive electricity.", "Trade is important and the major trading partners are the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and CARICOM.Belize has four commercial bank groups, of which the largest and oldest is Belize Bank.", "The other three banks are Heritage Bank, Atlantic Bank, and Scotiabank (Belize).", "A robust complex of credit unions began in the 1940s under the leadership of Marion M. Ganey, S.J.Because of its location on the coast of Central America, Belize is a popular destination for vacationers and for many North American drug traffickers.", "The Belize currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar and banks in Belize offer non-residents the ability to establish accounts, so drug traffickers and money launderers are attracted to banks in Belize.", "As a result, the United States Department of State has recently named Belize one of the world's \"major money laundering countries\".===Industrial infrastructure=== upright=1.4The largest integrated electric utility and the principal distributor in Belize is Belize Electricity Limited.", "BEL was approximately 70% owned by Fortis Inc., a Canadian investor-owned distribution utility.", "Fortis took over the management of BEL in 1999, at the invitation of the government of Belize in an attempt to mitigate prior financial problems with the locally managed utility.", "In addition to its regulated investment in BEL, Fortis owns Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL), a non-regulated hydroelectric generation business that operates three hydroelectric generating facilities on the Macal River.On 14 June 2011, the government of Belize nationalized the ownership interest of Fortis Inc. in Belize Electricity Ltd.", "The utility encountered serious financial problems after the country's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in 2008 \"disallowed the recovery of previously incurred fuel and purchased power costs in customer rates and set customer rates at a level that does not allow BEL to earn a fair and reasonable return\", Fortis said in a June 2011 statement.", "BEL appealed this judgement to the Court of Appeal, with a hearing expected in 2012.In May 2011, the Supreme Court of Belize granted BEL's application to prevent the PUC from taking any enforcement actions pending the appeal.", "The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a statement saying the government had acted in haste and expressed concern over the message it sent to investors.In August 2009, the government of Belize nationalized Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), which now competes directly with Speednet.", "As a result of the nationalization process, the interconnection agreements are again subject to negotiations.", "Both BTL and Speednet sell basic telephone services, national and international calls, prepaid services, cellular services via GSM 1900 megahertz (MHz) and 4G LTE respectively, international cellular roaming, fixed wireless, fibre-to-the-home internet service, and national and international data networks.===Tourism===A combination of natural factors – climate, the Belize Barrier Reef, over 450 offshore Cays (islands), excellent fishing, safe waters for boating, scuba diving, snorkelling and freediving, numerous rivers for rafting, and kayaking, various jungle and wildlife reserves of fauna and flora, for hiking, birdwatching, and helicopter touring, as well as many Maya sites – support the thriving tourism and ecotourism industry.Development costs are high, but the government of Belize has made tourism its second development priority after agriculture.", "In 2012, tourist arrivals totalled 917,869 (with about 584,683 from the United States) and tourist receipts amounted to over $1.3 billion.After COVID-19 struck tourism, Belize became the first country in the Caribbean to allow vaccinated travelers to visit without a COVID-19 test." ], [ "Demographics", "Belize's population is estimated to be 441,471 in 2022.Belize's total fertility rate in 2021 was 2.010 children per woman.", "Its birth rate was 17.8 births/1,000 population (2022), and the death rate was 6.3 deaths/1,000 population (2022).", "A substantial ethnic-demographic shift has been occurring since 1980 when the Creole/Mestizo ratio shifted from 58/38 to currently 26/53, due to many Creoles moving to the US and a rising Mestizo birth rate and migration from El Salvador.=== Ethnic groups =======The Maya====The Maya are thought to have been in Belize and the Yucatán region since the second millennium BCE.", "Many died in conflicts or by catching disease from invading Europeans.", "Three Maya groups now inhabit the country: The Yucatec (who came from Yucatán, Mexico, to escape the savage Caste War of the 1840s), the Mopan (indigenous to Belize but were forced out to Guatemala by the British for raiding settlements; they returned to Belize to evade enslavement by the Guatemalans in the 19th century), and Q'eqchi' (also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the 19th century).", "The latter groups are chiefly found in the Toledo District.", "The Maya speak their native languages and Spanish, and are also often fluent in English and Belizean Creole.====Creoles====Belizean Creoles are primarily mixed-raced descendants of West and Central Africans who were brought to the British Honduras (present-day Belize along the Bay of Honduras) as well as the English and Scottish log cutters, known as the Baymen who trafficked them.", "Over the years they have also intermarried with Miskito from Nicaragua, Jamaicans and other Caribbean people, Mestizos, Europeans, Garifunas, Mayas, and Chinese and Indians.", "The latter were brought to Belize as indentured laborers.", "Majority of Creoles trace their ancestry to several of the aforementioned groups.For all intents and purposes, Creole is an ethnic and linguistic denomination.", "Some natives, even with blonde hair and blue eyes, may call themselves Creoles.Belize Creole or ''Kriol'' developed during the time of slavery, and historically was only spoken by former enslaved Africans.", "It became an integral part of the Belizean identity, and is now spoken by about 45% of Belizeans.", "Belizean Creole is derived mainly from English.", "Its substrate languages are the Native American language Miskito, and the various West African and Bantu languages, native languages of the enslaved Africans.", "Creoles are found all over Belize, but predominantly in urban areas such as Belize City, coastal towns and villages, and in the Belize River Valley.====Garinagu====Traditional Garifuna dancers in Dangriga, BelizeThe Garinagu (singular ''Garifuna''), at around 4.5% of the population, are a mix of West/Central African, Arawak, and Island Carib ancestry.", "Though they were captives removed from their homelands, these people were never documented as slaves.", "The two prevailing theories are that, in 1635, they were either the survivors of two recorded shipwrecks or somehow took over the ship they came on.Throughout history they have been incorrectly labelled as Black Caribs.", "When the British took over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, they were opposed by French settlers and their Garinagu allies.", "The Garinagu eventually surrendered to the British in 1796.The British separated the more African-looking Garifunas from the more indigenous-looking ones.", "5,000 Garinagu were exiled from the Grenadine island of Baliceaux.", "About 2,500 of them survived the voyage to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras.", "The Garifuna language belongs to the Arawakan language family, but has a large number of loanwords from Carib languages and from English.Because Roatán was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garinagu petitioned the Spanish authorities of Honduras to be allowed to settle on the mainland coast.", "The Spanish employed them as soldiers, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America.", "The Garinagu settled in Seine Bight, Punta Gorda and Punta Negra, Belize, by way of Honduras as early as 1802.In Belize, 19 November 1832 is the date officially recognized as \"Garifuna Settlement Day\" in Dangriga.According to one genetic study, their ancestry is on average 76% Sub Saharan African, 20% Arawak/Island Carib and 4% European.====Mestizos====The Mestizo are people of mixed Spanish and Yucatec Maya descent.", "They originally came to Belize in 1847, to escape the Caste War, which occurred when thousands of Mayas rose against the state in Yucatán and massacred over one-third of the population.", "The surviving others fled across the borders into British territory.", "The Mestizos are found everywhere in Belize but most make their homes in the northern districts of Corozal and Orange Walk.", "Some other Hispanics came from Latin and Central America like El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.", "The Mestizos along with Latin Americans are the largest ethnic group in Belize and make up approximately half of the population.", "The Mestizo towns centre on a main square, and social life focuses on the Hispanic and Catholic Church traditions and customs.", "Spanish is the main language of most Mestizos and Hispanic descendants, but many speak English and Belizean Creole fluently.", "Due to the influences of Belizean Creole and English, many Mestizos speak what is known as \"Kitchen Spanish\".", "The mixture of Yucatec Mestizo and Yucatec Maya foods like tamales, escabeche, chirmole, relleno, and empanadas came from their Mexican side and corn tortillas were handed down by their Mayan side.", "Music comes mainly from the marimba, but they also play and sing with the guitar.", "Dances performed at village fiestas include the Hog-Head, Zapateados, the Mestizada, Paso Doble and many more.====German-speaking Mennonites====Mennonite children selling peanuts near Lamanai in Belize.", "Over 12,000 Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites live in Belize, farming the land and living according to their religious beliefs.The majority of the Mennonite population comprises so-called Russian Mennonites of German descent who settled in the Russian Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries.", "Most Russian Mennonites live in Mennonite settlements like Spanish Lookout, Shipyard, Little Belize, and Blue Creek.", "These Mennonites speak Plautdietsch (a Low German dialect) in everyday life, but use mostly Standard German for reading (the Bible) and writing.", "The Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites came mostly from Mexico in the years after 1958 and they are trilingual with proficiency in Spanish.", "There are also some mainly Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking Old Order Mennonites who came from the United States and Canada in the late 1960s.", "They live primarily in Upper Barton Creek and associated settlements.", "These Mennonites attracted people from different Anabaptist backgrounds who formed a new community.", "They look quite similar to Old Order Amish, but are different from them.====Other groups====The remaining 5% or so of the population consist of a mix of Indians, Chinese, Whites from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, and many other foreign groups brought to assist the country's development.", "During the 1860s, a large influx of East Indians who spent brief periods in Jamaica and American Civil War veterans from Louisiana and other Southern states established Confederate settlements in British Honduras and introduced commercial sugar cane production to the colony, establishing 11 settlements in the interior.", "The 20th century saw the arrival of more Asian settlers from Mainland China, India, Syria and Lebanon.", "Said Musa, the son of an immigrant from Palestine, was the Prime Minister of Belize from 1998 to 2008.Central American immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and expatriate Americans and Africans also began to settle in the country.", "6,000 Mexicans live in Belize.====Emigration, immigration, and demographic shifts====Creoles and other ethnic groups are emigrating mostly to the United States, but also to the United Kingdom and other developed nations for better opportunities.", "Based on the latest US Census, the number of Belizeans in the United States is approximately 160,000 (including 70,000 legal residents and naturalized citizens), consisting mainly of Creoles and Garinagu.Because of conflicts in neighbouring Central American nations, Hispanics or Latin American refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have fled to Belize in significant numbers during the 1980s, and have been significantly adding to Belize's Hispanic population.", "These two events have been changing the demographics of the nation for the last 30 years.===Languages===English is the official language of Belize.", "This stems from the country being a former British colony.", "Belize is the only country in Central America with English as the official language.", "Also, English is the primary language of public education, government and most media outlets.", "Although English is widely used, Belizean Creole is spoken in all situations whether informal, formal, social or interethnic dialogue, even in meetings of the House of Representatives.When a creole language exists alongside its lexifier language, as is the case in Belize, a continuum forms between the creole and the lexifier language.", "It is therefore difficult to substantiate or differentiate the number of Belize Creole speakers compared to English speakers.", "Creole might best be described as the lingua franca of the nation.Approximately 52.9% of Belizeans self-identify as Mestizo, Latino, or Hispanic.", "When Belize was a British colony, Spanish was banned in schools, but today it is widely spoken.", "\"Kitchen Spanish\" is an intermediate form of Spanish mixed with Belize Creole, spoken in the northern towns such as Corozal and San Pedro.Over half the population is multilingual.", "Being a small, multiethnic state, surrounded by Spanish-speaking nations, the economic and social benefits from multilingualism are high.Belize is also home to three Mayan languages: Q'eqchi', Mopan (an endangered language), and Yucatec Maya.Approximately 16,100 people speak the Arawakan-based Garifuna language, and 6,900 Mennonites in Belize speak mainly Plautdietsch while a minority of Mennonites speak Pennsylvania Dutch.===Largest cities======Religion===According to the 2010 census, 40.1% of Belizeans are Roman Catholics, 31.8% are Protestants (8.4% Pentecostal; 5.4% Adventist; 4.7% Anglican; 3.7% Mennonite; 3.6% Baptist; 2.9% Methodist; 2.8% Nazarene), 1.7% are Jehovah's Witnesses, 10.3% adhere to other religions (Maya religion, Garifuna religion, Obeah and Myalism, and minorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Baháʼís, Rastafarians and other) and 15.5% profess to be irreligious.Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish, Belize CityAccording to PROLADES, Belize was 64.6% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Protestant, 7.6% Other in 1971.Until the late 1990s, Belize was a Roman Catholic majority country.", "Catholics formed 57% of the population in 1991, and dropped to 49% in 2000.The percentage of Roman Catholics in the population has been decreasing in the past few decades due to the growth of Protestant churches, other religions and non-religious people.In addition to Catholics, there has always been a large accompanying Protestant minority.", "It was brought by British, German, and other settlers to the British colony of British Honduras.", "From the beginning, it was largely Anglican and Mennonite in nature.", "The Protestant community in Belize experienced a large Pentecostal and Seventh-Day Adventist influx tied to the recent spread of various Evangelical Protestant denominations throughout Latin America.", "Geographically speaking, German Mennonites live mostly in the rural districts of Cayo and Orange Walk.The Greek Orthodox Church has a presence in Santa Elena.The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates there were 7,776 Baháʼís in Belize in 2005, or 2.5% of the national population.", "Their estimates suggest this is the highest proportion of Baháʼís in any country.", "Their data also states that the Baháʼí Faith is the second most common religion in Belize, following Christianity.", "Hinduism is followed by most Indian immigrants.", "Sikhs were the first Indian immigrants to Belize (not counting indentured workers), and the former Chief Justice of Belize George Singh was the son of a Sikh immigrant, there was also a Sikh cabinet minister.", "Muslims claim that there have been Muslims in Belize since the 16th century having been brought over from Africa as slaves, but there are no sources for that claim.", "The Muslim population of today started in the 1980s.", "Muslims numbered 243 in 2000 and 577 in 2010 according to the official statistics.", "and comprise 0.16 percent of the population.", "A mosque is at the Islamic Mission of Belize (IMB), also known as the Muslim Community of Belize.", "Another mosque, Masjid Al-Falah, officially opened in 2008 in Belize City.=== Health ===Belize has a high prevalence of communicable diseases such as respiratory diseases and intestinal illnesses.===Education===A number of kindergartens, secondary, and tertiary schools in Belize provide education for students—mostly funded by the government.", "Belize has about a dozen tertiary level institutions, the most prominent of which is the University of Belize, which evolved out of the University College of Belize founded in 1986.Before that St. John's College, founded in 1877, dominated the tertiary education field.", "The Open Campus of the University of the West Indies has a site in Belize.", "It also has campuses in Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica.", "The government of Belize contributes financially to the UWI.Education in Belize is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14 years.", ", the literacy rate in Belize was estimated at 79.7%, one of the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.The educational policy is currently following the \"Education Sector Strategy 2011–2016\", which sets three objectives for the years to come: Improving access, quality, and governance of the education system by providing technical and vocational education and training.===Crime===Belize has moderate rates of violent crime.", "The majority of violence in Belize stems from gang activity, which includes trafficking of drugs and persons, protecting drug smuggling routes, and securing territory for drug dealing.In 2019, 102 murders were recorded in Belize, giving the country a homicide rate of 24 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, lower than the neighbouring countries of Mexico and Honduras, but higher than Guatemala and El Salvador.", "Belize District (containing Belize City) had the most murders by far compared to all the other districts.", "In 2019, 58% of the murders occurred in the Belize District.", "The violence in Belize City (especially the southern part of the city) is largely due to gang warfare.In 2015, there were 40 reported cases of rape, 214 robberies, 742 burglaries, and 1027 cases of theft.The Belize Police Department has implemented many protective measures in hopes of decreasing the high number of crimes.", "These measures include adding more patrols to \"hot spots\" in Belize City, obtaining more resources to deal with the predicament, creating the \"Do the Right Thing for Youths at Risk\" program, creating the Crime Information Hotline, creating the Yabra Citizen Development Committee, an organization that helps youth, and other initiatives.", "In 2011, the government established a truce among many major gangs, lowering the murder rate.=== Social structure ===Belize's social structure is marked by enduring differences in the distribution of wealth, power, and prestige.", "Because of the small size of Belize's population and the intimate scale of social relations, the social distance between the rich and the poor, while significant, is nowhere as vast as in other Caribbean and Central American societies, such as Jamaica and El Salvador.", "Belize lacks the violent class and racial conflict that has figured so prominently in the social life of its Central American neighbours.Political and economic power remain vested in the hands of the local elite.", "The sizeable middle group is composed of peoples of different ethnic backgrounds.", "This middle group does not constitute a unified social class, but rather a number of middle-class and working-class groups, loosely oriented around shared dispositions toward education, cultural respectability, and possibilities for upward social mobility.", "These beliefs, and the social practices they engender, help distinguish the middle group from the grass roots majority of the Belizean people.===Women===In 2021, the World Economic Forum ranked Belize 90th out of 156 countries in its Global Gender Gap Report.", "Of all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Belize ranked fourth from last.", "It ranked higher in the categories of \"economic participation and opportunity\" and \"health and survival\", but very low in \"political empowerment\".", "In 2019, the UN gave Belize a Gender Inequality Index score of 0.415, ranking it 97th out of 162 countries., 49.9% of women in Belize participate in the workforce, compared to 80.6% of men.", "11.1% of the seats in Belize's National Assembly are filled by women." ], [ "Culture", "In Belizean folklore, there are the legends of Lang Bobi Suzi, La Llorona, La Sucia, Tata Duende, Anansi, Xtabay, Sisimite and the cadejo.Most of the public holidays in Belize are traditional Commonwealth and Christian holidays, although some are specific to Belizean culture such as Garifuna Settlement Day and Heroes and Benefactors' Day, formerly Baron Bliss Day.", "In addition, the month of September is considered a special time of national celebration called September Celebrations with a whole month of activities on a special events calendar.", "Besides Independence Day and St. George's Caye Day, Belizeans also celebrate Carnival during September, which typically includes several events spread across multiple days, with the main event being the Carnival Road March, usually held the Saturday before 10 September.", "In some areas of Belize, it is celebrated at the traditional time before Lent (in February).===Cuisine===Rice and beans (with coconut milk), stewed chicken and potato salad.", "An inter-ethnic staple meal.Belizean cuisine is an amalgamation of all ethnicities in the nation, and their respectively wide variety of foods.", "It might best be described as both similar to Mexican/Central American cuisine and Jamaican/Anglo-Caribbean cuisine but very different from these areas as well, with Belizean touches and innovation which have been handed down by generations.", "All immigrant communities add to the diversity of Belizean food, including the Indian and Chinese communities.The Belizean diet can be both very modern and traditional.", "There are no rules.", "Breakfast typically consists of bread, flour tortillas, or fry jacks (deep fried dough pieces) that are often homemade.", "Fry jacks are eaten with various cheeses, \"fry\" beans, various forms of eggs or cereal, along with powdered milk, coffee, or tea.", "Tacos made from corn or flour tortillas and meat pies can also be consumed for a hearty breakfast from a street vendor.", "Midday meals are the main meals for Belizeans, usually called \"dinner\".", "They vary, from foods such as rice and beans with or without coconut milk, tamales, \"panades\" (fried maize shells with beans or fish), meat pies, escabeche (onion soup), chimole (soup), caldo, stewed chicken, and garnaches (fried tortillas with beans, cheese, and sauce) to various constituted dinners featuring some type of rice and beans, meat and salad, or coleslaw.", "Fried \"fry\" chicken is another common course.In rural areas, meals are typically simpler than in cities.", "The Maya use maize, beans, or squash for most meals, and the Garifuna are fond of seafood, cassava (particularly made into cassava bread or ereba), and vegetables.", "The nation abounds with restaurants and fast food establishments that are fairly affordable.", "Local fruits are quite common, but raw vegetables from the markets less so.", "Mealtime is a communion for families and schools and some businesses close at midday for lunch, reopening later in the afternoon.===Media====== Music ===In recent years, Latin music, including reggaeton and banda, has experienced a surge in popularity in Belize, alongside the traditional genres of punta and brukdown.", "This growing trend reflects the influence of neighboring Latin American countries and the cultural connections that exist within the region.", "The rise in popularity of Latin music in Belize demonstrates the vibrant and diverse musical landscape of the country, showcasing the ability of music to transcend borders and bring people together.Punta is distinctly Caribbean, and is sometimes said to be ready for international popularization like similarly descended styles (reggae, calypso, merengue).Brukdown is a modern style of Belizean music related to calypso.", "It evolved out of the music and dance of loggers, especially a form called buru.", "Reggae, dance hall, and soca imported from Trinidad, Jamaica, and the rest of the West Indies, rap, hip-hop, heavy metal, and rock music from the United States, are also popular among the youth of Belize.===Sports===Accomplished Belizean cyclist Shalini ZabanehThe major sports in Belize are football, basketball, volleyball and cycling, with smaller followings of boat racing, athletics, softball, cricket and rugby.", "Fishing is also popular in coastal areas of Belize.The Cross Country Cycling Classic, also known as the \"cross country\" race or the Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic, is considered one of the most important Belize sports events.", "This one-day sports event is meant for amateur cyclists but has also gained worldwide popularity.", "The history of Cross Country Cycling Classic in Belize dates back to the period when Monrad Metzgen picked up the idea from a small village on the Northern Highway (now Phillip Goldson Highway).", "The people from this village used to cover long distances on their bicycles to attend the weekly game of cricket.", "He improvised on this observation by creating a sporting event on the difficult terrain of the Western Highway, which was then poorly built.Another major annual sporting event in Belize is the La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge, a 4-day canoe marathon held each year in March.", "The race runs from San Ignacio to Belize City, a distance of .On Easter day, citizens of Dangriga participate in a yearly fishing tournament.", "First, second, and third prize are awarded based on a scoring combination of size, species, and number.", "The tournament is broadcast over local radio stations, and prize money is awarded to the winners.The Belize national basketball team is the only national team that has achieved major victories internationally.", "The team won the 1998 CARICOM Men's Basketball Championship, held at the Civic Centre in Belize City, and subsequently participated in the 1999 Centrobasquet Tournament in Havana.", "The national team finished seventh of eight teams after winning only 1 game despite playing close all the way.", "In a return engagement at the 2000 CARICOM championship in Barbados, Belize placed fourth.", "Shortly thereafter, Belize moved to the Central American region and won the Central American Games championship in 2001.The team has failed to duplicate this success, most recently finishing with a 2–4 record in the 2006 COCABA championship.", "The team finished second in the 2009 COCABA tournament in Cancun, Mexico where it went 3–0 in group play.", "Belize won its opening match in the Centrobasquet Tournament, 2010, defeating Trinidad and Tobago, but lost badly to Mexico in a rematch of the COCABA final.", "A tough win over Cuba set Belize in position to advance, but they fell to Puerto Rico in their final match and failed to qualify.Simone Biles, the winner of four gold medals in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics is a dual citizen of the United States and of Belize, which she considers her second home.", "Biles is of Belizean-American descent.===National symbols===A black orchid flower (''Prosthechea cochleata)''The national flower of Belize is the black orchid (''Prosthechea cochleata'', also known as ''Encyclia cochleata'').", "The national tree is the mahogany tree (''Swietenia macrophylla''), which inspired the national motto ''Sub Umbra Floreo'', which means \"Under the shade I flourish\".", "The national ground-dwelling animal is the Baird's tapir and the national bird is the keel-billed toucan (''Ramphastos sulphuratus'')." ], [ "See also", "* Index of Belize-related articles* Outline of Belize" ], [ "Explanatory notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* – Government of Belize.", ".", "* Official webpage of Queen Elizabeth II (as former Queen of Belize)* * Profile at U.S. Department of State* Belize National Emergency Management Organization – Official governmental site* Belize Wildlife Conservation Network – Belize Wildlife Conservation Network (archived 4 February 2013)* CATHALAC – Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (archived 5 February 2012)* LANIC Belize page* Belize.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Belize at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' (archived 11 May 2013)* * Belize from the BBC News* Key Development Forecasts for Belize from International Futures* Hydromet.gov.bz – Official website of the Belize National Meteorological Service* Bileez Kriol Wiki – A wiki in Belizean Creole about Belize" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Benin" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Benin''' ( , ; , , ), officially the '''Republic of Benin''' (), and formerly '''Dahomey''', is a country in West Africa.", "It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east.", "The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean.", "The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital.", "Benin covers an area of and its population in was estimated to be approximately million.", "It is a small, tropical country.", "It is one of the least developed, with an economy significantly dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton.", "Some employment and income arise from subsistence farming.From the 17th to the 19th century, political entities in the area included the Kingdom of Dahomey, the city-state of Porto-Novo, and other states to the north.", "This region was referred to as the Slave Coast from the early 17th century due to the high number of people who were sold and trafficked during the Atlantic slave trade to the New World.", "France took over the territory in 1894, incorporating it into French West Africa as French Dahomey.", "In 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France.", "As a sovereign state, Benin has had democratic governments, military coups, and military governments.", "A self-described Marxist–Leninist state called the People's Republic of Benin existed between 1975 and 1990.In 1991, it was replaced by the multi-party Republic of Benin.The official language of Benin is French, with indigenous languages such as Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi also spoken.", "The largest religious group in Benin is Christianity (52.2%), followed by Islam (24.6%) and traditional faiths (17.9%).", "Benin is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Francophonie, the Community of Sahel–Saharan States, the African Petroleum Producers Association and the Niger Basin Authority." ], [ "Etymology", "During French colonial rule and after independence on 1 August 1960, the country was named Dahomey, after the Kingdom of Dahomey.", "On 30 November 1975, the country was renamed Benin following a Marxist-Leninist military coup.", "The Bight of Benin borders the country, and the bight takes its name from the Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Nigeria." ], [ "History", "===Pre-colonial===Map of the Kingdom of Dahomey, 1793.Prior to 1600, present-day Benin comprised a variety of areas with different political systems and ethnicities.", "These included city-states along the coast (primarily of the Aja ethnic group, and also including Yoruba and Gbe peoples) and tribal regions inland (composed of Bariba, Mahi, Gedevi, and Kabye peoples).", "The Oyo Empire, located primarily to the east of Benin, was a military force in the region, conducting raids and exacting tribute from the coastal kingdoms and tribal regions.", "The situation changed in the 17th and 18th centuries as the Kingdom of Dahomey, consisting mostly of Fon people, was founded on the Abomey plateau and began taking over areas along the coast.", "By 1727, King Agaja of the Kingdom of Dahomey had conquered the coastal cities of Allada and Whydah.", "Dahomey had become a tributary of the Oyo Empire, and rivaled but did not directly attack the Oyo-allied city-state of Porto-Novo.", "The rise of Dahomey, its rivalry with Porto-Novo, and tribal politics in the northern region persisted into the colonial and post-colonial periods.In the Dahomey, some younger people were apprenticed to older soldiers and taught the kingdom's military customs until they were old enough to join the army.", "Dahomey instituted an elite female soldier corps variously called Ahosi (the king's wives), Mino (\"our mothers\" in Fongbe), or the \"Dahomean Amazons\".", "This emphasis on military preparation and achievement earned Dahomey the nickname of \"Black Sparta\", from European observers and 19th-century explorers such as Sir Richard Burton.The Portuguese Empire was the longest European presence in Benin, beginning in 1680 and ending in 1961 when the last forces left Ajudá.The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery or killed them ritually in a ceremony known as the Annual Customs.", "By about 1750, the King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling African captives to European slave-traders.", "The area was named the \"Slave Coast\" because of a flourishing slave trade.", "Court protocols which demanded that a portion of war captives from the kingdom's battles be decapitated, decreased the number of enslaved people exported from the area.", "The number went from 102,000 people per decade in the 1780s to 24,000 per decade by the 1860s.", "The decline was partly due to the Slave Trade Act 1807 banning the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Britain in 1808, followed by other countries.", "This decline continued until 1885 when the last slave ship departed the modern Benin Republic for Brazil, which had yet to abolish slavery.", "The capital Porto-Novo (\"New Port\" in Portuguese) was originally developed as a port for the slave trade.Dahomey Amazons with the King at their head, going to war, 1793.Among the goods the Portuguese sought were carved items of ivory made by Benin's artisans in the form of carved saltcellars, spoons, and hunting horns - pieces of African art produced for sale abroad as exotic objects.===Colonial===A French depiction of the conquest of Dahomey in 1893By the middle of the 19th century, Dahomey had \"begun to weaken and lose its status as the regional power\".", "The French took over the area in 1892.In 1899, the French included the land called French Dahomey within the larger French West Africa colonial region.France sought to benefit from Dahomey and the region \"appeared to lack the necessary agricultural or mineral resources for large-scale capitalist development\".", "As a result, France treated Dahomey as a sort of preserve in case future discoveries revealed resources worth developing.The French government outlawed the capture and sale of slaves.", "Previous slaveowners sought to redefine their control over slaves as control over land, tenants, and lineage members.", "This provoked a struggle among Dahomeans, \"concentrated in the period from 1895 to 1920, for the redistribution of control over land and labor.", "Villages sought to redefine boundaries of lands and fishing preserves.", "Religious disputes scarcely veiled the factional struggles over control of land and commerce which underlay them.", "Factions struggled for the leadership of great families\".In 1958, France granted autonomy to the Republic of Dahomey, and full independence on 1 August 1960 which is celebrated each year as Independence Day, a national holiday.", "The president who led the country to independence was Hubert Maga.===Post-colonial===After 1960, there were coups and regime changes, with the figures of Hubert Maga, Sourou Apithy, Justin Ahomadégbé, and Émile Derlin Zinsou dominating; the first 3 each represented a different area and ethnicity of the country.", "These 3 agreed to form a Presidential Council after violence marred the 1970 elections.On 7 May 1972, Maga ceded power to Ahomadégbé.", "On 26 October 1972, Lt. Col. Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the ruling triumvirate, becoming president and stating that the country would not \"burden itself by copying foreign ideology, and wants neither Capitalism, Communism, nor Socialism\".", "On 30 November 1974, he announced that the country was officially Marxist, under control of the Military Council of the Revolution (CMR), which nationalized the petroleum industry and banks.", "On 30 November 1975, he renamed the country the People's Republic of Benin.", "The regime of the People's Republic of Benin underwent changes over the course of its existence: a nationalist period (1972–1974); a socialist phase (1974–1982); and a phase involving an opening to Western countries and economic liberalism (1982–1990).In 1974, under the influence of young revolutionaries – the \"Ligmangers\" - the government embarked on a socialist program: nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy, reform of the education system, establishment of agricultural cooperatives and new local government structures, and a campaign to eradicate \"feudal forces\" including tribalism.", "The regime banned opposition activities.", "Mathieu Kérékou was elected president by the National Revolutionary Assembly in 1980, re-elected in 1984.Establishing relations with China, North Korea, and Libya, he put \"nearly all\" businesses and economic activities under state control, causing foreign investment in Benin to dry up.", "Kérékou attempted to reorganize education, pushing his own aphorisms such as \"Poverty is not a fatality\".", "The regime financed itself by contracting to take nuclear waste, first from the Soviet Union and later from France.In the 1980s, Benin experienced higher economic growth rates (15.6% in 1982, 4.6% in 1983 and 8.2% in 1984), until the closure of the Nigerian border with Benin led to a drop in customs and tax revenues.", "The government was no longer able to pay civil servants' salaries.", "In 1989, riots broke out when the regime did not have enough money to pay its army.", "The banking system collapsed.", "Eventually, Kérékou renounced Marxism, and a convention forced Kérékou to release political prisoners and arrange elections.", "Marxism–Leninism was abolished as the country's form of government.The country's name was officially changed to the'' Republic of Benin'' on 1 March 1990, after the newly formed government's constitution was completed.Yayi Boni's 2006 presidential inaugurationKérékou lost to Nicéphore Soglo in a 1991 election and became the first President on the African mainland to lose power through an election.", "Kérékou returned to power after winning the 1996 vote.", "In 2001, an election resulted in Kérékou winning another term, after which his opponents claimed election irregularities.", "In 1999, Kérékou issued a national apology for the substantial role that Africans had played in the Atlantic slave trade.Kérékou and former president Soglo did not run in the 2006 elections, as both were barred by the constitution's restrictions on age and total terms of candidates.", "On 5 March 2006, an election resulted in a runoff between Yayi Boni and Adrien Houngbédji.", "The runoff election was held on 19 March and was won by Boni, who assumed office on 6 April.", "Boni was reelected in 2011, taking 53.18% of the vote in the first round—enough to avoid a runoff election.", "He was the first president to win an election without a runoff since the restoration of democracy in 1991.In the March 2016 presidential elections in which Boni Yayi was barred by the constitution from running for a third term, businessman Patrice Talon won the second round with 65.37% of the vote, defeating investment banker and former Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou.", "Talon was sworn in on 6 April 2016.Speaking on the same day that the Constitutional Court confirmed the results, Talon said that he would \"first and foremost tackle constitutional reform\", discussing his plan to limit presidents to a single term of 5 years in order to combat \"complacency\".", "He said that he planned to slash the size of the government from 28 to 16 members.", "In April 2021, President Patrice Talon was re-elected, with more than 86.3% of the votes cast, in Benin's presidential election.", "The change in election laws resulted in total control of parliament by president Talon's supporters.In February 2022, Benin saw its largest terrorist attack in history.On 20 February 2022, President Patrice Talon inaugurated an exhibition with 26 pieces of sacred art returned to Benin by France, 129 years after they were looted by colonial forces." ], [ "Politics", "Its politics take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic in which the President of Benin is both head of state and head of government, within a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "Legislative power is vested in the government and the legislature.", "The judiciary is officially independent of the executive and the legislature, while in practice its independence has been gradually hollowed out by Talon, and the Constitutional Court is headed by his former personal lawyer.", "The political system is derived from the 1990 Constitution of Benin and the subsequent transition to democracy in 1991.It was ranked 18th out of 52 African countries and scored best in the categories of Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights.", "In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Benin 53rd out of 169 countries.", "That place had fallen to 78th by 2016, when Talon took office, and has fallen further to 113th.", "Benin has been rated equal-88th out of 159 countries in a 2005 analysis of police, business, and political corruption.Its democratic system \"has eroded\" since President Talon took office.", "In 2018 his government introduced new rules for fielding candidates and raised the cost of registering.", "The electoral commission, packed with Talon's allies, barred all opposition parties from the parliamentary election in 2019, resulting in a parliament made up entirely of supporters of Talon.", "That parliament subsequently changed election laws such that presidential candidates need to have the approval of at least 10% of Benin's MPs and mayors.", "As parliament and most mayors' offices are controlled by Talon, he has control over who can run for president.", "These changes have drawn condemnation from international observers and led to the United States government partially terminating development assistance to the country." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "File:Benin departments named.png\|thumb\|right\|Departments of Benin.poly 452.13 201.00 432.37 175.00 432.37 175.00 429.41 171.04 424.48 166.29 425.49 161.00 425.49 161.00 430.99 145.17 430.99 145.17 430.99 145.17 434.73 139.91 434.73 139.91 434.73 139.91 437.47 133.00 437.47 133.00 438.73 130.04 441.97 126.19 440.84 123.09 440.84 123.09 437.00 117.84 437.00 117.84 437.00 117.84 435.46 114.25 435.46 114.25 435.46 114.25 427.78 103.48 427.78 103.48 423.94 99.85 421.52 100.59 418.00 99.08 418.00 99.08 412.00 95.94 412.00 95.94 407.56 94.53 403.87 97.80 399.21 93.69 393.54 88.68 389.49 74.63 388.41 73.22 386.74 71.06 384.29 70.27 382.33 68.51 382.33 68.51 376.63 61.45 376.63 61.45 376.63 61.45 367.91 53.63 367.91 53.63 367.91 53.63 361.27 49.37 361.27 49.37 358.02 46.48 356.56 40.31 353.39 37.60 350.60 35.21 347.18 36.57 343.28 33.20 338.92 29.44 339.95 23.09 331.00 19.63 323.94 16.91 317.88 24.78 310.00 24.00 310.00 24.00 305.70 33.03 305.70 33.03 305.70 33.03 294.00 34.21 294.00 34.21 294.00 34.21 286.00 36.09 286.00 36.09 286.00 36.09 281.00 36.67 281.00 36.67 281.00 36.67 274.00 39.28 274.00 39.28 274.00 39.28 261.00 42.00 261.00 42.00 264.45 68.19 264.13 56.05 268.00 73.00 275.10 74.53 277.32 79.66 270.00 82.00 268.11 85.35 267.76 85.37 264.00 86.00 264.82 97.35 264.58 93.94 261.00 104.00 259.83 107.27 259.88 108.74 257.86 112.00 257.86 112.00 251.03 121.00 251.03 121.00 248.70 125.78 252.41 127.54 246.93 131.96 232.52 143.59 230.29 142.17 216.58 158.00 214.22 160.72 209.02 165.50 208.65 169.00 208.26 172.72 216.24 185.20 218.42 189.00 218.42 189.00 235.30 219.00 235.30 219.00 240.56 228.57 243.98 230.73 244.00 242.00 244.00 242.00 244.00 291.00 244.00 291.00 244.00 292.99 243.77 296.81 245.02 298.40 246.38 300.12 260.71 301.03 263.00 300.38 266.22 299.47 267.09 297.41 272.00 297.06 280.71 296.45 282.90 301.51 287.17 303.70 289.24 304.76 293.61 305.42 296.00 305.53 298.65 306.04 301.42 306.13 304.00 305.53 308.54 303.99 312.26 300.21 316.00 298.52 319.81 296.63 330.39 296.04 333.86 298.52 335.71 299.95 336.06 301.09 337.00 303.00 337.00 303.00 355.00 303.00 355.00 303.00 355.00 303.00 373.00 301.00 373.00 301.00 373.00 301.00 404.00 292.44 404.00 292.44 404.00 292.44 431.00 290.00 431.00 290.00 431.00 290.00 445.00 288.21 445.00 288.21 445.00 288.21 460.00 288.82 460.00 288.82 460.00 288.82 474.00 284.78 474.00 284.78 474.00 284.78 483.00 283.00 483.00 283.00 482.50 274.60 480.55 277.64 476.39 273.57 474.00 271.25 473.50 268.53 471.93 266.37 470.45 264.35 468.05 263.00 467.11 260.90 465.21 256.64 470.40 249.79 470.70 245.00 470.84 242.80 468.02 232.09 467.01 230.00 465.75 227.38 464.06 226.13 463.31 223.00 462.41 219.20 463.69 215.50 465.00 212.00 458.09 210.88 456.07 206.26 452.13 201.00 Aliboripoly 37.46 246.00 37.46 252.00 37.46 252.00 37.46 252.00 35.31 258.00 35.31 258.00 35.31 258.00 34.40 265.00 34.40 265.00 32.65 269.76 26.21 273.58 24.01 278.00 22.52 281.03 24.08 291.52 24.01 296.00 23.82 305.84 20.15 302.44 20.00 313.00 20.00 313.00 20.00 323.00 20.00 323.00 20.00 325.41 19.78 328.58 21.02 330.70 22.40 333.07 26.70 335.76 29.00 337.42 29.00 337.42 45.00 349.37 45.00 349.37 45.00 349.37 82.00 373.20 82.00 373.20 82.00 373.20 107.00 388.27 107.00 388.27 111.81 390.32 114.39 389.60 118.00 390.63 130.19 394.14 122.76 395.20 140.00 395.00 145.96 394.93 151.03 393.89 156.00 390.36 160.95 386.85 170.76 377.10 176.00 375.13 180.62 373.39 183.60 376.89 194.00 376.76 194.00 376.76 214.00 376.76 214.00 376.76 219.13 375.48 220.35 373.34 230.00 371.40 233.97 370.60 241.83 370.30 243.98 366.77 245.17 364.82 245.08 361.23 244.82 359.00 244.34 354.97 239.47 338.13 237.30 335.17 234.48 331.32 229.02 329.01 229.16 323.00 229.33 316.13 237.71 311.47 240.40 307.72 242.31 305.05 241.99 302.12 241.84 299.00 241.84 299.00 241.84 241.00 241.84 241.00 242.00 238.76 242.09 236.16 241.83 234.00 240.65 230.85 237.02 225.12 235.30 222.00 235.30 222.00 222.42 199.00 222.42 199.00 222.42 199.00 211.72 180.00 211.72 180.00 210.41 177.70 207.70 172.35 205.61 171.02 203.63 169.77 200.33 170.06 198.00 169.83 198.00 169.83 179.00 168.01 179.00 168.01 172.75 168.17 171.85 169.55 167.00 170.24 167.00 170.24 159.00 170.24 159.00 170.24 154.87 170.68 148.54 174.29 145.00 173.97 140.61 173.58 139.06 169.50 137.20 167.84 135.56 166.35 130.21 164.35 128.00 163.80 124.03 162.80 116.29 163.66 113.75 167.22 112.30 169.25 112.92 171.08 110.65 173.37 108.55 175.49 104.72 176.40 103.92 180.04 103.92 180.04 105.00 189.00 105.00 189.00 105.00 189.00 95.00 188.00 95.00 188.00 95.20 190.02 95.78 192.77 94.31 194.45 91.55 197.61 77.91 193.83 74.00 193.00 74.12 200.87 77.74 199.74 75.00 211.00 69.72 208.52 68.74 210.16 64.00 213.00 66.47 221.45 72.00 221.45 70.00 232.00 70.00 232.00 63.00 228.56 63.00 228.56 63.00 228.56 57.00 226.73 57.00 226.73 57.00 226.73 49.00 223.00 49.00 223.00 46.19 229.10 45.52 230.06 49.00 236.00 49.00 236.00 40.00 237.00 40.00 237.00 40.00 237.00 37.46 246.00 37.46 246.00 Atakorapoly 457.00 290.83 444.00 290.06 444.00 290.06 444.00 290.06 435.00 291.86 435.00 291.86 435.00 291.86 425.00 291.21 425.00 291.21 425.00 291.21 410.00 293.79 410.00 293.79 410.00 293.79 402.00 294.46 402.00 294.46 390.01 296.62 381.24 303.72 369.00 302.73 362.03 302.17 363.46 303.89 358.00 304.89 358.00 304.89 344.00 304.89 344.00 304.89 338.12 304.96 336.10 304.95 334.00 299.00 330.07 299.00 319.10 298.57 316.00 299.74 311.61 301.39 307.49 307.15 301.00 307.70 297.78 307.97 288.94 306.59 286.17 304.93 282.96 303.00 281.61 300.23 277.00 299.28 267.48 297.31 266.77 302.05 261.99 302.66 261.99 302.66 244.00 302.00 244.00 302.00 243.08 313.35 229.57 314.00 231.24 325.00 232.04 330.24 236.64 331.99 239.44 336.01 241.19 338.53 242.02 342.05 242.86 345.00 244.32 350.15 247.94 360.01 246.57 364.98 244.30 373.20 230.96 372.34 224.00 374.25 215.51 376.59 216.42 381.17 221.00 387.00 215.50 390.69 219.79 394.05 219.41 399.00 219.07 403.42 213.76 408.39 216.95 418.00 221.36 431.25 229.17 432.89 228.89 442.00 228.89 442.00 225.42 471.00 225.42 471.00 224.95 474.53 225.04 479.91 223.07 482.85 220.31 486.96 210.88 486.90 206.10 489.56 200.51 492.67 199.71 502.20 200.09 508.00 200.34 511.83 201.45 517.74 203.85 520.78 206.80 524.50 211.02 524.42 212.39 530.00 213.73 535.43 206.59 553.24 211.74 560.95 217.97 570.28 236.41 563.79 236.00 577.00 236.00 577.00 310.00 577.00 310.00 577.00 312.73 576.99 316.25 577.33 318.43 575.40 320.92 573.20 320.80 569.99 321.32 567.00 322.73 558.85 321.71 561.34 322.24 556.00 322.24 556.00 323.91 547.00 323.91 547.00 324.35 540.98 322.25 532.46 331.00 531.69 332.81 531.53 334.28 532.10 336.00 532.28 341.27 532.85 343.12 529.82 349.00 529.06 353.86 528.43 354.56 530.23 358.00 530.54 361.32 530.83 370.70 528.20 372.73 525.49 374.30 523.40 376.92 513.91 377.58 511.00 377.58 511.00 381.66 497.83 381.66 497.83 381.66 497.83 380.98 486.00 380.98 486.00 380.68 476.61 375.81 477.30 379.29 470.00 383.12 461.98 385.40 466.33 391.98 456.00 396.68 448.63 393.76 447.02 397.31 443.39 401.48 439.14 406.55 441.71 408.94 436.93 410.67 433.46 407.81 429.38 406.94 426.00 405.90 421.94 407.23 418.17 410.22 415.27 412.84 412.73 424.28 408.25 428.00 407.56 433.00 406.65 435.16 409.44 439.24 404.85 441.02 402.86 448.74 392.17 449.44 390.00 452.26 381.29 445.08 373.83 458.00 370.00 458.00 366.84 458.47 359.88 456.98 357.32 455.80 355.29 446.60 348.06 445.26 343.00 444.26 339.23 447.43 333.31 449.10 330.00 452.77 322.74 449.55 322.09 458.00 317.29 459.54 316.42 461.17 315.40 463.00 315.34 465.90 315.25 472.14 319.47 475.00 321.00 475.00 321.00 477.68 312.00 477.68 312.00 477.68 312.00 478.63 305.00 478.63 305.00 478.63 305.00 483.05 295.00 483.05 295.00 483.05 295.00 483.05 285.00 483.05 285.00 483.05 285.00 457.00 290.83 457.00 290.83 Borgoupoly 204.00 378.09 198.00 378.82 198.00 378.82 195.22 379.01 189.99 378.26 187.00 377.91 183.64 377.52 180.15 375.88 177.00 376.43 168.76 377.87 159.89 391.57 150.00 395.14 145.58 396.38 131.55 396.56 127.00 395.14 119.22 393.40 119.53 391.49 109.00 391.00 109.00 391.00 109.00 409.00 109.00 409.00 109.00 409.00 110.00 424.00 110.00 424.00 110.00 424.00 110.00 444.00 110.00 444.00 109.87 453.63 106.71 453.36 105.91 458.00 105.45 460.61 107.25 464.32 108.00 467.00 114.17 468.97 113.93 474.31 114.00 480.00 114.03 482.98 113.74 487.26 114.72 490.00 116.12 493.90 128.70 508.73 132.09 511.78 135.10 514.48 137.49 514.98 139.44 517.27 139.44 517.27 145.51 528.00 145.51 528.00 147.02 531.73 147.68 545.12 148.17 550.00 148.17 550.00 149.00 608.00 149.00 608.00 152.74 607.83 162.55 606.68 166.00 605.70 170.07 604.54 173.60 601.66 178.00 602.89 181.90 603.99 184.73 607.28 188.00 608.84 191.81 610.65 193.97 609.29 198.00 611.73 201.82 614.05 205.90 619.16 213.00 621.59 221.08 624.36 228.08 622.78 236.00 621.00 236.00 621.00 236.86 599.00 236.86 599.00 236.86 599.00 234.51 587.04 234.51 587.04 234.51 587.04 233.07 582.58 233.07 582.58 232.54 579.04 234.93 575.89 233.77 573.14 232.45 570.01 227.92 569.43 225.00 568.79 219.30 567.55 214.40 566.93 210.64 561.96 202.86 551.69 211.67 541.18 209.85 530.04 208.90 524.19 203.33 524.76 199.99 517.00 196.43 508.71 197.14 494.28 205.04 488.70 209.60 485.47 216.59 484.97 222.00 484.00 222.00 484.00 225.28 454.00 225.28 454.00 225.75 450.23 227.35 441.23 226.58 438.00 224.89 430.85 215.61 424.73 214.21 414.00 213.33 407.25 216.93 404.33 217.52 400.00 217.95 396.84 216.60 394.67 216.66 392.00 216.29 389.21 217.38 387.80 216.66 385.00 216.46 382.76 215.64 382.31 215.00 378.09 208.25 379.58 209.49 378.17 204.00 378.09 Dongapoly 318.42 730.00 311.02 715.00 311.02 715.00 311.02 715.00 313.71 704.00 313.71 704.00 313.71 704.00 314.30 696.00 314.30 696.00 314.30 696.00 315.83 688.00 315.83 688.00 315.83 688.00 316.39 680.00 316.39 680.00 316.39 680.00 319.72 668.00 319.72 668.00 319.72 668.00 313.56 646.00 313.56 646.00 313.56 646.00 315.37 640.00 315.37 640.00 315.37 640.00 316.64 633.00 316.64 633.00 316.64 633.00 320.82 619.00 320.82 619.00 320.82 619.00 320.00 612.00 320.00 612.00 320.00 612.00 320.00 603.00 320.00 603.00 320.00 603.00 319.00 591.00 319.00 591.00 319.00 591.00 317.98 580.60 317.98 580.60 317.98 580.60 310.00 579.00 310.00 579.00 310.00 579.00 235.00 579.00 235.00 579.00 235.26 586.63 236.56 584.73 237.67 590.00 239.34 597.46 238.85 605.57 237.67 613.00 237.01 616.76 238.31 618.16 237.10 620.07 234.94 623.47 229.59 623.95 226.00 624.00 221.06 624.06 215.54 624.49 211.00 622.33 205.31 619.62 201.44 614.89 198.00 613.17 194.55 611.45 192.14 612.51 188.00 610.16 184.89 608.40 182.82 605.80 179.00 604.65 173.86 603.11 169.76 606.21 165.00 607.51 158.90 609.18 155.15 609.00 149.00 609.00 149.00 609.00 153.66 623.42 153.66 623.42 153.66 623.42 148.64 636.00 148.64 636.00 148.64 636.00 151.00 649.00 151.00 649.00 151.00 649.00 151.00 722.00 151.00 722.00 151.00 722.00 152.00 735.00 152.00 735.00 152.00 735.00 152.00 755.94 152.00 755.94 166.40 753.42 176.18 756.23 181.00 755.94 187.22 755.43 189.92 751.17 198.00 754.13 201.28 755.33 204.30 757.44 206.59 760.08 208.54 762.34 209.03 764.62 212.12 765.57 217.89 767.35 223.35 763.69 226.00 763.61 228.52 763.53 229.97 765.05 233.00 765.70 235.57 766.25 238.37 765.71 240.90 766.73 240.90 766.73 255.70 777.45 255.70 777.45 257.51 779.06 259.10 781.50 261.30 782.43 263.15 783.21 267.83 783.00 270.00 783.00 272.03 774.71 276.57 773.19 278.40 768.00 279.76 764.17 277.20 755.85 284.10 752.02 286.30 750.80 289.53 751.00 292.00 751.00 292.00 751.00 319.00 751.00 319.00 751.00 319.00 751.00 318.42 730.00 318.42 730.00 Collinespoly 292.30 753.00 286.57 752.61 284.39 754.02 281.46 755.92 281.10 759.84 281.08 763.00 281.04 774.80 270.91 774.76 272.27 785.00 272.27 785.00 273.76 791.00 273.76 791.00 275.77 801.74 275.37 806.88 280.47 817.96 283.01 823.47 285.98 822.81 287.98 826.21 288.89 827.76 289.44 832.73 290.00 835.00 292.46 844.84 293.99 846.60 294.00 857.00 294.00 857.00 286.00 857.00 286.00 857.00 286.23 859.87 287.62 869.61 289.01 871.72 290.95 874.68 294.33 874.42 296.69 876.56 298.98 878.65 298.94 881.14 299.00 884.00 299.00 884.00 299.00 913.00 299.00 913.00 299.00 913.00 315.00 912.00 315.00 912.00 315.76 917.70 316.21 927.45 321.00 931.00 321.00 931.00 322.37 924.00 322.37 924.00 322.93 917.23 320.61 905.79 329.00 903.00 329.00 903.00 328.00 894.00 328.00 894.00 318.78 891.20 322.04 885.32 322.64 880.00 322.64 880.00 322.64 872.01 322.64 872.01 322.64 866.54 319.80 866.88 319.03 862.96 317.84 856.92 322.79 851.79 328.00 850.00 326.01 846.41 321.84 843.26 321.74 840.00 321.64 836.40 325.42 834.71 325.69 830.00 325.69 830.00 323.14 814.00 323.14 814.00 323.14 814.00 323.14 796.00 323.14 796.00 323.04 790.35 322.85 788.03 329.00 787.00 329.00 787.00 328.02 776.51 328.02 776.51 328.02 776.51 319.58 765.91 319.58 765.91 319.58 765.91 319.00 753.00 319.00 753.00 319.00 753.00 295.00 753.00 295.00 753.00 Plateaupoly 206.34 763.93 205.43 757.98 198.00 755.65 191.50 753.61 187.31 756.49 184.00 757.05 184.00 757.05 174.00 757.05 174.00 757.05 174.00 757.05 169.00 757.05 169.00 757.05 164.61 756.98 153.74 754.41 152.33 760.22 151.73 762.72 153.77 772.55 154.89 775.00 154.89 775.00 158.36 781.00 158.36 781.00 158.36 781.00 166.66 799.00 166.66 799.00 167.87 801.99 168.54 806.16 170.20 808.63 170.20 808.63 174.52 813.21 174.52 813.21 174.52 813.21 183.37 825.01 183.37 825.01 187.45 831.76 184.90 833.76 187.92 839.99 187.92 839.99 197.31 852.00 197.31 852.00 198.71 854.11 208.31 865.01 210.09 865.98 211.94 866.98 213.96 866.99 216.00 866.83 216.00 866.83 238.00 863.41 238.00 863.41 240.99 862.91 246.45 862.26 249.00 861.03 251.65 859.76 254.75 856.94 257.00 855.00 261.30 861.61 263.82 856.19 272.00 851.00 272.00 851.00 272.00 855.00 272.00 855.00 272.00 855.00 292.00 855.00 292.00 855.00 292.00 855.00 288.00 835.00 288.00 835.00 288.00 835.00 286.41 827.21 286.41 827.21 286.41 827.21 279.70 819.96 279.70 819.96 279.70 819.96 274.37 806.00 274.37 806.00 274.37 806.00 269.43 786.60 269.43 786.60 269.43 786.60 260.30 783.98 260.30 783.98 260.30 783.98 253.83 777.87 253.83 777.87 253.83 777.87 241.55 769.00 241.55 769.00 241.55 769.00 233.00 767.69 233.00 767.69 233.00 767.69 226.00 764.00 226.00 764.00 221.54 767.25 214.37 769.95 209.30 766.15 Zoupoly 153.00 804.00 153.00 859.00 153.00 859.00 153.00 859.00 139.00 859.00 139.00 859.00 140.12 869.52 144.79 869.08 146.70 874.04 146.70 874.04 148.00 891.00 148.00 891.00 148.00 891.00 167.00 887.01 167.00 887.01 173.25 884.66 179.78 879.51 187.00 881.43 192.57 882.92 192.27 886.99 195.43 890.37 199.86 895.12 204.70 896.92 211.00 897.00 211.10 886.84 212.56 890.16 215.29 883.00 215.29 883.00 217.11 877.00 217.11 877.00 218.73 873.21 219.32 873.47 220.00 869.07 220.00 869.07 213.00 869.07 213.00 869.07 206.74 868.26 197.27 854.10 193.37 849.09 190.23 845.06 187.66 844.48 185.56 839.00 183.47 833.53 184.76 830.30 182.35 826.01 182.35 826.01 168.00 807.99 168.00 807.99 168.00 807.99 160.57 789.00 160.57 789.00 160.57 789.00 155.00 778.00 155.00 778.00 151.88 784.13 153.00 796.83 153.00 804.00 Couffopoly 257.00 858.00 248.00 863.30 248.00 863.30 248.00 863.30 222.00 868.00 222.00 868.00 221.30 877.09 214.05 887.68 213.30 891.00 213.30 891.00 212.78 897.00 212.78 897.00 212.78 897.00 210.56 904.00 210.56 904.00 210.56 904.00 210.03 909.00 210.03 909.00 209.27 912.47 207.53 913.55 207.11 918.00 206.62 923.23 208.88 928.13 207.61 934.00 206.40 939.60 201.12 945.73 201.38 952.00 201.38 952.00 206.00 968.00 206.00 968.00 222.41 965.82 240.46 961.05 257.00 961.00 262.31 950.04 272.23 953.79 277.61 950.02 281.43 947.33 282.20 940.30 281.95 936.00 281.83 933.85 281.57 933.02 281.00 931.00 274.36 932.39 273.12 930.44 273.00 924.00 273.00 924.00 273.00 901.00 273.00 901.00 273.00 901.00 271.88 889.00 271.88 889.00 271.88 889.00 271.88 880.00 271.88 880.00 270.65 874.76 266.10 871.72 265.57 868.00 265.10 864.74 268.71 860.40 270.00 855.00 262.76 858.36 261.92 862.80 257.00 858.00 Atlantiquepoly 265.94 871.63 272.70 873.14 274.03 882.00 274.03 882.00 276.00 930.06 276.00 930.06 277.77 929.74 280.02 929.17 281.69 930.06 286.93 933.10 282.45 945.82 281.00 950.00 290.46 952.22 290.49 955.31 294.09 956.25 296.22 956.80 307.99 954.73 311.00 954.27 312.59 954.03 315.15 953.84 316.43 952.83 318.46 951.21 317.93 947.36 318.04 945.00 318.18 941.90 319.74 936.26 319.27 934.17 318.66 931.45 316.47 930.61 315.04 925.00 314.39 922.44 314.16 916.52 312.26 915.00 309.68 912.91 300.38 914.73 297.00 915.00 297.00 915.00 297.00 885.00 297.00 885.00 297.00 885.00 295.98 878.56 295.98 878.56 295.98 878.56 286.74 871.95 286.74 871.95 286.74 871.95 284.00 857.00 284.00 857.00 276.19 857.00 270.53 855.71 267.85 865.00 Ouémépoly 190.28 887.88 191.51 885.48 187.86 884.18 179.49 881.23 172.19 887.47 165.00 890.03 161.26 891.37 159.48 890.71 156.00 891.21 156.00 891.21 149.00 893.00 149.00 893.00 149.00 893.00 144.00 907.00 144.00 907.00 150.92 912.00 146.25 912.89 149.18 917.78 150.76 920.42 153.53 920.93 155.83 922.69 160.20 926.05 161.69 929.71 162.00 935.00 172.27 940.14 174.95 959.54 178.00 970.00 178.00 970.00 161.00 974.00 161.00 974.00 157.16 974.77 154.35 974.62 152.00 978.00 152.00 978.00 204.00 968.00 204.00 968.00 204.00 968.00 199.26 951.00 199.26 951.00 199.26 951.00 205.79 933.00 205.79 933.00 205.79 933.00 205.06 919.00 205.06 919.00 205.06 919.00 210.00 900.00 210.00 900.00 204.65 899.12 198.01 895.52 194.14 891.70 Monopoly 278.09 952.30 265.26 954.83 262.14 957.00 260.19 958.36 260.03 959.06 259.00 961.00 259.00 961.00 274.00 960.00 274.00 960.00 274.00 960.00 275.00 956.00 275.00 956.00 275.00 956.00 275.00 960.00 275.00 960.00 275.00 960.00 290.00 957.00 290.00 957.00 290.00 957.00 290.00 955.00 290.00 955.00 287.42 953.90 284.83 952.87 282.00 952.63 LittoralBenin is divided into twelve departments (French: ''départements'') which are subdivided into 77 communes.", "In 1999, the previous six departments were each split into 2 halves, forming the later twelve." ], [ "Demographics", "The majority of Benin's 11,485,000 inhabitants live in the south of the country.", "The life expectancy is 62 years.", "About 42 African ethnic groups live in this country, including the Yoruba in the southeast (migrated from Nigeria in the 12th century); the Dendi in the north-central area (who came from Mali in the 16th century); the Bariba and the Fula in the northeast; the Betammaribe and the Somba in the Atakora Mountains; the Fon in the area around Abomey in the South Central and the Mina, Xueda, and Aja (who came from Togo) on the coast.Migrations have brought other African nationals to Benin that include Nigerians, Togolese, and Malians.", "The foreign community includes Lebanese and Indians involved in trade and commerce.", "The personnel of European embassies and foreign aid missions and of nongovernmental organisations and missionary groups account for a part of the 5,500 European population.", "A part of the European population consists of Beninese citizens of French ancestry.=== Religion ===A Celestial Church of Christ baptism in Cotonou.", "5% of Benin's population belongs to this denomination, an African Initiated Church.The two largest religions are Christianity, followed throughout the south and center of Benin and in Otammari country in the Atakora, and Islam, introduced by the Songhai Empire and Hausa merchants, and followed throughout Alibori, Borgou and Donga provinces, and among the Yoruba (who also follow Christianity).", "Some continue to hold Vodun and Orisha beliefs and have incorporated the pantheon of Vodun and Orisha into Christianity.", "The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a Muslim sect originating in the 19th century, has a presence in the country.In the 2013 census, 48.5% of the population of Benin were Christian (25.5% Roman Catholic, 6.7% Celestial Church of Christ, 3.4% Methodist, 12.9% other Christian denominations), 27.7% were Muslim, 11.6% practiced Vodun, 2.6% practiced other local traditional religions, 2.6% practiced other religions, and 5.8% claimed no religious affiliation.", "A government survey conducted by the Demographic and Health Surveys Program in 2011-2012 indicated that followers of Christianity were 57.5% of the population (with Catholics making up 33.9%, Methodists 3.0%, Celestials 6.2% and other Christians 14.5%), while Muslims were 22.8%.According to the most recent 2020 estimate, the population of Benin was 52.2% Christian, 24.6% Muslim, 17.9 Animist and 5.3% followed other faiths or had no religion.Traditional religions include local animistic religions in the Atakora (Atakora and Donga provinces), and Vodun and Orisha veneration among the Yoruba and Tado peoples in the center and south of the nation.", "The town of Ouidah on the central coast is the spiritual center of Beninese Vodun.===Education===Students.The literacy rate: in 2015 it was estimated to be 38.4% (49.9% for males and 27.3% for females).", "Benin has achieved universal primary education and half of the children (54%) were enrolled in secondary education in 2013, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.While at a time the education system was not free, Benin has abolished school fees and is carrying out the recommendations of its 2007 Educational Forum.", "The government has devoted more than 4% of GDP to education since 2009.In 2015, public expenditure on education (all levels) amounted to 4.4% of GDP, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.", "Within this expenditure, Benin devoted a share to tertiary education: 0.97% of GDP.Between 2009 and 2011, the share of people enrolled at university rose from 10% to 12% of the 18''–''25 year age cohort.", "Student enrollment in tertiary education more than doubled between 2006 and 2011 from 50,225 to 110,181.These statistics encompass not only bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. programmes but also students enrolled in nondegree post-secondary diplomas.=== Health ===The HIV/AIDS rate in Benin was estimated in 2013 at 1.13% of adults aged 15–49 years.", "Malaria is a problem in Benin, being a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children younger than 5 years.During the 1980s, less than 30% of the country's population had access to primary health care services.", "Benin's infant mortality rate stood at 203 deaths for every live births.", "1 in 3 mothers had access to child health care services.", "The Bamako Initiative changed that by introducing community-based healthcare reform, resulting in \"more efficient and equitable\" provision of services.", ", Benin had the 26th highest rate of maternal mortality in the world.", "According to a 2013 UNICEF report, 13% of women had undergone female genital mutilation.", "An approach strategy was extended to all areas of healthcare, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost.", "Demographic and Health Surveys has surveyed the issue in Benin since 1996." ], [ "Geography", "Map of Köppen climate classificationThe north–south strip of land in West Africa lies between latitudes 6° and 13°N, and longitudes 0° and 4°E.", "It is bounded by Togo to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, Nigeria to the east, and the Bight of Benin to the south.", "The distance from the Niger River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south is about .", "Although the coastline measures , the country measures about at its widest point.", "4 terrestrial ecoregions lie within Benin's borders: Eastern Guinean forests, Nigerian lowland forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, and West Sudanian savanna.", "It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.86/10, ranking it 93rd globally out of 172 countries.Atakora, 1 of Benin's 2 northernmost departments.Benin shows some variation in elevation and can be divided into 4 areas from the south to the north, starting with the lower-lying, sandy, coastal plain (highest elevation ) which is, at most, wide.", "It is marshy and dotted with lakes and lagoons communicating with the ocean.", "Behind the coast lies the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic-covered plateaus of southern Benin (altitude between ), which are split by valleys running north to south along the Couffo, Zou, and Ouémé Rivers.This geography makes it vulnerable to climate change.", "With the majority of the country living near the coast in lower-lying areas sea level rise could have effects on the economy and population.", "Northern areas will see additional regions become deserts.An area of flatter land dotted with rocky hills whose altitude reaches extends around Nikki and Save.A range of mountains extends along the northwest border and into Togo; these are the Atacora.", "The highest point, Mont Sokbaro, is at .", "Benin has fields, mangroves, and remnants of forests.", "In the rest of the country, the savanna is covered with thorny scrub and dotted with baobab trees.", "Some forests line the banks of rivers.", "In the north and the northwest of Benin, the Reserve du W du Niger and Pendjari National Park has African bush elephants, lions, antelopes, hippopotamus and monkeys.", "Pendjari National Park together with the bordering Parks Arli and W National Park in Burkina Faso and Niger are among the strongholds of the lion in West Africa; with an estimated 246–466 lions, W-Arli-Pendjari harbors the largest remaining lion population in West Africa.", "Historically Benin has served as habitat for the endangered African wild dog, ''Lycaon pictus''; this canid is thought to have been locally extinct.Annual rainfall in the coastal area averages 1300 mm or about 51 inches.", "Benin has 2 rainy and 2 dry seasons per year.", "The principal rainy season is from April to late July, with a shorter less intense rainy period from September to November.", "The main dry season is from December to April, with a cooler dry season from July to September.", "Temperatures and humidity are higher along the tropical coast.", "In Cotonou, the average maximum temperature is ; the minimum is .Variations in temperature increase when moving north through savanna and plateau toward the Sahel.", "A dry wind from the Sahara called the Harmattan blows from December to March, when grass dries up, other vegetation turns reddish brown, and a veil of fine dust hangs over the country, causing the skies to be \"overcast\".", "It is also the season when farmers burn brush in the fields.===Wildlife===" ], [ "Economy", "A proportional representation of Benin exports, 2019Extensive agriculture in the north of Benin, near Djougou.Real GDP per capita development of Benin since 1950The economy is dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade.", "Cotton accounts for 40% of the GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts.Real GDP growth was estimated at 5.1 and 5.7% in 2008 and 2009, respectively.", "The main driver of growth is the agricultural sector, with cotton being the main export, while services continue to contribute the largest part of GDP mostly because of Benin's geographical location, enabling trade, transportation, transit and tourism activities with its neighboring states.", "Benin's overall macroeconomic conditions were \"positive\" in 2017, with a growth rate of around 5.6%.", "Economic growth was mostly driven by the cotton industry and other cash crops, the Port of Cotonou, and telecommunications.", "A source of revenue is the Port of Cotonou, and the government is seeking to expand its revenue base.", "In 2017, Benin imported about $2.8 billion in goods such as rice, meat and poultry, alcoholic beverages, fuel plastic materials, specialized mining and excavating machinery, telecommunications equipment, passenger vehicles, and toiletries and cosmetics.", "Principal exports are ginned cotton, cotton cake and cotton seeds, cashew, shea butter, cooking oil, and lumber.Access to biocapacity is lower than world average.", "In 2016, Benin had 0.9 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.", "In 2016 Benin used 1.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption.", "This means they use \"slightly under double\" as much biocapacity as Benin contains.", "As a result, Benin is running a biocapacity deficit.Cotton field in northern Benin.In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology.", "Projects to improve the business climate by reforms to the land tenure system, the commercial justice system, and the financial sector were included in Benin's US$307 million Millennium Challenge Account grant signed in February 2006.The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, with Benin benefiting from a G8 debt reduction announced in July 2005, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms.", "An \"insufficient\" electrical supply continues to \"adversely affect\" Benin's economic growth and the government has taken steps to increase domestic power production.While trade unions in Benin represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labor, and the continuing issue of forced labor.", "Benin is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).Cotonou has the country's only seaport and international airport.", "Benin is connected by 2-lane asphalted roads to its neighboring countries (Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria).", "Mobile telephone service is available across the country through operators.", "ADSL connections are available in some areas.", "Benin is connected to the Internet by way of satellite connections (since 1998) and a single submarine cable SAT-3/WASC (since 2001).", "Relief of \"high price\" is expected with the initiation of the Africa Coast to Europe cable in 2011.With the GDP growth rate of 4–5% remaining consistent over 2 decades, poverty has been increasing.", "According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis in Benin, those living under the poverty line have increased from 36.2% in 2011 to 40.1% in 2015.===Science and technology======= National policy framework ====The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is responsible for implementing science policy.", "The National Directorate of Scientific and Technological Research handles planning and coordination whereas the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and National Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters each play an advisory role.", "Financial support comes from Benin's National Fund for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation.", "The Benin Agency for the Promotion of Research Results and Technological Innovation carries out technology transfer through the development and dissemination of research results.", "Benin was ranked 120th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.The regulatory framework has evolved since 2006 when the science policy was prepared.", "This has been updated and complemented by new texts on science and innovation (the year of adoption is between brackets):* a manual for monitoring and evaluating research structures and organizations (2013);* a manual on how to select research programmes and projects and apply to the National Fund for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation (2013) for competitive grants;* a draft act for funding scientific research and innovation and a draft code of ethics for scientific research and innovation were both submitted to the Supreme Court in 2014;* a strategic plan for scientific research and innovation (under development in 2015).Equally important are Benin's efforts to integrate science into existing policy documents:* ''Benin Development Strategies 2025'': ''Benin 2025 Alafia'' (2000);* Growt''h Strategy for Poverty Reduction 2011–2016'' (2011);* Phase 3 of the ''Ten-year Development Plan for the Education Sector'', covering 2013–2015;* ''Development Plan for Higher Education and Scientific Research 2013–2017'' (2014).In 2015, Benin's priority areas for scientific research were: health, education, construction and building materials, transportation and trade, culture, tourism and handicrafts, cotton/textiles, food, energy and climate change.Some so-called challenges facing research and development in Benin are:* the unfavorable organizational framework for research: weak governance, a lack of co-operation between research structures and the absence of an official document on the status of researchers;* the inadequate use of human resources and the lack of any motivational policy for researchers; and* the mismatch between research and development needs.==== Human and financial investment in research ====In 2007, Benin counted 1,000 researchers (in headcounts).", "This corresponds to 115 researchers per million inhabitants.", "The \"main research structures\" are the Centre for Scientific and Technical Research, National Institute of Agricultural Research, National Institute for Training and Research in Education, Office of Geological and Mining Research and the Centre for Entomological Research.The University of Abomey-Calavi was selected by the World Bank in 2014 to participate in its Centres of Excellence project, owing to its expertise in applied mathematics.", "Within this project, the World Bank has loaned $8 million to Benin.", "The Association of African Universities has received funds to enable it to co-ordinate knowledge-sharing among the 19 universities in West Africa involved in the project.There are \"no available data\" on Benin's level of investment in research and development.In 2013, the government devoted 2.5% of GDP to public health.", "In December 2014, 150 volunteer health professionals travelled to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, as part of a joint initiative by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its specialized agency, the West African Health Organisation, to help combat the epidemic.", "The Ebola epidemic has been a reminder of the underinvestment in West African health systems.The Government of Benin devoted less than 5% of GDP to agricultural development in 2010, while the members of the African Union had agreed to commit at least 10% of GDP to this area in the ''Maputo Declaration'' of 2003.They reiterated this goal in the ''Malabo Declaration'' adopted in Equatorial Guinea in 2014.In the latter declaration, they reaffirmed their 'intention to devote 10% of their national budgets to agricultural development and agreed to targets such as doubling agricultural productivity, halving post-harvest loss and bringing stunting down to 10% across Africa'.", "African leaders meeting in Equatorial Guinea failed to resolve the debate on establishing a common standard of measurement for the 10% target.==== Research output ====Benin has the third-highest publication intensity for scientific journals in West Africa, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded.", "There were 25.5 scientific articles per million inhabitants cataloged in this database in 2014.This compares with 65.0 for the Gambia, 49.6 for Cape Verde, 23.2 for Senegal and 21.9 for Ghana.", "The volume of publications in this database tripled in Benin between 2005 and 2014 from 86 to 270.Between 2008 and 2014, Benin's \"main scientific collaborators\" were based in France (529 articles), United States (261), United Kingdom (254), Belgium (198) and Germany (156).===Transportation===Transport in Benin includes road, rail, water and air transportation.", "Benin possesses a total of 6,787 km of highway, of which 1,357 km are paved.", "Of the paved highways in the country, there are 10 expressways.", "This leaves 5,430 km of unpaved road.", "The Trans-West African Coastal Highway crosses Benin, connecting it to Nigeria to the east, and Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast to the west.", "When construction in Liberia and Sierra Leone is finished, the highway will continue west to 7 other Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) nations.", "A paved highway connects Benin northwards to Niger, and through that country to Burkina Faso and Mali to the north-west.Rail transport in Benin consists of of single track, railway.", "Construction work has commenced on international lines connecting Benin with Niger and Nigeria, with outline plans announced for further connections to Togo and Burkina Faso.", "Benin will be a participant in the AfricaRail project.Cadjehoun Airport, located at Cotonou, has direct international jet service to Accra, Niamey, Monrovia, Lagos, Ouagadougou, Lomé, and Douala, and other cities in Africa.", "Direct services link Cotonou to Paris, Brussels, and Istanbul." ], [ "Culture", "Palais Des Congres in Cotonou.===Arts===Music groupBeninese literature had an oral tradition before French became the dominant language.", "Félix Couchoro wrote the first Beninese novel, ''L'Esclave'' (The Slave), in 1929.Post-independence, native folk music was combined with Ghanaian highlife, French cabaret, American rock, funk and soul, and Congolese rumba.Biennale Benin, continuing the projects of some organizations and artists, started in the country in 2010 as a collaborative event called \"Regard Benin\".", "In 2012, the project became a biennial coordinated by a federation of local associations.", "The international exhibition and artistic program of the 2012 Biennale Benin were curated by Abdellah Karroum.===Customary names===Some Beninese in the south of the country have Akan-based names indicating the day of the week on which they were born.", "This is due to influence of the Akan people such as the Akwamu and others.===Language===Local languages are used as the many languages of instruction in elementary schools, with French introduced after years.", "At the secondary school level, French is the sole language of instruction.", "Beninese languages are \"generally transcribed\" with a separate letter for each speech sound (phoneme), rather than using diacritics as in French or digraphs as in English.", "This includes Beninese Yoruba, which in Nigeria is written with both diacritics and digraphs.", "For instance, the mid vowels written ''é, è, ô, o'' in French are written '''' in Beninese languages, whereas the consonants are written ''ng'' and ''sh'' or ''ch'' in English are written ''ŋ'' and ''c.''", "Digraphs are used for nasal vowels and the labial-velar consonants ''kp'' and ''gb,'' as in the name of the Fon language ''Fon gbe'' , and diacritics are used as tone marks.", "In French-language publications, a mixture of French and Beninese orthographies may be seen.===Cuisine===Acarajé is peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried.The cuisine involves fresh meals served with a variety of key sauces.", "In southern Benin cuisine, an ingredient is corn which has been used to prepare dough which has been served with peanut- or tomato-based sauces.", "Fish and chicken, beef, goat, and bush rat are consumed.", "A staple in northern Benin is yams which has been served with sauces mentioned above.", "The population in the northern provinces use beef and pork meat which is fried in palm or peanut oil or cooked in sauces.", "Cheese is used in some dishes.", "Couscous, rice, and beans are eaten, along with fruits such as mangoes, oranges, avocados, bananas, kiwi fruit, and pineapples.Meals are said to be generally light on meat and generous on vegetable fat.", "Frying in palm or peanut oil is a meat preparation, and smoked fish is prepared in Benin.", "Grinders are used to prepare corn flour, which is made into a dough and served with sauces.", "\"Chicken on the spit\" is a recipe in which chicken is roasted over a fire on wooden sticks.", "Palm roots are sometimes soaked in a jar with salt water and sliced garlic to tenderize them, then used in dishes.", "Some people have outdoor mud stoves for cooking.===Sports===The major sports in Benin are association football, basketball, golf, cycling, baseball, softball, tennis and rugby union.", "In the early 21st century, baseball and teqball were introduced to the country.=== Traditional authorities ===Benin has numerous non-sovereign monarchies within the country, many of them derivative of pre-colonial kingdoms (such as Arda).", "Non-sovereign monarchs do not have an official, constitutional role, and are largely ceremonial and subservient to political and civil authorities.", "Despite this, they play an influential role in local political matters within their particular realms and are often courted by Beninese politicians for electoral support.", "Advocacy groups such as the High Council of Kings of Benin represent the monarchs nationally." ], [ "See also", "* Index of Benin-related articles* Outline of Benin* Telephone numbers in Benin" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Butler, S., ''Benin (Bradt Travel Guides)'' (Bradt Travel Guides, 2019)* Caulfield, Annie, ''Show Me the Magic: Travels Round Benin by Taxi'' (Penguin Books Ltd, 2003)* Kraus, Erika and Reid, Felice, ''Benin (Other Places Travel Guide)'' (Other Places Publishing, 2010)* Seely, Jennifer, ''The Legacies of Transition Governments in Africa: The Cases of Benin and Togo'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)" ], [ "External links", "* Country Profile from BBC News* Benin.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Benin from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''* BBC, , 10 April 2018.", "* * commons:Atlas of Benin* Benin Exports* Forecasts for Benin Development'''Government'''* Government of Benin (official website) * Chief of State and Cabinet Members* Global Integrity Report: Benin'''News media'''* Directory of Benin news sources from Stanford University'''Trade'''* World Bank Benin 2010 Summary Trade Statistics'''Sports'''* Baseball" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bermuda" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bermuda''' (; historically known as '''Las''' '''Bermudas''' or '''Las Islas Bermudas''') is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean and the '''West Indies'''.", "The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.Bermuda is an archipelago consisting of 181 islands, although the most significant islands are connected by bridges and appear to form one landmass.", "It has a land area of .", "Bermuda has a sub-tropical climate, with mild winters and warm summers.", "Its climate also exhibits oceanic features similar to other coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere with warm, moist air from the ocean ensuring relatively high humidity and stabilising temperatures.", "Bermuda lies in Hurricane Alley and thus is prone to severe weather; however, it receives some protection from a coral reef and its position at the north of the belt, which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms.Bermuda is named after Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the archipelago in 1505.The islands have been permanently inhabited since 1612 when an English settlement was established at St. George's.", "Forming part of British America, Bermuda was governed under royal charter by the Somers Isles Company until 1684, when it became a crown colony.", "The first enslaved Africans were taken to Bermuda in 1616.A full plantation economy did not develop and the slave trade largely ceased by the end of the 17th century.", "The economy instead became maritime-focused, with the colony serving as a base for merchants, privateers and the Royal Navy, giving its name to the Bermuda rig and Bermuda sloop.", "It became an imperial fortress, the most important British naval and military base in the western hemisphere with vast funds lavished on its Royal Naval Dockyard and military defences until the 1950s.", "Tourism has been a significant contributor to Bermuda's economy since the 19th century and after World War II, the territory became a prominent offshore financial centre and tax haven.Divided into nine parishes, Bermuda is a self-governing parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament located in the capital Hamilton.", "The House of Assembly dates from 1620, making it one of the world's oldest legislatures.", "The premier is the head of government and is formally appointed by the governor, who is nominated by the British government as the representative of the King.", "The United Kingdom is responsible for foreign affairs and defence.", "An independence referendum was held in 1995 with a large majority voting against independence.", "As of 2019, Bermuda had a population of around 64,000 people, making it the second-most populous of the British Overseas Territories.", "Black Bermudians, primarily descended from African slaves, make up around 50% of the population, while White Bermudians, primarily of British, Irish and Portuguese descent, make up 30% of the population.", "There are smaller groups from other races or identifying as mixed race and about 30% of the population is not Bermudian by birth.", "Bermuda has a distinct dialect of English and has historically had strong ties with other English-speaking countries in the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and the Commonwealth Caribbean.", "It is an associate member of the Caribbean Community." ], [ "Etymology", "Bermuda is named after the Spanish sailor Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the islands in 1505, while sailing for Spain from a provisioning voyage to Hispaniola in the ship ''La Garça''." ], [ "History", "===Discovery===First map of the islands of Bermuda in 1511, made by Peter Martyr d'Anghiera in his book ''Legatio Babylonica''\|alt=Bermuda was discovered in the early 1500s by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez.", "Bermuda had no indigenous population when it was discovered, nor during initial British settlement a century later.", "It was mentioned in ''Legatio Babylonica'', published in 1511 by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería, and was included on Spanish charts of that year.", "Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water.", "Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the 1543 inscription on Portuguese Rock, previously called Spanish Rock.", "Legends arose of spirits and devils, now thought to have stemmed from the calls of raucous birds (most likely the Bermuda petrel, or ''cahow'') and loud nocturnal noises from wild hogs.", "With its frequent storm-racked conditions and dangerous reefs, the archipelago became known as the \"Isle of Devils\".", "Neither Spain nor Portugal attempted to settle it.===Settlement by the English===John Smith wrote one of the first histories of Bermuda in 1624 (combined with Virginia and New England).For the next century, the island was frequently visited but not settled.", "The English began to focus on the New World, initially settling in Virginia, starting British colonization in North America, establishing a colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.Two years later, a flotilla of seven ships left England with several hundred settlers, food, and supplies to relieve the Jamestown colony.", "However, the flotilla was broken up by a storm and the flagship, the ''Sea Venture'', drove onto Bermuda's reef to prevent her sinking, resulting in the survival of all her passengers and crew.", "The settlers were unwilling to move on, having now heard about the true conditions in Jamestown from the sailors, and made multiple attempts to rebel and stay in Bermuda.", "They argued that they had a right to stay and establish their own government.", "The new settlement became a prison labour camp, and built two ships, the ''Deliverance'' and the ''Patience''.In 1612, the English began settlement of the archipelago, officially named Virgineola, with arrival of the ship the ''Plough''.", "New London (renamed St. George's Town) was settled that year and designated as the colony's first capital.", "It is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World.In 1615, the colony, which had been renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir George Somers, was passed on to the Somers Isles Company.", "As Bermudians settled the Carolina Colony and contributed to establishing other English colonies in the Americas, several other locations were named after the archipelago.", "During this period the first slaves were held and trafficked to the islands.", "These were a mixture of native Africans who were trafficked to the Americas via the African slave trade and Native Americans who were enslaved from the Thirteen Colonies.The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the New World.", "In 1616 and 1620 acts were passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young tortoises.===Civil War===Map of Bermuda by Vincenzo Coronelli, 1 January 1692In 1649, the English Civil War was taking place and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall, London.", "The conflict spilled over into Bermuda, where most of the colonists developed a strong sense of devotion to the Crown.", "The royalists ousted the Somers Isles Company's Governor and elected John Trimingham as their leader (see Governor of Bermuda).", "Bermuda's civil war was ended by militias, and dissenters were pushed to settle The Bahamas under William Sayle.The rebellious royalist colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Barbados and Antigua, were the subjects of an Act of the Rump Parliament of England.", "The royalist colonies were also threatened with invasion.", "The Government of Bermuda eventually reached an agreement with the Parliament of England which retained the status quo in Bermuda.===Later 17th century===''Bermuda Gazette'' of 12 November 1796, calling for privateering against Spain and its allies; it has advertisements for crew for two privateer vessels.In the 17th century, the Somers Isles Company suppressed shipbuilding, as it needed Bermudians to farm in order to generate income from the land.", "The Virginia colony, however, far surpassed Bermuda in quality and quantity of tobacco produced.", "Bermudians began to turn to maritime trades relatively early in the 17th century, but the Somers Isles Company used all its authority to suppress turning away from agriculture.", "This interference led to islanders demanding, and receiving, revocation of the company's charter in 1684, and the company was dissolved.Bermudians rapidly abandoned agriculture for shipbuilding, replanting farmland with the native juniper trees (''Juniperus bermudiana'', called ''Bermuda cedar'').", "Establishing effective control over the Turks Islands, Bermudians deforested their landscape to begin the salt trade.", "It became the world's largest and remained the cornerstone of Bermuda's economy for the next century.", "Bermudians also vigorously pursued whaling, privateering, and the merchant trade.Some islanders, especially in St David's, still trace their ancestry to Native Americans, and many more are ignorant of having such ancestry.", "Hundreds of Native Americans were shipped to Bermuda.", "The best-known examples were the Algonquian peoples such as (Pequots, Wampanoags, Podunks, Nipmucks, Narragansetts,...), who were exiled from the New England colonies and sold into slavery in the seventeenth century, notably in the aftermaths of the Pequot War and King Philip's War, but some are believed to have been brought from as far away as Mexico.===The American War of Independence===Bermuda's ambivalence towards the American rebellion changed in September 1774, when the Continental Congress resolved to ban trade with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies after 10 September 1775.Such an embargo would mean the collapse of their inter-colonial commerce, famine and civil unrest.", "Lacking political channels with Great Britain, the Tucker Family met in May 1775 with eight other parishioners and resolved to send delegates to the Continental Congress in July, aiming for an exemption from the ban.", "Henry Tucker noted a clause in the ban which allowed the exchange of American goods for military supplies.", "The clause was confirmed by Benjamin Franklin when Tucker met with the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety.", "Independently, others confirmed this business arrangement with Peyton Randolph, the Charlestown Committee of Safety, and George Washington.Three American boats, operating from Charlestown, Philadelphia and Newport, sailed to Bermuda, and on 14 August 1775, 100 barrels of gunpowder were taken from the Bermudian magazine while Governor George James Bruere slept, and loaded onto these boats.", "As a consequence, on 2 October the Continental Congress exempted Bermuda from their trade ban, and Bermuda acquired a reputation for disloyalty.", "Later that year, the British Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act to prohibit trade with the American rebelling colonies and sent HMS ''Scorpion'' to keep watch over the island.", "The island's forts were stripped of cannons.", "Yet, wartime trade of contraband continued along well-established family connections.", "With 120 boats by 1775, Bermuda continued to trade with St. Eustatius until 1781 and provided salt to North American ports.In June 1776, HMS ''Nautilus'' secured the island, followed by in September.", "Yet, the two British captains seemed more intent on capturing prize money, causing a severe food shortage on the island until the departure of ''Nautilus'' in October.", "After France's entry into the war in 1778, Henry Clinton refortified the island under the command of Major William Sutherland.", "As a result, 91 French and American ships were captured in the winter of 1778–1779, bringing the population once again to the brink of starvation.", "Bermudian trade was severely hampered by the combined efforts of the Royal Navy, the British garrison and loyalist privateers, such that famine struck the island in 1779.Upon the death of George Bruere in 1780, the governorship passed to his son, George Jr., an active loyalist.", "Under his leadership, smuggling was stopped, and the Bermudian colonial government was populated with like-minded loyalists.", "Even Henry Tucker abandoned trading with the United States, because of the presence of many privateers.", "''The Bermuda Gazette'', Bermuda's first newspaper, began publishing in 1784.The editor, Joseph Stockdale, had been given financial incentive to move to Bermuda with his family and establish the newspaper.", "He also provided other printing services and operated Bermuda's first local postal service.", "The ''Bermuda Gazette'' was sold by subscription and delivered to subscribers, with Stockdale's employee also delivering mail for a fee.===19th century===An illustration of the Devonshire Redoubt, Bermuda, 1614After the American Revolution, the Royal Navy began improving the harbours on the Bermudas.", "In 1811, work began on the large Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island, which was to serve as the islands' principal naval base guarding the western Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes.", "To guard the dockyard, the British Army built the Bermuda Garrison, and heavily fortified the archipelago.During the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, the British attacks on Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake were planned and launched from Bermuda, where the headquarters of the Royal Navy's North American Station had recently been moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia.harbour at St. George's, the original capital In 1816, James Arnold, the son of Benedict Arnold, fortified Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard against possible US attacks.", "Today, the National Museum of Bermuda, which incorporates Bermuda's Maritime Museum, occupies the Keep of the Royal Naval Dockyard.Due to its proximity to the southeastern US coast, Bermuda was frequently used during the American Civil War as a stopping point base for the Confederate States' blockade runners on their runs to and from the Southern states, and England, to evade Union naval vessels on blockade patrol.", "The blockade runners were then able to transport essential war goods from England and deliver valuable cotton back to England.", "The old Globe Hotel in St. George's, which was a centre of intrigue for Confederate agents, is preserved as a public museum.====Anglo-Boer War====During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), 5,000 Boer prisoners of war were housed on five islands of Bermuda.", "They were located according to their views of the war.", "\"Bitterenders\" (Afrikaans: Bittereinders), who refused to pledge allegiance to the British Crown, were interned on Darrell's Island and closely guarded.", "Other islands such as Morgan's Island held 884 men, including 27 officers; Tucker's Island held 809 Boer prisoners, Burt's Island 607, and Port's Island held 35.Hinson's Island housed underage prisoners.", "The camp cemetery is on Long Island.", "''The New York Times'' reported an attempted mutiny by Boer prisoners of war en route to Bermuda and that martial law was enacted on Darrell's Island.The most famous escapee was the Boer prisoner of war Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne, who was serving a life sentence for \"conspiracy against the British government and on (the charge of) espionage\".", "On the night of 25 June 1902, Duquesne slipped out of his tent, worked his way over a barbed-wire fence, swam past patrol boats and bright spotlights, through storm-swept waters, using the distant Gibbs Hill Lighthouse for navigation until he arrived ashore on the main island.", "He settled in the U.S. and later became a spy for Germany in both World Wars.", "In 1942, Col. Duquesne was arrested by the FBI for leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, which to this day remains the largest espionage case in the history of the United States.===20th and 21st centuries===Hamilton Harbour in the mid-1920sWinston Churchill hosted the Three-Powers Summit in 1953.The in Hamilton Harbour, c. Dec 1952 / Jan 1953The S.S. ''Queen of Bermuda'' departing the island in December 1952~January 1953.The Devonshire Dock is in the foreground.In the early 20th century Bermuda became a popular destination for American, Canadian and British tourists arriving by sea.", "The US Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which enacted protectionist trade tariffs on goods imported into the US, led to the demise of Bermuda's once-thriving agricultural export trade to America and encouraged development of tourism as an alternative source of income.", "The island was one of the centres for illegal alcohol smuggling during the era of Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933).A rail line was constructed in Bermuda in the 1920s, opening in 1931 as the Bermuda Railway, which was abandoned in 1948.The right of way is now the Bermuda Railway Trail.In 1930, after several failed attempts, a Stinson Detroiter seaplane flew to Bermuda from New York City: It was the first aeroplane ever to reach the islands.", "In 1936, Deutsche Luft Hansa began to experiment with seaplane flights from Berlin via the Azores with continuation flights to New York City.In 1937, Imperial Airways and Pan American Airways began operating scheduled flying boat airline services from New York and Baltimore to Darrell's Island, Bermuda.", "In World War II, the Hamilton Princess Hotel became a censorship centre.", "All mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the US and the Far East was intercepted and analysed by 1,200 censors, of British Imperial Censorship, part of British Security Coordination (BSC), before being routed to their destination.", "With BSC working closely with the FBI, the censors were responsible for the discovery and arrest of a number of Axis spies operating in the US, including the Joe K ring.In 1948, a regularly scheduled commercial airline service began to operate, using land-based aeroplanes landing at Kindley Field (now L.F. Wade International Airport), helping tourism to reach a peak in the 1960s and 1970s.", "By the end of the 1970s, however, international business had supplanted tourism as the dominant sector of Bermuda's economy.The Royal Naval Dockyard and its attendant military garrison remained important to Bermuda's economy until the mid-20th century.", "In addition to considerable building work, the armed forces needed to source food and other materials from local vendors.", "Beginning in World War II, US military installations were also located in Bermuda, including a naval air station, and submarine base.", "The American military presence lasted until 1995.Universal adult suffrage and development of a two-party political system took place in the 1960s.", "Universal suffrage was adopted as part of Bermuda's Constitution in 1967; voting had previously been dependent on a certain level of property ownership.On 10 March 1973, the governor of Bermuda, Richard Sharples, was assassinated by local Black Power militants during a period of civil unrest.", "Some moves were made towards possible independence for the islands, however, this was decisively rejected in a referendum in 1995.At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Bermuda became the smallest overseas territory to earn a gold medal, as Flora Duffy won Bermuda's first ever Olympic gold medal in the women's triathlon." ], [ "Geography", "View of Bermuda from Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in July 2015View from the top of Gibb's Hill LighthouseLandsat 8 satellite imageTopographic map of BermudaBermuda is a group of low-forming volcanoes in the Atlantic Ocean, in the west of the Sargasso Sea, roughly east-southeast of Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States which is the nearest landmass.", "Its next nearest neighbour is Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia Canada which is north of Bermuda.", "It is also located north-northeast of Havana, Cuba, north of the British Virgin Islands, and north of San Juan, Puerto Rico.The territory consists of 181 islands, with a total area of .", "The largest island is Main Island (also called ''Bermuda'').", "Eight larger and populated islands are connected by bridges.", "The territory's tallest peak is Town Hill on Main Island at tall.", "The territory's coastline is .Bermuda gives its name to the Bermuda Triangle, a region of sea in which, according to legend, a number of aircraft and boats have disappeared under unexplained or mysterious circumstances.===Main sights===Bermuda's pink sand beaches and clear, cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with tourists.", "Many of Bermuda's hotels are located along the south shore of the island.", "In addition to its beaches, there are a number of sightseeing attractions.", "Historic St. George's is a designated World Heritage Site.", "Scuba divers can explore numerous wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water (typically in depth), with virtually unlimited visibility.", "Many nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers, especially at Church Bay.Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval Dockyard, which includes the National Museum of Bermuda.", "Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Botanical Gardens and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, lighthouses, and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools.Non-residents are prohibited from driving cars on the island.", "Public transport and taxis are available or visitors can rent scooters for use as private transport.===Geology===NOAA Ocean Explorer Bermuda Geologic Map, where red denotes the Walsingham Formation, purple denotes the Town Hill and Belmont Formations, green denotes the Rocky Bay and Southampton Formations, and white is infill associated with the airportBermuda consists of over 150 limestone islands, but especially five main islands, along the southern margin of the Bermuda Platform, one of three topographic highs found on the Bermuda Pedestal.", "This Bermuda Pedestal sits atop the Bermuda Rise, a mid-basin swell surrounded by abyssal plains.", "The Bermuda Pedestal is one of four topographic highs aligned roughly from North-East to South-West.", "The others, all submerged, being ''Bowditch Seamount'' to the North-East, and ''Challenger Bank'' and ''Argus Bank'' to the South-West.", "Initial uplift of this rise occurred in the Middle to Late Eocene and concluded by the Late Oligocene, when it subsided below sea level.", "The volcanic rocks associated with this rise are tholeiitic lavas and intrusive lamprophyre sheets, which form a volcanic basement, on average, below the island carbonate surface.The limestones of Bermuda consist of biocalcarenites with minor conglomerates.", "The portion of Bermuda above sea level consists of rocks deposited by aeolian processes, with a karst terrain.", "These eolianites are actually the type locality, and formed during interglaciations (i.e., the upper levels of the limestone cap, formed primarily by calcium-secreting algae, was broken down into sand by wave action during interglaciation when the seamount was submerged, and during glaciation, when the top of the seamount was above sea level, that sand was blown into dunes and fused together into a limestone sandstone), and are laced by red paleosols, also referred to as geosols or terra rossas, indicative of Saharan atmospheric dust and forming during glacial stages.", "The stratigraphic column starts with the Walsingham Formation, overlain by the Castle Harbour Geosol, the Lower and Upper Town Hill Formations separated by the Harbour Road Geosol, the Ord Road Geosol, the Belmont Formation, the Shore Hills Geosol, the Rocky Bay Formation, and the Southampton Formation.The older eolianite ridges (older Bermuda) are more rounded and subdued compared to the outer coastline (Younger Bermuda).", "Thus, post deposition morphology includes chemical erosion, with inshore water bodies demonstrating that much of Bermuda is partially drowned Pleistocene karst.", "The Walsingham Formation is a clear example, constituting the cave district around Castle Harbour.", "The Upper Town Hill Formation forms the core of the Main Island, and prominent hills such as Town Hill, Knapton Hill, and St. David's Lighthouse, while the highest hills, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, are due to the Southampton Formation.Bermuda has two major aquifers, the Langton Aquifer located within the Southampton, Rocky Bay and Belmont Formations, and the Brighton Aquifer located within the Town Hill Formation.", "Four freshwater lenses occur in Bermuda, with the Central Lens being the largest on Main Island, containing an area of and a thickness greater than .===Climate===Bermuda has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Af''), bordering very closely on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Cfa'').", "It is also an oceanic climate, common to many oceanic islands and to the western coasts of continents in the Northern Hemisphere (resulting in a more moderate climate on the western coast of Europe than on the eastern coast of North America), characterised by high relative humidity that moderates temperature, ensuring generally mild winters and summers.Bermuda is warmed by the nearby Gulf Stream.", "The islands may experience modestly cooler temperatures in January, February, and March average .", "There has never been snow, a frost or freeze on record in Bermuda.", "The hardiness zone is '''11b/12a'''.", "In other words, the coldest that the annual minimum temperature may be expected to be is around .)", "This is very high for such a latitude and is a half-zone higher than the Florida Keys.Summertime heat index in Bermuda can be high, although mid-August temperatures rarely exceed .", "The highest recorded temperature was in August 1989.The average annual temperature of the Atlantic Ocean around Bermuda is , from in February to in August.Bermuda is in the hurricane belt.", "Along the Gulf Stream, it is often directly in the path of hurricanes recurving in the westerlies, although they usually begin to weaken as they approach Bermuda, whose small size means that direct landfalls of hurricanes are rare.", "Hurricane Emily was the first to do so in three decades when it struck Bermuda without warning in 1987.The most recent hurricanes to cause significant damage to Bermuda were category 2 Hurricane Gonzalo on 18 October 2014 and category 3 Hurricane Nicole on 14 October 2016, both of which struck the island directly.", "Category 2 Hurricane Paulette directly hit the island in 2020.Before that, Hurricane Fabian on 5 September 2003 was the last major hurricane to hit Bermuda directly, with wind speeds of over , category 3).With no rivers or freshwater lakes, the only source of fresh water is rainfall, which is collected on roofs and catchments (or drawn from underground lenses) and stored in tanks.", "Each dwelling usually has at least one of these tanks forming part of its foundation.", "The law requires that each household collect rainwater that is piped down from the roof of each house.", "Average monthly rainfall is highest in October, at over , and lowest in April and May.Access to biocapacity in Bermuda is much lower than world average.", "In 2016, Bermuda had 0.14 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, far lower than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.", "In 2016 Bermuda used 7.5 global hectares of biocapacity per person — their ecological footprint of consumption.", "This means they use much more biocapacity than Bermuda contains.", "As a result, Bermuda runs a biocapacity deficit.File:1904 view of eastern Hamilton Harbour and Paget Parish from Fort Hamilton, Prospect Camp, Bermuda.jpg\|1904 view across Hamilton Harbour from Fort Hamilton of cedar-cloaked hills in Paget ParishFile:Bermuda wv.jpg\|Residential suburb near the old St. George's Garrison, with \"Town Cut Battery\" or \"Gate's Fort\" on the shore of the Town Cut, and St. George's Town and its harbour in the backgroundFile:.jpgOfficers of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), at Battalion Training at Tucker's Town, Bermuda, 1905.jpg\|Officers of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), at Battalion Training at Tucker's Town, Bermuda, 1905.Bermuda's climate means heavier temperate uniforms were by armed forces and police personnel and are worn for much of the year.File:Battalion Training at Tucker's Town Bermuda of the 3rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers.jpg\|Battalion Training at Tucker's Town Bermuda of the 3rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers, wearing lightweight khaki drills, intended as a warm climate uniform, as a summer uniform.===Flora and fauna===Ferry ReachWhite-eyed vireo (''Vireo griseus bermudianus'')When discovered, Bermuda was uninhabited by humans and mostly dominated by forests of Bermuda cedar, with mangrove marshes along its shores.", "Only 165 of the island's current 1,000 vascular plant species are considered native; fifteen of those, including the eponymous cedar, are endemic.", "The subtropical climate of Bermuda allowed settlers to introduce many species of trees and plants to the island.", "Today, many types of palm trees, fruit trees, and bananas grow on Bermuda, though the cultivated coconut palms are considered non-native and may be removed.", "The country contains the Bermuda subtropical conifer forests terrestrial ecoregion.The only indigenous mammals of Bermuda are five species of bat, all of which are also found in the eastern United States: ''Lasionycteris noctivagans'', ''Lasiurus borealis'', ''Lasiurus cinereus'', ''Lasiurus seminolus'' and ''Perimyotis subflavus''.", "Other commonly known fauna of Bermuda include its national bird, the Bermuda petrel or cahow, which was rediscovered in 1951 after having been thought extinct since the 1620s.", "The cahow is important as an example of a Lazarus species, hence the government has a programme to protect it, including restoration of its habitat areas.", "Another well-known species includes the white-tailed tropicbird, locally known as the Longtail.", "These birds come inland to breed around February to March and are Bermudians' first sign of incoming spring.The Bermuda rock lizard (or ''Bermuda rock skink'') was long thought to have been the only indigenous land vertebrate of Bermuda, discounting the marine turtles that lay their eggs on its beaches.", "However, scientists have recently discovered through genetic DNA studies that a species of turtle, the diamondback terrapin, previously thought to have been introduced to the archipelago, actually pre-dated the arrival of humans." ], [ "Demographics", "Young Bermudian man in the 19th centuryBermuda's 2016 Census put its population at 63,779 and, with an area of , it has a calculated population density of 1,201 people/km2 (3,111/mi2).", "As of July 2018, the population is estimated to be 71,176.The racial makeup of Bermuda was 52% Black, 31% White, 9% multiracial, 4% Asian, and 4% other races, these numbers being based on self-identification recorded by the 2016 census.", "The majority of those who answered \"Black\" may have any mixture of black, white or other ancestry.", "Native-born Bermudians made up 70% of the population, compared to 30% non-natives.The island experienced large-scale immigration over the 20th century, especially after World War II.", "About 64% of the population identified themselves with Bermudian ancestry in 2010, which was an increase from the 51% who did so in the 2000 census.", "Those identifying with British ancestry dropped by 1% to 11% (although those born in the United Kingdom remain the largest non-native group at 3,942 people).", "The number of people born in Canada declined by 13%.", "Those who reported West Indian ancestry were 13%.", "The number of people born in the West Indies actually increased by 538.A significant segment of the population is of Portuguese ancestry (25%), the result of immigration over the past 160 years, of whom 79% have residency status.", "In June 2018, Premier Edward David Burt announced that 4 November 2019 \"will be declared a public holiday to mark the 170th anniversary of the arrival of the first Portuguese immigrants in Bermuda\" due to the significant impact that Portuguese immigration has had on the territory.", "Those first immigrants arrived from Madeira aboard the vessel the Golden Rule on 4 November 1849.There are also several thousand expatriate workers, principally from the United Kingdom, Canada, the West Indies, South Africa, and the United States, who reside in Bermuda.", "They are primarily engaged in specialised professions such as accounting, finance, and insurance.", "Others are employed in various trades, such as hotels, restaurants, construction, and landscaping services.", "Despite the high cost of living, the high salaries offer expatriates several benefits by moving to Bermuda and working for a period of time.", "Of the total workforce of 38,947 people in 2005, government employment figures stated that 11,223 (29%) were non-Bermudians.===Languages===The predominant language in Bermuda is Bermudian English.British English spellings and conventions are used in print media and formal written communications.", "Portuguese is also spoken by migrants from the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands and their descendants.===Religion===Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles, in Hamilton, venerated by Azoreans in BermudaChristianity is the largest religion on Bermuda.", "Various Protestant denominations are dominant at 46.2% (including Anglican 15.8%; African Methodist Episcopal 8.6%; Seventh-day Adventist 6.7%; Pentecostal 3.5%; Methodist 2.7%; Presbyterian 2.0%; Church of God 1.6%; Baptist 1.2%; Salvation Army 1.1%; Brethren 1.0%; other Protestant 2.0%).", "Roman Catholics form 14.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, and other Christians 9.1%.", "The balance of the population are Muslim 1%, other 3.9%, none 17.8%, or unspecified 6.2% (2010 est.", ").The Anglican Church of Bermuda, an Anglican Communion diocese separate from the Church of England, operates the oldest non-Catholic parish in the New World, St. Peter's Church.", "Catholics are served by a single Latin diocese, the Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda." ], [ "Politics", "Queen Elizabeth II on a 1953 Bermudian stampBermuda is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, and the Government of the United Kingdom is the sovereign government.", "Executive authority in Bermuda is vested in the British monarch (currently Charles III) and is exercised on his behalf by the governor of Bermuda.", "The governor is appointed by the king on the advice of the British Government.", "Since December 2020, the governor is Rena Lalgie; she was sworn in on 14 December 2020.There is also a deputy governor (currently Alison Crocket).", "Defence and foreign affairs are the responsibility of the United Kingdom, which also retains responsibility to ensure good government and must approve any changes to the Constitution of Bermuda.", "Bermuda is Britain's oldest overseas territory.", "Although the UK Parliament retains ultimate legislative authority over the territory, in 1620, a Royal Proclamation granted Bermuda limited self-governance, delegating to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Bermuda the internal legislation of the colony.", "The Parliament of Bermuda is the fifth oldest legislature in the world, behind the Sejm of Poland, the Parliament of England, the Tynwald of the Isle of Man, and the Althing of Iceland.State House in St. George's, the home of Bermuda's parliament between 1620 and 1815Sessions House in Hamilton, current home of the House of Assembly and the Supreme CourtThe Constitution of Bermuda came into force in 1968 and has been amended several times since then.", "The head of government is the premier of Bermuda; a cabinet is nominated by the premier and appointed officially by the governor.", "The legislative branch consists of a bicameral parliament modelled on the Westminster system.", "The Senate is the upper house, consisting of 11 members appointed by the governor on the advice of the premier and the leader of the opposition.", "The House of Assembly, or lower house, has 36 members, elected by the eligible voting populace in secret ballot to represent geographically defined constituencies.Elections for the Parliament of Bermuda must be called at no more than five-year intervals.", "The most recent took place on 1 October 2020.Following this election, the Progressive Labour Party held onto power, with Edward David Burt sworn in as Premier for the second time.There are few accredited diplomats in Bermuda.", "The United States maintains the largest diplomatic mission in Bermuda, comprising both the United States Consulate and the US Customs and Border Protection Services at the L.F. Wade International Airport.", "The United States is Bermuda's largest trading partner (providing over 71% of total imports, 85% of tourist visitors, and an estimated $163 billion of US capital in the Bermuda insurance/re-insurance industry).", "According to the 2016 Bermuda census 5.6% of Bermuda residents were born in the US, representing over 18% of all foreign-born people.===Nationality and citizenship===A British passport as issued by the Department of Immigration of the Government of Bermuda on behalf of the Passport Office of the Government of the United Kingdom, and often erroneously described as a Bermudian passportHistorically, English (later British) colonials shared the same citizenship as those born within that part of the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of England (including the Principality of Wales) that lay within the Island of Britain (although the Magna Carta had effectively created English citizenship, citizens were still termed 'subjects of the King of England' or 'English subjects'.", "With the 1707 union of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, this was replaced with 'British Subject', which encompassed citizens throughout the sovereign territory of the British Government, including its colonies, though not the British protectorates).", "With no representation at the sovereign or national level of government, British colonials were therefore not consulted, or required to give their consent, to a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1968 and 1982, which were to limit their rights and ultimately change their citizenship.When several colonies had been elevated before the Second World War to Dominion status, collectively forming the old British Commonwealth (as distinct from the United Kingdom and its dependent colonies), their citizens remained British Subjects, and in theory, any British Subject born anywhere in the World had the same basic right to enter, reside, and work in the United Kingdom as a British Subject born in the United Kingdom whose parents were also both British Subjects born in the United Kingdom (although many governmental policies and practices acted to thwart the free exercise of these rights by various groups of colonials, including Greek Cypriots).When the Dominions and an increasing number of colonies began choosing complete independence from the United Kingdom after the Second World War, the Commonwealth was transformed into a community of independent nations, or Commonwealth Realms, each recognising the British monarch as its own head of state (creating separate monarchies with the same person occupying all of the separate Thrones; the exception being republican India).", "'British Subject' was replaced by the British Nationality Act 1948 with 'Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies' for the residents of the United Kingdom and its colonies, as well as for the Crown Dependencies.", "However, as it was desired to retain free movement for all Commonwealth Citizens throughout the Commonwealth, 'British Subject' was retained as a blanket nationality shared by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (the 'British realm') as well as the citizens of the various other Commonwealth realms.", "The inflow of people of colour to the United Kingdom in the 1940s and 1950s from both the remaining colonies and newly independent Commonwealth nations was responded to with a backlash that led to the passing of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, which restricted the rights of Commonwealth nationals to enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom.", "This Act also allowed certain colonials (primarily ethnic-Indians in African colonies) to retain Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies if their colonies became independent, which was intended as a measure to ensure these people did not become stateless if they were denied the citizenship of their newly independent nation.Many ethnic-Indians from former African colonies (notably Kenya) subsequently relocated to the United Kingdom, in response to which the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 was rapidly passed, stripping all British Subjects (including Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies) who were not born in the United Kingdom, and who did not have a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies parent or grandparent born in the United Kingdom or some other qualification (such as existing residence status), of the rights to freely enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom.Although the 1968 Act was intended primarily to bar immigration of specific British passport holders from Commonwealth countries in Africa, it amended the wording of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 in such a way as to apply to all Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who were not specifically excepted, including most colonials.This was followed by the Immigration Act 1971, which effectively divided Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies into two types, although their citizenship remained the same: Patrials, who were those from (or with a specified qualifying connection to) the United Kingdom itself, who retained the rights of free entry, abode, and work in the United Kingdom; and those born in the colonies (or in foreign countries to British Colonial parents), from whom those rights were denied.The British Nationality Act 1981, which entered into force on 1 January 1983, abolished British Subject status, and stripped colonials of their full British Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, replacing it with British Dependent Territories Citizenship, which entailed no right of abode or to work anywhere.", "This left Bermudians and most other erstwhile British colonials as British nationals without the rights of British citizenship.The exceptions were the Gibraltarians (permitted to retain British Citizenship in order to also retain Citizenship of the European Union) and the Falkland Islanders, who were permitted to retain the same new British Citizenship that became the default citizenship for those from the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies.The stripping of birthright citizenship from Bermudians by the British Government in 1968 and 1971, and the change of their citizenship in 1983, violated the rights granted them by Royal Charters at the founding of the colony.", "Bermuda (fully The Somers Isles or Islands of Bermuda) had been settled by the London Company (which had been in occupation of the archipelago since the 1609 wreck of the Sea Venture) in 1612, when it received its Third Royal Charter from King James I, amending the boundaries of the First Colony of Virginia far enough across the Atlantic to include Bermuda.", "The citizenship rights guaranteed to settlers by King James I in the original Royal Charter of 10 April 1606, thereby applied to Bermudians:These rights were confirmed in the Royal Charter granted to the London Company's spin-off, the Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles, in 1615 on Bermuda being separated from Virginia:Bermuda is not the only territory whose citizenship rights were laid down in a Royal Charter.", "In regards to St. Helena, Lord Beaumont of Whitley in the House of Lords debate on the British Overseas Territories Bill on 10 July 2001, stated:Some Conservative Party backbenchers stated that it was the unpublished intention of the Conservative British Government to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and all of the remaining territories once Hong Kong had been handed over to China.", "Whether this was so will never be known as by 1997 the Labour Party was in Government.", "The Labour Party had declared prior to the election that the colonies had been ill-treated by the British Nationality Act 1981, and it had made a pledge to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and the remaining territories part of its election manifesto.", "Other matters took precedence, however, and this commitment was not acted upon during Labour's first term in Government.", "The House of Lords, in which many former colonial Governors sat (including former Governor of Bermuda Lord Waddington), lost patience and tabled and passed its own bill, then handed it down to the House of Commons to confirm in 2001.As a result, the British Dependent Territories were renamed the British Overseas Territories in 2002 (the term 'dependent territory' had caused much ire in the former colonies, especially well-heeled and self-reliant Bermuda, as it implied not only that British Dependent Territories Citizens were 'other than British', but that their relationship to Britain and to 'real British people' was both inferior and parasitic).At the same time, although Labour had promised a return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies, and all remaining territories, British Dependent Territories Citizenship, renamed British Overseas Territories Citizenship, remained the default citizenship for the territories, other than the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar (for which British Citizenship is still the default citizenship).", "The bars to residence and work in the United Kingdom that had been raised against holders of British Dependent Territories Citizenship by The British Nationality Act 1981 were, however, removed, and British Citizenship was made attainable by simply obtaining a second British passport with the citizenship recorded as British Citizen (requiring a change to passport legislation as prior to 2002, it had been illegal to possess two British Passports).In March 2021, the government implemented a new visa policy towards foreigners, through which residency can be obtained by way of investing at least $2.5 million in \"real estate, Bermuda government bonds, a contribution to the island's debt relief fund or the Bermuda Trust Fund, and charity\", among other options.", "According to the Labour Minister, Jason Hayward, this step had to be taken to relieve some of the country's debt resulting from the Covid pandemic.===Administrative divisions===Parishes of BermudaBermuda is divided into nine parishes and two incorporated municipalities.Bermuda's nine parishes are:* Devonshire* Hamilton* Paget* Pembroke* Sandys* Smith's* Southampton* St George's* WarwickBermuda's two incorporated municipalities are:* Hamilton (city)* St George's (town)Bermuda's two informal villages are:* Flatts Village* Somerset VillageJones Village in Warwick, Cashew City (St. George's), Claytown (Hamilton), Middle Town (Pembroke), and Tucker's Town (St. George's) are neighbourhoods (the original settlement at Tucker's Town was replaced with a golf course in the 1920s and the few houses in the area today are mostly on the water's edge of Castle Harbour or the adjacent peninsula); Dandy Town and North Village are sports clubs, and Harbour View Village is a small public housing development.===International relations===As a British Overseas Territory, Bermuda does not have a seat in the United Nations; it is represented by Britain in matters of foreign affairs.", "To promote its economic interests abroad, Bermuda maintains representative offices in London and Washington, D.C. Only the United States and Portugal have full-time diplomatic representation in Bermuda (the U.S. maintains a Consulate-General, and Portugal maintains a Consulate), while 17 countries maintain honorary consuls in Bermuda.Bermuda's proximity to the US had made it attractive as the site for summit conferences between British prime ministers and US presidents.", "The first summit was held in December 1953, at the insistence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to discuss relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.", "Participants included Churchill, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower and French premier Joseph Laniel.In 1957 a second summit conference was held.", "The British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, arrived earlier than President Eisenhower, to demonstrate they were meeting on British territory, as tensions were still high regarding the previous year's conflict over the Suez Canal.", "Macmillan returned in 1961 for the third summit with President John F. Kennedy.", "The meeting was called to discuss Cold War tensions arising from construction of the Berlin Wall.The most recent summit conference in Bermuda between the two powers occurred in 1990, when British prime minister Margaret Thatcher met US president George H. W. Bush.Direct meetings between the president of the United States and the premier of Bermuda have been rare.", "The most recent meeting was on 23 June 2008, between Premier Ewart Brown and President George W. Bush.", "Prior to this, the leaders of Bermuda and the United States had not met at the White House since a 1996 meeting between Premier David Saul and President Bill Clinton.Bermuda has also joined several other jurisdictions in efforts to protect the Sargasso Sea.In 2013 and 2017 Bermuda chaired the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association.====Asylum offer to four former Guantánamo detainees====On 11 June 2009, four Uyghurs who had been held in the United States Guantánamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, were transferred to Bermuda.", "The four men were among 22 Uyghurs who claimed to be refugees who were captured in 2001 in Pakistan after fleeing the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan.", "They were accused of training to assist the Taliban's military.", "They were cleared as safe for release from Guantánamo in 2005 or 2006, but US domestic law prohibited deporting them back to China, their country of citizenship, because the US government determined that China was likely to violate their human rights.In September 2008, the men were cleared of all suspicion and Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington ordered their release.", "Congressional opposition to their admittance to the United States was very strong and the US failed to find a home for them until Bermuda and Palau agreed to accept the 22 men in June 2009.The secret bilateral discussions that led to prisoner transfers between the US and the devolved Bermuda government sparked diplomatic ire from the United Kingdom, which was not consulted on the move despite Bermuda being a British territory.", "The British Foreign Office issued the following statement:In August 2018, the four Uyghurs were granted limited citizenship in Bermuda.", "The men now have the same rights as Bermudians except the right to vote.====British North America, British West Indies and the Caribbean Community====The British Government originally grouped Bermuda with North America (given its proximity, and Bermuda having been established as an extension of the Colony of Virginia, and with Carolina Colony, the nearest landfall, having been settled from Bermuda).", "After the acknowledgement by the British Government of the independence of thirteen continental colonies (including Virginia and the Carolinas) in 1783, Bermuda was generally grouped regionally by the British Government with The Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador (and more widely, as part of British North America), substantially nearer to Bermuda than is the Caribbean.From 1783 through 1801, the British Empire, including British North America, was administered by the Home Office and by the Home Secretary, then from 1801 to 1854 by the War Office (which became the ''War and Colonial Office'') and Secretary of State for War and Colonies (as the Secretary of State for War was renamed).", "From 1824, the British Empire was divided by the War and Colonial Office into four administrative departments, including ''North America'', the ''West Indies'', ''Mediterranean and Africa'', and ''Eastern Colonies'', of which North America included:; North America:: Upper Canada, Lower Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island: Bermuda, NewfoundlandThe Colonial Office and War Office, and the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Secretary of State for War, were separated in 1854.The War Office, from then until the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada, split the military administration of the British colonial and foreign stations into nine districts:; North America and North Atlantic;; West Indies;; Mediterranean;; West Coast of Africa and South Atlantic;; South Africa;; Egypt and the Sudan;; Indian Ocean;; Australasia;; China.North America and North Atlantic included the following 'stations' (or garrisons):'''North America and North Atlantic''': New Westminster (British Columbia): Newfoundland: Quebec: Halifax: Kingston, Canada West: BermudaMilitary Governors and Staff Officers in British North America and West Indies, 1778 and 1784However, with the confederation of the Canadas and the Maritimes and their attainment of Dominion status in the 1860s, the British political, naval and military hierarchy in Bermuda became increasingly separated from that of the Canadian Government (the Royal Navy headquarters for the North America and West Indies Station had spent summers at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and winters at Bermuda, but settled at Bermuda year round with the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax finally being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1907, and the Bermuda Garrison had been placed under the military Commander-in-Chief America in New York during the American War of Independence, and had been part of the Nova Scotia Command thereafter, but became the separate ''Bermuda Command'' from the 1860s with the Major-General or Lieutenant-General appointed as Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda also filling the civil role of Governor of Bermuda), and Bermuda was increasingly perceived by the British Government as in, or at least grouped for convenience with, the British West Indies (although the established Church of England in Bermuda, which from 1825 to 1839 had been attached to the See of Nova Scotia) remained part of the Diocese of Newfoundland and Bermuda until 1879, when the Synod of the Church of England in Bermuda was formed and a Diocese of Bermuda became separate from the Diocese of Newfoundland, but continued to be grouped under the ''Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda'' until 1919, when Newfoundland and Bermuda each received its own bishop.", "Newfoundland attained Dominion status in 1907, leaving the nearest other territories to Bermuda that were still within the British Realm (a term which replaced ''Dominion'' in 1952 as the dominions and many colonies moved towards full political independence) as the British colonies in the British West Indies.Other denominations also at one time included Bermuda with Nova Scotia or Canada.", "Following the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic worship was outlawed in England (subsequently ''Britain'') and its colonies, including Bermuda, until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791, and operated thereafter under restrictions until the Twentieth Century.", "Once Roman Catholic worship was established, Bermuda formed part of the Archdiocese of Halifax, Nova Scotia until 1953, when it was separated to become the Apostolic Prefecture of Bermuda Islands.", "The congregation of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bermuda (St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, erected in 1885 in Hamilton Parish) had previously been part of the British Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada.Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in July 2003, despite not being in the Caribbean region.CARICOM is a socio-economic bloc of nations in or near the Caribbean Sea established in 1973.Other outlying member states include the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname in South America, and Belize in Central America.", "The Turks and Caicos Islands, an associate member of CARICOM, and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, a full member of CARICOM, are in the Atlantic, but close to the Caribbean.", "Other nearby nations or territories, such as the United States, are not members (although the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has observer status, and the United States Virgin Islands announced in 2007 that they would seek ties with CARICOM).", "Bermuda has minimal trade with the Caribbean region, and little in common with it economically, being roughly from the Caribbean Sea; it joined CARICOM primarily to strengthen cultural links with the region.Among some scholars, \"the Caribbean\" can be a socio-historical category, commonly referring to a cultural zone characterised by the legacy of slavery (a characteristic Bermuda shared with the Caribbean and the US) and the plantation system (which did not exist in Bermuda).", "It embraces the islands and parts of the neighbouring continent, and may be extended to include the Caribbean Diaspora overseas.The PLP, which was the party in government when the decision was made to join CARICOM, has been dominated for decades by West Indians and their descendants.", "The prominent roles of West Indians among Bermuda's black politicians and labour activists predated party politics in Bermuda, as exemplified by E. F. Gordon.", "The late PLP leader, Dame Lois Browne-Evans, and her Trinidadian-born husband, John Evans (who co-founded the ''West Indian Association of Bermuda'' in 1976), were prominent members of this group.", "A generation later, PLP politicians included Senator Rolfe Commissiong (son of Trinidadian musician Rudolph Patrick Commissiong).", "They have emphasised Bermuda's cultural connections with the West Indies.", "Many Bermudians, both black and white, who lack family connections to the West Indies have objected to this emphasis.The decision to join CARICOM stirred up a huge amount of debate and speculation among the Bermudian community and politicians.", "Opinion polls conducted by two Bermudian newspapers, ''The Royal Gazette'' and ''The Bermuda Sun'', showed that clear majorities of Bermudians were opposed to joining CARICOM.The UBP, which had been in government from 1968 to 1998, argued that joining CARICOM was detrimental to Bermuda's interests, in that:* Bermuda's trade with the West Indies is negligible, its primary economic partners being the US, Canada, and UK (it has no direct air or shipping links to Caribbean islands);* CARICOM is moving towards a single economy;* the Caribbean islands are generally competitors to Bermuda's already ailing tourism industry; and* participation in CARICOM would involve considerable investment of money and the time of government officials that could more profitably be spent elsewhere.===Police===Law enforcement in Bermuda is provided chiefly by the Bermuda Police Service and is also supported with the Customs Department and Immigration Department.", "During certain times the Royal Bermuda Regiment can be called in to assist law enforcement personnel.===Military and defence===The First Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps Contingent, raised in 1914.By the war's end, the two BVRC contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength.Remembrance Day Parade, Hamilton, BermudaA former Imperial fortress colony once known as \"the Gibraltar of the West\" and \"Fortress Bermuda\", defence of Bermuda, as part of the British nation-state, is the responsibility of the British Government.For the first two centuries of settlement, the most potent armed force operating from Bermuda was its merchant shipping fleet, which turned to privateering at every opportunity.", "The Bermuda government maintained a local (infantry) militia and fortified coastal artillery batteries manned by volunteer artillerymen.", "Bermuda tended toward the Royalist side during the English Civil War, being the first of six colonies to recognise Charles II as King on the execution of his father, Charles I, in 1649, and was one of those targeted by the Rump Parliament in An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego, which was passed on 30 October 1650.With control of the \"army\" (the militia and coastal artillery), the colony's Royalists deposed the Governor, Captain Thomas Turner, elected John Trimingham to replace him, and exiled many of its Parliamentary leaning Independents to settle the Bahamas under William Sayle as the Eleutheran Adventurers.", "Bermuda's barrier reef, coastal artillery batteries and militia provided a defence too powerful for the fleet sent in 1651 by Parliament under the command of Admiral Sir George Ayscue to capture the Royalist colonies.", "The Parliamentary Navy was consequently forced to blockade Bermuda for several months 'til the Bermudians negotiated a peace.After the American Revolutionary War, Bermuda was established as the Western Atlantic headquarters of the ''North America Station'' (later called the North America and West Indies Station, and later still the ''America and West Indies Station'' as it absorbed other stations) of the Royal Navy.", "Once the Royal Navy established a base and dockyard defended by regular soldiers, however, the militias were disbanded following the War of 1812.At the end of the 19th century, the colony raised volunteer units to form a reserve for the military garrison.Due to its isolated location in the North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda was vital to the Allies' war effort during both world wars of the 20th century, serving as a marshalling point for trans-Atlantic convoys, as well as a naval air base.", "By the Second World War, both the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force were operating Seaplane bases on Bermuda.In May 1940, the US requested base rights in Bermuda from the United Kingdom, but British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was initially unwilling to accede to the American request without getting something in return.", "In September 1940, as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, the UK granted the US base rights in Bermuda.", "Bermuda and Newfoundland were not originally included in the agreement, but both were added to it, with no war material received by the UK in exchange.", "One of the terms of the agreement was that the airfield the US Army built would be used jointly by the US and the UK (which it was for the duration of the war, with RAF Transport Command relocating there from Darrell's Island in 1943).", "The US Army established the Bermuda Base Command in 1941 to co-ordinate its air, anti-aircraft, and coast artillery assets during the war.", "The US Navy operated a submarine base on Ordnance Island from 1942 through 1945.Construction began in 1941 of two airbases consisting of of land, largely reclaimed from the sea.", "For many years, Bermuda's bases were used by US Air Force transport and refuelling aircraft and by US Navy aircraft patrolling the Atlantic for enemy submarines, first German and, later, Soviet.", "The principal installation, Kindley Air Force Base on the eastern coast, was transferred to the US Navy in 1970 and redesignated Naval Air Station Bermuda.", "As a naval air station, the base continued to host both transient and deployed USN and USAF aircraft, as well as transitioning or deployed Royal Air Force and Canadian Forces aircraft.The original NAS Bermuda on the west side of the island, a seaplane base until the mid-1960s, was designated as the Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex.", "It provided optional anchorage and dockage facilities for transiting US Navy, US Coast Guard and NATO vessels, depending on size.", "An additional US Navy compound known as Naval Facility Bermuda (NAVFAC Bermuda), a submarine-detecting SOSUS station, was located to the west of the Annex near a Canadian Forces communications facility in the Tudor Hill area; it was converted from a US Army coast artillery bunker in 1954 and operated until 1995.Although leased for 99 years, US forces withdrew in 1995, as part of the wave of base closures following the end of the Cold War.Canada, which had operated a war-time naval base, HMCS ''Somers Isles'', on the old Royal Navy base at Convict Bay, St George's, also established a radio-listening post at Daniel's Head in the West End of the islands during this time.In the 1950s, after the end of World War II, the Royal Naval dockyard and the military garrison were closed.", "A small Royal Navy supply base, HMS ''Malabar'', continued to operate within the dockyard area, supporting transiting Royal Navy ships and submarines until it, too, was closed in 1995, along with the American and Canadian bases.HMS ''Ambuscade'' at the Royal Naval Dockyard in 1988Bermudians served in the British armed forces during both World War I and World War II.", "After the latter, Major-General Glyn Charles Anglim Gilbert, Bermuda's highest-ranking soldier, was instrumental in developing the Bermuda Regiment.", "A number of other Bermudians and their descendants had preceded him into senior ranks, including Bahamian-born Admiral Lord Gambier, and Bermudian-born Royal Marines Brigadier Harvey.", "When promoted to brigadier at age 39, following his wounding at the Anzio landings, Harvey became the youngest-ever Royal Marine Brigadier.", "The Cenotaph in front of the Cabinet Building (in Hamilton) was erected in tribute to Bermuda's Great War dead (the tribute was later extended to Bermuda's Second World War dead) and is the site of the annual Remembrance Day commemoration.Today, the only military unit remaining in Bermuda, other than naval and army cadet corps, is the Royal Bermuda Regiment, an amalgam of the voluntary units originally formed toward the end of the 19th century.", "Although the Regiment's predecessors were voluntary units, until 2018 the modern body was formed primarily by conscription: balloted males were required to serve for three years, two months part-time, once they turn 18.Conscription was abolished 1 July 2018.In early 2020 Bermuda formed the Bermuda Coast Guard.", "Its 24-hour on-duty service includes search and rescue, counter-narcotics operations, border control, and protection of Bermuda's maritime interests.", "The Bermuda Coast Guard will interact with the Bermuda Regiment, Bermuda Police Service." ], [ "Economy", "A proportional representation of Bermuda exports, 2019Front Street, HamiltonBermuda electricity production by sourceBanking and other financial services now form the largest sector of the economy at about 85% of GDP, with tourism being the second largest industry at 5%.", "Industrial and agriculture activities occur; however, these are on a very limited scale and Bermuda is heavily reliant on imports.", "Living standards are high and as of 2019 Bermuda has the 6th-highest GDP per capita in the world.===1890s to 1920s: economy severely affected by lily virus===Early Easter Lily bulb exports to New York—then vital financially for Bermuda—became badly diseased from the late 19th century to the mid-1920s.", "Lawrence Ogilvie, the Department of Agriculture plant pathologist saved the industry by identifying the problem as a virus (not aphid damage as previously thought) and instituting controls in the fields and packing houses.", "Exports showed a marked improvement: from 23 cases of lily bulbs in 1918, to 6,043 cases in 1927 from the 204 lily fields then in existence.", "Still in his 20s at the time, Ogilvie was professionally honoured by an article in ''Nature'' magazine.", "The lily export trade continued to flourish until the 1940s when the Japanese captured much of the market.===Currency===In 1970, the country switched its currency from the Bermudian pound to the Bermudian dollar, which is pegged at par with the US dollar.", "US notes and coins are used interchangeably with Bermudian notes and coins within the islands for most practical purposes; however, banks levy an exchange rate fee for the purchase of US dollars with Bermudian dollars.", "The Bermuda Monetary Authority is the issuing authority for all banknotes and coins and regulates financial institutions.===Finance===Bermuda is an offshore financial centre, which results from its minimal standards of business regulation/laws and direct taxation on personal or corporate income.", "It has one of the highest consumption taxes in the world and taxes all imports in lieu of an income tax system.", "Bermuda's consumption tax is equivalent to local income tax to local residents and funds government and infrastructure expenditures.", "The local tax system depends upon import duties, payroll taxes and consumption taxes.", "Foreign private individuals cannot easily open bank accounts or subscribe to mobile phone or internet services.Having no corporate income tax, Bermuda is a popular tax avoidance location.", "Google, for example, is known to have shifted over $10 billion in revenue to its Bermuda subsidiary utilising the Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich tax avoidance strategies, reducing its 2011 tax liability by $2 billion.", "The Bermuda Black Hole is another tax avoidance method in which untaxed profits end up in Bermuda.Large numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in Bermuda.", "Those internationally owned and operated businesses that are physically based in Bermuda (around four hundred) are represented by the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC).", "In total, over 15,000 exempted or international companies are currently registered with the Registrar of Companies in Bermuda, most of which hold no office space or employees.The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) specialises in listing and trading of capital market instruments such as equities, debt issues, funds (including hedge fund structures) and depository receipt programmes.", "The BSX is a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges and is located in an OECD member nation.", "It also has Approved Stock Exchange status under Australia's Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) taxation rules and Designated Investment Exchange status by the UK's Financial Services Authority.Four banks operate in Bermuda, having consolidated total assets of $24.3 billion (March 2014).===Tourism===One of Bermuda's pink-sand beaches at Astwood ParkView of Harrington Sound from behind Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and ZooTourism is Bermuda's second-largest industry, with the island attracting over half a million visitors annually, of whom more than 80% are from the United States.", "Other significant sources of visitors are from Canada and the United Kingdom.", "However, the sector is vulnerable to external shocks, such as the 2008 recession.===Housing===The affordability of housing became a prominent issue during Bermuda's business peak in 2005 but has softened with the decline of Bermuda's real estate prices.", "The World Factbook lists the average cost of a house in June 2003 as $976,000, while real estate agencies have claimed that this figure had risen to between $1.6 million and $1.845 million by 2007, though such high figures have been disputed." ], [ "Education", "The Bermuda Education Act 1996 requires that only three categories of schools can operate in the Bermuda Education system:* An ''aided school'' has all or a part of its property vested in a body of trustees or board of governors and is partially maintained by public funding or, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, has received a grant-in-aid out of public funds.", "* A ''maintained school'' has the whole of its property belonging to the Government and is fully maintained by public funds.", "* A ''private school'', not maintained by public funds and which has not, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, received any capital grant-in-aid out of public funds.", "The private school sector consists of six traditional private schools, two of which are religious schools, and the remaining four are secular with one of these being a single-gender school and another a Montessori school.", "Also, within the private sector there are a number of home schools, which must be registered with the government and receive minimal government regulation.", "The only boys' school opened its doors to girls in the 1990s, and in 1996, one of the aided schools became a private school.Prior to 1950, the Bermuda school system was racially segregated.", "When the desegregation of schools was enacted in 1965, two of the formerly maintained \"white\" schools and both single-sex schools opted to become private schools.", "The rest became part of the public school system and were either aided or maintained.There are 38 schools in the Bermuda Public School System, including 10 preschools, 18 primary schools, 5 middle schools, 2 senior schools (The Berkeley Institute and Cedarbridge Academy), 1 school for students with physical and cognitive challenges, and 1 for students with behavioural problems.", "There is one aided primary school, two aided middle schools, and one aided senior school.", "Since 2010, Portuguese has been taught as an optional foreign language in the Bermudian school system.For higher education, the Bermuda College offers various associate degrees and other certificate programmes.", "Bermuda does not have any Bachelor-level colleges or universities.", "Bermuda's graduates usually attend Bachelor-level universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.In May 2009, the Bermudian Government's application was approved to become a contributory member of the University of the West Indies (UWI).", "Bermuda's membership enabled Bermudian students to enter the university at an agreed-upon subsidised rate by 2010.UWI also agreed that its Open Campus (online degree courses) would become open to Bermudian students in the future, with Bermuda becoming the 13th country to have access to the Open Campus.", "In 2010, it was announced that Bermuda would be an \"associate contributing country\" due to local Bermudian laws." ], [ "Culture", "IOD sloop and a 19th-century Bermudian working boat in BermudaBermuda's culture is a mixture of the various sources of its population: Native American, Spanish-Caribbean, English, Irish, and Scots cultures were evident in the 17th century, and became part of the dominant British culture.", "English is the primary and official language.", "Due to 160 years of immigration from Portuguese Atlantic islands (primarily the Azores, though also from Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands), a portion of the population also speaks Portuguese.", "There are strong British influences, together with Afro-Caribbean ones.The first notable, and historically important, book credited to a Bermudian was ''The History of Mary Prince'', a slave narrative by Mary Prince.", "The book was published in 1831 at the height of Great Britain's abolitionist movement.", "Ernest Graham Ingham, an expatriate author, published his books at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.", "The novelist Brian Burland (1931– 2010) achieved a degree of success and acclaim internationally.", "More recently, Angela Barry has won critical recognition for her published fiction.===Arts===West Indian musicians introduced calypso music when Bermuda's tourist industry was expanded with the increase of visitors brought by post-Second World War aviation.", "Local icons the Talbot Brothers performed calypso music for many decades both in Bermuda and the United States, and appeared on the ''Ed Sullivan Show''.", "While calypso appealed more to tourists than to the local residents, reggae has been embraced by many Bermudians since the 1970s with the influx of Jamaican immigrants.Gombey dancers from Bermuda at the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.Noted Bermudian musicians include operatic tenor Gary Burgess; jazz pianist Lance Hayward; singer-songwriter and poet, Heather Nova, and her brother Mishka, reggae musician; classical musician and conductor Kenneth Amis; and more recently, dancehall artist Collie Buddz.The dances of the Gombey dancers, seen at many events, are strongly influenced by African, Caribbean and British cultural traditions.Alfred Birdsey was one of the more famous and talented watercolourists, known for his impressionistic landscapes of Hamilton, St George's, and the surrounding sailboats, homes, and bays of Bermuda.", "Hand-carved cedar sculptures are another speciality.", "In 2010, his sculpture ''We Arrive'' was unveiled in Barr's Bay Park, overlooking Hamilton Harbour, to commemorate the freeing of slaves in 1835 from the American brig ''Enterprise''.Local resident Tom Butterfield founded the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art in 1986, initially featuring works about Bermuda by artists from other countries.", "He began with pieces by American artists, such as Winslow Homer, Charles Demuth, and Georgia O'Keeffe, who had lived and worked on Bermuda.", "In 2008, the museum opened its new building, constructed within the Botanical Gardens.Bermuda hosts an annual international film festival, which shows many independent films.", "One of the founders is film producer and director Arthur Rankin Jr., co-founder of the Rankin/Bass production company.===Sport===The football team of 95 Company, Royal Garrison Artillery, victors in the 1917 Governor's Cup football match, pose with the cup.", "The cup was contested annually by teams from the various Royal Navy, British Army Bermuda Garrison, and Royal Air Force units stationed in Bermuda.Many sports popular today were formalised by British public schools and universities in the 19th century.", "These schools produced the civil servants and military and naval officers required to build and maintain the British Empire, and team sports were considered a vital tool for training their students to think and act as part of a team.", "Former public schoolboys continued to pursue these activities, and founded organisations such as the Football Association (FA).Bermuda's role as the primary Royal Navy base in the Western Hemisphere ensured that the naval and military officers quickly introduced the newly formalised sports to Bermuda, including cricket, football, rugby football, and even tennis and rowing.Bermuda's national cricket team participated in the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies but were knocked out of the World Cup.", "The Bermuda national football team managed to qualify to the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the country's first ever major football competition.", "In 2007, Bermuda hosted the 25th PGA Grand Slam of Golf.", "This 36-hole event was held on 16–17 October 2007, at the Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town.", "This season-ending tournament is limited to four golfers: the winners of the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship.", "The event returned to Bermuda in 2008 and 2009.One-armed Bermudian golfer Quinn Talbot was both the United States National Amputee Golf Champion for five successive years and the British World One-Arm Golf Champion.IOD racer on a mooring in Hamilton HarbourThe Government announced in 2006 that it would provide substantial financial support to Bermuda's cricket and football teams.", "Football did not become popular with Bermudians until after the Second World War.", "Bermuda's most prominent footballers are Clyde Best, Shaun Goater, Kyle Lightbourne, Reggie Lambe, Sam Nusum and Nahki Wells.", "In 2006, the Bermuda Hogges were formed as the nation's first professional football team to raise the standard of play for the Bermuda national football team.", "The team played in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division but folded in 2013.Sailing, fishing and equestrian sports are popular with both residents and visitors alike.", "The prestigious Newport–Bermuda Yacht Race is a more than 100-year-old tradition, with boats racing between Newport, Rhode Island, and Bermuda.", "In 2007, the 16th biennial Marion-Bermuda yacht race occurred.", "A sport unique to Bermuda is racing the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy.", "International One Design racing also originated in Bermuda.At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Bermuda competed in sailing, athletics, swimming, diving, triathlon and equestrian events.", "In those Olympics, Bermuda's Katura Horton-Perinchief made history by becoming the first black female diver to compete in the Olympic Games.", "Bermuda has had two Olympic medallists, Clarence Hill - who won a bronze medal in boxing - and Flora Duffy, who won a gold medal in triathlon.", "It is tradition for Bermuda to march in the Opening Ceremony in Bermuda shorts, regardless of the summer or winter Olympic celebration.", "Bermuda also competes in the biennial Island Games, which it hosted in 2013.In 1998, Bermuda established its own Basketball Association." ], [ "Healthcare", "The Bermuda Hospitals Board operates the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, located in Paget Parish, and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, located in Devonshire Parish.", "Boston's Lahey Medical Center has an established visiting specialists program on the island which provides Bermudians and expats with access to specialists regularly on the island.", "There were about 6,000 hospital admissions, 30,000 emergency department attendances and 6,300 outpatient procedures in 2017.Unlike the other territories that still remain under British rule, Bermuda does not have national healthcare.", "Employers must provide a healthcare plan and pay for up to 50% of the cost for each employee.", "Healthcare is a mandatory requirement and is expensive, even with the help provided by employers.", "There are only a few approved healthcare providers that offer insurance to Bermudians.", ", these were the Bermudian government's Health Insurance Department, three other approved licensed health insurance companies, and three approved health insurance schemes (provided by the Bermudian government for its employees and by two banks).There are no paramedics on the island.", "The Bermuda Hospitals Board said in 2018 that they were not vital in Bermuda because of its small size.", "Nurse practitioners on the island, of which there are not many, can be granted authority to write prescriptions \"under the authority of a medical practitioner\".===COVID-19 pandemic===The Minister for Health during the COVID-19 pandemic was Kim Wilson, who led the territory's approach with \"an abundance of caution\"." ], [ "See also", "* Notable cultural people of Bermuda* Economy of Bermuda* Notable historical people of Bermuda* Index of Bermuda-related articles* Notable sporting people of Bermuda* Outline of Bermuda* Places of interest in Bermuda* Notable political people of Bermuda* Telecommunications in Bermuda" ], [ "Explanatory notes" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== General and cited references ===* * * " ], [ "Further reading", " Anonymous, but probably written by John Smith (1580–1631): ''The Historye of the Bermudaes or Summer Islands''.", "University of Cambridge Press, 2010..* Boultbee, Paul G., and David F. Raine.", "''Bermuda''.", "Oxford: ABC-Clio Press, 1998.", "* Connell, John.", "(1994).", "\"Britain's Caribbean colonies: The End of the Era of Decolonisation?\"", "''The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics'', 32(1), 87–106.." ], [ "External links", " of the Government of Bermuda* Bermuda Tourism* Bermuda Guide* Bermuda Parliament* Bermuda Chamber of commerce* Bermuda's British Army forts from 1609 (archived 26 September 2006)*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bolivia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bolivia''', officially the '''Plurinational State of Bolivia''', is a landlocked country located in western-central South America.", "It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west.", "The seat of government and administrative capital is La Paz, which contains the executive, legislative, and electoral branches of government, while the constitutional capital is Sucre, the seat of the judiciary.", "The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales (tropical lowlands), a mostly flat region in the east of the country.The sovereign state of Bolivia is a constitutionally unitary state, divided into nine departments.", "Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands, situated within the Amazon basin.", "One-third of the country is within the Andean mountain range.", "With of area, Bolivia is the fifth largest country in South America, after Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia (and alongside Paraguay, one of the only two landlocked countries in the Americas), the 27th largest in the world, the largest landlocked country in the Southern Hemisphere, and the world's seventh largest landlocked country, after Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Chad, Niger, Mali, and Ethiopia.The country's population, estimated at 12 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians, and Africans.", "Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara, and Quechua languages.Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, while the northern and eastern lowlands were inhabited by independent tribes.", "Spanish ''conquistadors'' arriving from Cusco and Asunción took control of the region in the 16th century.", "During the Spanish colonial period Bolivia was administered by the Real Audiencia of Charcas.", "Spain built its empire in large part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivia's mines.", "After the first call for independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar.", "Over the course of the 19th and early 20th century Bolivia lost control of several peripheral territories to neighboring countries including the seizure of its coastline by Chile in 1879 and Acre territory to Brazil.Bolivia experienced a succession of military and civilian governments until 1971, when Hugo Banzer led a CIA-supported coup d'état that replaced the socialist government of Juan José Torres with a military dictatorship.", "Banzer's regime cracked down on left-wing and socialist opposition and other forms of dissent, resulting in the torture and deaths of a number of Bolivian citizens.", "Banzer was ousted in 1978 and later returned as the democratically elected president of Bolivia from 1997 to 2001.Under the 2006–2019 presidency of Evo Morales the country saw significant economic growth and political stability.Modern Bolivia is a charter member of the UN, IMF, NAM, OAS, ACTO, Bank of the South, ALBA, and USAN.", "Bolivia remains the second poorest country in South America, though it has slashed poverty rates and has the fastest growing economy in South America (in terms of GDP).", "It is a developing country.", "Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing goods such as textiles, clothing, refined metals, and refined petroleum.", "Bolivia is very rich in minerals, including tin, silver, lithium, and copper.", "Bolivia is also known for its production of coca leaves and refined cocaine.", "In 2021, estimated coca cultivation and cocaine production was 39,700 hectares and 317 metric tons, respectively." ], [ "Etymology", "Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan leader in the Spanish American wars of independence.", "The leader of Venezuela, Antonio José de Sucre, had been given the option by Bolívar to either unite Charcas (present-day Bolivia) with the newly formed Republic of Peru, to unite with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, or to formally declare its independence from Spain as a wholly independent state.", "Sucre opted to create a brand new state and on 6 August 1825, with local support, named it in honor of Simón Bolívar.The original name was Republic of Bolívar.", "Some days later, congressman Manuel Martín Cruz proposed: \"If from Romulus, Rome, then from Bolívar, Bolivia\" ().", "The name was approved by the Republic on 3 October 1825.In 2009, a new constitution changed the country's official name to \"Plurinational State of Bolivia\" to reflect the multi-ethnic nature of the country and the strengthened rights of Bolivia's indigenous peoples under the new constitution." ], [ "History", "=== Pre-colonial ===Tiwanaku Empire at its largest territorial extent, AD 950 (present-day boundaries shown).The region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived.", "However, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku Empire which had its capital at Tiwanaku, in Western Bolivia.", "The capital city of Tiwanaku dates from as early as 1500 BC when it was a small, agriculturally-based village.The Aymara community grew to urban proportions between AD 600 and AD 800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes.", "According to early estimates, the city covered approximately at its maximum extent and had between 15,000 and 30,000 inhabitants.", "In 1996 satellite imaging was used to map the extent of fossilized suka kollus (flooded raised fields) across the three primary valleys of Tiwanaku, arriving at population-carrying capacity estimates of anywhere between 285,000 and 1,482,000 people.Around AD 400, Tiwanaku went from being a locally dominant force to a predatory state.", "Tiwanaku expanded its reaches into the Yungas and brought its culture and way of life to many other cultures in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.", "Tiwanaku was not a violent culture in many respects.", "To expand its reach, Tiwanaku exercised great political astuteness, creating colonies, fostering trade agreements (which made the other cultures rather dependent), and instituting state cults.As the rainfall decreased, the surplus of food decreased, and thus the amount available to underpin the power of the elites.", "Tiwanaku disappeared around AD 1000.The area remained uninhabited for centuries thereafter.Between 1438 and 1527, the Inca empire expanded from its capital at Cusco, Peru.", "It gained control over much of what is now Andean Bolivia and extended its control into the fringes of the Amazon basin.=== Colonial period ===colonial Mint of PotosíThe Spanish conquest of the Inca empire began in 1524 and was mostly completed by 1533.The territory now called Bolivia was known as Charcas, and was under the authority of the Viceroy of Peru in Lima.", "Local government came from the Audiencia de Charcas located in Chuquisaca (La Plata—modern Sucre).", "Founded in 1545 as a mining town, Potosí soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming the largest city in the New World with a population exceeding 150,000 people.Metropolitan Cathedral of Sucre in Sucre, a UNESCO World Heritage city.By the late 16th century, Bolivian silver was an important source of revenue for the Spanish Empire.", "A steady stream of natives served as labor force under the brutal, slave conditions of the Spanish version of the pre-Columbian draft system called the mita.", "Charcas was transferred to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 and the people from Buenos Aires, the capital of the Viceroyalty, coined the term \"Upper Peru\" () as a popular reference to the Royal Audiencia of Charcas.", "Túpac Katari led the indigenous rebellion that laid siege to La Paz in March 1781, during which 20,000 people died.", "As Spanish royal authority weakened during the Napoleonic Wars, sentiment against colonial rule grew.=== Independence and subsequent wars ===The struggle for independence started in the city of Sucre on 25 May 1809 and the Chuquisaca Revolution (Chuquisaca was then the name of the city) is known as the first cry of Freedom in Latin America.", "That revolution was followed by the La Paz revolution on 16 July 1809.The La Paz revolution marked a complete split with the Spanish government, while the Chuquisaca Revolution established a local independent junta in the name of the Spanish King deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte.", "Both revolutions were short-lived and defeated by the Spanish authorities in the Viceroyalty of the Rio de La Plata, but the following year the Spanish American wars of independence raged across the continent.Bolivia was captured and recaptured many times during the war by the royalists and patriots.", "Buenos Aires sent three military campaigns, all of which were defeated, and eventually limited itself to protecting the national borders at Salta.", "Bolivia was finally freed of Royalist dominion by Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, with a military campaign coming from the North in support of the campaign of Simón Bolívar.", "After 16 years of war the Republic was proclaimed on 6 August 1825.The first coat of arms of Bolivia, formerly named the Republic of Bolívar in honor of Simón BolívarIn 1836, Bolivia, under the rule of Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz, invaded Peru to reinstall the deposed president, General Luis José de Orbegoso.", "Peru and Bolivia formed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, with de Santa Cruz as the ''Supreme Protector''.", "Following tension between the Confederation and Chile, Chile declared war on 28 December 1836.Argentina separately declared war on the Confederation on 9 May 1837.The Peruvian-Bolivian forces achieved several major victories during the War of the Confederation: the defeat of the Argentine expedition and the defeat of the first Chilean expedition on the fields of Paucarpata near the city of Arequipa.", "The Chilean army and its Peruvian rebel allies surrendered unconditionally and signed the Paucarpata Treaty.", "The treaty stipulated that Chile would withdraw from Peru-Bolivia, Chile would return captured Confederate ships, economic relations would be normalized, and the Confederation would pay Peruvian debt to Chile.", "However, the Chilean government and public rejected the peace treaty.", "Chile organized a second attack on the Confederation and defeated it in the Battle of Yungay.", "After this defeat, Santa Cruz resigned and went to exile in Ecuador and then Paris, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation was dissolved.Historic headquarters of Banco Nacional de Bolivia in SucreFollowing the renewed independence of Peru, Peruvian president General Agustín Gamarra invaded Bolivia.", "On 18 November 1841, the battle de Ingavi took place, in which the Bolivian Army defeated the Peruvian troops of Gamarra (killed in the battle).", "After the victory, Bolivia invaded Perú on several fronts.", "The eviction of the Bolivian troops from the south of Peru would be achieved by the greater availability of material and human resources of Peru; the Bolivian Army did not have enough troops to maintain an occupation.", "In the district of Locumba – Tacna, a column of Peruvian soldiers and peasants defeated a Bolivian regiment in the so-called Battle of Los Altos de Chipe (Locumba).", "In the district of Sama and in Arica, the Peruvian colonel José María Lavayén organized a troop that managed to defeat the Bolivian forces of Colonel Rodríguez Magariños and threaten the port of Arica.", "In the battle of Tarapacá on 7 January 1842, Peruvian militias formed by the commander Juan Buendía defeated a detachment led by Bolivian colonel José María García, who died in the confrontation.", "Bolivian troops left Tacna, Arica and Tarapacá in February 1842, retreating towards Moquegua and Puno.", "The battles of Motoni and Orurillo forced the withdrawal of Bolivian forces occupying Peruvian territory and exposed Bolivia to the threat of counter-invasion.", "The Treaty of Puno was signed on 7 June 1842, ending the war.", "However, the climate of tension between Lima and La Paz would continue until 1847, when the signing of a Peace and Trade Treaty became effective.A period of political and economic instability in the early-to-mid-19th century weakened Bolivia.", "In addition, during the War of the Pacific (1879–83), Chile occupied vast territories rich in natural resources south west of Bolivia, including the Bolivian coast.", "Chile took control of today's Chuquicamata area, the adjoining rich ''salitre'' (saltpeter) fields, and the port of Antofagasta among other Bolivian territories.Since independence, Bolivia has lost over half of its territory to neighboring countries.", "Through diplomatic channels in 1909, it lost the basin of the Madre de Dios River and the territory of the Purus in the Amazon, yielding 250,000 km2 to Peru.", "It also lost the state of Acre, in the Acre War, important because this region was known for its production of rubber.", "Peasants and the Bolivian army fought briefly but after a few victories, and facing the prospect of a total war against Brazil, it was forced to sign the Treaty of Petrópolis in 1903, in which Bolivia lost this rich territory.", "Popular myth has it that Bolivian president Mariano Melgarejo (1864–71) traded the land for what he called \"a magnificent white horse\" and Acre was subsequently flooded with Brazilians, which ultimately led to confrontation and fear of war with Brazil.In the late 19th century, an increase in the world price of silver brought Bolivia relative prosperity and political stability.=== Early 20th century ===Bolivia's territorial losses (1867–1938)During the early 20th century, tin replaced silver as the country's most important source of wealth.", "A succession of governments controlled by the economic and social elite followed laissez-faire capitalist policies through the first 30 years of the 20th century.Living conditions of the native people, who constitute most of the population, remained deplorable.", "With work opportunities limited to primitive conditions in the mines and in large estates having nearly feudal status, they had no access to education, economic opportunity, and political participation.", "Bolivia's defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932–1935), where Bolivia lost a great part of the Gran Chaco region in dispute, marked a turning-point.On 7 April 1943, Bolivia entered World War II, joining part of the Allies, which caused president Enrique Peñaranda to declare war on the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.In 1945, Bolivia became a founding member of the United Nations.The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), the most historic political party, emerged as a broad-based party.", "Denied its victory in the 1951 presidential elections, the MNR led a successful revolution in 1952.Under President Víctor Paz Estenssoro, the MNR, having strong popular pressure, introduced universal suffrage into his political platform and carried out a sweeping land-reform promoting rural education and nationalization of the country's largest tin mines.=== Late 20th century ===In 1971 Hugo Banzer Suárez, supported by the CIA, forcibly ousted President Torres in a coup.Twelve years of tumultuous rule left the MNR divided.", "In 1964, a military junta overthrew President Estenssoro at the outset of his third term.", "The 1969 death of President René Barrientos Ortuño, a former member of the junta who was elected president in 1966, led to a succession of weak governments.", "Alarmed by the rising Popular Assembly and the increase in the popularity of President Juan José Torres, the military, the MNR, and others installed Colonel (later General) Hugo Banzer Suárez as president in 1971.He returned to the presidency in 1997 through 2001.Juan José Torres, who had fled Bolivia, was kidnapped and assassinated in 1976 as part of Operation Condor, the U.S.-supported campaign of political repression by South American right-wing dictators.The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) financed and trained the Bolivian military dictatorship in the 1960s.", "The revolutionary leader Che Guevara was killed by a team of CIA officers and members of the Bolivian Army on 9 October 1967, in Bolivia.", "Félix Rodríguez was a CIA officer on the team with the Bolivian Army that captured and shot Guevara.", "Rodriguez said that after he received a Bolivian presidential execution order, he told \"the soldier who pulled the trigger to aim carefully, to remain consistent with the Bolivian government's story that Che had been killed in action during a clash with the Bolivian army.\"", "Rodriguez said the US government had wanted Che in Panama, and \"I could have tried to falsify the command to the troops, and got Che to Panama as the US government said they had wanted\", but that he had chosen to \"let history run its course\" as desired by Bolivia.Elections in 1979 and 1981 were inconclusive and marked by fraud.", "There were coups d'état, counter-coups, and caretaker governments.", "In 1980, General Luis García Meza Tejada carried out a ruthless and violent coup d'état that did not have popular support.", "The Bolivian Workers' Center, which tried to resist the putsch, was violently repressed.", "More than a thousand people were killed in less than a year.", "Cousin of one of the most important narco-trafficker of the country, Luis García Meza Tejada favors the production of cocaine.", "He pacified the people by promising to remain in power only for one year.", "At the end of the year, he staged a televised rally to claim popular support and announced, \"\", or, \"All right; I'll stay in office\".", "After a military rebellion forced out Meza in 1981, three other military governments in 14 months struggled with Bolivia's growing problems.", "Unrest forced the military to convoke the Congress, elected in 1980, and allow it to choose a new chief executive.", "In October 1982, Hernán Siles Zuazo again became president, 22 years after the end of his first term of office (1956–1960).=== Democratic transition ===In 1993, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was elected president in alliance with the Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement, which inspired indigenous-sensitive and multicultural-aware policies.", "Sánchez de Lozada pursued an aggressive economic and social reform agenda.", "The most dramatic reform was privatization under the \"capitalization\" program, under which investors, typically foreign, acquired 50% ownership and management control of public enterprises in return for agreed upon capital investments.", "In 1993, Sanchez de Lozada introduced the ''Plan de Todos'', which led to the decentralization of government, introduction of intercultural bilingual education, implementation of agrarian legislation, and privatization of state owned businesses.", "The plan explicitly stated that Bolivian citizens would own a minimum of 51% of enterprises; under the plan, most state-owned enterprises (SOEs), though not mines, were sold.", "This privatization of SOEs led to a neoliberal structuring.The reforms and economic restructuring were strongly opposed by certain segments of society, which instigated frequent and sometimes violent protests, particularly in La Paz and the Chapare coca-growing region, from 1994 through 1996.The indigenous population of the Andean region was not able to benefit from government reforms.", "During this time, the umbrella labor-organization of Bolivia, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), became increasingly unable to effectively challenge government policy.", "A teachers' strike in 1995 was defeated because the COB could not marshal the support of many of its members, including construction and factory workers.====1997–2002 General Banzer presidency====In the 1997 elections, General Hugo Banzer, leader of the Nationalist Democratic Action party (ADN) and former dictator (1971–1978), won 22% of the vote, while the MNR candidate won 18%.", "At the outset of his government, President Banzer launched a policy of using special police-units to eradicate physically the illegal coca of the Chapare region.", "The Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) of Jaime Paz Zamora remained a coalition-partner throughout the Banzer government, supporting this policy (called the Dignity Plan).", "The Banzer government basically continued the free-market and privatization-policies of its predecessor.", "The relatively robust economic growth of the mid-1990s continued until about the third year of its term in office.", "After that, regional, global and domestic factors contributed to a decline in economic growth.", "Financial crises in Argentina and Brazil, lower world prices for export commodities, and reduced employment in the coca sector depressed the Bolivian economy.", "The public also perceived a significant amount of public sector corruption.", "These factors contributed to increasing social protests during the second half of Banzer's term.Between January 1999 and April 2000, large-scale protests erupted in Cochabamba, Bolivia's third largest city at the time, in response to the privatization of water resources by foreign companies and a subsequent doubling of water prices.", "On 6 August 2001, Banzer resigned from office after being diagnosed with cancer.", "He died less than a year later.", "Vice President Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramírez completed the final year of his term.==== 2002–2005 Sánchez de Lozada / Mesa presidency ====In the June 2002 national elections, former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (MNR) placed first with 22.5% of the vote, followed by coca-advocate and native peasant-leader Evo Morales (Movement Toward Socialism, MAS) with 20.9%.", "A July agreement between the MNR and the fourth-place MIR, which had again been led in the election by former President Jaime Paz Zamora, virtually ensured the election of Sánchez de Lozada in the congressional run-off, and on 6 August he was sworn in for the second time.", "The MNR platform featured three overarching objectives: economic reactivation (and job creation), anti-corruption, and social inclusion.In 2003, the Bolivian gas conflict broke out.", "On 12 October 2003, the government imposed martial law in El Alto after 16 people were shot by the police and several dozen wounded in violent clashes.", "Faced with the option of resigning or more bloodshed, Sánchez de Lozada offered his resignation in a letter to an emergency session of Congress.", "After his resignation was accepted and his vice president, Carlos Mesa, invested, he left on a commercially scheduled flight for the United States.The country's internal situation became unfavorable for such political action on the international stage.", "After a resurgence of gas protests in 2005, Carlos Mesa attempted to resign in January 2005, but his offer was refused by Congress.", "On 22 March 2005, after weeks of new street protests from organizations accusing Mesa of bowing to U.S. corporate interests, Mesa again offered his resignation to Congress, which was accepted on 10 June.", "The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodríguez, was sworn as interim president to succeed the outgoing Carlos Mesa.====2005–2019 Morales presidency====Former President, Evo MoralesEvo Morales won the 2005 presidential election with 53.7% of the votes in Bolivian elections.", "On 1 May 2006, Morales announced his intent to re-nationalize Bolivian hydrocarbon assets following protests which demanded this action.", "Fulfilling a campaign promise, on 6 August 2006, Morales opened the Bolivian Constituent Assembly to begin writing a new constitution aimed at giving more power to the indigenous majority.2009 marked the creation of a new constitution and the renaming of the country to the Plurinational State of Bolivia.", "The previous constitution did not allow a consecutive reelection of a president, but the new constitution allowed for just one reelection, starting the dispute if Evo Morales was enabled to run for a second term arguing he was elected under the last constitution.", "This also triggered a new general election in which Evo Morales was re-elected with 61.36% of the vote.", "His party, Movement for Socialism, also won a two-thirds majority in both houses of the National Congress.", "By 2013, after being reelected under the new constitution, Evo Morales and his party attempted a third term as President of Bolivia.", "The opposition argued that a third term would be unconstitutional, but the Bolivian Constitutional Court ruled that Morales' first term under the previous constitution did not count towards his term limit.", "This allowed Evo Morales to run for a third term in 2014, and he was re-elected with 64.22% of the vote.", "During his third term, Evo Morales began to plan for a fourth, and the 2016 Bolivian constitutional referendum asked voters to override the constitution and allow Evo Morales to run for an additional term in office.", "Morales narrowly lost the referendum; however, in 2017 his party then petitioned the Bolivian Constitutional Court to override the constitution on the basis that the American Convention on Human Rights made term limits a human rights violation.", "The Inter-American Court of Human Rights determined that term limits are not a human rights violation in 2018; however, once again the Bolivian Constitutional Court ruled that Morales has permission to run for a fourth term in the 2019 elections, and this permission was not retracted.", "\"The country's highest court overruled the constitution, scrapping term limits altogether for every office.", "Morales can now run for a fourth term in 2019 – and for every election thereafter.", "\"The revenues generated by the partial nationalization of hydrocarbons made it possible to finance several social measures: the Renta Dignidad (or old age minimum) for people over 60 years old; the Juana Azurduy voucher (named after the revolutionary Juana Azurduy de Padilla, 1780–1862), which ensures the complete coverage of medical expenses for pregnant women and their children in order to fight infant mortality; the Juancito Pinto voucher (named after a child hero of the Pacific War, 1879–1884), an aid paid until the end of secondary school to parents whose children are in school in order to combat school dropout, and the Single Health System, which since 2018 has offered all Bolivians free medical care.The reforms adopted have made the Bolivian economic system the most successful and stable in the region.", "Between 2006 and 2019, GDP has grown from $9 billion to over $40 billion, real wages have increased, GDP per capita has tripled, foreign exchange reserves are on the rise, inflation has been essentially eliminated, and extreme poverty has fallen from 38% to 15%, a 23-point drop.==== Interim government 2019–2020 ====During the 2019 elections, the ''Transmisión de Resultados Electorales Preliminares'' (TREP) (a quick count process used in Latin America as a transparency measure in electoral processes) was interrupted; at the time, Morales had a lead of 46.86 percent to Mesa's 36.72, after 95.63 percent of tally sheets were counted.", "Two days after the interruption, the official count showed Morales fractionally clearing the 10-point margin he needed to avoid a runoff election, with the final official tally counted as 47.08 percent to Mesa's 36.51 percent, starting a wave of protests and tension in the country.Amidst allegations of fraud perpetrated by the Morales government, widespread protests were organized to dispute the election.", "On 10 November, the Organization of American States (OAS) released a preliminary report concluding several irregularities in the election, though these findings were heavily disputed.", "''The New York Times'' reported on 7 June 2020 that the OAS analysis immediately after the 20 October election was flawed yet fuelled \"a chain of events that changed the South American nation's history\".2020 Bolivian general election, results by departmentInauguration of Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca on 8 November 2020After weeks of protests, Morales resigned on national television shortly after the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces General Williams Kaliman had urged that he do so to restore \"peace and stability\".", "Opposition Senator Jeanine Áñez's declared herself interim president, claiming constitutional succession after the president, vice president and both head of the legislature chambers.", "She was confirmed as interim president by the constitutional court who declared her succession to be constitutional and automatic.", "International politicians, scholars and journalists are divided between describing the event as a coup or a spontaneous social uprising against an unconstitutional fourth term.", "****** Protests to reinstate Morales as president continued becoming highly violent: burning public buses and private houses, destroying public infrastructure and harming pedestrians.", "The protests were met with more violence by security forces against Morales supporters after Áñez exempted police and military from criminal responsibility in operations for \"the restoration of order and public stability\".In April 2020, the interim government took out a loan of more than $327 million from the International Monetary Fund to meet the country's needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.", "New elections were scheduled for 3 May 2020.In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bolivian electoral body, the TSE, made an announcement postponing the election.", "MAS reluctantly agreed with the first delay only.", "A date for the new election was delayed twice more, in the face of massive protests and violence.", "The final proposed date for the elections was 18 October 2020.Observers from the OAS, UNIORE, and the UN all reported that they found no fraudulent actions in the 2020 elections.The general election had a record voter turnout of 88.4% and ended in a landslide win for MAS which took 55.1% of the votes compared to 28.8% for centrist former president Carlos Mesa.", "Both Mesa and Áñez conceded defeat.==== Government of Luis Arce: 2020–present ====On 8 November 2020, Luis Arce was sworn in as President of Bolivia alongside his Vice President David Choquehuanca.", "In February 2021, the Arce government returned an amount of around $351 million to the IMF.", "This comprised a loan of $327 million taken out by the interim government in April 2020 and interest of around $24 million.", "The government said it returned the loan to protect Bolivia's economic sovereignty and because the conditions attached to the loan were unacceptable." ], [ "Geography", "Topographical map of BoliviaBolivia is located in the central zone of South America, between 57°26'–69°38'W and 9°38'–22°53'S.", "With an area of , Bolivia is the world's 28th-largest country, and the fifth largest country in South America, extending from the Central Andes through part of the ''Gran Chaco'', Pantanal and as far as the Amazon.", "The geographic center of the country is the so-called ''Puerto Estrella'' (\"Star Port\") on the Río Grande, in Ñuflo de Chávez Province, Santa Cruz Department.The geography of the country exhibits a great variety of terrain and climates.", "Bolivia has a high level of biodiversity, considered one of the greatest in the world, as well as several ecoregions with ecological sub-units such as the ''Altiplano'', tropical rainforests (including Amazon rainforest), dry valleys, and the ''Chiquitania'', which is a tropical savanna.", "These areas feature enormous variations in altitude, from an elevation of above sea level in Nevado Sajama to nearly along the Paraguay River.", "Although a country of great geographic diversity, Bolivia has remained a landlocked country since the War of the Pacific.", "Puerto Suárez, San Matías and Puerto Quijarro are located in the Bolivian Pantanal.Bolivia can be divided into three physiographic regions:Sol de Mañana (''Morning Sun'' in Spanish), a geothermal field in Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, southwestern Bolivia.", "The area, characterized by intense volcanic activity, with sulfur spring fields and mud lakes, has indeed no geysers but rather holes that emit pressurized steam up to 50 meters high.Laguna Colorada in the Puna de Lipez in Potosí'''The Andean region''' in the southwest spans 28% of the national territory, extending over .", "This area is located above altitude and is located between two big Andean chains, the ''Cordillera Occidental'' (\"Western Range\") and the ''Cordillera Central'' (\"Central Range\"), with some of the highest spots in the Americas such as the Nevado Sajama, with an altitude of , and the Illimani, at .", "Also located in the Cordillera Central is Lake Titicaca, the highest commercially navigable lake in the world and the largest lake in South America; the lake is shared with Peru.", "Also in this region are the ''Altiplano'' and the ''Salar de Uyuni'', which is the largest salt flat in the world and an important source of lithium.", "The '''Sub-Andean region''' in the center and south of the country is an intermediate region between the ''Altiplano'' and the eastern ''llanos'' (plain); this region comprises 13% of the territory of Bolivia, extending over , and encompassing the Bolivian valleys and the Yungas region.", "It is distinguished by its farming activities and its temperate climate.", "The '''Llanos region''' in the northeast comprises 59% of the territory, with .", "It is located to the north of the Cordillera Central and extends from the Andean foothills to the Paraguay River.", "It is a region of flat land and small plateaus, all covered by extensive rain forests containing enormous biodiversity.", "The region is below above sea level.=== Geology ===Bolivia map of Köppen climate classification.The geology of Bolivia comprises a variety of different lithologies as well as tectonic and sedimentary environments.", "On a synoptic scale, geological units coincide with topographical units.", "Most elementally, the country is divided into a mountainous western area affected by the subduction processes in the Pacific and an eastern lowlands of stable platforms and shields.=== Climate ===Chacaltaya ski resort, La Paz DepartmentThe climate of Bolivia varies drastically from one eco-region to the other, from the tropics in the eastern ''llanos'' to a polar climate in the western Andes.", "The summers are warm, humid in the east and dry in the west, with rains that often modify temperatures, humidity, winds, atmospheric pressure and evaporation, yielding very different climates in different areas.", "When the climatological phenomenon known as ''El Niño'' takes place, it causes great alterations in the weather.", "Winters are very cold in the west, and it snows in the mountain ranges, while in the western regions, windy days are more common.", "The autumn is dry in the non-tropical regions.''Llanos''.", "A humid tropical climate with an average temperature of .", "The wind coming from the Amazon rainforest causes significant rainfall.", "In May, there is low precipitation because of dry winds, and most days have clear skies.", "Even so, winds from the south, called ''surazos'', can bring cooler temperatures lasting several days.''Altiplano''.", "Desert-Polar climates, with strong and cold winds.", "The average temperature ranges from 15 to 20 °C.", "At night, temperatures descend drastically to slightly above 0 °C, while during the day, the weather is dry and solar radiation is high.", "Ground frosts occur every month, and snow is frequent.", "Valleys and ''Yungas''.", "Temperate climate.", "The humid northeastern winds are pushed to the mountains, making this region very humid and rainy.", "Temperatures are cooler at higher elevations.", "Snow occurs at altitudes of .", "''Chaco''.", "Subtropical semi-arid climate.", "Rainy and humid in January and the rest of the year, with warm days and cold nights.=== Issues with climate change ===Bolivia is especially vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change.", "Twenty percent of the world's tropical glaciers are located within the country, and are more sensitive to change in temperature due to the tropical climate they are located in.", "Temperatures in the Andes increased by 0.1 °C per decade from 1939 to 1998, and more recently the rate of increase has tripled (to 0.33 °C per decade from 1980 to 2005), causing glaciers to recede at an accelerated pace and create unforeseen water shortages in Andean agricultural towns.", "Farmers have taken to temporary city jobs when there is poor yield for their crops, while others have started permanently leaving the agricultural sector and are migrating to nearby towns for other forms of work; some view these migrants as the first generation of climate refugees.", "Cities that are neighbouring agricultural land, like El Alto, face the challenge of providing services to the influx of new migrants; because there is no alternative water source, the city's water source is now being constricted.Bolivia's government and other agencies have acknowledged the need to instill new policies battling the effects of climate change.", "The World Bank has provided funding through the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and are using the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR II) to construct new irrigation systems, protect riverbanks and basins, and work on building water resources with the help of indigenous communities.=== Biodiversity ===Bolivia's national animal, the llama at Laguna Colorada.Bolivia, with an enormous variety of organisms and ecosystems, is part of the \"Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries\".Bolivia's variable altitudes, ranging from above sea level, allow for a vast biologic diversity.", "The territory of Bolivia comprises four types of biomes, 32 ecological regions, and 199 ecosystems.", "Within this geographic area there are several natural parks and reserves such as the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, the Madidi National Park, the Tunari National Park, the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, and the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area, among others.Bolivia boasts over 17,000 species of seed plants, including over 1,200 species of fern, 1,500 species of ''marchantiophyta'' and moss, and at least 800 species of fungus.", "In addition, there are more than 3,000 species of medicinal plants.", "Bolivia is considered the place of origin for such species as peppers and chili peppers, peanuts, the common beans, yucca, and several species of palm.", "Bolivia also naturally produces over 4,000 kinds of potatoes.", "The country had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.47/10, ranking it 21st globally out of 172 countries.Bolivia has more than 2,900 animal species, including 398 mammals, over 1,400 birds (about 14% of birds known in the world, being the sixth most diverse country in terms of bird species), 204 amphibians, 277 reptiles, and 635 fish, all fresh water fish as Bolivia is a landlocked country.", "In addition, there are more than 3,000 types of butterfly, and more than 60 domestic animals.In 2020 a new species of snake, the Mountain Fer-De-Lance Viper, was discovered in Bolivia.=== Environmental policy ===A Ministry of Environment and Water was created in 2006 after the election of Evo Morales, who reversed the privatization of the water distribution sector in the 1990s by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.", "The new Constitution, approved by referendum in 2009, makes access to water a fundamental right.", "In July 2010, at the initiative of Bolivia, the United Nations passed a resolution recognizing as \"fundamental\" the \"right to safe and clean drinking water.", "\"Bolivia has gained global attention for its 'Law of the Rights of Mother Earth', which accords nature the same rights as humans." ], [ "Government and politics", "Building of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly in central La PazBolivia has been governed by democratically elected governments since 1982; prior to that, it was governed by various dictatorships.", "Presidents Hernán Siles Zuazo (1982–85) and Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1985–89) began a tradition of ceding power peacefully which has continued, although three presidents have stepped down in the face of extraordinary circumstances: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in 2003, Carlos Mesa in 2005, and Evo Morales in 2019.Bolivia's multiparty democracy has seen a wide variety of parties in the presidency and parliament, although the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement, Nationalist Democratic Action, and the Revolutionary Left Movement predominated from 1985 to 2005.On 11 November 2019, all senior governmental positions were vacated following the resignation of Evo Morales and his government.", "On 13 November 2019, Jeanine Áñez, a former senator representing Beni, declared herself acting President of Bolivia.", "Luis Arce was elected on 23 October 2020; he took office as president on 8 November 2020.The constitution, drafted in 2006–07 and approved in 2009, provides for balanced executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral powers, as well as several levels of autonomy.", "The traditionally strong executive branch tends to overshadow the Congress, whose role is generally limited to debating and approving legislation initiated by the executive.", "The judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and departmental and lower courts, has long been riddled with corruption and inefficiency.", "Through revisions to the constitution in 1994, and subsequent laws, the government has initiated potentially far-reaching reforms in the judicial system as well as increasing decentralizing powers to departments, municipalities, and indigenous territories.The executive branch is headed by a president and vice president, and consists of a variable number (currently, 20) of government ministries.", "The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote, and governs from the Presidential Palace (popularly called the Burnt Palace, ) in La Paz.", "In the case that no candidate receives an absolute majority of the popular vote or more than 40% of the vote with an advantage of more than 10% over the second-place finisher, a run-off is to be held among the two candidates most voted.The ''Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional'' (Plurinational Legislative Assembly or National Congress) has two chambers.", "The (Chamber of Deputies) has 130 members elected to five-year terms, 63 from single-member districts (''circunscripciones''), 60 by proportional representation, and seven by the minority indigenous peoples of seven departments.", "The ''Cámara de Senadores'' (Chamber of Senators) has 36 members (four per department).", "Members of the Assembly are elected to five-year terms.", "The body has its headquarters on the Plaza Murillo in La Paz, but also holds honorary sessions elsewhere in Bolivia.", "The Vice President serves as titular head of the combined Assembly.The Supreme Court Building in the capital of Bolivia, SucreThe judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Plurinational Constitutional Court, the Judiciary Council, Agrarian and Environmental Court, and District (departmental) and lower courts.", "In October 2011, Bolivia held its first judicial elections to choose members of the national courts by popular vote, a reform brought about by Evo Morales.The Plurinational Electoral Organ is an independent branch of government which replaced the National Electoral Court in 2010.The branch consists of the Supreme Electoral Courts, the nine Departmental Electoral Court, Electoral Judges, the anonymously selected Juries at Election Tables, and Electoral Notaries.", "Wilfredo Ovando presides over the seven-member Supreme Electoral Court.", "Its operations are mandated by the Constitution and regulated by the Electoral Regime Law (Law 026, passed 2010).", "The Organ's first elections were the country's first judicial election in October 2011, and five municipal special elections held in 2011.=== Capital ===Government buildings in Bolivia's judicial capital SucreBolivia has its constitutionally recognized capital in Sucre, while La Paz is the seat of government.", "La Plata (now Sucre) was proclaimed the provisional capital of the newly independent Alto Perú (later, Bolivia) on 1 July 1826.On 12 July 1839, President José Miguel de Velasco proclaimed a law naming the city as the capital of Bolivia, and renaming it in honor of the revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre.", "The Bolivian seat of government moved to La Paz at the start of the twentieth century as a consequence of Sucre's relative remoteness from economic activity after the decline of Potosí and its silver industry and of the Liberal Party in the War of 1899.The 2009 Constitution assigns the role of national capital to Sucre, not referring to La Paz in the text.", "In addition to being the constitutional capital, the Supreme Court of Bolivia is located in Sucre, making it the judicial capital.", "Nonetheless, the Palacio Quemado (the Presidential Palace and seat of Bolivian executive power) is located in La Paz, as are the National Congress and Plurinational Electoral Organ.", "La Paz thus continues to be the seat of government.=== Foreign relations ===The presidents of Cuba, Bolivia, and El Salvador (from l. to r.) greet Nicolás Maduro at his second inauguration as Venezuela's president, in Caracas, on 10 January 2019Despite losing its maritime coast, the so-called Litoral Department, after the War of the Pacific, Bolivia has historically maintained, as a state policy, a maritime claim to that part of Chile; the claim asks for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean and its maritime space.", "The issue has also been presented before the Organization of American States; in 1979, the OAS passed the ''426 Resolution'', which declared that the Bolivian problem is a hemispheric problem.", "On 4 April 1884, a truce was signed with Chile, whereby Chile gave facilities of access to Bolivian products through Antofagasta, and freed the payment of export rights in the port of Arica.", "In October 1904, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed, and Chile agreed to build a railway between Arica and La Paz, to improve access of Bolivian products to the ports.The ''Special Economical Zone for Bolivia in Ilo'' (ZEEBI) is a special economic area of of maritime coast, and a total extension of , called Mar Bolivia (\"Sea Bolivia\"), where Bolivia may maintain a free port near Ilo, Peru under its administration and operation for a period of 99 years starting in 1992; once that time has passed, all the construction and territory revert to the Peruvian government.", "Since 1964, Bolivia has had its own port facilities in the ''Bolivian Free Port'' in Rosario, Argentina.", "This port is located on the Paraná River, which is directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean.In 2018, Bolivia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.The dispute with Chile was taken to the International Court of Justice.", "The court ruled in support of the Chilean position, and declared that although Chile may have held talks about a Bolivian corridor to the sea, the country was not required to negotiate one or to surrender its territory.=== Military ===The Bolivian military comprises three branches: Ejército (Army), Naval (Navy) and Fuerza Aérea (Air Force).The Bolivian army has around 31,500 men.", "There are six military regions (''regiones militares''—RMs) in the army.", "The army is organized into ten divisions.", "Although it is landlocked Bolivia keeps a navy.", "The Bolivian Naval Force (''Fuerza Naval Boliviana'' in Spanish) is a naval force about 5,000 strong in 2008.The Bolivian Air Force ('Fuerza Aérea Boliviana' or \"FAB\") has nine air bases, located at La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Puerto Suárez, Tarija, Villamontes, Cobija, Riberalta, and Roboré.=== Law and crime ===There are 54 prisons in Bolivia, which incarcerate around 8,700 people .", "The prisons are managed by the Penitentiary Regime Directorate ().", "There are 17 prisons in departmental capital cities and 36 provincial prisons.=== Administrative divisions ===Mount Illimani overlooking La Paz, the capital city of the La Paz Department and the seat of government of BoliviaBolivia has nine departments—Pando, La Paz, Beni, Oruro, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Tarija.According to what is established by the Bolivian Political Constitution, the Law of Autonomies and Decentralization regulates the procedure for the elaboration of Statutes of Autonomy, the transfer and distribution of direct competences between the central government and the autonomous entities.There are four levels of decentralization: 1) Departmental government is constituted by the ''Departmental Assembly'', with rights over the legislation of the department.", "The department governor is chosen by universal suffrage.", "2) Municipal government is constituted by a ''Municipal Council'' which is responsible for legislation of the municipality.", "The municipality's mayor is chosen by universal suffrage.", "3) Regional government is formed by several provinces or municipalities of geographical continuity within a department.", "It is constituted by a ''Regional Assembly''.", "4) Original indigenous government is constituted by self-governance of original indigenous people on the ancient territories where they live.", "No.", "Department Capital 1 Pando Cobija Territorial division of Bolivia 2 La Paz La Paz 3 Beni Trinidad 4 Oruro Oruro 5 Cochabamba Cochabamba 6 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz de la Sierra 7 Potosí Potosí 8 Chuquisaca Sucre 9 Tarija TarijaEl Palmar Nature Preserve, in northern ChuquisacaWhile Bolivia's administrative divisions have similar status under governmental jurisprudence, each department varies in quantitative and qualitative factors.", "Generally speaking, Departments can be grouped either by geography or by political-cultural orientation.", "For example, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando make up the low-lying \"Camba\" heartlands of the Amazon, Moxos and Chiquitanía.", "When considering political orientation, Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, Tarija are generally grouped for regionalist autonomy movements; this region is known as the \"Media Luna\".", "Conversely, La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Cochabamba have been traditionally associated with Andean politics and culture.", "Today, Chuquisaca vacillates between the Andean cultural bloc and the Camba bloc." ], [ "Economy", "Driven largely by its natural resources Bolivia has become a region leader in measures of economic growth, fiscal stability and foreign reserves, although it remains a historically poor country.", "Bolivia's estimated 2012 gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $27.43 billion at official exchange rate and $56.14 billion at purchasing power parity.", "Despite a series of mostly political setbacks, between 2006 and 2009 the Morales administration spurred growth higher than at any point in the preceding 30 years.", "The growth was accompanied by a moderate decrease in inequality.", "Under Morales, per capita GDP doubled from US$1,182 in 2006 to US$2,238 in 2012.GDP growth under Morales averaged 5 percent a year, and in 2014 only Panama and the Dominican Republic performed better in all of Latin America.", "Bolivia's nominal GDP increased from 11.5 billion in 2006 to 41 billion in 2019.Bolivia in 2016 boasted the highest proportional rate of financial reserves of any nation in the world, with Bolivia's rainy day fund totaling some US$15 billion or nearly two-thirds of total annual GDP, up from a fifth of GDP in 2005.Even the IMF was impressed by Morales' fiscal prudence.=== Agriculture ===Agriculture is less relevant in the country's GDP compared to the rest of Latin America.", "The country produces close to 10 million tons of sugarcane per year and is the 10th largest producer of soybean in the world.", "It also has considerable yields of maize, potato, sorghum, banana, rice, and wheat.", "The country's largest exports are based on soy (soybean meal and soybean oil).", "The culture of soy was brought by Brazilians to the country: in 2006, almost 50% of soy producers in Bolivia were people from Brazil, or descendants of Brazilians.", "The first Brazilian producers began to arrive in the country in the 1990s.", "Before that, there was a lot of land in the country that was not used, or where only subsistence agriculture was practiced.Bolivia's most lucrative agricultural product continues to be coca, of which Bolivia is currently the world's third largest cultivator.=== Mineral resources ===The Cerro Rico in Potosí, still an important mining site since the colonial times.Bolivia, while historically renowned for its vast mineral wealth, is relatively under-explored in geological and mineralogical terms.", "The country is rich in various mineral and natural resources, sitting at the heart of South America in the Central Andes.Mining is a major sector of the economy, with most of the country's exports being dependent on it.", "In 2019, the country was the eighth largest world producer of silver; fifth largest world producer of tin and antimony; seventh largest producer of zinc, eighth largest producer of lead, fourth largest world producer of boron; and the sixth largest world producer of tungsten.", "The country also has considerable gold production, which varies close to 25 tons/year, and also has amethyst extraction.Bolivia has the world's largest lithium reserves, second largest antimony reserves, third largest iron ore reserves, sixth largest tin reserves, ninth largest lead, silver, and copper reserves, tenth largest zinc reserves, and undisclosed but productive reserves of gold and tungsten.", "Additionally, there is believed to be considerable reserves of uranium and nickel present in the country's largely under-explored eastern regions.", "Diamond reserves may also be present in some formations of the Serranías Chiquitanas in Santa Cruz Department.Bolivia has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America.", "Its natural gas exports bring in millions of dollars per day, in royalties, rents, and taxes.", "From 2007 to 2017, what is referred to as the \"government take\" on gas totaled approximately $22 billion.The government held a binding referendum in 2005 on the Hydrocarbon Law.", "Among other provisions, the law requires that companies sell their production to the state hydrocarbons company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) and for domestic demand to be met before exporting hydrocarbons and increased the state's royalties from natural gas.", "The passage of the Hydrocarbon law in opposition to then-President Carlos Mesa can be understood as part of the Bolivian gas conflict which ultimately resulted in election of Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president.Lithium mine in the Salar de Uyuni.The US Geological Service estimates that Bolivia has 21 million tonnes of lithium, which represent at least 25% of world reserves – the largest in the world.", "However, to mine for it would involve disturbing the country's salt flats (called Salar de Uyuni), an important natural feature which boosts tourism in the region.", "The government does not want to destroy this unique natural landscape to meet the rising world demand for lithium.", "On the other hand, sustainable extraction of lithium is attempted by the government.", "This project is carried out by the public company \"Recursos Evaporíticos\" subsidiary of COMIBOL.===Tourism===Waterfall in the Torotoro National ParkThe income from tourism has become increasingly important.", "Bolivia's tourist industry has placed an emphasis on attracting ethnic diversity.", "The most visited places include Nevado Sajama, Torotoro National Park, Madidi National Park, Tiwanaku and the city of La Paz.The best known of the various festivals found in the country is the \"Carnaval de Oruro\", which was among the first 19 \"Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity\", as proclaimed by UNESCO in May 2001." ], [ "Transport", "===Roads===Bolivia's Yungas Road was called the \"world's most dangerous road\" by the Inter-American Development Bank, called () in Spanish.", "The northern portion of the road, much of it unpaved and without guardrails, was cut into the Cordillera Oriental Mountain in the 1930s.", "The fall from the narrow path is as much as in some places and due to the humid weather from the Amazon there are often poor conditions like mudslides and falling rocks.", "Each year over 25,000 bikers cycle along the road.", "In 2018, an Israeli woman was killed by a falling rock while cycling on the road.The Apolo road goes deep into La Paz.", "Roads in this area were originally built to allow access to mines located near Charazani.", "Other noteworthy roads run to Coroico, Sorata, the Zongo Valley (Illimani mountain), and along the Cochabamba highway ().", "According to researchers with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bolivia's road network was still underdeveloped as of 2014.In lowland areas of Bolivia there is less than of paved road.", "There have been some recent investments; animal husbandry has expanded in Guayaramerín, which might be due to a new road connecting Guayaramerín with Trinidad.", "The country only opened its first duplicated highway in 2015: a 203 km stretch between the capital La Paz and Oruro.=== Air ===Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) is a state-owned company and the country's largest airline.", "Two BoA Boeing 737-300s parked at Jorge Wilstermann International Airport.The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil—DGAC) formerly part of the FAB, administers a civil aeronautics school called the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (Instituto Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil—INAC), and two commercial air transport services TAM and TAB.TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar (the Bolivian Military Airline) was an airline based in La Paz, Bolivia.", "It was the civilian wing of the 'Fuerza Aérea Boliviana' (the Bolivian Air Force), operating passenger services to remote towns and communities in the North and Northeast of Bolivia.", "TAM (a.k.a.", "TAM Group 71) has been a part of the FAB since 1945.The airline company has suspended its operations since 23 September 2019.Boliviana de Aviación, often referred to as simply BoA, is the flag carrier airline of Bolivia and is wholly owned by the country's government.A private airline serving regional destinations is Línea Aérea Amaszonas, with services including some international destinations.Although a civil transport airline, TAB – Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos, was created as a subsidiary company of the FAB in 1977.It is subordinate to the Air Transport Management (Gerencia de Transportes Aéreos) and is headed by an FAB general.", "TAB, a charter heavy cargo airline, links Bolivia with most countries of the Western Hemisphere; its inventory includes a fleet of Hercules C130 aircraft.", "TAB is headquartered adjacent to El Alto International Airport.", "TAB flies to Miami and Houston, with a stop in Panama.The three largest, and main international airports in Bolivia are El Alto International Airport in La Paz, Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, and Jorge Wilstermann International Airport in Cochabamba.", "There are regional airports in other cities that connect to these three hubs." ], [ "Technology", "Bolivia owns a communications satellite which was offshored/outsourced and launched by China, named Túpac Katari 1.In 2015, it was announced that electrical power advancements include a planned $300 million nuclear reactor developed by the Russian nuclear company Rosatom.", "Bolivia was ranked 97th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, up from 110th in 2019.=== Water supply and sanitation ===Bolivia's drinking water and sanitation coverage has greatly improved since 1990 due to a considerable increase in sectoral investment.", "However, the country has the continent's lowest coverage levels and services are of low quality.", "Political and institutional instability have contributed to the weakening of the sector's institutions at the national and local levels.Two concessions to foreign private companies in two of the three largest cities – Cochabamba and La Paz/El Alto – were prematurely ended in 2000 and 2006 respectively.", "The country's second largest city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, manages its own water and sanitation system relatively successfully by way of cooperatives.", "The government of Evo Morales intends to strengthen citizen participation within the sector.", "Increasing coverage requires a substantial increase of investment financing.According to the government the main problems in the sector are low access to sanitation throughout the country; low access to water in rural areas; insufficient and ineffective investments; a low visibility of community service providers; a lack of respect of indigenous customs; \"technical and institutional difficulties in the design and implementation of projects\"; a lack of capacity to operate and maintain infrastructure; an institutional framework that is \"not consistent with the political change in the country\"; \"ambiguities in the social participation schemes\"; a reduction in the quantity and quality of water due to climate change; pollution and a lack of integrated water resources management; and the lack of policies and programs for the reuse of wastewater.Only 27% of the population has access to improved sanitation, 80 to 88% has access to improved water sources.", "Coverage in urban areas is bigger than in rural ones.Some regions of Bolivia are largely under the power of the ''ganaderos'', the large cattle and pig owners, and many small farmers are still reduced to peons.", "Nevertheless, the presence of the state has been clearly reinforced under the government of Evo Morales.", "The government tends to accommodate the interests of large landowners while trying to improve the living and working conditions of small farmers." ], [ "Agriculture", "Quinoa field near Lake Titicaca.", "Bolivia is the world's second largest producer of the crop.The agrarian reform promised by Evo Morales – and approved in a referendum by nearly 80 per cent of the population – has never been implemented.", "Intended to abolish latifundism by reducing the maximum size of properties that do not have an \"economic and social function\" to 5,000 hectares, with the remainder to be distributed among small agricultural workers and landless indigenous people, it was strongly opposed by the Bolivian oligarchy.", "In 2009, the government gave in to the agribusiness sector, which in return committed to end the pressure it was exerting and jeopardizing until the new constitution was in place.However, a series of economic reforms and projects have improved the condition of modest peasant families.", "They received farm machinery, tractors, fertilizers, seeds and breeding stock, while the state built irrigation systems, roads and bridges to make it easier for them to sell their produce in the markets.", "The situation of many indigenous people and small farmers was regularized through the granting of land titles for the land they were using.In 2007, the government created a \"Bank for Productive Development\" through which small workers and agricultural producers can borrow easily, at low rates and with repayment terms adapted to agricultural cycles.", "As a result of improved banking supervision, borrowing rates have been reduced by a factor of three between 2014 and 2019 across all banking institutions for small and medium-sized agricultural producers.", "In addition, the law now requires banks to devote at least 60% of their resources to productive credits or to the construction of social housing.With the creation of the Food Production Support Enterprise (Emapa), the government sought to stabilize the domestic market for agricultural products by buying the best prices for the production of small and medium-sized farmers, thus forcing agribusinesses to offer them fairer remuneration.", "According to Vice President Àlvaro García Linera, \"by setting the rules of the game, the State establishes a new balance of power that gives more power to small producers.", "Wealth is better redistributed to balance the power of the agribusiness sector.", "This generates stability, which allows the economy to flourish and benefits everyone." ], [ "Demographics", "People in La Paz city centerAccording to the last two censuses carried out by the Bolivian National Statistics Institute ''(Instituto Nacional de Estadística'', INE), the population increased from 8,274,325 (from which 4,123,850 were men and 4,150,475 were women) in 2001 to 10,059,856 in 2012.In the last fifty years the Bolivian population has tripled, reaching a population growth rate of 2.25%.", "The growth of the population in the inter-census periods (1950–1976 and 1976–1992) was approximately 2.05%, while between the last period, 1992–2001, it reached 2.74% annually.Some 67.49% of Bolivians live in urban areas, while the remaining 32.51% in rural areas.", "The most part of the population (70%) is concentrated in the departments of La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.", "In the Andean Altiplano region the departments of La Paz and Oruro hold the largest percentage of population, in the valley region the largest percentage is held by the departments of Cochabamba and Chuquisaca, while in the Llanos region by Santa Cruz and Beni.", "At national level, the population density is 8.49, with variations marked between 0.8 (Pando Department) and 26.2 (Cochabamba Department).The largest population center is located in the so-called \"central axis\" and in the Llanos region.", "Bolivia has a young population.", "According to the 2011 census, 59% of the population is between 15 and 59 years old, 39% is less than 15 years old.", "Almost 60% of the population is younger than 25 years of age.=== Ethnic groups ===''Danza de los macheteros'', typical dance from San Ignacio de Moxos, BoliviaAymara man, near Lake Titicaca, BoliviaThe vast majority of Bolivians are mestizo (with the indigenous component higher than the European one), although the government has not included the cultural self-identification \"mestizo\" in the November 2012 census.", "There are approximately three dozen native groups totaling approximately half of the Bolivian population – the largest proportion of indigenous people in the Americas.", "A 2018 estimate of racial classification put mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian) at 68%, indigenous at 20%, white at 5%, cholo at 2%, black at 1%, other at 4%, while 2% were unspecified; 44% attributed themselves to some indigenous group, predominantly the linguistic categories of Quechuas or Aymaras.", "White Bolivians comprised about 14% of the population in 2006, and are usually concentrated in the largest cities: La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, but as well in some minor cities like Tarija and Sucre.", "The ancestry of whites and the white ancestry of mestizos lies within Europe and the Middle East, most notably Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Lebanon and Syria.", "In the Santa Cruz Department, there are several dozen colonies of German-speaking Mennonites from Russia totaling around 40,000 inhabitants ().Afro-Bolivians, descendants of African slaves who arrived in the time of the Spanish Empire, inhabit the department of La Paz, and are located mainly in the provinces of Nor Yungas and Sud Yungas.", "Slavery was abolished in Bolivia in 1831.There are also important communities of Japanese (14,000) and Lebanese (12,900).Indigenous peoples, also called ''\"originarios\"'' (\"native\" or \"original\") and less frequently, ''Amerindians'', could be categorized by geographic area, such as Andean, like the Aymaras and Quechuas (who formed the ancient Inca Empire), who are concentrated in the western departments of La Paz, Potosí, Oruro, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca.", "There also are ethnic populations in the east, composed of the Chiquitano, Chané, Guaraní and Moxos, among others, who inhabit the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija and Pando.There are small numbers of European citizens from Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, as well as from other countries of the Americas, as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela, among others.", "There are important Peruvian colonies in La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.There are around 140,000 Mennonites in Bolivia of Friesian, Flemish and German ethnic origins.=== Language ===Bolivia has great linguistic diversity as a result of its multiculturalism.", "The Constitution of Bolivia recognizes 36 official languages besides Spanish: Aymara, Araona, Baure, Bésiro, Canichana, Cavineño, Cayubaba, Chácobo, Chimán, Ese Ejja, Guaraní, Guarasu'we, Guarayu, Itonama, Leco, Machajuyai-Kallawaya, Machineri, Maropa, Mojeño-Ignaciano, Mojeño-Trinitario, Moré, Mosetén, Movima, Pacawara, Puquina, Quechua, Sirionó, Tacana, Tapieté, Toromona, Uru-Chipaya, Weenhayek, Yaminawa, Yuki, Yuracaré, and Zamuco.Spanish is the most spoken official language in the country, according to the 2001 census; as it is spoken by two-thirds of the population.", "All legal and official documents issued by the State, including the Constitution, the main private and public institutions, the media, and commercial activities, are in Spanish.The main indigenous languages are: Quechua (21.2% of the population in the 2001 census), Aymara (14.6%), Guarani (0.6%) and others (0.4%) including the Moxos in the department of Beni.Plautdietsch, a German dialect, is spoken by about 70,000 Mennonites in Santa Cruz.", "Portuguese is spoken mainly in the areas close to Brazil.Bilingual education was implemented in Bolivia under the leadership of President Evo Morales.", "His program placed emphasis on the expansion of indigenous languages in the educational systems of the country.=== Religion ===Basilica of San Francisco in La PazBolivia is a constitutionally secular state that guarantees the freedom of religion and the independence of government from religion.According to the 2001 census conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia, 78% of the population is Roman Catholic, followed by 19% that are Protestant, as well as a small number of Bolivians that are Orthodox, and 3% non-religious.The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on the World Christian Database) records that in 2010, 92.5% of Bolivians identified as Christian (of any denomination), 3.1% identified with indigenous religion, 2.2% identified as Baháʼí, 1.9% identified as agnostic, and all other groups constituted 0.1% or less.Much of the indigenous population adheres to different traditional beliefs marked by inculturation or syncretism with Christianity.", "The cult of Pachamama, or \"Mother Earth\", is notable.", "The veneration of the Virgin of Copacabana, Virgin of Urkupiña and Virgin of Socavón, is also an important feature of Christian pilgrimage.", "There also are important Aymaran communities near Lake Titicaca that have a strong devotion to James the Apostle.", "Deities worshiped in Bolivia include Ekeko, the Aymaran god of abundance and prosperity, whose day is celebrated every 24 January, and Tupá, a god of the Guaraní people.=== Largest cities and towns ===Approximately 67% of Bolivians live in urban areas, among the lowest proportion in South America.", "Nevertheless, the rate of urbanization is growing steadily, at around 2.5% annually.", "According to the 2012 census, there are total of 3,158,691 households in Bolivia – an increase of 887,960 from 2001.In 2009, 75.4% of homes were classified as a house, hut, or Pahuichi; 3.3% were apartments; 21.1% were rental residences; and 0.1% were mobile homes.", "Most of the country's largest cities are located in the highlands of the west and central regions." ], [ "Culture", "Gate of the Sun, 500-950 CE, TiwanakuBolivian culture has been heavily influenced by the Spanish, the Aymara, the Quechua, as well as the popular cultures of Latin America as a whole.The cultural development is divided into three distinct periods: precolumbian, colonial, and republican.", "Important archaeological ruins, gold and silver ornaments, stone monuments, ceramics, and weavings remain from several important pre-Columbian cultures.", "Major ruins include Tiwanaku, El Fuerte de Samaipata, Inkallaqta and Iskanwaya.", "The country abounds in other sites that are difficult to reach and have seen little archaeological exploration.Diablada, dance primeval, typical and main of Carnival of Oruro, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2001.The Spanish brought their own tradition of religious art which, in the hands of local native, mestizo and some criollo builders and artisans, developed into a rich and distinctive style of architecture, painting, and sculpture known as Andean Baroque.", "The colonial period produced not only the paintings of Pérez de Holguín, Flores, Bitti, and others but also the works of skilled but unknown stonecutters, woodcarvers, goldsmiths, and silversmiths.", "An important body of Native Baroque religious music of the colonial period was recovered and has been performed internationally to wide acclaim since 1994.Bolivian artists of stature in the 20th century include María Luisa Pacheco, Roberto Mamani Mamani, Alejandro Mario Yllanes, Alfredo Da Silva, and Marina Núñez del Prado.Bolivia has a rich folklore.", "Its regional folk music is distinctive and varied.", "The \"devil dances\" at the annual carnival of Oruro are one of the great folkloric events of South America, as is the lesser known carnival at Tarabuco.=== Education ===Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca is the oldest university in the country, founded in 1624 in Sucre.In 2008, following UNESCO standards, Bolivia was declared free of illiteracy, making it the fourth country in South America to attain this status.Bolivia has public and private universities.", "Among them: Universidad Mayor, Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca USFX – Sucre, founded in 1624; Universidad Mayor de San Andrés UMSA – La Paz, founded in 1830; Universidad Mayor de San Simon UMSS – Cochabamba, founded in 1832; Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno UAGRM – Santa Cruz de la Sierra, founded in 1880; Universidad Técnica de Oruro UTO – Oruro, founded in 1892; Universidad Evangélica Boliviana UEB – Santa Cruz de la Sierra, founded in 1980; and Universidad Autónoma Tomás Frías UATF – Potosi, founded in 1892.=== Health ===According to UNICEF under-five mortality rate in 2006 was 52.7 per 1000 and was reduced to 26 per 1000 by 2019.The infant mortality rate was 40.7 per 1000 in 2006 and was reduced to 21.2 per 1000 in 2019.Before Morales took office, nearly half of all infants were not vaccinated; now nearly all are vaccinated.", "Morales also put into place several supplemental nutrition programs, including an effort to supply free food in public health and social security offices, and his desnutrición cero (zero malnutrition) program provides free school lunches.Between 2006 and 2016, extreme poverty in Bolivia fell from 38.2% to 16.8%.", "Chronic malnutrition in children under five years of age also went down by 14% and the child mortality rate was reduced by more than 50%, according to World Health Organization.", "In 2019 the Bolivian government created a universal healthcare system which has been cited as a model for all by the World Health Organization.===Media====== Women's rights ===With the election of Evo Morales to the presidency in 2005, \"chola\" or \"cholitas\" women, who had long been despised, gained new rights and social recognition.", "More generally, the 2009 Constitution improves the rights of Bolivian women.Despite a 2013 law against violence against women, a decade later Bolivia is the Latin American country with the highest rate of femicide.Thanks to a quota policy, by 2022 Bolivia will be the second country in the world, after Rwanda, to have as many women parliamentarians (52% in the Legislative Assembly and 47% in the Chamber of Senators).=== Sports ===Football is popular.", "The national team is the Bolivia national football team.Racquetball is the second most popular sport in Bolivia as for the results in the Odesur 2018 Games held in Cochabamba.", "Bolivia has won 13 medals at the Pan American Games and 10 of them came from racquetball events, including their only gold medal won in the Men's Team event in 2019.Basketball is especially popular and influential in the Potosí Department." ], [ "See also", "** Outline of Bolivia* Bolivia–United States relations" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* Crabtree, John, and Laurence Whitehead, eds.", "''Unresolved tensions: Bolivia past and present'' (2008) excerpt * Klein, Herbert S. ''A Concise History of Bolivia'' (Cambridge UP, 2021) excerpt * Morales, Waltraud Q.", "''A brief history of Bolivia'' (Infobase Publishing, 2010).", "* Rohan, Rebecca.", "''Bolivia'' (Cavendish Square, 2021) 32pp; for middle schools.", "* Thomson, Sinclair, et al., eds.", "''The Bolivia Reader: History, Culture, Politics'' (Duke University Press, 2018).", "* Young, Kevin A.", "''Blood of the earth: resource nationalism, revolution, and empire in Bolivia'' (University of Texas Press, 2017).", "* * * * '''Attribution:'''" ], [ "External links", " * Bolivia.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* * Bolivia: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress).", "BBC News: Country Profile – Bolivia *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Bosnia and Herzegovina''' (; sometimes known as '''Bosnia-Herzegovina''' and informally as '''Bosnia''') is a country in Southeast Europe, situated on the Balkan Peninsula.", "It borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest.", "In the south it has a long coast on the Adriatic Sea, with the town of Neum being its only access to the sea.", "Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters.", "In the central and eastern regions, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat.", "Herzegovina, the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous.", "Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city.The area has been inhabited since at least the Upper Paleolithic, but evidence suggests that during the Neolithic age, permanent human settlements were established, including those that belonged to the Butmir, Kakanj, and Vučedol cultures.", "After the arrival of the first Indo-Europeans, the area was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations.", "The ancestors of the South Slavic peoples that populate the area today arrived during the 6th through the 9th century.", "In the 12th century, the Banate of Bosnia was established; by the 14th century, this had evolved into the Kingdom of Bosnia.", "In the mid-15th century, it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule it remained until the late 19th century; the Ottomans brought Islam to the region.", "From the late 19th century until World War I, the country was annexed into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.", "In the interwar period, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.", "After World War II, it was granted full republic status in the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.", "In 1992, following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republic proclaimed independence.", "This was followed by the Bosnian War, which lasted until late 1995 and ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement.The country is home to three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks are the largest group, Serbs the second-largest, and Croats the third-largest.", "Minorities include Jews, Roma, Albanians, Montenegrins, Ukrainians and Turks.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member presidency made up of one member from each of the three major ethnic groups.", "However, the central government's power is highly limited, as the country is largely decentralized.", "It comprises two autonomous entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska—and a third unit, the Brčko District, which is governed by its own local government.Bosnia and Herzegovina is a developing country and ranks 74th in the Human Development Index.", "Its economy is dominated by industry and agriculture, followed by tourism and the service sector.", "Tourism has increased significantly in recent years.", "The country has a social-security and universal-healthcare system, and primary and secondary level education is free.", "It is a member of the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the Partnership for Peace, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement; it is also a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean, established in July 2008.Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate country and has also been a candidate for NATO membership since April 2010." ], [ "Etymology", "The first preserved widely acknowledged mention of a form of the name \"Bosnia\" is in , a politico-geographical handbook written by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in the mid-10th century (between 948 and 952) describing the \"small land\" (χωρίον in Greek) of \"Bosona\" (Βοσώνα), where the Serbs dwell.", "Bosnia was also mentioned in the ''DAI'' (χωριον βοσονα, small land of Bosnia), as a region of Baptized Serbia.The name of the land is believed to derive from the name of the river Bosna that courses through the Bosnian heartland.", "According to philologist Anton Mayer, the name ''Bosna'' could derive from Illyrian \"Bass-an-as\", which in turn could derive from the Proto-Indo-European root ''bʰegʷ-'', meaning \"the running water\".", "According to the English medievalist William Miller, the Slavic settlers in Bosnia \"adapted the Latin designation ... Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna and themselves ''Bosniaks''\".The name ''Herzegovina'' means \"herzog's land\", and \"herzog\" derives from the German word for \"duke\".", "It originates from the title of a 15th-century Bosnian magnate, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who was \"Herceg Herzog of Hum and the Coast\" (1448).", "Hum (formerly called Zachlumia) was an early medieval principality that had been conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century.", "When the Ottomans took over administration of the region, they called it the Sanjak of Herzegovina (''Hersek'').", "It was included within the Bosnia Eyalet until the formation of the short-lived Herzegovina Eyalet in the 1830s, which reemerged in the 1850s, after which the administrative region became commonly known as ''Bosnia and Herzegovina''.On initial proclamation of independence in 1992, the country's official name was the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but following the 1995 Dayton Agreement and the new constitution that accompanied it, the official name was changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina." ], [ "History", "Iron Age cult carriage from Banjani, near SokolacMogorjelo, ancient Roman suburban Villa Rustica from the 4th century, near Čapljina===Early history===Bosnia has been inhabited by humans since at least the Paleolithic, as one of the oldest cave paintings was found in Badanj cave.", "Major Neolithic cultures such as the Butmir and Kakanj were present along the river Bosna dated from –.", "The bronze culture of the Illyrians, an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form, started to organize itself in today's Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.From 8th century BCE, Illyrian tribes evolved into kingdoms.", "The earliest recorded kingdom in Illyria was the Enchele in the 8th century BCE.", "The Autariatae under Pleurias (337 BCE) were considered to have been a kingdom.", "The Kingdom of the Ardiaei (originally a tribe from the Neretva valley region) began at 230 BCE and ended at 167 BCE.", "The most notable Illyrian kingdoms and dynasties were those of Bardylis of the Dardani and of Agron of the Ardiaei who created the last and best-known Illyrian kingdom.", "Agron ruled over the Ardiaei and had extended his rule to other tribes as well.From the 7th century BCE, bronze was replaced by iron, after which only jewelry and art objects were still made out of bronze.", "Illyrian tribes, under the influence of Hallstatt cultures to the north, formed regional centers that were slightly different.", "Parts of Central Bosnia were inhabited by the Daesitiates tribe, most commonly associated with the Central Bosnian cultural group.", "The Iron Age Glasinac-Mati culture is associated with the Autariatae tribe.A very important role in their life was the cult of the dead, which is seen in their careful burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of their burial sites.", "In northern parts, there was a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the south the dead were buried in large stone or earth tumuli (natively called ''gromile'') that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 m wide and 5 m high.", "''Japodian tribes'' had an affinity to decoration (heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze foil).In the 4th century BCE, the first invasion of Celts is recorded.", "They brought the technique of the pottery wheel, new types of fibulas and different bronze and iron belts.", "They only passed on their way to Greece, so their influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina is negligible.", "Celtic migrations displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former lands, but some Celtic and Illyrian tribes mixed.", "Concrete historical evidence for this period is scarce, but overall it appears the region was populated by a number of different peoples speaking distinct languages.In the Neretva Delta in the south, there were important Hellenistic influences of the Illyrian Daors tribe.", "Their capital was ''Daorson'' in Ošanići near Stolac.", "Daorson, in the 4th century BCE, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 m high stonewalls (as large as those of Mycenae in Greece), composed of large trapezoid stone blocks.", "Daors made unique bronze coins and sculptures.Conflict between the Illyrians and Romans started in 229 BCE, but Rome did not complete its annexation of the region until AD 9.It was precisely in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina that Rome fought one of the most difficult battles in its history since the Punic Wars, as described by the Roman historian Suetonius.", "This was the Roman campaign against Illyricum, known as .", "The conflict arose after an attempt to recruit Illyrians, and a revolt spanned for four years (6–9 AD), after which they were subdued.", "In the Roman period, Latin-speaking settlers from the entire Roman Empire settled among the Illyrians, and Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire in the region.Following the split of the Empire between 337 and 395 AD, Dalmatia and Pannonia became parts of the Western Roman Empire.", "The region was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 455 AD.", "It subsequently changed hands between the Alans and the Huns.", "By the 6th century, Emperor Justinian I had reconquered the area for the Byzantine Empire.", "Slavs overwhelmed the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries.", "Illyrian cultural traits were adopted by the South Slavs, as evidenced in certain customs and traditions, placenames, etc.===Middle Ages===Hval's Codex, illustrated Slavic manuscript from medieval BosniaThe Early Slavs raided the Western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th and early 7th century (amid the Migration Period), and were composed of small tribal units drawn from a single Slavic confederation known to the Byzantines as the ''Sclaveni'' (whilst the related ''Antes'', roughly speaking, colonized the eastern portions of the Balkans).Tribes recorded by the ethnonyms of \"Serb\" and \"Croat\" are described as a second, latter, migration of different people during the second quarter of the 7th century who could or could not have been particularly numerous; these early \"Serb\" and \"Croat\" tribes, whose exact identity is subject to scholarly debate, came to predominate over the Slavs in the neighbouring regions.", "Croats \"settled in area roughly corresponding to modern Croatia, and probably also including most of Bosnia proper, apart from the eastern strip of the Drina valley\" while Serbs \"corresponding to modern south-western Serbia (later known as Raška), and gradually extended their rule into the territories of Duklja and Hum\".Bosnia is also believed to be first mentioned ''as a land (horion Bosona)'' in Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus' ''De Administrando Imperio'' in the mid 10th century, at the end of a chapter entitled ''Of the Serbs and the country in which they now dwell''.", "This has been scholarly interpreted in several ways and used especially by the Serb national ideologists to prove Bosnia as originally a \"Serb\" land.", "Other scholars have asserted the inclusion of Bosnia in the chapter to merely be the result of Serbian Grand Duke Časlav's temporary rule over Bosnia at the time, while also pointing out Porphyrogenitus does not say anywhere explicitly that Bosnia is a \"Serb land\".", "In fact, the very translation of the critical sentence where the word ''Bosona'' (Bosnia) appears is subject to varying interpretation.", "In time, Bosnia formed a unit under its own ruler, who called himself Bosnian.", "Bosnia, along with other territories, became part of Duklja in the 11th century, although it retained its own nobility and institutions.Bosnia in the Middle Ages spanning the Banate of Bosnia and the succeeding Kingdom of BosniaIn the High Middle Ages, political circumstance led to the area being contested between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire.", "Following another shift of power between the two in the early 12th century, Bosnia found itself outside the control of both and emerged as the Banate of Bosnia (under the rule of local ''bans'').", "The first Bosnian ban known by name was Ban Borić.", "The second was Ban Kulin, whose rule marked the start of a controversy involving the Bosnian Church – considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church.", "In response to Hungarian attempts to use church politics regarding the issue as a way to reclaim sovereignty over Bosnia, Kulin held a council of local church leaders to renounce the heresy and embraced Catholicism in 1203.Despite this, Hungarian ambitions remained unchanged long after Kulin's death in 1204, waning only after an unsuccessful invasion in 1254.During this time, the population was called ''Dobri Bošnjani'' (\"Good Bosnians\").", "The names Serb and Croat, though occasionally appearing in peripheral areas, were not used in Bosnia proper.Bosnian history from then until the early 14th century was marked by a power struggle between the Šubić and Kotromanić families.", "This conflict came to an end in 1322, when Stephen II Kotromanić became ''Ban''.", "By the time of his death in 1353, he was successful in annexing territories to the north and west, as well as Zahumlje and parts of Dalmatia.", "He was succeeded by his ambitious nephew Tvrtko who, following a prolonged struggle with nobility and inter-family strife, gained full control of the country in 1367.By the year 1377, Bosnia was elevated into a kingdom with the coronation of Tvrtko as the first Bosnian King in Mile near Visoko in the Bosnian heartland.Following his death in 1391 however, Bosnia fell into a long period of decline.", "The Ottoman Empire had started its conquest of Europe and posed a major threat to the Balkans throughout the first half of the 15th century.", "Finally, after decades of political and social instability, the Kingdom of Bosnia ceased to exist in 1463 after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire.There was a general awareness in medieval Bosnia, at least amongst the nobles, that they shared a join state with Serbia and that they belonged to the same ethnic group.", "That awareness diminished over time, due to differences in political and social development, but it was kept in Herzegovina and parts of Bosnia which were a part of Serbian state.===Ottoman Empire===Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque in Sarajevo, dating from 1531The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia marked a new era in the country's history and introduced drastic changes in the political and cultural landscape.", "The Ottomans incorporated Bosnia as an integral province of the Ottoman Empire with its historical name and territorial integrity.", "Within Bosnia, the Ottomans introduced a number of key changes in the territory's socio-political administration; including a new landholding system, a reorganization of administrative units, and a complex system of social differentiation by class and religious affiliation.The four centuries of Ottoman rule also had a drastic impact on Bosnia's population make-up, which changed several times as a result of the empire's conquests, frequent wars with European powers, forced and economic migrations, and epidemics.", "A native Slavic-speaking Muslim community emerged and eventually became the largest of the ethno-religious groups due to lack of strong Christian church organizations and continuous rivalry between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, while the indigenous Bosnian Church disappeared altogether (ostensibly by conversion of its members to Islam).", "The Ottomans referred to them as ''kristianlar'' while the Orthodox and Catholics were called ''gebir'' or ''kafir'', meaning \"unbeliever\".", "The Bosnian Franciscans (and the Catholic population as a whole) were protected by official imperial decrees and in accordance and the full extent of Ottoman laws; however, in effect, these often merely affected arbitrary rule and behavior of powerful local elite.As the Ottoman Empire continued its rule in the Balkans (Rumelia), Bosnia was somewhat relieved of the pressures of being a frontier province and experienced a period of general welfare.", "A number of cities, such as Sarajevo and Mostar, were established and grew into regional centers of trade and urban culture and were then visited by Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi in 1648.Within these cities, various Ottoman Sultans financed the construction of many works of Bosnian architecture such as the country's first library in Sarajevo, madrassas, a school of Sufi philosophy, and a clock tower (''Sahat Kula''), bridges such as the Stari Most, the Emperor's Mosque and the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque.Furthermore, several Bosnian Muslims played influential roles in the Ottoman Empire's cultural and political history during this time.", "Bosnian recruits formed a large component of the Ottoman ranks in the battles of Mohács and Krbava field, while numerous other Bosnians rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military to occupy the highest positions of power in the Empire, including admirals such as Matrakçı Nasuh; generals such as Isa-Beg Ishaković, Gazi Husrev-beg, Telli Hasan Pasha and Sarı Süleyman Pasha; administrators such as Ferhad Pasha Sokolović and Osman Gradaščević; and Grand Viziers such as the influential Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Damat Ibrahim Pasha.", "Some Bosnians emerged as Sufi mystics, scholars such as Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi, Ali Džabić; and poets in the Turkish, Albanian, Arabic, and Persian languages.Stephen Tomašević of Bosnia, in front of Christ, by Jacopo Bellini in c. 1460However, by the late 17th century the Empire's military misfortunes caught up with the country, and the end of the Great Turkish War with the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 again made Bosnia the Empire's westernmost province.", "The 18th century was marked by further military failures, numerous revolts within Bosnia, and several outbreaks of plague.The Porte's efforts at modernizing the Ottoman state were met with distrust growing to hostility in Bosnia, where local aristocrats stood to lose much through the proposed Tanzimat reforms.", "This, combined with frustrations over territorial, political concessions in the north-east, and the plight of Slavic Muslim refugees arriving from the Sanjak of Smederevo into Bosnia Eyalet, culminated in a partially unsuccessful revolt by Husein Gradaščević, who endorsed a Bosnia Eyalet autonomous from the authoritarian rule of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, who persecuted, executed and abolished the Janissaries and reduced the role of autonomous Pashas in Rumelia.", "Mahmud II sent his Grand vizier to subdue Bosnia Eyalet and succeeded only with the reluctant assistance of Ali Pasha Rizvanbegović.", "Related rebellions were extinguished by 1850, but the situation continued to deteriorate.New nationalist movements appeared in Bosnia by the middle of the 19th century.", "Shortly after Serbia's breakaway from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, Serbian and Croatian nationalism rose up in Bosnia, and such nationalists made irredentist claims to Bosnia's territory.", "This trend continued to grow in the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries.Agrarian unrest eventually sparked the Herzegovinian rebellion, a widespread peasant uprising, in 1875.The conflict rapidly spread and came to involve several Balkan states and Great Powers, a situation that led to the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.===Austria-Hungary===At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Andrássy obtained the occupation and administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he also obtained the right to station garrisons in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which would remain under Ottoman administration until 1908, when the Austro-Hungarian troops withdrew from the Sanjak.Although Austro-Hungarian officials quickly came to an agreement with the Bosnians, tensions remained and a mass emigration of Bosnians occurred.", "However, a state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms they intended would make Bosnia and Herzegovina into a \"model\" colony.Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo PrincipHabsburg rule had several key concerns in Bosnia.", "It tried to dissipate the South Slav nationalism by disputing the earlier Serb and Croat claims to Bosnia and encouraging identification of Bosnian or Bosniak identity.", "Habsburg rule also tried to provide for modernisation by codifying laws, introducing new political institutions, establishing and expanding industries.Austria–Hungary began to plan the annexation of Bosnia, but due to international disputes the issue was not resolved until the annexation crisis of 1908.Several external matters affected the status of Bosnia and its relationship with Austria–Hungary.", "A bloody coup occurred in Serbia in 1903, which brought a radical anti-Austrian government into power in Belgrade.", "Then in 1908, the revolt in the Ottoman Empire raised concerns that the Istanbul government might seek the outright return of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "These factors caused the Austro-Hungarian government to seek a permanent resolution of the Bosnian question sooner, rather than later.Taking advantage of turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian diplomacy tried to obtain provisional Russian approval for changes over the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina and published the annexation proclamation on 6 October 1908.Despite international objections to the Austro-Hungarian annexation, Russians and their client state, Serbia, were compelled to accept the Austrian-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1909.In 1910, Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph proclaimed the first constitution in Bosnia, which led to relaxation of earlier laws, elections and formation of the Bosnian parliament and growth of new political life.On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb member of the revolutionary movement Young Bosnia, assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo—an event that was the spark that set off World War I.", "At the end of the war, the Bosniaks had lost more men per capita than any other ethnic group in the Habsburg Empire whilst serving in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry (known as ''Bosniaken'') of the Austro-Hungarian Army.", "Nonetheless, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole managed to escape the conflict relatively unscathed.The Austro-Hungarian authorities established an auxiliary militia known as the Schutzkorps with a moot role in the empire's policy of anti-Serb repression.", "Schutzkorps, predominantly recruited among the Muslim (Bosniak) population, were tasked with hunting down rebel Serbs (the ''Chetniks'' and ''Komitadji'') and became known for their persecution of Serbs particularly in Serb populated areas of eastern Bosnia, where they partly retaliated against Serbian Chetniks who in fall 1914 had carried out attacks against the Muslim population in the area.", "The proceedings of the Austro-Hungarian authorities led to around 5,500 citizens of Serb ethnicity in Bosnia and Herzegovina being arrested, and between 700 and 2,200 died in prison while 460 were executed.", "Around 5,200 Serb families were forcibly expelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina.===Kingdom of Yugoslavia===King Alexander I, in an illustration of Yugoslav peoples dancing the koloFollowing World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the South Slav Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (soon renamed Yugoslavia).", "Political life in Bosnia and Herzegovina at this time was marked by two major trends: social and economic unrest over property redistribution and the formation of several political parties that frequently changed coalitions and alliances with parties in other Yugoslav regions.The dominant ideological conflict of the Yugoslav state, between Croatian regionalism and Serbian centralization, was approached differently by Bosnia and Herzegovina's major ethnic groups and was dependent on the overall political atmosphere.", "The political reforms brought about in the newly established Yugoslavian kingdom saw few benefits for the Bosnian Muslims; according to the 1910 final census of land ownership and population according to religious affiliation conducted in Austria-Hungary, Muslims owned 91.1%, Orthodox Serbs owned 6.0%, Croat Catholics owned 2.6% and others, 0.3% of the property.", "Following the reforms, Bosnian Muslims were dispossessed of a total of 1,175,305 hectares of agricultural and forest land.Although the initial split of the country into 33 oblasts erased the presence of traditional geographic entities from the map, the efforts of Bosnian politicians, such as Mehmed Spaho, ensured the six oblasts carved up from Bosnia and Herzegovina corresponded to the six sanjaks from Ottoman times and, thus, matched the country's traditional boundary as a whole.The establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, however, brought the redrawing of administrative regions into banates or ''banovinas'' that purposely avoided all historical and ethnic lines, removing any trace of a Bosnian entity.", "Serbo-Croat tensions over the structuring of the Yugoslav state continued, with the concept of a separate Bosnian division receiving little or no consideration.The Cvetković-Maček Agreement that created the Croatian banate in 1939 encouraged what was essentially a partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Croatia and Serbia.", "However the rising threat of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany forced Yugoslav politicians to shift their attention.", "Following a period that saw attempts at appeasement, the signing of the Tripartite Treaty, and a coup d'état, Yugoslavia was finally invaded by Germany on 6 April 1941.===World War II (1941–45)===The railway bridge over the Neretva River in Jablanica, twice destroyed during the 1943 Case White offensiveOnce the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was conquered by German forces in World War II, all of Bosnia and Herzegovina was ceded to the Nazi puppet regime, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) led by the Ustaše.", "The NDH leaders embarked on a campaign of extermination of Serbs, Jews, Romani as well as dissident Croats, and, later, Josip Broz Tito's Partisans by setting up a number of death camps.", "The regime systematically and brutally massacred Serbs in villages in the countryside, using a variety of tools.", "The scale of the violence meant that approximately every sixth Serb living in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the victim of a massacre and virtually every Serb had a family member that was killed in the war, mostly by the Ustaše.", "The experience had a profound impact in the collective memory of Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "An estimated 209,000 Serbs or 16.9% of its Bosnia population were killed on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war.The Ustaše recognized both Catholicism and Islam as the national religions, but held the position Eastern Orthodox Church, as a symbol of Serb identity, was their greatest foe.", "Although Croats were by far the largest ethnic group to constitute the Ustaše, the Vice President of the NDH and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization Džafer Kulenović was a Muslim, and Muslims in total constituted nearly 12% of the Ustaše military and civil service authority.Many Serbs themselves took up arms and joined the Chetniks, a Serb nationalist movement with the aim of establishing an ethnically homogeneous 'Greater Serbian' state within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.", "The Chetniks, in turn, pursued a genocidal campaign against ethnic Muslims and Croats, as well as persecuting a large number of communist Serbs and other Communist sympathizers, with the Muslim populations of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Sandžak being a primary target.", "Once captured, Muslim villagers were systematically massacred by the Chetniks.", "Of the 75,000 Muslims who died in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, approximately 30,000 (mostly civilians) were killed by the Chetniks.", "Massacres against Croats were smaller in scale but similar in action.", "Between 64,000 and 79,000 Bosnian Croats were killed between April 1941 to May 1945.Of these, about 18,000 were killed by the Chetniks.Eternal flame memorial to military and civilian World War II victims in SarajevoA percentage of Muslims served in Nazi ''Waffen-SS'' units.", "These units were responsible for massacres of Serbs in northwest and eastern Bosnia, most notably in Vlasenica.", "On 12 October 1941, a group of 108 prominent Sarajevan Muslims signed the Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims by which they condemned the persecution of Serbs organized by the Ustaše, made distinction between Muslims who participated in such persecutions and the Muslim population as a whole, presented information about the persecutions of Muslims by Serbs, and requested security for all citizens of the country, regardless of their identity.Starting in 1941, Yugoslav communists under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito organized their own multi-ethnic resistance group, the Partisans, who fought against both Axis and Chetnik forces.", "On 29 November 1943, the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) with Tito at its helm held a founding conference in Jajce where Bosnia and Herzegovina was reestablished as a republic within the Yugoslavian federation in its Habsburg borders.", "During the entire course of World War II in Yugoslavia, 64.1% of all Bosnian Partisans were Serbs, 23% were Muslims and 8.8% Croats.Military success eventually prompted the Allies to support the Partisans, resulting in the successful Maclean Mission, but Tito declined their offer to help and relied on his own forces instead.", "All the major military offensives by the antifascist movement of Yugoslavia against Nazis and their local supporters were conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its peoples bore the brunt of the fighting.", "More than 300,000 people died in Bosnia and Herzegovina in World War II, or more than 10% of the population.", "At the end of the war, the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with the constitution of 1946, officially made Bosnia and Herzegovina one of six constituent republics in the new state.===Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)===Bosnia and Herzegovina's flag while part of the Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaDue to its central geographic position within the Yugoslavian federation, post-war Bosnia was selected as a base for the development of the military defense industry.", "This contributed to a large concentration of arms and military personnel in Bosnia; a significant factor in the war that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.", "However, Bosnia's existence within Yugoslavia, for the large part, was relatively peaceful and very prosperous, with high employment, a strong industrial and export oriented economy, a good education system and social and medical security for every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Several international corporations operated in Bosnia—Volkswagen as part of TAS (car factory in Sarajevo, from 1972), Coca-Cola (from 1975), SKF Sweden (from 1967), Marlboro, (a tobacco factory in Sarajevo), and Holiday Inn hotels.", "Sarajevo was the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics.During the 1950s and 1960s, Bosnia was a political backwater of Yugoslavia.", "In the 1970s, a strong Bosnian political elite arose, fueled in part by Tito's leadership in the Non-Aligned Movement and Bosnians serving in Yugoslavia's diplomatic corps.", "While working within the Socialist system, politicians such as Džemal Bijedić, Branko Mikulić and Hamdija Pozderac reinforced and protected the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Their efforts proved key during the turbulent period following Tito's death in 1980, and are today considered some of the early steps towards Bosnian independence.", "However, the republic did not escape the increasingly nationalistic climate of the time.", "With the fall of communism and the start of the breakup of Yugoslavia, doctrine of tolerance began to lose its potency, creating an opportunity for nationalist elements in the society to spread their influence.===Bosnian War (1992–1995)===YugoslaviaOn 18 November 1990, multi-party parliamentary elections were held throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "A second round followed on 25 November, resulting in a national assembly where communist power was replaced by a coalition of three ethnically based parties.", "Following Slovenia and Croatia's declarations of independence from Yugoslavia, a significant split developed among the residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the issue of whether to remain within Yugoslavia (overwhelmingly favored by Serbs) or seek independence (overwhelmingly favored by Bosniaks and Croats).The Serb members of parliament, consisting mainly of the Serb Democratic Party members, abandoned the central parliament in Sarajevo, and formed the Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 24 October 1991, which marked the end of the three-ethnic coalition that governed after the elections in 1990.This Assembly established the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992.It was renamed Republika Srpska in August 1992.On 18 November 1991, the party branch in Bosnia and Herzegovina of the ruling party in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), proclaimed the existence of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia in a separate part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) as its military branch.", "It went unrecognized by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which declared it illegal.UN troops in front of the Executive Council Building, burned after being struck by tank fire during the siege of Sarajevo, 1995A declaration of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 15 October 1991 was followed by a referendum for independence on 29 February and 1 March 1992, which was boycotted by the great majority of Serbs.", "The turnout in the independence referendum was 63.4 percent and 99.7 percent of voters voted for independence.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence on 3 March 1992 and received international recognition the following month on 6 April 1992.The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted as a member state of the United Nations on 22 May 1992.Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević and Croatian leader Franjo Tuđman are believed to have agreed on a partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1991, with the aim of establishing Greater Serbia and Greater Croatia.Following Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of independence, Bosnian Serb militias mobilized in different parts of the country.", "Government forces were poorly equipped and unprepared for the war.", "International recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina increased diplomatic pressure for the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) to withdraw from the republic's territory, which they officially did in June 1992.The Bosnian Serb members of the JNA simply changed insignia, formed the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), and continued fighting.", "Armed and equipped from JNA stockpiles in Bosnia, supported by volunteers and various paramilitary forces from Serbia, and receiving extensive humanitarian, logistical and financial support from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Republika Srpska's offensives in 1992 managed to place much of the country under its control.", "The Bosnian Serb advance was accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from VRS-controlled areas.", "Dozens of concentration camps were established in which inmates were subjected to violence and abuse, including rape.", "The ethnic cleansing culminated in the Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995, which was ruled to have been a genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).", "Bosniak and Bosnian Croat forces also committed war crimes against civilians from different ethnic groups, though on a smaller scale.", "Most of the Bosniak and Croat atrocities were committed during the Croat–Bosniak War, a sub-conflict of the Bosnian War that pitted the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) against the HVO.", "The Bosniak-Croat conflict ended in March 1994, with the signing of the Washington Agreement, leading to the creation of a joint Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which amalgamated HVO-held territory with that held by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH).===Recent history===Tuzla government building burning after anti-government clashes on 7 February 2014On 4 February 2014, the protests against the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the country's two entities, dubbed the Bosnian Spring, the name being taken from the Arab Spring, began in the northern town of Tuzla.", "Workers from several factories that had been privatised and gone bankrupt assembled to demand action over jobs, unpaid salaries and pensions.", "Soon protests spread to the rest of the Federation, with violent clashes reported in close to 20 towns, the biggest of which were Sarajevo, Zenica, Mostar, Bihać, Brčko and Tuzla.", "The Bosnian news media reported that hundreds of people had been injured during the protests, including dozens of police officers, with bursts of violence in Sarajevo, in the northern city of Tuzla, in Mostar in the south, and in Zenica in central Bosnia.", "The same level of unrest or activism did not occur in Republika Srpska, but hundreds of people also gathered in support of protests in the city of Banja Luka against its separate government.The protests marked the largest outbreak of public anger over high unemployment and two decades of political inertia in the country since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995.According to a report made by Christian Schmidt of the Office of High Representative in late 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been experiencing intensified political and ethnic tensions, which could potentially break the country apart and slide it back into war once again.", "The European Union fears this will lead to further Balkanization in the region." ], [ "Geography", "Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia () to the north and west, Serbia () to the east, and Montenegro () to the southeast.", "It has a coastline about long surrounding the town of Neum.", "It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E.The country's name comes from the two alleged regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose border was never defined.", "Historically, Bosnia's official name never included any of its many regions until the Austro-Hungarian occupation.The country is mostly mountainous, encompassing the central Dinaric Alps.", "The northeastern parts reach into the Pannonian Basin, while in the south it borders the Adriatic.", "The Dinaric Alps generally run in a southeast–northwest direction, and get higher towards the south.", "The highest point of the country is the peak of Maglić at , on the Montenegrin border.", "Other major mountains include Volujak, Zelengora, Lelija, Lebršnik, Orjen, Kozara, Grmeč, Čvrsnica, Prenj, Vran, Vranica, Velež, Vlašić, Cincar, Romanija, Jahorina, Bjelašnica, Treskavica and Trebević.", "The geological composition of the Dinaric chain of mountains in Bosnia consists primarily of limestone (including Mesozoic limestone), with deposits of iron, coal, zinc, manganese, bauxite, lead, and salt present in some areas, especially in central and northern Bosnia.Overall, nearly 50% of Bosnia and Herzegovina is forested.", "Most forest areas are in the centre, east and west parts of Bosnia.", "Herzegovina has a drier Mediterranean climate, with dominant karst topography.", "Northern Bosnia (Posavina) contains very fertile agricultural land along the Sava river and the corresponding area is heavily farmed.", "This farmland is a part of the Pannonian Plain stretching into neighboring Croatia and Serbia.", "The country has only of coastline, around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.", "Although the city is surrounded by Croatian peninsulas, by international law, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a right of passage to the outer sea.Sarajevo is the capital and largest city.", "Other major cities include Banja Luka and Prijedor in the northwest region known as Bosanska Krajina, Tuzla, Bijeljina, Doboj and Brčko in the northeast, Zenica in the central part of the country, and Mostar, the largest city in the southern region of Herzegovina.There are seven major rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina:===Biodiversity===Phytogeographically, Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region and Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region.", "According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be subdivided into four ecoregions: Balkan mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests, Pannonian mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests.", "The country had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.99/10, ranking it 89th globally out of 172 countries." ], [ "Politics", "===Government===Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), Republika Srpska (RS) and Brčko District (BD).As a result of the Dayton Agreement, the civilian peace implementation is supervised by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina selected by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC).", "The High Representative is the highest political authority in the country.", "The High Representative has many governmental and legislative powers, including the dismissal of elected and non-elected officials.", "Due to the vast powers of the High Representative over Bosnian politics and essential veto powers, the position has also been compared to that of a viceroy.Politics take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation (PR) system.Bosnia and Herzegovina is a liberal democracy.", "It has several levels of political structuring, according to the Dayton Agreement.", "The most important of these levels is the division of the country into two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.", "The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina covers 51% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's total area, while Republika Srpska covers 49%.", "The entities, based largely on the territories held by the two warring sides at the time, were formally established by the Dayton Agreement in 1995 because of the tremendous changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina's ethnic structure.", "At the national level, there exists only a finite set of exclusive or joint competencies, whereas the majority of authority rests within the entities.", "Sumantra Bose describes Bosnia and Herzegovina as a consociational confederation.The Brčko District in the north of the country was created in 2000, out of land from both entities.", "It officially belongs to both, but is governed by neither, and functions under a decentralized system of local government.", "For election purposes, Brčko District voters can choose to participate in either the Federation or Republika Srpska elections.", "The Brčko District has been praised for maintaining a multiethnic population and a level of prosperity significantly above the national average.The third level of Bosnia and Herzegovina's political subdivision is manifested in cantons.", "They are unique to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, which consists of ten of them.", "Each has a cantonal government, which is under the law of the Federation as a whole.", "Some cantons are ethnically mixed and have special laws to ensure the equality of all constituent people.The fourth level of political division in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the municipalities.", "The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into 79 municipalities, and Republika Srpska into 64.Municipalities also have their own local government, and are typically based on the most significant city or place in their territory.", "As such, many municipalities have a long tradition and history with their present boundaries.", "Some others, however, were only created following the recent war after traditional municipalities were split by the Inter-Entity Boundary Line.", "Each canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of several municipalities, which are divided into local communities.Besides entities, cantons, and municipalities, Bosnia and Herzegovina also has four \"official\" cities.", "These are: Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo and East Sarajevo.", "The territory and government of the cities of Banja Luka and Mostar corresponds to the municipalities of the same name, while the cities of Sarajevo and East Sarajevo officially consist of several municipalities.", "Cities have their own city government whose power is in between that of the municipalities and cantons (or the entity, in the case of Republika Srpska).More recently, several central institutions have been established (such as a defense ministry, security ministry, state court, indirect taxation service and so on) in the process of transferring part of the jurisdiction from the entities to the state.", "The representation of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is by elites who represent the country's three major groups, with each having a guaranteed share of power.The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates among three members (Bosniak, Serb, Croat), each elected as the chair for an eight-month term within their four-year term as a member.", "The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people, with Federation voters voting for the Bosniak and the Croat and the Republika Srpska voters voting for the Serb.The Chair of the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the parliamentary House of Representatives.", "The Chair of the Council of Ministers is then responsible for appointing a Foreign Minister, Minister of Foreign Trade and others as appropriate.The Parliamentary Assembly is the lawmaking body in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "It consists of two houses: the House of Peoples and the House of Representatives.", "The House of Peoples has 15 delegates chosen by parliaments of the entities, two-thirds of which come from the Federation (5 Bosniaks and 5 Croats) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs).", "The House of Representatives is composed of 42 Members elected by the people under a form of proportional representation, two-thirds elected from the Federation and one-third elected from Republika Srpska.The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of legal matters.", "It is composed of nine members: four members are selected by the Federal House of Representatives, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and three by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultation with the Presidency, who cannot be Bosnian citizens.However, the highest political authority in the country is the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country and is selected by the European Union.", "Since 1995, the High Representative has been able to bypass the elected parliamentary assembly, and since 1997 has been able to remove elected officials.", "The methods selected by the High Representative have been criticized as undemocratic.", "International supervision is to end when the country is deemed politically and democratically stable and self-sustaining.===Military===+ '''Branches of the Bosnian-Herzegovian Armed Forces'''x120pxBosnian Ground ForcesCombined Resolve XVx120pxBosnian Air ForceTH-1H Huey main transport aircraftThe Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (OSBiH) were unified into a single entity in 2005, with the merger of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Army of Republika Srpska, which had defended their respective regions.", "The Ministry of Defence was formed in 2004.The Bosnian military consists of the Bosnian Ground Forces and Air Force and Air Defense.", "The Ground Forces number 7,200 active and 5,000 reserve personnel.", "They are armed with a mix of American, Yugoslavian, Soviet, and European-made weaponry, vehicles, and military equipment.", "The Air Force and Air Defense Forces have 1,500 personnel and about 62 aircraft.", "The Air Defense Forces operate MANPADS hand-held missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries, anti-aircraft cannons, and radar.", "The Army has recently adopted remodeled MARPAT uniforms, used by Bosnian soldiers serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.", "A domestic production program is now underway to ensure that army units are equipped with the correct ammunition.Beginning in 2007, the Ministry of Defence undertook the army's first ever international assistance mission, enlisting the military to serve with ISAF peace missions to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007.Five officers, acting as officers/advisors, served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.", "45 soldiers, mostly acting as base security and medical assistants, served in Afghanistan.", "85 Bosnian soldiers served as base security in Iraq, occasionally conducting infantry patrols there as well.", "All three deployed groups have been commended by their respective international forces as well as the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The international assistance operations are still ongoing.The Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed when elements of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska Air Force were merged in 2006.The Air Force has seen improvements in the last few years with added funds for aircraft repairs and improved cooperation with the Ground Forces as well as to the citizens of the country.", "The Ministry of Defence is pursuing the acquisition of new aircraft including helicopters and perhaps even fighter jets.===Foreign relations===Željko Komšić, Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State, Washington, D.C. 2011European Union integration is one of the main political objectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina; it initiated the Stabilisation and Association Process in 2007.Countries participating in the SAP have been offered the possibility to become, once they fulfill the necessary conditions, Member States of the EU.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina is therefore a potential candidate country for EU accession.The implementation of the Dayton Agreement in 1995 has focused the efforts of policymakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the international community, on regional stabilization in the countries-successors of the former Yugoslavia.Within Bosnia and Herzegovina, relations with its neighbors of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro have been fairly stable since the signing of the Dayton Agreement.", "On 23 April 2010, Bosnia and Herzegovina received the Membership Action Plan from NATO, which is the last step before full membership in the alliance.", "Full membership was initially expected in 2014 or 2015, depending on the progress of reforms.", "In December 2018, NATO approved a Bosnian Membership Action Plan." ], [ "Demography", "According to the 1991 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a population of 4,369,319, while the 1996 World Bank Group census showed a decrease to 3,764,425.Large population migrations during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s have caused demographic shifts in the country.", "Between 1991 and 2013, political disagreements made it impossible to organize a census.", "A census had been planned for 2011, and then for 2012, but was delayed until October 2013.The 2013 census found a total population of 3,531,159 people, a drop of approximately 20% since 1991.The 2013 census figures include non-permanent Bosnian residents and for this reason are contested by Republika Srpska officials and Serb politicians (see Ethnic groups below).=== Largest cities ======Ethnic groups===Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to three ethnic \"constituent peoples\", namely Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, plus a number of smaller groups including Jews and Roma.", "According to data from the 2013 census published by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks constitute 50.1% of the population, Serbs 30.8%, Croats 15.5% and others 2.7%, with the remaining respondents not declaring their ethnicity or not answering.", "The census results are contested by the Republika Srpska statistical office and by Bosnian Serb politicians.", "The dispute over the census concerns the inclusion of non-permanent Bosnian residents in the figures, which Republika Srpska officials oppose.", "The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, concluded in May 2016 that the census methodology used by the Bosnian statistical agency is in line with international recommendations.===Languages===Bosnia's constitution does not specify any official languages.", "However, academics Hilary Footitt and Michael Kelly note the Dayton Agreement states it is \"done in Bosnian, Croatian, English and Serbian\", and they describe this as the \"de facto recognition of three official languages\" at the state level.", "The equal status of Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian was verified by the Constitutional Court in 2000.It ruled the provisions of the Federation and Republika Srpska constitutions on language were incompatible with the state constitution, since they only recognised Bosnian and Croatian (in the case of the Federation) and Serbian (in the case of Republika Srpska) as official languages at the entity level.", "As a result, the wording of the entity constitutions was changed and all three languages were made official in both entities.", "The three standard languages are fully mutually intelligible and are known collectively under the appellation of Serbo-Croatian, despite this term not being formally recognized in the country.", "Use of one of the three languages has become a marker of ethnic identity.", "Michael Kelly and Catherine Baker argue: \"The three official languages of today's Bosnian state...represent the symbolic assertion of national identity over the pragmatism of mutual intelligibility\".According to the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes the following minority languages: Albanian, Montenegrin, Czech, Italian, Hungarian, Macedonian, German, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Rusyn, Slovak, Slovene, Turkish, Ukrainian and Jewish (Yiddish and Ladino).", "The German minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina are mostly remnants of Donauschwaben (Danube Swabians), who settled in the area after the Habsburg monarchy claimed the Balkans from the Ottoman Empire.", "Due to expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars, the number of ethnic Germans in Bosnia and Herzegovina was drastically diminished.In the 2013 census, 52.86% of the population consider their mother tongue Bosnian, 30.76% Serbian, 14.6% Croatian and 1.57% another language, with 0.21% not giving an answer.===Religion===Bosnia and Herzegovina is a religiously diverse country.", "According to the 2013 census, Muslims comprised 50.7% of the population, while Orthodox Christians made 30.7%, Catholic Christians 15.2%, 1.2% other and 1.1% atheist or agnostic, with the remainder not declaring or not answering the question.", "A 2012 survey found 54% of Bosnia's Muslims were non-denominational, while 38% followed Sunnism.===Urban areas===Sarajevo is home to 419,957 inhabitants in its urban area which comprises the City of Sarajevo as well as the municipalities of Ilidža, Vogošća, Istočna Ilidža, Istočno Novo Sarajevo and Istočni Stari Grad.", "The metro area has a population of 555,210 and includes Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo and the municipalities of Breza, Kiseljak, Kreševo and Visoko." ], [ "Economy", "Estimated development of real GDP per capita of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 1952During the Bosnian War, the economy suffered €200 billion in material damages, roughly €326.38 billion in 2022 (inflation adjusted).", "Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the dual-problem of rebuilding a war-torn country and introducing transitional liberal market reforms to its formerly mixed economy.", "One legacy of the previous era is a strong industry; under former republic president Džemal Bijedić and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, metal industries were promoted in the republic, resulting in the development of a large share of Yugoslavia's plants; SR Bosnia and Herzegovina had a very strong industrial export oriented economy in the 1970s and 1980s, with large scale exports worth millions of US$.For most of Bosnia's history, agriculture has been conducted on privately owned farms; Fresh food has traditionally been exported from the republic.The war in the 1990s, caused a dramatic change in the Bosnian economy.", "GDP fell by 60% and the destruction of physical infrastructure devastated the economy.", "With much of the production capacity unrestored, the Bosnian economy still faces considerable difficulties.", "Figures show GDP and per capita income increased 10% from 2003 to 2004; this and Bosnia's shrinking national debt being negative trends, and high unemployment 38.7% and a large trade deficit remain cause for concern.The national currency is the (Euro-pegged) Convertible Mark (KM), controlled by the currency board.", "Annual inflation is the lowest relative to other countries in the region at 1.9% in 2004.The international debt was $5.1 billion (as of 31 December 2014).", "Real GDP growth rate was 5% for 2004 according to the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Statistical Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Bosnia and Herzegovina has displayed positive progress in the previous years, which decisively moved its place from the lowest income equality rank of income equality rankings fourteen out of 193 nations.According to Eurostat data, Bosnia and Herzegovina's PPS GDP per capita stood at 29 per cent of the EU average in 2010.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a loan to Bosnia worth US$500 million to be delivered by Stand-By Arrangement.", "This was scheduled to be approved in September 2012.The United States Embassy in Sarajevo produces the Country Commercial Guide – an annual report that delivers a comprehensive look at Bosnia and Herzegovina's commercial and economic environment, using economic, political, and market analysis.By some estimates, grey economy is 25.5% of GDP.In 2017, exports grew by 17% when compared to the previous year, totaling €5.65 billion.", "The total volume of foreign trade in 2017 amounted to €14.97 billion and increased by 14% compared to the previous year.", "Imports of goods increased by 12% and amounted to €9.32 billion.", "The coverage of imports by exports increased by 3% compared to the previous year and now it is 61 percent.", "In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina mostly exported car seats, electricity, processed wood, aluminium and furniture.", "In the same year, it mostly imported crude oil, automobiles, motor oil, coal and briquettes.The unemployment rate in 2017 was 20.5%, but The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies is predicting falling unemployment rate for the next few years.", "In 2018, the unemployment should be 19.4% and it should further fall to 18.8% in 2019.In 2020, the unemployment rate should go down to 18.3%.The Avaz Twist Tower in Sarajevo, the tallest building in Bosnia and HerzegovinaOn 31 December 2017, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued the report on public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating the public debt was reduced by €389.97 million, or by more than 6% when compared to 31 December 2016.By the end of 2017, public debt was €5.92 billion, which amounted to 35.6 percent of GDP., there were 32,292 registered companies in the country, which together had revenues of €33.572 billion that same year.In 2017, the country received €397.35 million in foreign direct investment, which equals to 2.5% of the GDP.In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked third in the world in terms of the number of new jobs created by foreign investment, relative to the number of inhabitants.In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina exported goods worth 11.9 billion KM (€6.07 billion), which is 7.43% higher than in the same period in 2017, while imports amounted to 19.27 billion KM (€9.83 billion), which is 5.47% higher.The average price of new apartments sold in the country in the first six months of 2018 is 1,639 km (€886.31) per square metre.", "This represents a jump of 3.5% from the previous year.On 30 June 2018, public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to about €6.04 billion, of which external debt is 70.56 percent, while the internal debt is 29.4 percent of total public indebtedness.", "The share of public debt in gross domestic product is 34.92 percent.In the first 7 months of 2018, 811,660 tourists visited the country, a 12.2% jump when compared to the first 7 months of 2017.In the first 11 months of 2018, 1,378,542 tourists visited Bosnia-Herzegovina, an increase of 12.6%, and had 2,871,004 overnight hotel stays, a 13.8% increase from the previous year.", "Also, 71.8% of the tourists came from foreign countries.", "In the first seven months of 2019, 906,788 tourists visited the country, an 11.7% jump from the previous year.In 2018, the total value of mergers and acquisitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to €404.6 million.In 2018, 99.5 percent of enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina used computers in their business, while 99.3 percent had internet connections, according to a survey conducted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Statistics Agency.In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina received 783.4 million KM (€400.64 million) in direct foreign investment, which was equivalent to 2.3% of GDP.The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina in SarajevoIn 2018, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a profit of 8,430,875 km (€4,306,347).The World Bank predicted that the economy would grow 3.4% in 2019.Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed 83rd on the Index of Economic Freedom for 2019.The total rating for Bosnia and Herzegovina is 61.9.This position represents some progress relative to the 91st place in 2018.This result is below the regional level, but still above the global average, making Bosnia and Herzegovina a \"moderately free\" country.On 31 January 2019, total deposits in Bosnian banks were KM 21.9 billion (€11.20 billion), which represents 61.15% of nominal GDP.In the second quarter of 2019, the average price of new apartments sold in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 1,606 km (€821.47) per square metre.In the first six months of 2019, exports amounted to 5.829 billion KM (€2.98 billion), which is 0.1% less than in the same period of 2018, while imports amounted to 9.779 billion KM (€5.00 billion), which is by 4.5% more than in the same period of the previous year.In the first six months of 2019, foreign direct investment amounted to 650.1 million KM (€332.34 million).Bosnia and Herzegovina was ranked 77th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.As of 30 November 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 1.3 million registered motor vehicles.===Tourism===According to projections by the World Tourism Organization, Bosnia and Herzegovina had the third highest tourism growth rate in the world between 1995 and 2020.In 2017, 1,307,319 tourists visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, an increase of 13.7%, and had 2,677,125 overnight hotel stays, a 12.3% increase from the previous year.", "71.5% of the tourists came from foreign countries.In 2018, 1.883.772 tourists visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, an increase of 44,1%, and had 3.843.484 overnight hotel stays, a 43.5% increase from the previous year.", "Also, 71.2% of the tourists came from foreign countries.In 2006, when ranking the best cities in the world, Lonely Planet placed Sarajevo, the national capital and host of the 1984 Winter Olympics, as #43 on the list.", "Tourism in Sarajevo is chiefly focused on historical, religious, and cultural aspects.", "In 2010, Lonely Planet's \"Best in Travel\" nominated it as one of the top ten cities to visit that year.", "Sarajevo also won travel blog Foxnomad's \"Best City to Visit\" competition in 2012, beating more than one hundred other cities around the entire world.Međugorje has become one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Catholics from around the world and has turned into Europe's third most important religious place, where each year more than 1 million people visit.", "It has been estimated that 30 million pilgrims have come to Međugorje since the reputed apparitions began in 1981.Since 2019, pilgrimages to Međugorje have been officially authorized and organized by the Vatican.Bosnia has also become an increasingly popular skiing and Ecotourism destination.", "The mountains that hosted the winter olympic games of Bjelašnica, Jahorina and Igman are the most visited skiing mountains in Bosnia-Herzegovina.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one of the last undiscovered natural regions of the southern area of the Alps, with vast tracts of wild and untouched nature attracting adventurers and nature lovers.", "''National Geographic'' named Bosnia and Herzegovina as the best mountain biking adventure destination for 2012.The central Bosnian Dinaric Alps are favored by hikers and mountaineers, as they contain both Mediterranean and Alpine climates.", "Whitewater rafting has become somewhat of a national pastime in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The primary rivers used for whitewater rafting in the country include the Vrbas, Tara, Drina, Neretva and Una.", "Meanwhile, the most prominent rivers are the Vrbas and Tara, as they both hosted The 2009 World Rafting Championship.", "The reason the Tara river is immensely popular for whitewater rafting is because it contains the deepest river canyon in Europe, the Tara River Canyon.Most recently, the ''Huffington Post'' named Bosnia and Herzegovina the \"9th Greatest Adventure in the World for 2013\", adding that the country boasts \"the cleanest water and air in Europe; the greatest untouched forests; and the most wildlife.", "The best way to experience is the three rivers trip, which purls through the best the Balkans have to offer.\"" ], [ "Infrastructure", "===Transport===Apron view of the Sarajevo International AirportSarajevo International Airport, also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located southwest of the Sarajevo main railway station in the city of Sarajevo in the suburb of Butmir.Railway operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina are successors of the Yugoslav Railways within the country boundaries following independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1992.Today, they are operated by the Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ŽFBiH) in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and by Republika Srpska Railways (ŽRS) in Republika Srpska.===Telecommunications===The Bosnian communications market was fully liberalised in January 2006.The three landline telephone operators predominantly provide services in their operating areas but have nationwide licenses for domestic and international calls.", "Mobile data services are also available, including high-speed EDGE, 3G and 4G services.", "''Oslobođenje'' (Liberation), founded in 1943, is one of the country's longest running continuously circulating newspapers.", "There are many national publications, including the ''Dnevni avaz'' (Daily Voice), founded in 1995, and ''Jutarnje Novine'' (Morning News), to name but a few in circulation in Sarajevo.", "Other local periodicals include the Croatian ''Hrvatska riječ'' newspaper and Bosnian ''Start'' magazine, as well as ''Slobodna Bosna'' (''Free Bosnia'') and ''BH Dani'' (''BH Days'') weekly newspapers.", "''Novi Plamen'', a monthly magazine, was the most left-wing publication.", "International news station Al Jazeera maintains a sister channel catering to the Balkan region, Al Jazeera Balkans, broadcasting out of and based in Sarajevo.", "Since 2014, the N1 platform has broadcast as an affiliate of CNN International, with offices in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Belgrade.As of 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked second highest in press freedom in the region, after Croatia, and is placed 58th internationally., there are 3,374,094 internet users in the country, or 95.55% of the entire population.===Education===University of Sarajevo's Faculty of LawGimnazija Mostar in Mostar was one of the most academically prestigious educational institutions in Yugoslavia.Higher education has a long and rich tradition in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The first bespoke higher-education institution was a school of Sufi philosophy established by Gazi Husrev-beg in 1531.Numerous other religious schools then followed.", "In 1887, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Sharia law school began a five-year program.", "In the 1940s, the University of Sarajevo became the city's first secular higher education institute.", "In the 1950s, post-bachelaurate graduate degrees became available.", "Severely damaged during the war, it was recently rebuilt in partnership with more than 40 other universities.", "There are various other institutions of higher education, including: University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar, University of Banja Luka, University of Mostar, University of East Sarajevo, University of Tuzla, American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is held in high regard as one of the most prestigious creative arts academies in the region.Also, Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to several private and international higher education institutions, some of which are: Sarajevo School of Science and Technology* International University of Sarajevo* American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina* Sarajevo Graduate School of Business* International Burch UniversityPrimary schooling lasts for nine years.", "Secondary education is provided by general and technical secondary schools (typically Gymnasiums) where studies typically last for four years.", "All forms of secondary schooling include an element of vocational training.", "Pupils graduating from general secondary schools obtain the ''Matura'' and can enroll in any tertiary educational institution or academy by passing a qualification examination prescribed by the governing body or institution.", "Students graduating technical subjects obtain a Diploma." ], [ "Culture", "National and University Library in Sarajevo===Architecture===The architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely influenced by four major periods where political and social changes influenced the creation of distinct cultural and architectural habits of the population.", "Each period made its influence felt and contributed to a greater diversity of cultures and architectural language in this region.===Media===Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina headquarters in SarajevoSome television, magazines, and newspapers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are state-owned, and some are for-profit corporations funded by advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues.", "The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina guarantees freedom of speech.As a country in transition with a post-war legacy and a complex domestic political structure, Bosnia and Herzegovina's media system is under transformation.", "In the early post-war period (1995–2005), media development was guided mainly by international donors and cooperation agencies, who invested to help reconstruct, diversify, democratize and professionalize media outlets.Post-war developments included the establishment of an independent Communication Regulatory Agency, the adoption of a Press Code, the establishment of the Press Council, the decriminalization of libel and defamation, the introduction of a rather advanced Freedom of Access to Information Law, and the creation of a Public Service Broadcasting System from the formerly state-owned broadcaster.Yet, internationally backed positive developments have been often obstructed by domestic elites, and the professionalisation of media and journalists has proceeded only slowly.", "High levels of partisanship and linkages between the media and the political systems hinder the adherence to professional code of conducts.===Literature===Ivo Andrić with his wife Milica, upon learning he had won the Nobel Prize in LiteratureBosnia and Herzegovina has a rich literature, including the Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić and poets such as Antun Branko Šimić, Aleksa Šantić, Jovan Dučić and Mak Dizdar, writers such as Zlatko Topčić, Meša Selimović, Semezdin Mehmedinović, Miljenko Jergović, Isak Samokovlija, Safvet-beg Bašagić, Abdulah Sidran, Petar Kočić, Aleksandar Hemon and Nedžad Ibrišimović.The National Theater was founded in 1919 in Sarajevo and its first director was dramatist Branislav Nušić.", "Magazines such as ''Novi Plamen'' or ''Sarajevske sveske'' are some of the more prominent publications covering cultural and literary themes.By the late 1950s, Ivo Andrić's works had been translated into a number of languages.", "In 1958, the Association of Writers of Yugoslavia nominated Andrić as its first ever candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature===Art===Stećci from Radimlja, near Stolac (13th century)The art of Bosnia and Herzegovina was always evolving and ranged from the original medieval tombstones called Stećci to paintings in Kotromanić court.", "However, only with the arrival of Austro-Hungarians did the painting renaissance in Bosnia really begin to flourish.", "The first educated artists from European academies appeared with the beginning of the 20th century.", "Among those are: Gabrijel Jurkić, Petar Šain, Roman Petrović and Lazar Drljača.After World War II, artists like Mersad Berber and Safet Zec rose in popularity.In 2007, Ars Aevi, a museum of contemporary art that includes works by renowned world artists, was founded in Sarajevo.===Music===Bosniaks dancing a traditional koloTypical Bosnian songs are ''ganga, rera'', and the traditional Slavic music for the folk dances such as ''kolo'', while from the Ottoman era the most popular is Sevdalinka.", "Pop and Rock music has a tradition here as well, with the more famous musicians including Dino Zonić, Goran Bregović, Davorin Popović, Kemal Monteno, Zdravko Čolić, Elvir Laković Laka, Edo Maajka, Hari Varešanović, Dino Merlin, Mladen Vojičić Tifa, Željko Bebek, etc.", "Other composers such as Đorđe Novković, Al' Dino, Haris Džinović, Kornelije Kovač, and many rock and pop bands, for example, Bijelo Dugme, Crvena jabuka, Divlje jagode, Indexi, Plavi orkestar, Zabranjeno Pušenje, Ambasadori, Dubioza kolektiv, who were among the leading ones in the former Yugoslavia.", "Bosnia is home to the composer Dušan Šestić, the creator of the National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina and father of singer Marija Šestić, to the jazz musician, educator and Bosnian jazz ambassador Sinan Alimanović, composer Saša Lošić and pianist Saša Toperić.", "In the villages, especially in Herzegovina, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats play the ancient gusle.", "The gusle is used mainly to recite epic poems in a usually dramatic tone.Probably the most distinctive and identifiably \"Bosnian\" of music, Sevdalinka is a kind of emotional, melancholic folk song that often describes sad subjects such as love and loss, the death of a dear person or heartbreak.", "Sevdalinkas were traditionally performed with a saz, a Turkish string instrument, which was later replaced by the accordion.", "However the more modern arrangement is typically a vocalist accompanied by the accordion along with snare drums, upright bass, guitars, clarinets and violins.Serbs from Bosanska Krajina in traditional clothingRural folk traditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina include the shouted, polyphonic ganga and \"ravne pjesme\" (''flat song'') styles, as well as instruments like a droneless bagpipe, wooden flute and šargija.", "The gusle, an instrument found throughout the Balkans, is also used to accompany ancient Slavic epic poems.", "There are also Bosnian folk songs in the Ladino language, derived from the area's Jewish population.", "''Bosnian roots music'' came from Middle Bosnia, Posavina, the Drina valley and Kalesija.", "It is usually performed by singers with two violinists and a šargija player.", "These bands first appeared around World War I and became popular in the 1960s.", "This is the third oldest music after the Sevdalinka and ilahija.", "Self-taught people, mostly in two or three members of the different choices of old instruments, mostly in the violin, sacking, saz, drums, flutes () or wooden flute, as others have already called, the original performers of Bosnian music that can not be written notes, transmitted by ear from generation to generation, family is usually hereditary.", "It is thought to be brought from Persia-Kalesi tribe that settled in the area of the present Sprečanski valleys and hence probably the name Kalesija.", "In this part of Bosnia, it is the most common.", "This kind of music was enjoyed by all three peoples in Bosnia, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, and it contributed a lot to reconcile people socializing, entertainment and other organizations through festivals.", "In Kalesija, it is maintained each year with the Original Bosnian Festival music.===Cinema and theatre===Sarajevo is internationally renowned for its eclectic and diverse selection of festivals.", "The Sarajevo Film Festival was established in 1995, during the Bosnian War and has become the premier and largest film festival in the Balkans and Southeast Europe.Bosnia has a rich cinematic and film heritage, dating back to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; many Bosnian filmmakers have achieved international prominence and some have won international awards ranging from the Academy Awards to multiple Palme d'Ors and Golden Bears.", "Some notable Bosnian screenwriters, directors and producers are Danis Tanović (known for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winning 2001 film ''No Man's Land'' and Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winning 2016 film ''Death in Sarajevo''), Jasmila Žbanić (won Golden Bear, Academy Award and BAFTA nominated 2020 film ''Quo Vadis, Aida?", "''), Emir Kusturica (won two Palme d'Ors at Cannes), Zlatko Topčić, Ademir Kenović, Ahmed Imamović, Pjer Žalica, Aida Begić, etc.===Cuisine===Bosnian meat platter that contains, among other things, ćevapi, which is considered the national dish of Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnian cuisine uses many spices, in moderate quantities.", "Most dishes are light, as they are boiled; the sauces are fully natural, consisting of little more than the natural juices of the vegetables in the dish.", "Typical ingredients include tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, dried beans, fresh beans, plums, milk, paprika and cream called pavlaka.", "Bosnian cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences.", "As a result of the Ottoman administration for almost 500 years, Bosnian food is closely related to Turkish, Greek and other former Ottoman and Mediterranean cuisines.", "However, because of years of Austrian rule, there are many influences from Central Europe.", "Typical meat dishes include primarily beef and lamb.", "Some local specialties are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilav, goulash, ajvar and a whole range of Eastern sweets.", "Ćevapi is a grilled dish of minced meat, a type of kebab, popular in former Yugoslavia and considered a national dish in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.", "Local wines come from Herzegovina where the climate is suitable for growing grapes.", "Herzegovinian ''loza'' (similar to Italian Grappa but less sweet) is very popular.", "Plum (''rakija'') or apple (''jabukovača'') alcohol beverages are produced in the north.", "In the south, distilleries used to produce vast quantities of brandy and supply all of ex-Yugoslav alcohol factories (brandy is the base of most alcoholic drinks).Coffeehouses, where Bosnian coffee is served in džezva with rahat lokum and sugar cubes, proliferate Sarajevo and every city in the country.", "Coffee drinking is a favorite Bosnian pastime and part of the culture.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina is the ninth country in the entire world by per capita coffee consumption." ], [ "Sports", "Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium in Sarajevo hosted the opening ceremony of the 1984 Winter Olympics.Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced many athletes.", "The most important international sporting event in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina were the 14th Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo from 7 to 19 February 1984.The Borac handball club has won seven Yugoslav Handball Championships, as well as the European Cup in 1976 and the International Handball Federation Cup in 1991.Amel Mekić, Bosnian judoka, became European champion in 2011.Track and field athlete Amel Tuka won bronze and silver medals in 800 metres at the 2015 and 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships and Hamza Alić won the silver medal in shot put at the 2013 European Indoor Championships.The Bosna Royal basketball club from Sarajevo were European Champions in 1979.The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team, which won medals in every world championship from 1963 through 1990, included Bosnian players such as FIBA Hall of Famers Dražen Dalipagić and Mirza Delibašić.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina regularly qualifies for the European Championship in Basketball, with players including Mirza Teletović, Nihad Đedović and Jusuf Nurkić.", "The Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-16 team won two gold medals in 2015, winning both 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival as well as the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship.Women's basketball club Jedinstvo Aida from Tuzla won the Women's European Club Championship in 1989 and Ronchetti Cup final in 1990, led by Razija Mujanović, three times best female European basketball player, and Mara LakićThe Bosnian chess team was Champion of Yugoslavia seven times, in addition to club ŠK Bosna winning four European Chess Club Cups.", "Chess grandmaster Borki Predojević has also won two European Championships.", "The most impressive success of Bosnian Chess was a runner-up position at the 31st Chess Olympiad in 1994 in Moscow, featuring Grandmasters Predrag Nikolić, Ivan Sokolov and Bojan Kurajica.Edin Džeko playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015Middle-weight boxer Marijan Beneš has won several Championships of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslav Championships and the European Championship.", "In 1978, he won the World Title against Elisha Obed from The Bahamas.Association football is the most popular sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "It dates from 1903, but its popularity grew significantly after World War I. Bosnian clubs FK Sarajevo and Željezničar won the Yugoslav Championship, while the Yugoslav national football team included Bosnian players of all ethnic backgrounds and generations, such as Safet Sušić, Zlatko Vujović, Mehmed Baždarević, Davor Jozić, Faruk Hadžibegić, Predrag Pašić, Blaž Slišković, Vahid Halilhodžić, Dušan Bajević, Ivica Osim, Josip Katalinski, Tomislav Knez, Velimir Sombolac and numerous others.", "The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, its first major tournament.", "Players on the team again includes notable players of all country's ethnic background, such as then and now captains Emir Spahić, Zvjezdan Misimović and Edin Džeko, defenders like Ognjen Vranješ, Sead Kolašinac and Toni Šunjić, midfielders like Miralem Pjanić and Senad Lulić, striker Vedad Ibišević, etc.", "Former Bosnian footballers include Hasan Salihamidžić, who became only the second Bosnian to ever win a UEFA Champions League trophy, after Elvir Baljić.", "He made 234 appearances and scored 31 goals for German club FC Bayern Munich.", "Sergej Barbarez, who played for several clubs in the German Bundesliga.", "including Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV and Bayer Leverkusen was joint-top scorer in the 2000–01 Bundesliga season with 22 goals.", "Meho Kodro spent most of his career playing in Spain, most notably with Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona.", "Elvir Rahimić made 302 appearances for Russian club CSKA Moscow with whom he won the UEFA Cup in 2005.Milena Nikolić, member of the women's national team, was the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League top scorer.Bosnia and Herzegovina was the world champion of volleyball at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and volleyball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.", "Many among those on the team lost their legs in the Bosnian War.", "Its national sitting volleyball team is one of the dominant forces in the sport worldwide, winning nine European Championships, three World Championships and two Paralympic gold medals.Tennis is also gaining a lot of popularity after the recent successes of Damir Džumhur and Mirza Bašić at Grand Slam level.", "Other notable tennis players who have represented Bosnia and Herzegovina are Tomislav Brkić, Amer Delić and Mervana Jugić-Salkić." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* * ** * * * " ], [ "Further reading", "* Allcock, John B., Marko Milivojevic, et al.", "''Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedia'' (1998)* * * * * * * * * Okey, Robin.", "''Taming Balkan Nationalism: The Habsburg 'Civilizing' Mission in Bosnia, 1878–1914'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007)* Phillips, Douglas A.", "''Bosnia and Herzegovina'' (Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004)." ], [ "External links", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' (archived 3 July 2008)* *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Botswana''' (; , ), officially the '''Republic of Botswana''' (, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa.", "Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert.", "It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast.", "It is connected by the Kazungula Bridge to Zambia, across the world's shortest border between two countries.A country of slightly over 2.3 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.", "It is essentially the nation state of the Tswana, who make up 79% of the population.", "About 11.6 per cent of the population lives in the capital and largest city, Gaborone.", "Formerly one of the world's poorest countries—with a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—it has since transformed itself into an upper-middle-income country, with one of the world's fastest-growing economies.Modern-day humans first inhabited the country over 200,000 years ago.", "The Tswana ethnic group were descended mainly from Bantu-speaking tribes who migrated southward of Africa to modern Botswana around 600 CE, living in tribal enclaves as farmers and herders.", "In 1885, the British colonised the area and declared a protectorate under the name of Bechuanaland.", "As decolonisation occurred, Bechuanaland became an independent Commonwealth republic under its current name on 30 September 1966.Since then, it has been a representative republic, with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections and the lowest perceived corruption ranking in Africa since at least 1998.The economy is dominated by mining and tourism.", "Botswana has a GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita of about $18,113 , one of the highest in subsaharan Africa.", "Botswana is the world's biggest diamond producing country.", "Its relatively high gross national income per capita (by some estimates the fourth-largest in Africa) gives the country a relatively high standard of living and the third-highest Human Development Index of continental Sub-Saharan Africa (after Gabon and South Africa).", "Botswana is the first African country to host Forbes 30 Under 30 and the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup.Botswana is a member of the Southern African Customs Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations.", "The country has been adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.", "In 2002, Botswana became the first country to offer anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to help combat the epidemic.", "Despite the launch of programs to make treatment available and to educate the populace about the epidemic, the number of people with AIDS rose from 290,000 in 2005 to 320,000 in 2013., Botswana had the third-highest prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS, with roughly 20% of the population infected.", "However, in recent years the country has made strides in combatting HIV/AIDS, with efforts being made to provide proper treatment and lower the rate of mother-to-child transmission." ], [ "Etymology", "The country's name means \"Land of the Tswana\", referring to the dominant ethnic group in Botswana.", "The Constitution of Botswana recognizes a homogeneous Tswana state.", "The term ''Batswana'' was originally applied to the Tswana, which is still the case.", "However, it has also come to be used generally as a demonym for all citizens of Botswana." ], [ "History", "===Early history===The 'Two Rhino' painting at Tsodilo, a UNESCO World Heritage SiteArchaeological digs demonstrate that hominids lived in Botswana for around two million years.", "Stone tools and fauna remains have shown that all areas of the country were inhabited at least 400,000 years ago.In October 2019, researchers reported that Botswana was the birthplace of all modern humans about 200,000 years ago.", "Evidence left by modern humans, such as cave paintings, is about 73,000 years old.", "The earliest known inhabitants of southern Africa are thought to have been the forebears of present-day San (\"Bushmen\") and Khoi peoples.", "Both groups speak click languages from the small Khoe-Kwadi, Kx’a and Tuu families whose members hunted, gathered, and traded over long distances.", "When cattle were first introduced about 2000 years ago into southern Africa, pastoralism became a major feature of the economy, since the region had large grasslands free of tsetse flies.It is unclear when Bantu-speaking peoples first moved into the country from the north, although 600 CE seems to be a consensus estimate.", "In that era the ancestors of the modern-day Kalanga moved into what is now the north-eastern areas of the country.", "These proto-Kalanga were closely connected to states in Zimbabwe as well as to the Mapungubwe state and the notable of these was Domboshaba ruins, a cultural and heritage site in Botswana originally occupied towards the end of the Great Zimbabwe period (1250–1450), with stone walls that have an average height of 1.8 metres.", "The site is a respected place for the people living in the region and it is believed that the chief lived on the top of the hill together with his helpers or assistants.", "These states, located outside of current Botswana's borders, appear to have kept massive herds of cattle in what is now the Central District—apparently at numbers approaching modern cattle density.", "This massive cattle-raising complex prospered until 1300 CE or so and seems to have regressed following the collapse of Mapungubwe.", "During this era the first Tswana-speaking groups, the Bakgalagadi, moved into the southern areas of the Kalahari.", "All these various peoples were connected to trade routes that ran via the Limpopo River to the Indian Ocean, and trade goods from Asia such as beads made their way to Botswana, most likely in exchange for ivory, gold and rhinoceros horn.Toutswemogala Hill Iron Age Settlement's radio-carbon dates for this settlement range from 7th to late 19th century indicating occupation of more than one thousand years.", "The hill was part of the formation of early states in Southern Africa with cattle keeping as major source of economy.", "Toutswe settlement include house-floors, large heaps of vitrified cow-dung and burials while the outstanding structure is the stone wall.", "There are large tracts of centaurs ciliaris, a type of grass which has come to be associated with cattle-keeping settlements in South, Central Africa.", "Around 700 CE, the Toutswe people moved westward into Botswana and began an agricultural and pastoral land tenure system based on sorghum and millet, and domesticated stock, respectively.", "The site was situated in the centre of a broader cultural area in Eastern Botswana and shares many commonalities with other archaeological sites of this region, in both ceramic production styles and also time frames inhabited.", "Large structures were observed that contained vitrified remains of animal dung, leading to the theory that these were animal enclosures and that Toutswemogala Hill was thus a major centre of animal husbandry in the region.However, agriculture also played a vital role in the longevity of Toutswemogala Hill's extended occupation, as many grain storage structures have also been found on the site.", "Many different stratified layers of housing floors further signal continuous occupation over hundreds of years.", "The arrival of the ancestors of the Tswana-speakers who came to control the region has yet to be dated precisely.", "Members of the Bakwena, a chieftaincy under a legendary leader named Kgabo II, made their way into the southern Kalahari by 1500 CE, at the latest, and his people drove the Bakgalagadi inhabitants west into the desert.", "Over the years, several offshoots of the Bakwena moved into adjoining territories.", "The Bangwaketse occupied areas to the west, while the Bangwato moved northeast into formerly Kalanga areas.", "Not long afterwards, a Bangwato offshoot known as the Batawana migrated into the Okavango Delta, probably in the 1790s.===Effects of the Mfecane and Batswana-Boer Wars===German map of 1905 still showing the undivided Bechuanaland areaThe first written records relating to modern-day Botswana appear in 1824.What these records show is that the Bangwaketse had become the predominant power in the region.", "Under the rule of Makaba II, the Bangwaketse kept vast herds of cattle in well-protected desert areas, and used their military prowess to raid their neighbours.", "Other chiefdoms in the area, by this time, had capitals of 10,000 or so and were fairly prosperous.", "This equilibrium came to end during the Mfecane period, 1823–1843, when a succession of invading peoples from South Africa entered the country.", "Although the Bangwaketse were able to defeat the invading Bakololo in 1826, over time all the major chiefdoms in Botswana were attacked, weakened, and impoverished.", "The Bakololo and AmaNdebele raided repeatedly and took large numbers of cattle, women, and children from the Batswana—most of whom were driven into the desert or sanctuary areas such as hilltops and caves.", "Only after 1843, when the Amandebele moved into western Zimbabwe, did this threat subside.Sechele I who led a Batswana Merafe Coalition against Boers in 1852During the 1840s and 1850s trade with Cape Colony-based merchants opened up and enabled the Batswana chiefdoms to rebuild.", "The Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bangwato and Batawana cooperated to control the lucrative ivory trade and then used the proceeds to import horses and guns, which in turn enabled them to establish control over what is now Botswana.", "This process was largely complete by 1880, and thus the Bushmen, the Kalanga, the Bakgalagadi, and other current minorities were subjugated by the Batswana.", "The earliest known map of Botswana dates from 1849, drawn by David Livingstone.Following the Great Trek, Afrikaners from the Cape Colony established themselves on the borders of Botswana in the Transvaal.", "In 1852 a coalition of Tswana chiefdoms led by Sechele I defeated Afrikaner incursions at the Battle of Dimawe and, after about eight years of intermittent tensions and hostilities, eventually came to a peace agreement in Potchefstroom in 1860.From that point on, the modern-day border between South Africa and Botswana was agreed on, and the Afrikaners and Batswana traded and worked together comparatively peacefully.In 1884 Batawana, a northern based Tswana clan's cavalry under the command of Kgosi Moremi fought and defeated the Ndebele's invasion of northern Botswana at the Battle of Khutiyabasadi.", "This blow to the larger invading Ndebele force signalled the start of the collapse of the Ndebele Kingdom in Zimbabwe and helped galvanise Tswana speaking authority of the area now making part of northern Botswana.Due to newly peaceful conditions, trade thrived between 1860 and 1880.Taking advantage of this were Christian missionaries.", "The Lutherans and the London Missionary Society both became established in the country by 1856.By 1880, every major village had a resident missionary, and their influence slowly became felt.", "Khama III (reigned 1875–1923) was the first of the Tswana chiefs to make Christianity a state religion and changed a great deal of Tswana customary law as a result.", "Christianity became the de facto official religion in all the chiefdoms by World War I.===Colonialism and the Bechuanaland Protectorate===3 Dikgosi Monument: Khama III, Sebele I & Bathoen I who negotiated a ProtectorateDuring the Scramble for Africa the territory of Botswana was coveted by both the German Empire and Britain.", "During the Berlin Conference, Britain decided to annex Botswana in order to safeguard the Road to the North and thus connect the Cape Colony to its territories further north.", "It unilaterally annexed Tswana territories in January 1885 and then sent the Warren Expedition north to consolidate control over the area and convince the chiefs to accept British overrule.", "Despite their misgivings, they eventually acquiesced to this ''fait accompli''.In 1890 areas north of 22 degrees were added to the new Bechuanaland Protectorate.", "During the 1890s the new territory was divided into eight different reserves, with fairly small amounts of land being left as freehold for white settlers.", "During the early 1890s, the British government decided to hand over the Bechuanaland Protectorate to the British South Africa Company.", "This plan, which was well on its way to fruition despite the entreaties of Tswana leaders who toured England in protest, was eventually foiled by the failure of the Jameson Raid in January 1896.Bechuanaland from 1960When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 from the main British colonies in the region, the High Commission Territories—the Bechuanaland Protectorate, Basutoland (now Lesotho), and Swaziland (now Eswatini)—were not included, but provision was made for their later incorporation.", "However, the UK began to consult with their inhabitants as to their wishes.", "Although successive South African governments sought to have the territories transferred to their jurisdiction, the UK kept delaying; consequently, it never occurred.", "The election of the Nationalist government in 1948, which instituted apartheid, and South Africa's withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1961, ended any prospect of the UK or these territories agreeing to incorporation into South Africa.An expansion of British central authority and the evolution of native government resulted in the 1920 establishment of two advisory councils to represent both Africans and Europeans.", "The African Council consisted of the eight heads of the Tswana tribes and some elected members.", "Proclamations in 1934 regulated tribal rule and powers.", "A European-African advisory council was formed in 1951, and the 1961 constitution established a consultative legislative council.===Independence===Future presidents Quett Masire (left) and Seretse Khama (right) at independence talks in London, 1965.In June 1964, the United Kingdom accepted proposals for a democratic self-government in Botswana.", "An independence conference was held in London in February 1966.The seat of government was moved in 1965 from Mahikeng in South Africa, to the newly established Gaborone, which is located near Botswana's border with South Africa.", "Based on the 1965 constitution, the country held its first general elections under universal suffrage and gained independence on 30 September 1966.Seretse Khama, a leader in the independence movement and the legitimate claimant to the Ngwato chiefship, was elected as the first president, and subsequently re-elected twice.Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and her son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, arrived in Botswana during the fourth-leg tour of Africa on 25–27 July 1979.During their visit, they were greeted by tribal dancers and a 21-gun salute.Khama died in office in 1980.The presidency passed to the sitting vice-president, Quett Masire, who was elected in his own right in 1984 and re-elected in 1989 and 1994.Masire retired from office in 1998.He was succeeded by Festus Mogae, who was elected in his own right in 1999 and re-elected in 2004.The presidency passed in 2008 to Ian Khama (son of the first president), who had been serving as Mogae's vice-president since resigning his position in 1998 as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force to take up this civilian role.", "On 1 April 2018 Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi was sworn in as the fifth president of Botswana, succeeding Ian Khama.", "He represents the Botswana Democratic Party, which has also won a majority in every parliamentary election since independence.", "All the previous presidents have also represented the same party.A long-running dispute over the northern border with Namibia's Caprivi Strip was the subject of a ruling by the International Court of Justice in December 1999.It ruled that Kasikili Island belongs to Botswana.In 2014, the Okavango Delta of Botswana, the largest inland delta in the world, was inscribed as the 1,000th World Heritage Site.In the 1970s, Botswana held a reputation of being one the world's principal producers of diamonds.", "This reputation has held into the modern day as Botswana's diamond mining industry is among the world's largest.", "Botswana's Jwaneng mine in particular is the world's richest." ], [ "Geography", "Botswana map of Köppen climate classificationAt Botswana is the world's 48th-largest country.", "It is similar in size to Madagascar or France.", "It lies between latitudes 17° and 27° south, and longitudes 20° and 30° east.Botswana is predominantly flat, tending towards gently rolling tableland.", "Botswana is dominated by the Kalahari Desert, which covers up to 70% of its land surface.", "The Okavango Delta, one of the world's largest inland river deltas, is in the north-west.", "The Makgadikgadi Pan, a large salt pan, lies in the north.The Limpopo River Basin, the major landform of all of southern Africa, lies partly in Botswana, with the basins of its tributaries, the Notwane, Bonwapitse, Mahalapye, Lotsane, Motloutse and the Shashe, located in the eastern part of the country.", "The Notwane provides water to the capital through the Gaborone Dam.", "The Chobe River lies to the north, providing a boundary between Botswana and Namibia's Zambezi Region.", "The Chobe River meets with the Zambezi River at a place called Kazungula (meaning a small sausage tree, a point where Sebitwane and his Makololo tribe crossed the Zambezi into Zambia).===Biodiversity and conservation===Zebras roaming the Okavango BasinBotswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat.", "In addition to the delta and desert areas, there are grasslands and savannas, where blue wildebeest, antelopes, and other mammals and birds are found.", "Northern Botswana has one of the few remaining large populations of the endangered African wild dog.", "Chobe National Park, found in the Chobe District, has the world's largest concentration of African elephants.", "The park covers about and supports about 350 species of birds.The Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve (in the Okavango Delta) are major tourist destinations.", "Other reserves include the Central Kalahari Game Reserve located in the Kalahari Desert in Ghanzi District; Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and Nxai Pan National Park are in Central District in the Makgadikgadi Pan.", "Mashatu Game Reserve is privately owned, located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers in eastern Botswana.", "The other privately owned reserve is Mokolodi Nature Reserve near Gaborone.", "There are also specialised sanctuaries like Khama Rhino Sanctuary (for rhinoceros) and Makgadikgadi Sanctuary (for flamingos).", "They are both located in Central District.Botswana faces two major environmental problems, drought and desertification, which are heavily linked.", "Three-quarters of the country's human and animal populations depend on groundwater due to drought.", "Groundwater use through deep borehole drilling has somewhat eased the effects of drought.", "Surface water is scarce in Botswana and less than 5% of the agriculture in the country is sustainable by rainfall.", "In the remaining 95% of the country, raising livestock is the primary source of rural income.", "Approximately 71% of the country's land is used for communal grazing, which has been a major cause of the desertification and the accelerating soil erosion of the country.Since raising livestock has been profitable for the people of Botswana, they continue to exploit the land with dramatically increasing numbers of animals.", "From 1966 to 1991, the livestock population grew from 1.7 million to 5.5 million.", "Similarly, the human population has increased from 574,000 in 1971 to 1.5 million in 1995, a 161% increase in 24 years.", "Over 50% of all households in Botswana own cattle, which is currently the largest single source of rural income.", "Rangeland degradation or desertification is regarded as the reduction in land productivity as a result of overstocking and overgrazing, or as a result of veld product gathering for commercial use.", "Degradation is exacerbated by the effects of drought and climate change.Environmentalists report that the Okavango Delta is drying up due to the increased grazing of livestock.", "The Okavango Delta is one of the major semi-forested wetlands in Botswana and one of the largest inland deltas in the world; it is a crucial ecosystem to the survival of many animals.The Department of Forestry and Range Resources has already begun to implement a project to reintroduce indigenous vegetation into communities in Kgalagadi South, Kweneng North and Boteti.", "Reintroduction of indigenous vegetation will help reduce the degradation of the land.", "The United States Government has also entered into an agreement with Botswana, giving them US$7 million to reduce Botswana's debt by US$8.3 million.", "The stipulation of the US reducing Botswana's debt is that Botswana will focus on more extensive conservation of the land.", "The country had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.13/10, ranking it 8th globally out of 172 countries.The United Nations Development Programme claims that poverty is a major problem behind the overexploitation of resources, including land, in Botswana.", "To help change this the UNDP joined in with a project started in the southern community of Struizendam in Botswana.", "The purpose of the project is to draw from \"indigenous knowledge and traditional land management systems\".", "The leaders of this movement are supposed to be the people in the community, to draw them in, in turn increasing their possibilities to earn an income and thus decreasing poverty.", "The UNDP also stated that the government has to effectively implement policies to allow people to manage their own local resources and are giving the government information to help with policy development." ], [ "Government and politics", "Mokgweetsi Masisi has been the President of Botswana since 2019.Botswana is a parliamentary republic governed by the Constitution of Botswana, and it is the longest uninterrupted democracy in Africa.", "Its seat of government is in Gaborone.", "Botswana's governing institutions were established after it became an independent nation in 1966.Botswana's governmental structure is based on both the Westminster system of the United Kingdom and the tribal governments of the Tswana people.", "Botswana has a centralised government in which national law supersedes local law.", "Local laws are developed by local councils and district councils.", "They are heavily influenced by tribal governments, which are led by the tribe's chief.The Parliament of Botswana consists of the National Assembly, which serves as the nation's formal legislature, and the ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi'', an advisory body made up of tribal chiefs and other appointed members.", "Botswana's executive branch is led by the President of Botswana, who serves as both the head of state and head of government.", "The members of parliament choose the president, and the president then appoints the Vice-President and the members of the Cabinet.", "The president has significant power in Botswana, and the legislature has little power to check the president once appointed.", "The judiciary includes the High Court of Botswana, the Court of Appeal, and Magistrates' Courts.", "Cases are often settled by customary courts with tribal chiefs presiding.Elections in Botswana are held every five years and overseen by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).", "Botswana operates a multi-party system in which many political parties compete in elections, but it is effectually a dominant-party state in which the Botswana Democratic Party has ruled with a majority government since independence.", "The nation's elections are recognised as free and fair, but the ruling party has institutional advantages that other parties do not.", "Factionalism is common within Botswana's political parties, and several groups have formed new parties by splitting from established ones.", "Since 2019, the Umbrella for Democratic Change has operated as a coalition of opposition parties.", "The most recent election was held in 2019, with the Botswana Democratic Party maintaining its majority and Mokgweetsi Masisi being re-elected president.In Botswana's early years, its politics were managed by President Seretse Khama and Vice-President (later president) Quett Masire.", "Since the Kgabo Commission in 1991, factionalism and political rivalries have dominated Botswana politics.", "The Barata-Phathi faction was led by Peter Mmusi, Daniel Kwelagobe, and Ponatshego Kedikilwe, while the A-Team faction was led by Mompati Merafhe and Jacob Nkate.", "When Festus Mogae and Ian Khama became president and vice-president, respectively, they aligned with the A-Team.", "Khama effectively expelled the A-Team from the party in 2010 after he became president.", "A new rivalry formed in 2018 when Khama's chosen successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, became president.", "He opposed Khama, and the two formed a political rivalry that looms over Batswana politics in the 2020s.===Foreign relations and military===Botswana soldiers board a Botswana Defence Force plane to Mozambique, July 2021.At the time of independence, Botswana had no armed forces.", "It was only after the Rhodesian and South African armies attacked the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe bases respectively that the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was formed in 1977.The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and appoints a defence council and the BDF currently consists of roughly 60,000 servicemen.", "In 2019, Botswana signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.Following political changes in South Africa and the region, the BDF's missions have increasingly focused on prevention of poaching, preparing for disasters, and foreign peacekeeping.", "The United States has been the largest single foreign contributor to the development of the BDF, and a large segment of its officer corps have received U.S. training.", "The Botswana government gave the United States permission to explore the possibility of establishing an Africa Command (AFRICOM) base in the country.===Human rights===Many of the indigenous San people have been forcibly relocated from their land to reservations.", "To make them relocate, they were denied access to water on their land and faced arrest if they hunted, which was their primary source of food.", "Their lands lie in the middle of the world's richest diamond field.", "Officially, the government denies that there is any link to mining and claims the relocation is to preserve the wildlife and ecosystem, even though the San people have lived sustainably on the land for millennia.", "On the reservations they struggle to find employment, and alcoholism is rampant.On 24 August 2018 the UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities, Fernand de Varennes, issued a statement calling on Botswana \"to step up efforts to recognise and protect the rights of minorities in relation to public services, land and resource use and the use of minority languages in education and other critical areas.", "\"Botswana was ranked as a \"flawed democracy\" and 30th out of 167 states in the 2021 Democracy Index (The Economist), higher than Italy and Belgium, and just below the Czech Republic.", "This was the second highest rating in Africa, and highest ranking in continental Africa (only the offshore island nation of Mauritius bested its ranking).", "According to 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices Botswana ranks as 75th electoral democracy worldwide and 12th electoral democracy in Africa.", "According to Transparency International, Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa and ranks just below Portugal and South Korea.Until June 2019, homosexual acts were illegal in Botswana.", "A Botswana High Court decision of 11 June of that year struck down provisions in the Criminal Code that punished \"carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature\" and \"acts of gross indecency\", making Botswana one of twenty-two African countries that have either decriminalised or legalised homosexual acts.Capital punishment is a legal penalty for murder in Botswana, and executions are carried out by hanging.The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Ditshwanelo, was established in 1993.===Administrative divisions===File:Districts of Botswana (image map).svg\|thumb\|upright=1.1\|The districts of Botswana.", "The appropriate article can be found by clicking over the district.", "City districts are not shown.poly 250 100 625 100 625 200 775 200 775 400 625 400 625 500 250 500 w:North-West District (Botswana)rect 900 75 650 200 w:Chobe Districtpoly 800 225 900 225 1075 425 1075 600 1375 600 1075 850 900 850 650 500 650 400 800 425 w:Central District (Botswana)rect 1400 400 1075 600 w:North-East District (Botswana)poly 250 500 625 500 825 775 800 825 125 825 125 650 250 650 w:Ghanzi Districtrect 900 825 525 950 w:Kweneng Districtrect 1350 875 900 1025 w:Kgatleng Districtrect 550 825 100 1300 w:Kgalagadi Districtrect 850 1000 650 1150 w:Southern District (Botswana)rect 1110 1000 850 1150 w:South-East District (Botswana)Botswana's ten districts are:* Southern District* South-East District* Kweneng District* Kgatleng District* Central District* North-East District* Ngamiland District* Kgalagadi District* Chobe District* Ghanzi DistrictBotswana's councils created from urban or town councils are: Gaborone City, Francistown, Lobatse Town, Selebi-Phikwe Town, Jwaneng Town, Orapa Town and Sowa Township." ], [ "Economy", "Since independence, Botswana has had one of the fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world.", "Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to an upper middle-income country.", "GDP per capita grew from $1,344 in 1950 to $15,015 in 2016.Although Botswana was resource-abundant, a good institutional framework allowed the country to reinvest resource-income in order to generate stable future income.", "By one estimate, it has the fourth highest gross national income at purchasing power parity in Africa, giving it a standard of living around that of Mexico.GDP per capita of Botswana, 1950 to 2018GDP per capita (current), % of world average, 1960–2012; Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, MozambiqueThe Ministry of Trade and Industry of Botswana is responsible for promoting business development throughout the country.", "According to the International Monetary Fund, economic growth averaged over 9% per year from 1966 to 1999.Botswana has a high level of economic freedom compared to other African countries.", "The government has maintained a sound fiscal policy, despite consecutive budget deficits in 2002 and 2003, and a negligible level of foreign debt.", "It earned the highest sovereign credit rating in Africa and has stockpiled foreign exchange reserves (over $7 billion in 2005/2006) amounting to almost two and a half years of current imports.The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the government respects this in practice.", "The legal system is sufficient to conduct secure commercial dealings, although a serious and growing backlog of cases prevents timely trials.", "The protection of intellectual property rights has improved significantly.", "Botswana is ranked second only to South Africa among sub-Saharan Africa countries in the 2014 International Property Rights Index.While generally open to foreign participation in its economy, Botswana reserves some sectors for citizens.", "Increased foreign investment plays a significant role in the privatisation of state-owned enterprises.", "Investment regulations are transparent, and bureaucratic procedures are streamlined and open, although somewhat slow.", "Investment returns such as profits and dividends, debt service, capital gains, returns on intellectual property, royalties, franchise's fees, and service fees can be repatriated without limits.Botswana imports refined petroleum products and electricity from South Africa.", "There is some domestic production of electricity from coal.=== Energy ======Transport===During SONA 2020 summit it was announced that Botswana has a network of roads, of varied quality and capacity, totalling about .", "Of these, are paved (this is including of motorways.", "The remaining worth are unpaved.", "Road distances are shown in kilometres and speed limits are indicated in kilometres per hour (kph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) symbol.", "Some vehicle categories have various lower maximum limits enforced by speed limits, for example trucks.=== Finance ===An array of financial institutions populates the country's financial system, with pension funds and commercial banks being the two most important segments by asset size.", "Banks remain profitable, well-capitalised, and liquid, as a result of growing national resources and high interest rates.", "The Bank of Botswana serves as a central bank.", "The country's currency is the Botswana pula.Botswana's competitive banking system is one of Africa's most advanced.", "Generally adhering to global standards in the transparency of financial policies and banking supervision, the financial sector provides ample access to credit for entrepreneurs.", "The Capital Bank opened in 2008., there are a dozen licensed banks in the country.", "The government is involved in banking through state-owned financial institutions and a special financial incentives programme that is aimed at increasing Botswana's status as a financial centre.", "Credit is allocated on market terms, although the government provides subsidised loans.", "Reform of non-bank financial institutions has continued in recent years, notably through the establishment of a single financial regulatory agency that provides more effective supervision.", "The government has abolished exchange controls, and with the resulting creation of new portfolio investment options, the Botswana Stock Exchange is growing.===Gemstones and precious metals===In Botswana, the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security led by Hon Sadique Kebonang in Gaborone, maintains data regarding mining throughout the country.", "Debswana, the largest diamond mining company operating in Botswana, is 50% owned by the government.", "The mineral industry provides about 40% of all government revenues.", "In 2007, significant quantities of uranium were discovered, and mining was projected to begin by 2010.Several international mining corporations have established regional headquarters in Botswana, and prospected for diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, and even oil, many coming back with positive results.", "Government announced in early 2009 that they would try to shift their economic dependence on diamonds, over serious concern that diamonds are predicted to dry out in Botswana over the next twenty years.Botswana's Orapa mine is the largest diamond mine in the world in terms of value and quantity of carats produced annually.", "Estimated to have produced over 11 million carats in 2013, with an average price of $145/carat, the Orapa mine was estimated to produce over $1.6 billion worth of diamonds in 2013.=== Creative industries ===Increasing importance is being given to the economic contribution of the creative industries to national economies.", "The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recompiles statistics about the export and import of goods and services related to the creative industries.", "The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has assisted in the preparation of national studies measuring the size of over 50 copyright industries around the world.", "According to the WIPO compiled data, the national contribution of creative industries varies from 2% to 11% depending on the country.Using the WIPO-framework, the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority(CIPA) and the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis were published by a sector-specific study in 2019.In 2016, copyright industries contributed 5.46% to value-added and 2.66% to the total labour force, 1.28% to exports, and 3.47% to imports." ], [ "Demographics", "+ Population in BotswanaYearMillion1950 0.42000 1.72020 2.4As of 2012, the Tswana are the majority ethnic group in Botswana, making up approximately 79% of the population, followed by Kalanga at 11% and the San (Basarwa) at 3%.", "The remaining 7% is made up of White Batswana/European Batswana, Indians, and a number of other smaller Southern African ethnic groups.Native groups include the Bayei, Bambukushu, Basubia, Baherero and Bakgalagadi.", "The Indian minority is made up of both recent migrants and descendants of Indian migrants who arrived from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and South Africa.Population pyramid 2016Since 2000, because of deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabweans in Botswana has risen into the tens of thousands.", "Fewer than 10,000 San people are still living their traditional hunter-gatherer way of life.", "Since the mid-1990s the central government of Botswana has been trying to move San out of their historic lands.James Anaya, as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people for the United Nations in 2010, described loss of land as a major contributor to many of the problems facing Botswana's indigenous people, citing the San's eviction from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) as a special example.", "Among Anaya's recommendations in a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council was that development programs should promote, in consultation with indigenous communities such as the San and Bakgalagadi people, activities in harmony with the culture of those communities such as traditional hunting and gathering activities.===Languages===The official language of Botswana is English, while Setswana is widely spoken across the country.", "In Setswana, prefixes are more important than they are in many other languages, since Setswana is a Bantu language and has noun classes denoted by these prefixes.", "They include ''Bo'', which refers to the country, ''Ba'', which refers to the people, ''Mo'', which is one person, and ''Se'' which is the language.", "For example, the main ethnic group of Botswana is the Tswana people, hence the name Botswana for its country.", "The people as a whole are Batswana, one person is a Motswana, and the language they speak is Setswana.Other languages spoken in Botswana include Kalanga (Sekalanga), Sarwa (Sesarwa), Ndebele, Kgalagadi, Tswapong, !Xóõ, Yeyi, and, in some parts, Afrikaans.===Religion===An estimated 77% of the country's citizens identify as Christians.", "Anglicans, Methodists, and the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa make up the majority of Christians.", "There are also congregations of Lutherans, Baptists, Roman Catholics, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Dutch Reformed Church, Mennonites, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Serbian Orthodox in the country.", "According to the 2001 census, the nation has around 5,000 Muslims (mainly from South Asia), 3,000 Hindus, and 700 of the Baháʼí Faith.", "Approximately 20% of citizens identify with no religion." ], [ "Culture", "===Literature and cinema===Botswana literature belongs somewhere in the strong African literary writing circles.", "African literature is known for its consciousness and didactic writing styles.", "Writing as an art form has existed in Botswana for a long while, from the rock painting era — especially in the Tsodilo Hills, known to be 20,000 years old — to the present day, with the movie production of ''The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency'', based on a series of more than 20 novels set in Botswana.Unity Dow, author of ''Far and Beyon''', ''The Screaming of the Innocent'', and ''Heavens May Fall''In recent times and to date Botswana has seen a remarkable appearance of distinguished writers whose genres range from historical, political and witty story writing.", "Prominent amongst these are the South African-born Bessie Head, who settled in Serowe; Andrew Sesinyi; Barolong Seboni (whose works include ''Images of the Sun'', ''Screams and Pleas'', ''Lovesongs'', ''Windsongs of the Kgalagadi'' and ''Lighting the Fire'', and several other publications that include a play, ''Sechele I'', and ''Setswana Riddles Translated into English''); Unity Dow, Galesiti Baruti; Caitlin Davies; Lauri Kubuetsile; Albert Malikongwa; Toro Mositi; and Moteane Melamu.Most of Bessie Head's important works are set in Serowe.", "''When Rain Clouds Gather'' (1968), ''Maru'' (1971), and ''A Question of Power'' (1973) all have this setting.", "The three are also autobiographical; ''When Rain Clouds Gather'' is based on her experience living on a development farm, ''Maru'' incorporates her experience of being considered racially inferior, and ''A Question of Power'' draws on her understanding of what it was like to experience acute psychological distress.", "Head also published a number of short stories, including the collection ''The Collector of Treasures'' (1977).", "She published a book on the history of Serowe, ''Serowe: Village of the Rainwind''.", "Her last novel, ''A Bewitched Crossroad'' (1984), is historical, set in 19th-century Botswana.", "She had also written a story of two prophets, one wealthy and one who lived poorly, called ''Jacob: The Faith-Healing Priest''.The 1981 comedy ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' was set in Botswana and became a major international hit; 2000's Disney production ''Whispers: An Elephant's Tale'' was filmed in Botswana.", "In 2009, parts of M. Saravanan's Tamil-language Indian action film ''Ayan'' were filmed in Botswana.The critically acclaimed ''A United Kingdom'', about the real-life love story of Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams, was filmed partly between Botswana and London, and was released internationally in 2016.===Media===There are six television stations in Botswana, one of which is state-owned (Botswana TV), along with Now TV, Khuduga HD, Maru TV, Access TV and EBotswana.", "There are five local radio stations (RB1, RB2, Duma FM, Gabz FM, and Yarona FM) and thirteen newspapers (''Mmegi'', ''Sunday Standard'', ''The Telegraph'', ''Business Weekly'', ''The Botswana Gazette'', ''The Voice'', ''The Guardian'', ''Echo'', ''Botswana People's Daily'', ''DailyNews'', ''Tswana Times'', ''Weekend Post'', and ''The Monitor'') that publish regularly.===Music===Botswana's music is mostly vocal and performed, sometimes without drums depending on the occasion; it also makes heavy use of string instruments.", "Botswana folk music has instruments such as setinkane (a sort of miniature piano), segankure/segaba (a Botswanan version of the Chinese instrument erhu), moropa (meropa -plural) (many varieties of drums), phala (a whistle used mostly during celebrations, which comes in a variety of forms).", "Botswanan cultural musical instruments are not confined only to the strings or drums.", "The hands are used as musical instruments too, by either clapping them together or against (goat skin turned inside out wrapped around the calf area, only used by men) to create music and rhythm.", "For the last few decades, the guitar has been celebrated as a versatile music instrument for Tswana music as it offers a variety in string which the segaba instrument does not have.", "The national anthem is \"Fatshe leno la rona\".", "Written and composed by Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete, it was adopted upon independence in 1966.=== Visual arts ===In the northern part of Botswana, women in the villages of Etsha and Gumare are noted for their skill at crafting baskets from Mokola Palm and local dyes.", "The baskets are generally woven into three types: large, lidded baskets used for storage, large, open baskets for carrying objects on the head or for winnowing threshed grain, and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain.", "The artistry of these baskets is being steadily enhanced through colour use and improved designs as they are increasingly produced for international markets.The oldest paintings from both Botswana and South Africa depict hunting, animal and human figures, and were made by the Khoisan (!Kung San/Bushmen) over twenty thousand years ago within the Kalahari Desert.===Food===The cuisine of Botswana mostly includes meat as Botswana is a cattle country.", "The national dish is seswaa, pounded meat made from goat meat or beef, Segwapa dried, cured meat ranging from beef to game meats & the cut may also vary, either fillets of meat cut into strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces sliced across the grain.", "Botswana's cuisine shares some characteristics with other cuisine of Southern Africa.Examples of Botswana food are: Bogobe, pap (maize porridge), boerewors, samp, Magwinya (fried dough bread) and mopane worms.", "Porridge (bogobe) is made by putting sorghum, maize, or millet flour into boiling water, stirring into a soft paste, and cooking it slowly.", "A dish called ting is made when the sorghum or maize is fermented, and milk and sugar added.", "Without the milk and sugar, ting is sometimes eaten with meat or vegetables as lunch or dinner.", "Another way of making bogobe is to add sour milk and a cooking melon (lerotse).", "This dish is called tophi by the Kalanga tribe.", "Madila is a traditional fermented milk product similar to yogurt or sour cream.Many different kinds of beans are grown, including cowpeas, ditloo, and letlhodi.", "Some vegetables grow in the wild and are available seasonally including thepe and Delele (okra).", "Many fruits are locally available, including marula.", "Watermelons, believed to have come originally from Botswana, are plentiful in season.", "Another kind of melon, called lerotse or lekatane, is also grown.", "Some kinds of wild melon found in sandy desert areas are an important food and water source for the people who live in those areas.", "Kgalagadi Breweries Limited produces the national beer, St. Louis Lager, Botswana's first and only local beer brand that has also been a part of Botswana's rich history since 1989, and non-alcoholic beverage Keone Mooka Mageu, a traditional fermented porridge.===Sports===Francistown StadiumFootball is the most popular sport in Botswana, with qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations being the national team's highest achievement to date.", "Other popular sports are softball, cricket, tennis, rugby, badminton, handball, golf, and track and field.", "Botswana is an associate member of the International Cricket Council.", "Botswana became a member of The International Badminton Federation and Africa Badminton Federation in 1991.The Botswana Golf Union has an amateur golf league in which golfers compete in tournaments and championships.", "Botswana won the country's first Olympic medal in 2012 when runner Nijel Amos won silver in the 800 metres.", "In 2011, Amantle Montsho became world champion in the 400 metres and won Botswana's first athletics medal at the world level.", "High jumper Kabelo Kgosiemang is a three-time African champion, Isaac Makwala is a sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres, he was the gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, Baboloki Thebe was a silver medalist in the 200 metres at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and reached the semi-finals at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics, and Ross Branch Ross, a motor-biker, holds the number one plate in the South African Cross Country Championship and has competed at the Dakar Rally.", "Letsile Tebogo set the world junior record in the 100 metres with a time of 9.94 at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.On 7 August 2021 Botswana won the bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the Olympics in Tokyo.The card game bridge has a strong following; it was first played in Botswana around 40 years ago, and it grew in popularity during the 1980s.", "Many British expatriate schoolteachers informally taught the game in Botswana's secondary schools.", "The Botswana Bridge Federation (BBF) was founded in 1988 and continues to organise tournaments.", "Bridge has remained popular and the BBF has over 800 members.", "In 2007 the BBF invited the English Bridge Union to host a week-long teaching programme in May 2008." ], [ "Education", "Physicist in a lab at Botswana International University of Science and TechnologyBotswana has made great strides in educational development since independence in 1966.At that time there were very few graduates in the country and only a very small percentage of the population attended secondary school.", "Botswana increased its adult literacy rate from 69% in 1991 to 83% in 2008.Among sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates.", "According to The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency as of 2015, 88.5% of the population age 15 and over could read and write and were respectively literate.With the discovery of diamonds and the increase in government revenue that this brought, there was a huge increase in educational provision in the country.", "All students were guaranteed ten years of basic education, leading to a Junior Certificate qualification.", "Approximately half of the school population attends a further two years of secondary schooling leading to the award of the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE).", "Secondary education in Botswana is neither free nor compulsory.After leaving school, students can attend one of the seven technical colleges in the country, or take vocational training courses in teaching or nursing.", "Students enter the University of Botswana, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Botswana International University of Science and Technology and the Botswana Accountancy College in Gaborone.", "Many other students end up in the numerous private tertiary education colleges around the country.", "Notable among these is Botho University, the country's first private university which offers undergraduate programs in Accounting, Business and Computing.", "Another international university is the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology which offers various associate degrees in Creative Arts.", "Other tertiary institutions include Ba Isago, ABM University College the largest school of business and management, New Era, Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies, Gaborone University College of Law And Professional Studies etc.", "Tremendous strides in providing quality education have been made by private education providers such that a large number of the best students in the country are now applying to them as well.", "A vast majority of these students are government sponsored.", "The nation's second international university, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, was completed in Palapye in 2011.The quantitative gains have not always been matched by qualitative ones.", "Primary schools in particular still lack resources, and the teachers are less well paid than their secondary school colleagues.", "The Botswana Ministry of Education is working to establish libraries in primary schools in partnership with the African Library Project.", "The Government of Botswana hopes that by investing a large part of national income in education, the country will become less dependent on diamonds for its economic survival, and less dependent on expatriates for its skilled workers.", "Those objectives are in part pursued through policies in favour of vocational education, gathered within the NPVET (National Policy on Vocational Education and Training), aiming to \"integrate the different types of vocational education and training into one comprehensive system\".", "Botswana invests 21% of its government spending in education.In January 2006, Botswana announced the reintroduction of school fees after two decades of free state education though the government still provides full scholarships with living expenses to any Botswana citizen in university, either at the University of Botswana or if the student wishes to pursue an education in any field not offered locally, they are provided with a full scholarship to study abroad.===Science and technology===Deaftronics Solar Powered Hearing AidBotswana is planning to use science and technology to diversify its economy and thereby reduce its dependence on diamond mining.", "To this end, the government has set up six hubs since 2008, in the agriculture, diamonds, innovation, transport, health and education sectors.Botswana published its updated ''National Policy on Research, Science and Technology'' in 2011, within a UNESCO project sponsored by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID).", "This policy aims to take up the challenges of rapid technological evolution, globalisation and the achievement of the national development goals formulated in high-level strategic documents that include Botswana's ''Tenth National Development Plan'' to 2016 and ''Vision 2016''.The ''National Policy on Research, Science, Technology and Innovation'' (2011) fixes the target of raising gross domestic expenditure on research and development (R&D) from 0.26% of GDP in 2012 to over 2% of GDP by 2016.This target can only be reached within the specified time frame by raising public spending on R&D.Cubesat miniaturized satelliteDespite the modest level of financial investment in research, Botswana counts one of the highest researcher densities in sub-Saharan Africa: 344 per million inhabitants (in head counts), compared to an average of 91 per million inhabitants for the subcontinent in 2013.Botswana was ranked 85th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.In 2009, Botswana-based company Deaftronics launched a solar-powered hearing aid after six years of prototype development.", "Since then, Deaftronics has sold over 10,000 of the hearing aids.", "Priced at $200 per unit, each hearing aid includes four rechargeable batteries (lasting up to three years) and a solar charger for them.", "The product is inexpensive compared to many similar devices, that can start from around $600.In 2011, Botswana's Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) unveiled Musi cattle, designed to ultimately optimise the overall efficiency for beef production under Botswana conditions.", "A hybrid of Tswana, Bonsmara, Brahman, Tuli and Simmental breeds, it is hoped that the composite will lead to increased beef production.", "The objective of the research was to find a genetic material that could perform like crossbreeds already found in Botswana and well above the indigenous Tswana breed while retaining the hardiness and adaptability of the native stock in one package.In 2016, the Botswana Institute of Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) developed a rapid testing kit for foot-and-mouth disease in collaboration with the Botswana Vaccine Institute and Canadian Food Inspection Agency.", "The existing diagnostic methods required highly trained laboratory personnel and special equipment, which caused delays in the implementation of control procedures; whereas the kit developed in Botswana allows for on-site diagnosis to be made.The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) (MeerKAT) will consist of thousands of dishes and antennas spread over large distances linked together to form one giant telescope.", "Additional dishes will be located in eight other African countries Botswana among them.", "Botswana was selected to participate because of its ideal location in the southern hemisphere and environment, which could enable easier data collection from the universe.", "Botswana government has built SKA precursor telescope at Kgale View, called the African Very Long Base Line Interferometry Network (AVN) & sent student on Astronomy scholarships.Botswana launched its own 3-year programme to build & launch a Micro Satellite (CubeSat) Botswana Satellite Technology (Sat-1 Project) in Gaborone on 18 December 2020.The development of the satellite will be led by Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) with technical support from University of Oulu in Finland and Loon, a giant leap forward in the realisation of Botswana's ambition to become a technologically driven economy.", "The satellite, which will be used for earth observation, will generate data for smart farming and real-time virtual tourism.", "Furthermore, it will help us predict and forecast harvest time through the use of robotics and automated technology.In the IT sector in 2016 a firm, Almaz, opened a first-of-its-kind computer assembly company.", "Ditec, a Botswana company, also customises, designs and manufactures mobile phones.", "Ditec is one of the leading experts in design, development and customisation of Microsoft powered devices.On 19 November 2021 scientists at the Botswana Harvard HIV Reference Laboratory (BHHRL) first discovered the variant Omicron subsequently designated B.1.1.529, and then named \"Omicron\" becoming the first country in the world to discover the variant.", "Since early 2021, they have genome-sequenced some 2,300 positive SARS-CoV-2 virus samples.", "According to Dr Gaseitsiwe, Botswana's genome sequence submissions to GISAID are among the highest in the African region on a per capita basis, on a par with its well-resourced neighbour South Africa.", "Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP) was built in 2003, two years after the umbrella organisation opened the BHHRL, its purpose-built HIV research lab and one of the first on the continent." ], [ "Infrastructure", "Botswana has of railway lines, of roads, and 92 airports, of which 12 have paved runways.", "The paved road network has almost entirely been constructed since independence in 1966.The national airline is Air Botswana, which flies domestically and to other countries in Africa.", "Botswana Railways is the national railway company, which forms a crucial link in the Southern African regional railway system.", "Botswana Railways offers rail-based transport facilities for moving a range of commodities for the mining sector and primary industries, as well as passenger-train services and dry ports.In terms of power infrastructure in Botswana, the country produces coal for electricity and oil is imported into the country.", "Recently, the country has taken a large interest in renewable energy sources and has completed a comprehensive strategy that will attract investors in the wind, solar and biomass renewable energy industries.", "Botswana's power stations include Morupule B Power Station (600 MW), Morupule A Power Station (132 MW), Orapa Power Station (90 MW), Phakalane Power Station (1.3 MW) and Mmamabula Power Station (300 MW), which is expected to be online in the near future.", "A 200 MW solar power plant is at the planning and design stage by Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security.===Health=======Health industry====Scottish Livingstone Hospital in MolepololeThe Ministry of Health in Botswana is responsible for overseeing the quality and distribution of healthcare throughout the country.", "Life expectancy at birth was 55 in 2009 according to the World Bank, having previously fallen from a peak of 64.1 in 1990 to a low of 49 in 2002.After Botswana's 2011 census, current life expectancy is estimated at 54.06 years.The Cancer Association of Botswana is a voluntary non-governmental organisation.", "The association is a member of the Union for International Cancer Control.", "The Association supplements existing services through provision of cancer prevention and health awareness programs, facilitating access to health services for cancer patients and offering support and counselling to those affected.====HIV/AIDS epidemic====Life expectancy in select Southern African countries, 1950–2019.HIV/AIDS has caused a fall in life expectancy.Like elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, the economic impact of AIDS is considerable.", "Economic development spending was cut by 10% in 2002–3 as a result of recurring budget deficits and rising expenditure on healthcare services.", "Botswana has been hit very hard by the AIDS pandemic; in 2006 it was estimated that life expectancy at birth had dropped from 65 to 35 years.", "However, after Botswana's 2011 census current life expectancy is estimated at 54.06 years.", "However the graph here shows over 65 years, therefore there is conflicting information about life expectancy.The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Botswana was estimated at 25.4% for adults aged 15–49 in 2009 and 21.9% in 2013, exceeded by Lesotho and Eswatini in sub-Saharan African nations.", "This places Botswana at the third highest prevalence in the world, in 2013, while \"leading the way in prevention and treatment programmes\".", "In 2003, the government began a comprehensive programme involving free or cheap generic antiretroviral drugs as well as an information campaign designed to stop the spread of the virus; in 2013, over 40% of adults in Botswana had access to antiretroviral therapy.", "In the age group of 15–19 years old, prevalence was estimated at 6% for females and 3.5% for males in 2013, and for the 20–24 age group, 15% for females and 5% for males.", "Botswana is one of 21 priority countries identified by the UN AIDS group in 2011 in the Global Plan to eliminate new HIV infections among children and to keep their mothers alive.", "From 2009 to 2013, the country saw a decrease over 50% in new HIV infections in children.", "A further measure of the success, or reason for hope, in dealing with HIV in Botswana, is that less than 10% of pregnant HIV-infected women were not receiving antiretroviral medications in 2013, with a corresponding large decrease (over 50%) in the number of new HIV infections in children under 5.Among the UN Global Plan countries, people living with HIV in Botswana have the highest percentage receiving antiretroviral treatment: about 75% for adults (age 15+) and about 98% for children.With a nationwide Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission program, Botswana has reduced HIV transmission from infected mothers to their children from about 40% to just 4%.", "Under the leadership of Festus Mogae, the Government of Botswana solicited outside help in fighting HIV/AIDS and received early support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Merck Foundation, and together formed the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP).", "Other early partners include the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute, of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Botswana-UPenn Partnership of the University of Pennsylvania.", "According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, universal access to treatment – defined as 80% coverage or greater – has been achieved in Botswana.===Tourism===Tourist on a safari boat cruiseThe Botswana Tourism Organisation is the country's official tourism group.", "Primarily, tourists visit Gaborone due to the city having numerous activities for visitors.", "The Lion Park Resort is Botswana's first permanent amusement park and hosts events such as birthday parties for families.", "Other destinations in Botswana include the Gaborone Yacht Club and the Kalahari Fishing Club and natural attractions such as the Gaborone Dam and Mokolodi Nature Reserve.", "There are golf courses which are maintained by the Botswana Golf Union (BGU).", "The Phakalane Golf Estate is a multi-million-dollar clubhouse that offers both hotel accommodations and access to golf courses.", "Museums in Botswana include:* Botswana National Museum in Gaborone* Kgosi Bathoen II (Segopotso) Museum in Kanye* Kgosi Sechele I Museum in Molepolole* Khama III Memorial Museum in Serowe* Nhabe Museum in Maun* Phuthadikobo Museum in Mochudi* Supa Ngwano Museum Centre in Francistown" ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Botswana* List of Botswana-related topics" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== Bibliography ===* * === General sources ===" ], [ "Further reading", "* Charles, Thalefang (2016).", "''Botswana's Top50 Ultimate Experiences''.", "Mmegi Publishing House.", ".", "* * * Colclough, Christopher and Stephen McCarthy.", "''The Political Economy of Botswana: A Study of Growth and Income Distribution'' (Oxford University Press, 1980)* * * Edge, Wayne A. and Mogopodi H. Lekorwe eds.", "''Botswana: Politics and Society'' (Pretoria: J.L.", "van Schaik, 1998)* * * Tlou, Thomas, and Alec C. Campbell.", "''History of Botswana'' (Macmillan Botswana, 1984)" ], [ "External links", "* Botswana.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Botswana from UCB Libraries GovPubs* * Botswana from the BBC News* * * Key Development Forecasts for Botswana from International Futures* Government Directory for Botswana" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Brunei" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Brunei''' ( , ), formally '''Brunei Darussalam''' (, Jawi: , ), is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo.", "Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with its territory bifurcated by the Sarawak district of Limbang.", "Brunei is the only sovereign state entirely on Borneo; the remainder of the island is divided between its multi-landmass neighbours of Malaysia and Indonesia.", "the country had a population of 460,345, of whom approximately 100,000 resided in the capital and largest city Bandar Seri Begawan.", "The government of Brunei is an absolute monarchy ruled by the Sultan of Brunei, and it implements a fusion of English common law and jurisprudence inspired by Islam, including sharia.At the Bruneian Empire's peak during the reign of Sultan Bolkiah (1485–1528), the state is claimed to have had control over the most of Borneo, including modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, as well as the Sulu archipelago and the islands off the northwestern tip of Borneo.", "There are also claims to its historical control over Seludong, the site of the modern Philippine capital of Manila, but Southeast Asian scholars believe the name of the location in question is actually in reference to Mount Selurong, in Indonesia.", "The maritime state of Brunei was visited by the surviving crew of the Magellan Expedition in 1521, and in 1578 it fought against Spain in the Castilian War.During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline.", "The Sultanate ceded Sarawak (Kuching) to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company.", "In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British resident as colonial manager in 1906.After the Japanese occupation during World War II, a new constitution was written in 1959.In 1962, a small armed rebellion against the monarchy was ended with British assistance.", "The country gained its full independence from Britain on 1 January 1984.Brunei has been led by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah since 1967.The country's wealth derives from its extensive petroleum and natural gas fields.", "Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s has transformed Brunei into an industrialised country, with the GDP increasing 56% between 1999 and 2008.Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among Southeast Asian states, trailing only Singapore.", "According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.", "The IMF estimated in 2011 that Brunei was one of two countries (the other being Libya) with a public debt to national GDP ratio of 0%." ], [ "Etymology", "According to local historiography, Brunei was founded by Awang Alak Betatar, later to be Sultan Muhammad Shah, reigning around AD 1400.He moved from Garang in the Temburong District to the Brunei River estuary, discovering Brunei.", "According to legend, upon landing he exclaimed, ''Baru nah'' (loosely translated as \"that's it!\"", "or \"there\"), from which the name \"Brunei\" was derived.", "He was the first Muslim ruler of Brunei.", "Before the rise of the Bruneian Empire under the Muslim Bolkiah Dynasty, Brunei is believed to have been under Buddhist rulers.It was renamed \"Barunai\" in the 14th century, possibly influenced by the Sanskrit word \"''''\" (), meaning \"seafarers\".", "The word \"Borneo\" is of the same origin.", "In the country's full name, '''', '''' () means \"abode of peace\", while '''' means \"country\" in Malay.", "A shortened version of the Malay official name, \"Brunei Darussalam\", has also entered common usage, particularly in official contexts, and is present in the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names geographical database, as well as the official ASEAN and Commonwealth listings.The earliest recorded documentation by the West about Brunei is by an Italian known as Ludovico di Varthema.", "On his documentation back to 1550;" ], [ "History", "=== Early history ===Areas comprising what is now Brunei participated in the Maritime Jade Road, as ascertained by archeological research.", "The trading network existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BC to 1000 AD.", "The settlement known as Vijayapura was a vassal-state to the Buddhist Srivijaya empire and was thought to be located in Borneo's Northwest which flourished in the 7th Century.", "This alternative Srivijaya referring to Brunei, was known to Arabic sources as \"Sribuza\".", "The Arabic author Al Ya'akubi writing in 800 recorded that the kingdom of Musa (Muja, which is old Brunei) was in alliance with the kingdom of Mayd (Either Ma-i or Madja-as in the Philippines), against the Chinese Empire which they waged war against.", "In the aftermath of the Indian Chola invasion of Srivijaya, Datu Puti lead some dissident datus from Sumatra and Borneo in a rebellion against Rajah Makatunao who was a Chola appointed local Rajah or the descendant of Seri Maharajah (In Chinese records).", "The dissidents and their retinue tried to revive Srivijaya in a new country called Madja-as in the Visayas (an island archipelago named after Srivijaya) in the Philippines.", "After the 10 Datus established many towns in Panay and Southern Luzon, according to Augustinian Friar Rev.", "Fr.", "Santaren recording in the Spanish era of this Pre-Spanish legendary history, that Datu Macatunao or Rajah Makatunao who was the \"sultan of the Moros,\" and a relative of Datu Puti who seized the properties and riches of the ten datus was eventually killed by the warriors named Labaodungon and Paybare, after learning of this injustice from their father-in-law Paiburong, sailed to Odtojan in Borneo where Makatunaw ruled.", "The warriors sacked the city, killed Makatunaw and his family, retrieved the stolen properties of the 10 datus, enslaved the remaining population of Odtojan, and sailed back to Panay.", "Labaw Donggon and his wife, Ojaytanayon, later settled in a place called Moroboro.", "One of the earliest Chinese records of an independent kingdom in Borneo is the 977 AD letter to the Chinese emperor from the ruler of Boni, which some scholars believe to refer to Borneo.", "The Bruneians regained their independence from Srivijaya due to the onset of a Javanese-Sumatran war.", "In 1225, the Chinese official Zhao Rukuo reported that Boni had 100 warships to protect its trade, and that there was great wealth in the kingdom.", "Marco Polo suggested in his memoirs that the Great Khan or the ruler of the Mongol Empire, attempted and failed many times in invading \"Great Java\" which was the European name for Bruneian controlled Borneo.", "In the 1300s the Chinese annals, ''Nanhai zhi'', reported that Brunei invaded or administered Sarawak and Sabah as well as the Philippine kingdoms of Butuan, Sulu, Ma-i (Mindoro), Malilu 麻裏蘆 (present-day Manila), Shahuchong 沙胡重 (present-day Siocon or Zamboanga), Yachen 啞陳 Oton (Part of the Madja-as Kedatuan), and 文杜陵 Wenduling (present-day Mindanao), which would regain their independence at a later date.In the 14th century, the Javanese manuscript ''Nagarakretagama'', written by Prapanca in 1365, mentioned ''Barune'' as the constituent state of Hindu Majapahit, which had to make an annual tribute of 40 katis of camphor.", "In 1369, Sulu which was also formerly part of Majapahit, had successfully rebelled and then attacked Boni, and had invaded the Northeast Coast of Borneo and afterwards had looted the capital of its treasure and gold including sacking two sacred pearls.", "A fleet from Majapahit succeeded in driving away the Sulus, but Boni was left weaker after the attack.", "A Chinese report from 1371 described Boni as poor and totally controlled by Majapahit.", "When the Chinese admiral Zheng He visited the Brunei in the early 15th century, he founded a major trading port which included Chinese people who were actively trading with China.During the 15th century, Boni had seceded from Majapahit and then converted to Islam.", "Thus transforming into the independent Sultanate of Brunei.", "Brunei became a Hashemite state when she allowed the Arab Emir of Mecca, Sharif Ali, to become her third sultan.", "Scholars claim that the power of the Sultanate of Brunei was at its peak between the 15th and 17th centuries, with its power extending from northern Borneo to the southern Philippines (Sulu) and even in the northern Philippines (Manila) which Brunei incorporated via territorial acquisition accomplished through royal marriages.", "For political reasons, the historical rulers of Maynila maintained close cognatic ties through intermarriage with the ruling houses of the Sultanate of Brunei, but Brunei's political influence over Maynila is not considered to have extended to military or political rule.", "Intermarriage was a common strategy for large thalassocratic states (maritime states) such as Brunei to extend their influence, and for local rulers such as those of Maynila to help strengthen their family claims to nobility.", "Sultan Bolkiah had extended Brunei's power to its greatest extent when it conquered Manila and Sulu as he even attempted but failed to conquer the Visayas islands even though Sultan Bolkiah was half-Visayan himself being descended from a Visayan mother and he was famously known as Sultan Ragam \"The Singing Captain\", his powerful musical voice was a trait he inherited from his Visayan lineage since Visayans were culturally obsessed with singing, with the best Visayan singers often also being members of their warrior castes too.", "However, Islamic Brunei's power was not uncontested in Borneo since it had a Hindu rival in a state founded by Indians called Kutai in the south which they overpowered but didn't destroy.", "Brunei's dominance in the Philippines was also challenged by two Indianized kingdoms, the Rajahanates of Cebu and Butuan which were also coincidentally allied with Kutai and were also at war with Brunei's dependencies; Sulu and Manila as well as their mutual ally, the Sultanate of Maguindanao.", "The Kedatuans of Madja-as and Dapitan were also belligerent against Brunei due to them being the targets of constant Muslim attacks organized from Maguindanao and Ternate, a Papuan speaking state in the vicinity of Oceania that grew wealthy by monopolizing spice production.", "Nevertheless, by the 16th century, Islam was firmly rooted in Brunei, and the country had built one of its biggest mosques.", "In 1578, Alonso Beltrán, a Spanish traveller, described it as being five stories tall and built on the water.=== War with Spain and decline ===Brunei territorial losses from 1400 to 1890 Brunei briefly rose to prominence in Southeast Asia when the Portuguese occupied Malacca and thereby forced the wealthy and powerful but displaced Muslim refugees there to relocate to nearby Sultanates such as Brunei.", "The Bruneian Sultan then intervened in a territorial conflict between Hindu Tondo and Muslim Manila in the Philippines by appointing the Bruneian descended Rajah Ache of Manila as admiral of the Bruneian navy in a rivalry against Tondo and as the enforcer of Bruneian interests in the Philippines.", "He subsequently encountered the Magellan expedition wherein Antonio Pigafetta noted that under orders from his grandfather the Sultan of Brunei, Ache had previously sacked the Buddhist city of Loue in Southwest Borneo for being faithful to the old religion and rebelling against the authority of Sultanate.", "However, European influence gradually brought an end to Brunei's regional power, as Brunei entered a period of decline compounded by internal strife over royal succession.", "In the face of these invasions by European Christian powers, the Ottoman Caliphate aided the beleaguered Southeast Asian Sultanates by making Aceh a protectorate and sending expeditions to reinforce, train and equip the local mujahideen.", "Turks were routinely migrating to Brunei as evidenced by the complaints of Manila Oidor Melchor Davalos who in his 1585 report, say that Turks were coming to Sumatra, Borneo and Ternate every year, including defeated veterans from the Battle of Lepanto.", "The presence of Turks assisting Brunei against Habsburg Spain, makes the subsequent Castille War a part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars.Spain declared war in 1578, planning to attack and capture Kota Batu, Brunei's capital at the time.", "This was based in part on the assistance of two Bruneian noblemen, Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna.", "The former had travelled to Manila, then the centre of the Spanish colony.", "Manila itself was captured from Brunei, Christianised and made a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain which was centered in Mexico City.", "Pengiran Seri Lela came to offer Brunei as a tributary to Spain for help to recover the throne usurped by his brother, Saiful Rijal.", "The Spanish agreed that if they succeeded in conquering Brunei, Pengiran Seri Lela would be appointed as the sultan, while Pengiran Seri Ratna would be the new Bendahara.Brunei (汶莱國) delegates in Beijing, China, in 1761.", "''萬國來朝圖''In March 1578, a fresh Spanish fleet had arrived from Mexico and settled at the Philippines, they were led by De Sande, acting as Capitán-General, he organised an expedition from Manila for Brunei.", "The expedition consisted of 400 Spaniards and Mexicans, 1,500 Filipino natives and 300 Borneans.", "The campaign was one of many, which also included action in Mindanao and Sulu.", "The racial make-up of the Christian side was diverse since it were usually made up of Mestizos, Mulattoes and Amerindians (Aztecs, Mayans and Incans) who were gathered and sent from Mexico and were led by Spanish officers who had worked together with native Filipinos in military campaigns across the Southeast Asia.", "The Muslim side though was also equally racially diverse.", "In addition to the native Malay warriors, the Ottomans had repeatedly sent military expeditions to nearby Aceh.", "The expeditions were composed mainly of Turks, Egyptians, Swahilis, Somalis, Sindhis, Gujaratis and Malabars.", "These expeditionary forces had also spread to other nearby Sultanates such as Brunei and had taught new fighting tactics and techniques on how to forge cannons.Eventually, the Spanish invaded the capital on 16 April 1578, with the help of Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna, burning towns and raping populations.", "The Sultan Saiful Rijal and Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Abdul Kahar were forced to flee to Meragang then to Jerudong.", "In Jerudong, they made plans to chase the conquering army away from Brunei.", "Suffering high fatalities due to a cholera or dysentery outbreak, the Spanish decided to abandon Brunei and returned to Manila on 26 June 1578, after 72 days.", "Before doing so, they burned the mosque, a high structure with a five-tier roof.Pengiran Seri Lela died in August or September 1578, probably from the same illness suffered by his Spanish allies.", "There was suspicion that the legitimist sultan could have been poisoned by the ruling sultan.", "Seri Lela's daughter, a Bruneian princess, \"Putri\", had left with the Spanish, she abandoned her claim to the crown and then she married a Christian Tagalog, named Agustín de Legazpi de Tondo.", "Agustin de Legaspi along with his family and associates were soon implicated in the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, an attempt by Filipinos to link up with the Brunei Sultanate and Japanese Shogunate to expel the Spaniards from the Philippines.", "However, upon the Spanish suppression of the conspiracy, the Bruneian descended aristocracy of precolonial Manila were exiled to Guerrero, Mexico which consequently later became a center of the Mexican war of independence against Spain.The local Brunei accounts of the Castilian War differ greatly from the generally accepted view of events.", "What was called the Castilian War was seen as a heroic episode, with the Spaniards being driven out by Bendahara Sakam, purportedly a brother of the ruling sultan, and a thousand native warriors.", "Most historians consider this to be a folk-hero account, which probably developed decades or centuries after.Brunei eventually descended into anarchy.", "The country suffered a civil war from 1660 to 1673.=== British intervention ===British adventurer James Brooke negotiating with the Sultan of Brunei, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Labuan, 1846Boundaries of Brunei (green) since 1890The British have intervened in the affairs of Brunei on several occasions.", "Britain attacked Brunei in July 1846 due to internal conflicts over who was the rightful Sultan.In the 1880s, the decline of the Bruneian Empire continued.", "The sultan granted land (now Sarawak) to James Brooke, who had helped him quell a rebellion, and allowed him to establish the Raj of Sarawak.", "Over time, Brooke and his nephews (who succeeded him) leased or annexed more land.", "Brunei lost much of its territory to him and his dynasty, known as the White Rajahs.Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin appealed to the British to stop further encroachment by the Brookes.", "The \"Treaty of Protection\" was negotiated by Sir Hugh Low and signed into effect on 17 September 1888.The treaty said that the sultan \"could not cede or lease any territory to foreign powers without British consent\"; it provided Britain effective control over Brunei's external affairs, making it a British protected state (which continued until 1984).", "But, when the Raj of Sarawak annexed Brunei's Pandaruan District in 1890, the British did not take any action to stop it.", "They did not regard either Brunei or the Raj of Sarawak as 'foreign' (per the Treaty of Protection).", "This final annexation by Sarawak left Brunei with its current small land mass and separation into two parts.British residents were introduced in Brunei under the Supplementary Protectorate Agreement in 1906.The residents were to advise the sultan on all matters of administration.", "Over time, the resident assumed more executive control than the sultan.", "The residential system ended in 1959.=== Discovery of oil ===Petroleum was discovered in 1929 after several fruitless attempts.", "Two men, F. F. Marriot and T. G. Cochrane, smelled oil near the Seria river in late 1926.They informed a geophysicist, who conducted a survey there.", "In 1927, gas seepages were reported in the area.", "Seria Well Number One (S-1) was drilled on 12 July 1928.Oil was struck at on 5 April 1929.Seria Well Number 2 was drilled on 19 August 1929, and, , continues to produce oil.", "Oil production was increased considerably in the 1930s with the development of more oil fields.", "In 1940, oil production was at more than six million barrels.", "The British Malayan Petroleum Company (now Brunei Shell Petroleum Company) was formed on 22 July 1922.The first offshore well was drilled in 1957.Oil and natural gas have been the basis of Brunei's development and wealth since the late 20th century.=== Japanese occupation ===Ahmad Tajuddin, the 27th Sultan of Brunei, with members of his court in April 1941, eight months before the Japanese invaded BruneiThe Japanese invaded Brunei on 16 December 1941, eight days after their attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States Navy.", "They landed 10,000 troops of the Kawaguchi Detachment from Cam Ranh Bay at Kuala Belait.", "After six days' fighting, they occupied the entire country.", "The only Allied troops in the area were the 2nd Battalion of the 15th Punjab Regiment based at Kuching, Sarawak.Once the Japanese occupied Brunei, they made an agreement with Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin over governing the country.", "Inche Ibrahim (known later as Pehin Datu Perdana Menteri Dato Laila Utama Awang Haji Ibrahim), a former Secretary to the British Resident, Ernest Edgar Pengilly, was appointed Chief Administrative Officer under the Japanese Governor.", "The Japanese had proposed that Pengilly retain his position under their administration, but he declined.", "Both he and other British nationals still in Brunei were interned by the Japanese at Batu Lintang camp in Sarawak.", "While the British officials were under Japanese guard, Ibrahim made a point of personally shaking each one by the hand and wishing him well.The Sultan retained his throne and was given a pension and honours by the Japanese.", "During the later part of the occupation, he resided at Tantuya, Limbang and had little to do with the Japanese.", "Most of the Malay government officers were retained by the Japanese.", "Brunei's administration was reorganised into five prefectures, which included British North Borneo.", "The Prefectures included Baram, Labuan, Lawas, and Limbang.", "Ibrahim hid numerous significant government documents from the Japanese during the occupation.", "Pengiran Yusuf (later YAM Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusuf), along with other Bruneians, was sent to Japan for training.", "Although in the area the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Yusuf survived.The British had anticipated a Japanese attack, but lacked the resources to defend the area because of their engagement in the war in Europe.", "The troops from the Punjab Regiment filled in the Seria oilfield oilwells with concrete in September 1941 to deny the Japanese their use.", "The remaining equipment and installations were destroyed when the Japanese invaded Malaya.", "By the end of the war, 16 wells at Miri and Seria had been restarted, with production reaching about half the pre-war level.", "Coal production at Muara was also recommenced, but with little success.Nagato'', ''Tone'', ''Yamato'' and ''Musashi'' in Brunei Bay in October 1944\|alt=During the occupation, the Japanese had their language taught in schools, and Government officers were required to learn Japanese.", "The local currency was replaced by what was to become known as ''duit pisang'' (banana money).", "From 1943 hyper-inflation destroyed the currency's value and, at the end of the war, this currency was worthless.", "Allied attacks on shipping eventually caused trade to cease.", "Food and medicine fell into short supply, and the population suffered from famine and disease.The airport runway was constructed by the Japanese during the occupation, and in 1943 Japanese naval units were based in Brunei Bay and Labuan.", "The naval base was destroyed by Allied bombing, but the airport runway survived.", "The facility was developed as a public airport.", "In 1944 the Allies began a bombing campaign against the occupying Japanese, which destroyed much of the town and Kuala Belait, but missed Kampong Ayer.Major-General Wootten of the Australian 9th Division with Lieutenant-General Masao Baba (signing) of the Japanese 37th Division at the surrender ceremony at Labuan on 10 September 1945On 10 June 1945, the Australian 9th Division landed at Muara under Operation Oboe Six to recapture Borneo from the Japanese.", "They were supported by American air and naval units.", "Brunei town was bombed extensively and recaptured after three days of heavy fighting.", "Many buildings were destroyed, including the Mosque.", "The Japanese forces in Brunei, Borneo, and Sarawak, under Lieutenant-General Masao Baba, formally surrendered at Labuan on 10 September 1945.The British Military Administration took over from the Japanese and remained until July 1946.=== Post-World War II ===After World War II, a new government was formed in Brunei under the British Military Administration (BMA).", "It consisted mainly of Australian officers and servicemen.", "The administration of Brunei was passed to the Civil Administration on 6 July 1945.The Brunei State Council was also revived that year.", "The BMA was tasked to revive the Bruneian economy, which was extensively damaged by the Japanese during their occupation.", "They also had to put out the fires on the wells of Seria, which had been set by the Japanese prior to their defeat.Before 1941, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, based in Singapore, was responsible for the duties of British High Commissioner for Brunei, Sarawak, and North Borneo (now Sabah).", "The first British High Commissioner for Brunei was the Governor of Sarawak, Sir Charles Ardon Clarke.", "The Barisan Pemuda (\"Youth Movement\"; abbreviated as BARIP) was the first political party to be formed in Brunei, on 12 April 1946.The party intended to \"preserve the sovereignty of the Sultan and the country, and to defend the rights of the Malays\".", "BARIP also contributed to the composition of the country's national anthem.", "The party was dissolved in 1948 due to inactivity.In 1959, a new constitution was written declaring Brunei a self-governing state, while its foreign affairs, security, and defence remained the responsibility of the United Kingdom.", "A small rebellion erupted against the monarchy in 1962, which was suppressed with help of the UK.", "Known as the Brunei Revolt, the rebellion contributed to the Sultan's decision to opt out of joining the emerging state now called Malaysia under the umbrella of North Borneo Federation.", "Brunei gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984.The official National Day, which celebrates the country's independence, is held by tradition on 23 February.=== Writing of the Constitution ===Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien IIIIn July 1953, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III formed a seven-member committee named ''Tujuh Serangkai'', to determine the citizens' views regarding a written constitution for Brunei.", "In May 1954, the Sultan, Resident and High Commissioner met to discuss the findings of the committee.", "They agreed to authorise the drafting of a constitution.", "In March 1959, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III led a delegation to London to discuss the proposed Constitution.", "The British delegation was led by Sir Alan Lennox-Boyd, Secretary of State for the Colonies.", "The British Government later accepted the draft constitution.On 29 September 1959, the Constitution Agreement was signed in Brunei Town.", "The agreement was signed by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and Sir Robert Scott, the Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia.It included the following provisions:* The Sultan was made the Supreme Head of State.", "* Brunei was responsible for its internal administration.", "* The British Government was responsible for foreign and defence affairs only.", "* The post of Resident was abolished and replaced by a British High Commissioner.Five councils were established:* The Executive Council* The Legislative Council of Brunei* The Privy Council* The Council of Succession* The State Religious Council=== National development plans ===A series of National Development Plans was initiated by the 28th Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Saifuddien III.The first was introduced in 1953.A total sum of B$100 million was approved by the Brunei State Council for the plan.", "E.R.", "Bevington, from the Colonial Office in Fiji, was appointed to implement it.", "A US$14 million Gas Plant was built under the plan.", "In 1954, survey and exploration work were undertaken by the Brunei Shell Petroleum on both offshore and onshore fields.", "By 1956, production reached 114,700 bpd.British soldiers in the British protectorate of Brunei on guard in the Seria oilfield, January 1963The plan also aided the development of public education.", "By 1958, expenditure on education totalled at $4 million.", "Communications were improved, as new roads were built and reconstruction at Berakas Airport was completed in 1954.The second National Development Plan was launched in 1962.A major oil and gas field was discovered in 1963.Developments in the oil and gas sector have continued, and oil production has steadily increased since then.", "The plan also promoted the production of meat and eggs for consumption by citizens.", "The fishing industry increased its output by 25% throughout the course of the plan.", "The deepwater port at Muara was also constructed during this period.", "Power requirements were met, and studies were made to provide electricity to rural areas.", "Efforts were made to eradicate malaria, an endemic disease in the region, with the help of the World Health Organization.", "Malaria cases were reduced from 300 cases in 1953 to only 66 cases in 1959.The death rate was reduced from 20 per thousand in 1947 to 11.3 per thousand in 1953.Infectious disease has been prevented by public sanitation and improvement of drainage, and the provision of piped pure water to the population.=== Independence ===On 14 November 1971, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah left for London to discuss matters regarding the amendments to the 1959 constitution.", "A new agreement was signed on 23 November 1971 with the British representative being Anthony Royle.Under this agreement, the following terms were agreed upon:* Brunei was granted full internal self-government* The UK would still be responsible for external affairs and defence.", "* Brunei and the UK agreed to share the responsibility for security and defence.This agreement also caused Gurkha units to be deployed in Brunei, where they remain up to this day.Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (right) in 2004On 7 January 1979, another treaty was signed between Brunei and the United Kingdom.", "It was signed with Lord Goronwy-Roberts being the representative of the UK.", "This agreement granted Brunei to take over international responsibilities as an independent nation.", "Britain agreed to assist Brunei in diplomatic matters.", "In May 1983, it was announced by the UK that the date of independence of Brunei would be 1 January 1984.On 31 December 1983, a mass gathering was held on main mosques on all four of the districts of the country and at midnight, on 1 January 1984, the Proclamation of Independence was read by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.", "The sultan subsequently assumed the title \"His Majesty\", rather than the previous \"His Royal Highness\".", "Brunei was admitted to the United Nations on 22 September 1984, becoming the organisation's 159th member.=== 21st century ===In October 2013, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced his intention to impose Penal Code from Sharia on the country's Muslims, which make up roughly two thirds of the country's population.", "This would be implemented in three phases, culminating in 2016, and making Brunei the first and only country in East Asia to introduce Sharia into its penal code, excluding the subnational Indonesian special territory of Aceh.", "The move attracted international criticism, the United Nations expressing \"deep concern\"." ], [ "Geography", "A topographic and geographic limits map of BruneiBrunei is a southeast Asian country consisting of two unconnected parts with a total area of on the island of Borneo.", "It has of coastline next to the South China Sea, and it shares a border with Malaysia.", "It has of territorial waters, and a exclusive economic zone.About 97% of the population lives in the larger western part (Belait, Tutong, and Brunei-Muara), while only about 10,000 people live in the mountainous eastern part (Temburong District).", "The total population of Brunei is approximately 408,000 , of which around 150,000 live in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan.", "Other major towns are the port town of Muara, the oil-producing town of Seria and its neighbouring town, Kuala Belait.", "In Belait District, the Panaga area is home to large numbers of Europeans expatriates, due to Royal Dutch Shell and British Army housing, and several recreational facilities are located there.Most of Brunei is within the Borneo lowland rain forests ecoregion, which covers most of the island.", "Areas of mountain rain forests are located inland.The climate of Brunei is tropical equatorial that is a tropical rainforest climate more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and with no or rare cyclones.", "Brunei is exposed to the risks stemming from climate change along with other ASEAN member states." ], [ "Politics and government", "Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei.Brunei's political system is governed by the constitution and the national tradition of the Malay Islamic Monarchy (''Melayu Islam Beraja''; MIB).", "The three components of MIB cover Malay culture, Islamic religion, and the political framework under the monarchy.", "It has a legal system based on English common law, although Islamic law (''sharia'') supersedes this in some cases.", "Brunei has a parliament but there are no elections; the last election was held in 1962.Under Brunei's 1959 constitution, His Majesty Hassanal Bolkiah is the head of state with full executive authority.", "Following the Brunei Revolt of 1962, this authority has included emergency powers, which are renewed every two years, meaning that Brunei has technically been under martial law since then.", "Hassanal Bolkiah also serves as the state's prime minister, finance minister and defence minister.=== Foreign relations ===Brunei's Sultan and Foreign Minister Hassanal Bolkiah meets with U.S. President Barack Obama, 18 November 2015Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, 6 October 2017Until 1979, Brunei's foreign relations were managed by the UK government.", "After that, they were handled by the Brunei Diplomatic Service.", "After independence in 1984, this Service was upgraded to ministerial level and is now known as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Officially, Brunei's foreign policy is as follows:* Mutual respect of others' territorial sovereignty, integrity and independence;* The maintenance of friendly relations among nations;* Non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries; and* The maintenance and the promotion of peace, security and stability in the region.With its traditional ties with the United Kingdom, Brunei became the 49th member of the Commonwealth immediately on the day of its independence on 1 January 1984.As one of its first initiatives toward improved regional relations, Brunei joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, becoming the sixth member.", "To achieve recognition of its sovereignty and independence, it joined the United Nations as a full member on 21 September of that same year.As an Islamic country, Brunei became a full member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) in January 1984 at the Fourth Islamic Summit held in Morocco.After its accession to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in 1989, Brunei hosted the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2000 and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July 2002.Brunei became a founding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, and is a major player in BIMP-EAGA, which was formed during the Inaugural Ministers' Meeting in Davao, Philippines, on 24 March 1994.Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Vladimir Putin during APEC 2000Brunei shares a close relationship with Singapore and the Philippines.", "In April 2009, Brunei and the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that seeks to strengthen the bilateral co-operation of the two countries in the fields of agriculture and farm-related trade and investments.Brunei is one of many nations to lay claim to some of the disputed Spratly Islands.", "The status of Limbang as part of Sarawak has been disputed by Brunei since the area was first annexed in 1890.The issue was reportedly settled in 2009, with Brunei agreeing to accept the border in exchange for Malaysia giving up claims to oil fields in Bruneian waters.", "The Brunei government denies this and says that their claim on Limbang was never dropped.Brunei was the chair for ASEAN in 2013.It also hosted the ASEAN summit on that same year.=== Defence ===Brunei maintains three infantry battalions stationed around the country.", "The Brunei navy has several \"Ijtihad\"-class patrol boats purchased from a German manufacturer.", "The United Kingdom also maintains a base in Seria, the centre of the oil industry in Brunei.", "A Gurkha battalion consisting of 1,500 personnel is stationed there.", "United Kingdom military personnel are stationed there under a defence agreement signed between the two countries.A Bell 212 operated by the air force crashed in Kuala Belait on 20 July 2012 with the loss of 12 of the 14 crew on board.", "The cause of the accident has yet to be ascertained.", "The crash is the worst aviation incident in the history of Brunei.The Army is currently acquiring new equipment, including UAVs and S-70i Black Hawks.Brunei's Legislative Council proposed an increase of the defence budget for the 2016–17 fiscal year of about five per cent to 564 million Brunei dollars ($408 million).", "This amounts to about ten per cent of the state's total national yearly expenditure and represents around 2.5 per cent of GDP.=== Administrative divisions ===Brunei is divided into four districts (), namely Brunei-Muara, Belait, Tutong and Temburong.", "Brunei-Muara District is the smallest yet the most populous, and home to the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan.", "Belait is the birthplace and centre for the country's oil and gas industry.", "Temburong is an exclave and separated from the rest of the country by the Brunei Bay and Malaysian state of Sarawak.", "Tutong is home to Tasek Merimbun, the country's largest natural lake.Each district is divided into several mukims.", "Altogether there are 39 mukims in Brunei.", "Each mukim encompasses several villages ( or ).Bandar Seri Begawan and towns in the country (except Muara and Bangar) are administered as Municipal Board areas ().", "Each municipal area may constitute villages or mukims, partially or as a whole.", "Bandar Seri Begawan and a few of the towns also function as capitals of the districts where they are located.A district and its constituent mukims and villages are administered by a District Office ().", "Meanwhile, municipal areas are governed by Municipal Departments ().", "Both District Offices and Municipal Departments are government departments under the Ministry of Home Affairs." ], [ "Legal system", "Brunei has numerous courts in its judicial branch.", "The highest court, though subject in civil cases to the appellate jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, is the Supreme Court, which consists of the Court of Appeal and High Court.", "Both of these have a chief justice and two judges.=== Women and children ===Headscarves called ''tudong'' are compulsory for Brunei's Muslim schoolgirlsThe U.S. Department of State has stated that discrimination against women is a problem in Brunei.", "The law prohibits sexual harassment and stipulates that whoever assaults or uses criminal force, intending thereby to outrage or knowing it is likely to outrage the modesty of a person, shall be punished with imprisonment for as much as five years and caning.", "The law stipulates imprisonment of up to 30 years, and caning with not fewer than 12 strokes for rape.", "The law does not criminalise spousal rape; it explicitly states that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, as long as she is not under 13 years of age, is not rape.", "Protections against sexual assault by a spouse are provided under the amended Islamic Family Law Order 2010 and Married Women Act Order 2010.The penalty for breaching a protection order is a fine not exceeding BN$2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months.", "By law, sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age constitutes rape and is punishable by imprisonment for not less than eight years and not more than 30 years and not less than 12 strokes of the cane.", "The intent of the law is to protect girls from exploitation through prostitution and \"other immoral purposes\", including pornography.Bruneian citizenship is derived through parents' nationality rather than ''jus soli''.", "Parents with stateless status are required to apply for a special pass for a child born in the country.", "Failure to register a child may make it difficult to enroll the child in school.=== LGBT rights ===Male and female homosexuality is illegal in Brunei.", "Sexual relations between men are punishable by death or whipping; sex between women is punishable by caning or imprisonment.In May 2019, the Brunei government extended its existing moratorium on the death penalty to the Sharia criminal code as well that made homosexual acts punishable with death by stoning.In 2019, Brunei announced that it would no longer be implementing the second phase of its controversial sharia penal code.", "The code, which was first introduced in 2014, included a range of punishments for crimes such as theft, drug offences, and same-sex relationships, including amputation and death by stoning.The decision to halt the implementation of the second phase of the code came after significant international backlash and pressure from countries and human rights organizations, who criticized the harsh punishments as inhumane and a violation of human rights.The government of Brunei stated that the decision was made in order to maintain peace and stability in the country, and to avoid any negative impact on the economy and reputation of the country.", "The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, also issued a statement saying that the country would continue to \"strengthen and improve\" its legal system in line with international norms and best practices.It is worth mentioning that the first phase of the sharia penal code, which includes fines and imprisonment for offenses such as failure to attend Friday prayers and consuming alcohol, remains in place.=== Religious rights ===Brunei International Airport MosqueIn The Laws of Brunei, the right of non-Muslims to practice their faith is guaranteed by the 1959 Constitution.", "However, celebrations and prayers must be confined to places of worship and private residences.", "Upon adopting Sharia Penal Code, the Ministry of Religious Affairs banned Christmas decorations in public places, but did not forbid celebration of Christmas in places of worship and private premises.On 25 December 2015, 4,000 out of 18,000 estimated local Catholics attended the mass of Christmas Day and Christmas Eve.", "In 2015, the then-head of the Catholic Church in Brunei told ''The Brunei Times'', \"To be quite honest there has been no change for us this year; no new restrictions have been laid down, although we fully respect and adhere to the existing regulations that our celebrations and worship be confined to the compounds of the church and private residences\".Brunei's revised penal code came into force in phases, commencing on 22 April 2014 with offences punishable by fines or imprisonment.", "The complete code, due for final implementation later, stipulated the death penalty for numerous offenses (both violent and non-violent), such as insult or defamation of Muhammad, insulting any verses of the Quran and Hadith, blasphemy, declaring oneself a prophet or non-Muslim, robbery, rape, adultery, sodomy, extramarital sexual relations for Muslims, and murder.", "Stoning to death was the specified \"method of execution for crimes of a sexual nature\".", "Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) declared that, \"Application of the death penalty for such a broad range of offences contravenes international law.", "\"=== Animal rights ===Brunei is the first country in Asia to have banned shark finning nationwide.Brunei has retained most of its forests, compared to its neighbours that share Borneo island.", "There is a public campaign calling to protect pangolins which are considered a threatened treasure in Brunei." ], [ "Economy", "A proportional representation of Brunei exports, 2019BIMP-EAGA meeting in the office of Brunei Prime Minister on 25 April 2013.From left: Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Malaysian Representative and Filipino President Benigno Aquino III.", "Brunei is part of the BIMP-EAGA, a subregional economic co-operation initiative in Southeast Asia.Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asian nations, after Singapore.", "Crude oil and natural gas production account for about 90% of its GDP.", "About of oil are produced every day, making Brunei the fourth-largest producer of oil in Southeast Asia.", "It also produces approximately of liquified natural gas per day, making Brunei the ninth-largest gas exporter in the world.", "''Forbes'' also ranks Brunei as the fifth-richest nation out of 182, based on its petroleum and natural gas fields.Brunei was ranked 92nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.Substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production.", "Most of these investments are made by the Brunei Investment Agency, an arm of the Ministry of Finance.", "The government provides for all medical services, and subsidises rice and housing.The national air carrier, Royal Brunei Airlines, is trying to develop Brunei as a hub for international travel between Europe and Australia/New Zealand.", "Central to this strategy is the position that the airline maintains at London Heathrow Airport.", "It holds a daily slot at the highly capacity-controlled airport, which it serves from Bandar Seri Begawan via Dubai.", "The airline also has services to major Asian destinations including Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Manila.Brunei depends heavily on imports such as agricultural products (e.g.", "rice, food products, livestock, etc.", "), vehicles and electrical products from other countries.", "Brunei imports 60% of its food; of that amount, around 75% come from other ASEAN countries.Brunei's leaders are concerned that increasing integration in the world economy will undermine internal social cohesion and have therefore pursued an isolationist policy.", "However, it has become a more prominent player by serving as chairman for the 2000 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.", "Brunei's leaders plan to upgrade the labour force, reduce unemployment, which was at 6.9% in 2014; strengthen the banking and tourism sectors, and, in general, broaden the economic base.", "A long-term development plan aims to diversify growth.The government of Brunei has also promoted food self-sufficiency, especially in rice.", "Brunei renamed its Brunei Darussalam Rice 1 as Laila Rice during the launch of the \"Padi Planting Towards Achieving Self-Sufficiency of Rice Production in Brunei Darussalam\" ceremony at the Wasan padi fields in April 2009.In August 2009, the Royal Family reaped the first few Laila padi stalks, after years of attempts to boost local rice production, a goal first articulated about half a century ago.", "In July 2009 Brunei launched its national halal branding scheme, Brunei Halal, with a goal to export to foreign markets.In 2020, Brunei's electricity production was largely based on fossil fuels; renewable energy accounted for less than 1% of produced electricity in the country." ], [ "Infrastructure", "Royal Brunei Boeing 787 Dreamliner at London Heathrow Airport.As of 2019, the country's road network constituted a total length of , out of which were paved.", "The highway from Muara Town to Kuala Belait is a dual carriageway.Brunei is accessible by air, sea, and land transport.", "Brunei International Airport is the main entry point to the country.", "Royal Brunei Airlines is the national carrier.", "There is another airfield, the Anduki Airfield, located in Seria.", "The ferry terminal at Muara services regular connections to Labuan (Malaysia).", "Speedboats provide passenger and goods transportation to the Temburong district.", "The main highway running across Brunei is the Tutong-Muara Highway.", "The country's road network is well developed.", "Brunei has one main sea port located at Muara.The airport in Brunei is currently being extensively upgraded.", "Changi Airport International is the consultant working on this modernisation, which planned cost is currently $150 million.", "This project is slated to add of new floorspace and includes a new terminal and arrival hall.", "With the completion of this project, the annual passenger capacity of the airport is expected to double from 1.5 to 3 million.With one private car for every 2.09 persons, Brunei has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world.", "This has been attributed to the absence of a comprehensive transport system, low import tax, and low unleaded petrol price of B$0.53 per litre.A new roadway connecting the Muara and Temburong districts of opened to traffic on March 17, 2020.Fourteen kilometres (9 mi) of this roadway would be crossing the Brunei Bay.", "The bridge cost is $1.6 billion.=== Banking ===Bank of China received permission to open a branch in Brunei in April 2016.Citibank, which entered in 1972, closed its operations in Brunei in 2014.HSBC, which had entered in 1947, closed its operation in Brunei in November 2017.May Bank of Malaysia, RHB Bank of Malaysia, Standard Chartered Bank of United Kingdom, United Overseas Bank of Singapore and Bank of China are currently operating in Brunei." ], [ "Demographics", "Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque at night.Ethnicities indigenous to Brunei include the Belait, Brunei Bisaya (not to be confused with the Bisaya/Visaya of the nearby Philippines), indigenous Bruneian Malay, Dusun, Kedayan, Lun Bawang, Murut and Tutong.The population of Brunei in was , of which 76% live in urban areas.", "The rate of urbanisation is estimated at 2.13% per year from 2010 to 2015.The average life expectancy is 77.7 years.", "In 2014, 65.7% of the population were Malay, 10.3% are Chinese, 3.4% are indigenous, with 20.6% smaller groups making up the rest.", "There is a relatively large expatriate community.Most expats come from non-Muslim countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and India.=== Religion ===Islam is the official religion of Brunei, specifically that of the Sunni denomination and the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence.", "More than 80% of the population, including the majority of Bruneian Malays and Kedayans identify as Muslim.", "Other faiths practised are Buddhism (7%, mainly by the Chinese) and Christianity (7.1%).", "Freethinkers, mostly Chinese, form about 7% of the population.", "Although most of them practise some form of religion with elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, they prefer to present themselves as having practised no religion officially, hence labelled as atheists in official censuses.", "Followers of indigenous religions are about 2% of the population.=== Languages ===The official language of Brunei is Standard Malay, for which both the Latin alphabet (Rumi) and the Arabic alphabet (Jawi) are used.", "Initially, Malay was written in the Jawi script before it switched to the Latin alphabet around 1941.The principal spoken language is ''Melayu Brunei'' (Brunei Malay).", "Brunei Malay is rather divergent from standard Malay and the rest of the Malay dialects, being about 84% cognate with standard Malay, and is mostly mutually intelligible with it.English is widely used as a business and official language and it is spoken by a majority of the population in Brunei.", "English is used in business as a working language and as the language of instruction from primary to tertiary education.Chinese languages are also widely spoken, and the Chinese minority in Brunei speaks a number of varieties of Chinese.Arabic is the religious language of Muslims and is taught in schools, particularly religious schools, and also in institutes of higher learning.", "As of 2004, there are six Arabic schools and one religious teachers' college in Brunei.", "A majority of Brunei's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language as part of their religious education.Other languages and dialects spoken include Kedayan Malay dialect, Tutong Malay dialect, Murut, and Dusun." ], [ "Culture", "Royal Regalia MuseumThe culture of Brunei is predominantly Malay (reflecting its ethnicity), with heavy influences from Islam, but is seen as much more conservative than Indonesia and Malaysia.", "Influences to Bruneian culture come from the Malay cultures of the Malay Archipelago.", "Four periods of cultural influence have occurred: animist, Hindu, Islamic, and Western.", "Islam had a very strong influence, and was adopted as Brunei's ideology and philosophy.As a Sharia country, the sale and public consumption of alcohol is banned.", "Non-Muslims are allowed to bring in a limited amount of alcohol from their point of embarkation overseas for their own private consumption.=== Media ===Media in Brunei are said to be pro-government; press criticism of the government and monarchy is rare.", "The country ranks \"Not Free\" in media by Freedom House.", "Nonetheless, the press is not overtly hostile toward alternative viewpoints and is not restricted to publishing only articles regarding the government.", "The government allowed a printing and publishing company, Brunei Press PLC, to form in 1953.The company continues to print the English daily ''Borneo Bulletin''.", "This paper began as a weekly community paper and became a daily in 1990 Apart from The ''Borneo Bulletin'', there is also the ''Media Permata'' and Pelita Brunei, the local Malay newspapers which are circulated daily.", "''The Brunei Times'' is another English independent newspaper published in Brunei since 2006.The Brunei government, through state broadcaster Radio Television Brunei (RTB), owns and operates three television channels with the introduction of digital TV using DVB-T (RTB Perdana, RTB Aneka and RTB Sukmaindera) and five radio stations (National FM, Pilihan FM, Nur Islam FM, Harmony FM and Pelangi FM).", "A private company has made cable television available (Astro-Kristal) as well as one private radio station, Kristal FM.It also has an online campus radio station, ''UBD FM'', that streams from its first university, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.===Sport===The most popular sport in Brunei is association football.", "The Brunei national football team joined FIFA in 1969, but has not had much success.", "Brunei's top football league is the Brunei Super League, which is managed by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD).", "The nation has its own martial arts called \"Silat Suffian Bela Diri\".Brunei debuted at the Olympics in 1996 and has competed at all subsequent Summer Olympics except the 2008 edition.", "The country has competed in badminton, shooting, swimming, and track-and-field, but has yet to win any medals.", "The Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council is the National Olympic Committee for Brunei.Brunei has had slightly more success at the Asian Games, winning four bronze medals.", "The first major international sporting event to be hosted in Brunei was the 1999 Southeast Asian Games.", "According to the all-time Southeast Asian Games medal table, Bruneian athletes have won a total of 14 gold, 55 silver and 163 bronze medals at the games." ], [ "In popular culture", "Brunei became the subject matter in Malaysian cartoonist, Lat's comic, ''Lat and His Lot Again'' published by Berita Publishing in 1983.In the book, Lat made his visit to Brunei where he drew sketches of Kampung Air, Seria and Churchill Museum." ], [ "See also", "* List of Brunei-related topics* Outline of Brunei" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "'''Sources'''* * * * * * * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", "'''Government''' Prime Minister's Office of Brunei Darussalam website* Chief of State and Cabinet Members '''General information'''* Brunei.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Brunei profile from the BBC News* Brunei at ''Encyclopædia Britannica''* * Key Development Forecasts for Brunei from International Futures'''Travel'''* Brunei Tourism website (archived 9 May 2007)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "British Virgin Islands" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''British Virgin Islands''' ('''BVI'''), officially the '''Virgin Islands''', are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla.", "The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles and part of the West Indies.The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with more than 50 other smaller islands and cays.", "About 16 of the islands are inhabited.", "The capital, Road Town, is on Tortola, the largest island, which is about long and wide.", "The islands had a population of 28,054 at the 2010 Census, of whom 23,491 lived on Tortola; current estimates put the population at 35,802 (July 2018).British Virgin Islanders are British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002, are also British citizens." ], [ "Etymology", "The islands were named \"Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes\" by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after the legend of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins.", "The name was later shortened to \"the Virgin Islands\".The official name of the territory is still simply the \"Virgin Islands\", but the prefix \"British\" is often used.", "This is commonly believed to distinguish it from the neighbouring American territory which changed its name from the \"Danish West Indies\" to \"Virgin Islands of the United States\" in 1917.However, local historians have disputed this, pointing to a variety of publications and public records dating from between 21 February 1857 and 12 September 1919 where the territory is referred to as the ''British'' Virgin Islands.", "British Virgin Islands government publications continue to begin with the name \"The territory of the Virgin Islands\", and the territory's passports simply refer to the \"Virgin Islands\", and all laws begin with the words \"Virgin Islands\".", "Moreover, the territory's Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that \"every effort should be made\" to encourage the use of the name \"Virgin Islands\".", "But various public and quasi-public bodies continue to use the name \"British Virgin Islands\" or \"BVI\", including BVI Finance, BVI Electricity Corporation, BVI Tourist Board, BVI Athletic Association, BVI Bar Association and others.In 1968 the British Government issued a memorandum requiring that the postage stamps in the territory should say \"British Virgin Islands\" (whereas previously they had simply stated \"Virgin Islands\"), a practice which is still followed today.", "This was likely to prevent confusion following on from the adoption of US currency in the territory in 1959, and the references to US currency on the stamps of the territory." ], [ "History", "It is generally thought that the Virgin Islands were first settled by the Arawak from South America around 100 BC to AD 200, though there is some evidence of Amerindian presence on the islands as far back as 1500 BC.", "The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, a tribe from the Lesser Antilles islands.The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas, who gave the islands their modern name.The Spanish Empire claimed the islands by discovery in the early 16th century, but never settled them, and subsequent years saw the English, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Danish all jostling for control of the region, which became a notorious haunt for pirates.", "There is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period; it is thought that they either fled to safer islands or were killed.The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola by 1648, frequently clashing with the Spanish who were based on nearby Puerto Rico.", "In 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680.Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the nearby islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix (i.e.", "the modern US Virgin Islands).St.", "Phillip's Church, Tortola, one of the most important historical ruins in the territoryThe British islands were considered principally a strategic possession.", "The British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and large numbers of slaves were forcibly brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations.", "The islands prospered economically until the middle of the nineteenth century, when a combination of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, a series of disastrous hurricanes, and the growth in the sugar beet crop in Europe and the United States significantly reduced sugar cane production and led to a period of economic decline.In 1917, the United States purchased the Danish Virgin Islands for US$25 million, renaming them the United States Virgin Islands.", "Economic linkages with the US islands prompted the British Virgin Islands to adopt the US dollar as its currency in 1959.The British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands.", "The islands gained separate colony status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967 under the new post of Chief Minister.", "Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services, becoming one of the wealthiest areas in the Caribbean.", "The constitution of the islands was amended in 1977, 2004 and 2007, giving them greater local autonomy.In 2017 Hurricane Irma struck the islands, causing four deaths and immense damage." ], [ "Geography", "Map of the British Virgin Islands (Note: Anegada is farther away from the other islands than shown)The British Virgin Islands comprise around 60 tropical Caribbean islands, ranging in size from the largest, Tortola, being long and wide, to tiny uninhabited islets, altogether about in extent.", "They are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago, a few miles east of the US Virgin Islands, and about from the Puerto Rican mainland.", "About east south-east lies Anguilla.", "The North Atlantic Ocean lies to the east of the islands, and the Caribbean Sea lies to the west.", "Most of the islands are volcanic in origin and have a hilly, rugged terrain.", "The highest point is Mount Sage on Tortola at 521m.", "Anegada is geologically distinct from the rest of the group, being a flat island composed of limestone and coral.", "The British Virgin Islands contain the Leeward Islands moist forests and Leeward Islands xeric scrub terrestrial ecoregions." ], [ "Climate", "The British Virgin Islands have a tropical rainforest climate, moderated by trade winds.", "Temperatures vary little throughout the year.", "In the capital, Road Town, typical daily maxima are around in the summer and in the winter.", "Typical daily minima are around in the summer and in the winter.", "Rainfall averages about per year, higher in the hills and lower on the coast.", "Rainfall can be quite variable, but the wettest months on average are September to November and the driest months on average are February and March.===Hurricanes===Hurricanes occasionally hit the islands, with the Atlantic hurricane season running from June to November.====Hurricane Irma====Damage in Road Town following Hurricane IrmaOn 6 September 2017, Hurricane Irma struck the islands, causing extensive damage, especially on Tortola, and killing four people.", "The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency declared a state of emergency.", "Visiting Tortola on 13 September 2017, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that he was reminded of photos of Hiroshima after it had been hit by the atom bomb.Hurricane Maria struck a week after Hurricane IrmaBy 8 September, the UK government sent troops with medical supplies and other aid.", "More troops were expected to arrive a day or two later, but, carrying more extensive assistance, was not expected to reach the islands for another two weeks.Entrepreneur Richard Branson, a resident of Necker Island, called on the UK government to develop a massive disaster recovery plan to include \"both through short-term aid and long-term infrastructure spending\".", "Premier Orlando Smith also called for a comprehensive aid package to rebuild the territory.", "On 10 September UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledged £32 million to the Caribbean for a hurricane relief fund and promised that the UK government would match donations from the public to the British Red Cross appeal.", "Specifics were not provided to the news media as to the amount that would be allocated to the Virgin Islands.", "Boris Johnson's visit to Tortola on 13 September 2017 during his Caribbean tour was intended to confirm the UK's commitment to helping restore British islands but he provided no additional comments on the aid package.", "He did confirm that HMS ''Ocean'' had departed for the BVI carrying items like timber, buckets, bottled water, food, baby milk, bedding and clothing, as well as ten pickup trucks, building materials and hardware.The UK offered to underwrite rebuilding loans up to US$400m as long as there was accountability as to how the monies were spent.", "Successive NDP and VIP governments declined, despite there having been created a Recovery & Development Authority led by highly skilled infrastructure personnel, many of whom were ex-military with decades of infrastructure rebuilding expertise from war zones and natural disaster sites.", "Many wealthy residents also proposed a large rebuilding plan, starting with key infrastructure, such as the high school.", "Nearly five years later, there was no sign of any such rebuilding of the high school or certain other key infrastructure." ], [ "Politics", "Legislative Council building in Road Town.", "The High Court sits upstairs.The territory operates as a parliamentary democracy.", "Ultimate executive authority in the British Virgin Islands is vested in the King, and is exercised on his behalf by the Governor of the British Virgin Islands.", "The governor is appointed by the King on the advice of the British Government.", "Defence and most foreign affairs remain the responsibility of the United Kingdom.The most recent constitution was adopted in 2007 (the Virgin Islands Constitution Order, 2007) and came into force when the Legislative Council was dissolved for the 2007 general election.", "The head of government under the constitution is the Premier (before the new constitution the office was referred to as Chief Minister), who is elected in a general election along with the other members of the ruling government as well as the members of the opposition.", "Elections are held roughly every four years.", "A cabinet is nominated by the Premier and appointed and chaired by the Governor.", "The Legislature consists of the King (represented by the Governor) and a unicameral House of Assembly made up of 13 elected members plus the Speaker and the Attorney General.", "The current Governor is Daniel Pruce (since 29 January 2024).", "The current Premier is Natalio Wheatley (since 5 May 2022), who is leader of the Virgin Islands Party.On 8 June 2022, subordinate UK legislation was made allowing for direct rule for the islands.", "However, the British Government decided on that date not to implement direct rule.===Subdivisions===The British Virgin Islands is a unitary territory.", "The territory is divided into nine electoral districts, and each voter is registered in one of those districts.", "Eight of the nine districts are partly or wholly on Tortola, and encompass nearby neighbouring islands.", "Only the ninth district (Virgin Gorda and Anegada) does not include any part of Tortola.", "At elections, in addition to voting their local representative, voters also cast votes for four \"at-large\" candidates who are elected upon a territory-wide basis.===Law and criminal justice===Crime in the British Virgin Islands is comparatively low by Caribbean standards.", "Whilst statistics and hard data are relatively rare, and are not regularly published by governmental sources in the British Virgin Islands, the Premier did announce that in 2013 there has been a 14% decline in recorded crime as against 2012.Homicides are rare, with just one incident recorded in 2013.The Virgin Islands Prison Service operates a single facility, His Majesty's Prison in East End, Tortola.The British and US Virgin Islands sit at the axis of a major drugs transshipment point between Latin America and the continental United States.", "The American Drug Enforcement Administration regards the adjacent US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands as a \"High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area\".", "===Military===As a British Overseas territory, defence of the islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom." ], [ "Economy", "Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin IslandsThe twin pillars of the economy are financial services (60%) and tourism (roughly 40-45% of GDP).", "Economically however, financial services associated with the territory's status as an offshore financial centre are by far the more important.", "51.8% of the Government's revenue comes directly from licence fees for offshore companies, and considerable further sums are raised directly or indirectly from payroll taxes relating to salaries paid within the trust industry sector (which tend to be higher on average than those paid in the tourism sector).The official currency of the British Virgin Islands has been the United States dollar (US$) since 1959, the currency also used by the United States Virgin Islands.The British Virgin Islands enjoys one of the more prosperous economies of the Caribbean region, with a per capita average income of around $42,300 (2010 est.)", "The average monthly income earned by a worker in the territory was US$2,452 as at the time of the 2010 Census.", "Although it is common to hear criticism in the British Virgin Islands' press about income inequality, no serious attempt has been made by economists to calculate a Gini coefficient or similar measure of income equality for the territory.", "A report from 2000 suggested that, despite the popular perception, income inequality was actually lower in the British Virgin Islands than in any other OECS state, although in global terms income equality is higher in the Caribbean than in many other regions.===Tourism===The Baths, Virgin GordaTourism accounts for approximately 45% of national income.", "The islands are a popular destination for US citizens.", "Tourists frequent the numerous white sand beaches, visit The Baths on Virgin Gorda, snorkel the coral reefs near Anegada, or experience the well-known bars of Jost Van Dyke.", "The BVI are known as one of the world's greatest sailing destinations, and charter sailboats are a very popular way to visit less accessible islands.", "Established in 1972, the BVI hosts the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival.", "A substantial number of the tourists who visit the BVI are cruise ship passengers, and although they produce far lower revenue per head than charter boat tourists and hotel based tourists, they are nonetheless important to the substantial - and politically important - taxi driving community.", "===Financial services===Financial services account for over half of the income of the territory.", "The majority of this revenue is generated by the licensing of offshore companies and related services.", "The British Virgin Islands is a significant global player in the offshore financial services industry.", "Since 2001, financial services in the British Virgin Islands have been regulated by the independent Financial Services Commission.The BVI is relied upon for its sophisticated Commercial Court division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, as well as the more recent BVI Arbitration Centre.", "Caribbean KCs and British KCs preside over the majority of important cases and the laws of the Virgin Islands are based on English laws, meaning the jurisdiction provides clarity and consistency should parties require commercial disputes to be resolved.", "Owing to the international nature of BVI companies' operations and asset holdings, the BVI Commercial Court routinely hears highly sophisticated matters at the cutting edge of cross-border litigation and enforcement, where billions of dollars are at issue.Citco, also known as the Citco Group of Companies and the Curaçao International Trust Co., is a privately owned global hedge fund administrator headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, founded in 1948.It is the world's largest hedge fund administrator, managing over $1 trillion in assets under administration.In May 2022, the banking sector of the British Virgin Islands comprised only seven commercial banks and one restricted bank, 12 authorised custodians, two licensed money services businesses and one licensed financing service provider.The British Virgin Islands is frequently referred to as a \"tax haven\" by campaigners and NGOs, including Oxfam.", "Successive governments in the British Virgin Islands have implemented tax exchange agreements and verified beneficial ownership information of companies following the 2013 G8 summit putting their governance and regulatory regimes far ahead of many \"onshore\" jurisdictions.", "On 10 September 2013, British Prime Minister David Cameron said \"I do not think it is fair any longer to refer to any of the Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies as tax havens.", "They have taken action to make sure that they have fair and open tax systems.", "It is very important that our focus should now shift to those territories and countries that really are tax havens.\"", "Yet journalist and author for The Economist, Nicholas Shaxson, writes in his 2016 ''Treasure Islands, tax havens and the men who stole the world'': \"...Britain sits, spider-like, at the centre of a vast international web of tax havens, which hoover up trillions of dollars' worth of business and capital from around the globe and funnel it up to the City of London.", "The British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories - ...the British Virgin Islands... are some of the biggest players in the offshore world.\"(pp.", "vii-viii) Shaxson points out that despite BVI having fewer than 25000 inhabitants, hosts over 800,000 companies.In the April 2016 Panama Papers leak, while all of the wrongdoing by Mossack Fonseca personnel occurred in Panama and the US, the British Virgin Islands was by far the most commonly-used jurisdiction by clients of Mossack Fonseca.In 2022, the verified nature of beneficial ownership registers of the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies were a crucial tool in giving effect to sanctions against Russia and Belarus, enabling the efficient identification and seizure of yachts, real estate and businesses.====Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act====On 30 June 2014, The British Virgin Islands was deemed to have an Inter- Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States of America with respect to the \"Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act\" of the United States of America.The Model 1 Agreement (14 Pages) recognizes that: ''The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland provided a copy of the Letter of Entrustment which was sent to the Government of the British Virgin Islands, to the Government of the United States of America \"via diplomatic note of 28 May 2014\".", "''The Letter of Entrustment dated 14 July 2010 was originally provided to the Government of the British Virgin Islands and authorised the Government of the BVI \"to negotiate and conclude Agreements relating to taxation that provide for exchange of information on tax matters to the OECD standard\" (Paragraph 2 of the FATCA Agreement).", "Via an \"Entrustment Letter\" dated 24 March 2014, The Government of the United Kingdom, authorised the Government of the BVI to sign an agreement on information exchange to facilitate the Implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.", "On 27 March 2017, the US Treasury site disclosed that the Model 1 agreement and related agreement were \"In Force\" on 13 July 2015.====Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act====Under the UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2018, beneficial ownership of companies in British overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands must be publicly registered for disclosure by 31 December 2020.The Government of the British Virgin Islands has not yet formally challenged this law, yet has criticised it, noting that it violates the Constitutional sovereignty granted to the islands, and would in practice be relatively ineffective in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, while raising serious privacy and human rights issues.", "Further, this would put the British Virgin Islands in a position where it would be at a severe disadvantage because other International Finance Centres do not have this in place, and in the case of the US and the UK, there is very little near-term prospect of the same.", "In late 2022, both of the USA and EU appeared to have endorsed the British Overseas Territories' beneficial ownership register regimes.", "In a judgment dated 22 November 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has at last decided that open public access to the beneficial owner registers of EU member state companies is no longer valid, as it is in contravention of articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter).", "The USA appears to have come to a similar conclusion regarding balancing confidentiality and legitimate privacy with the Anti-Money Laundering advantages of having verified beneficial ownerships registers.", "The resultant goal appears to be to bring the USA in line with the current Cayman and BVI regimes.", "The UK's Crown Dependencies have already stated that they will not implement public registers without beforehand having received fresh legal advice on the matter and it is thought that the Overseas Territories would logically take a similar position.", "The UK is yet to come out in support of the BOTs and CDs and their current gold standard regulatory positions.===Agriculture and industry===Agriculture and industry account for only a small proportion of the islands' GDP.", "Agricultural produce includes fruit, vegetables, sugar cane, livestock and poultry, and industries include rum distillation, construction and boat building.", "Commercial fishing is also practised in the islands' waters.===Workforce===The British Virgin Islands is heavily dependent on migrant workers, and over 50% of all workers on the islands are of a foreign descent.", "Only 37% of the entire population were born in the territory.", "The national labour-force is estimated at 12,770, of whom approximately 59.4% work in the service sector but less than 0.6% are estimated to work in agriculture (the balance working in industry).", "The British Virgin Islands has met challenges in recruiting sufficient numbers in recent years, having been affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria, and having continued to lag behind other jurisdictions in providing a reliable permanent residence regime.", "This has had a knock-on effect in limiting schooling and amenities when compared to IFCs like Cayman, UAE, Singapore, and Hong Kong.====CARICOM status and the CARICOM Single Market Economy====As of 2 July 1991, the British Virgin Islands holds Associate Member status in CARICOM, the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).In recognition of the CARICOM (Free Movement) Skilled Persons Act which came into effect in July 1997 in some of the CARICOM countries such as Jamaica and which has been adopted in other CARICOM countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, it is possible that CARICOM nationals who hold the \"A Certificate of Recognition of Caribbean Community Skilled Person\" may be allowed to work in the BVI under normal working conditions." ], [ "Transport", "Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef IslandThere are of roads.", "The main airport, Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, also known as Beef Island Airport, is located on Beef Island, which lies off the eastern tip of Tortola and is accessible by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.", "Cape Air, and Air Sunshine are among the airlines offering scheduled service.", "Virgin Gorda and Anegada have their own smaller airports.", "Private air charter services operated by Island Birds Air Charter fly directly to all three islands from any major airport in the Caribbean.", "Helicopters are used to get to islands with no runway facilities; Antilles Helicopter Services is the only helicopter service based in the country.The main harbour is in Road Town.", "There are also ferries that operate within the British Virgin Islands and to the neighbouring United States Virgin Islands.", "Cars in the British Virgin Islands drive on the left just as they do in the United Kingdom and the United States Virgin Islands.", "However, most cars are left hand drive, because they are from the United States.", "The roads are often quite steep, narrow and winding, and ruts, mudslides and rockfall can be a problem when it rains." ], [ "Demographics", "As of the 2010 Census, the population of the territory was 28,054.Estimates put the population at 35,800 (July 2018) yet in 2022, it is thought to be much less than 30,000 post-Irma and with people having left during COVID lockdowns due to unemployment in the tourism industry.", "The majority of the population (76.9%) are Afro-Caribbean, descended from slaves brought to the islands by the British.", "Other large ethnic groups include Latinos (5.6%), those of European ancestry (5.4%), Mixed ancestry (5.4%) and Indian (2.1%).The 2010 Census reports:76.9% African5.6% Hispanic5.4% European/Caucasian5.4% Mixed2.1% East Indian4.6% OthersThe 2010 Census reports the main places of origin of residents as follows:39.1% local born (though many locals go to St. Thomas or the United States for maternity services)7.2% Guyana7.0% St. Vincent and the Grenadines6.0% Jamaica5.5% United States5.4% Dominican Republic5.3% United States Virgin IslandsThe islands are heavily dependent upon migrant labour.", "In 2004, migrant workers accounted for 50% of the total population.", "32% of workers employed in the British Virgin Islands work for the government.", "In the late 2000s the first Overseas Filipino Worker came to the British Virgin Islands, by 2020 total British Filipino population was about 800.Unusually, the territory has one of the highest drowning mortality rates in the world, being higher than other high-risk countries such as China and India.", "20% of deaths in the British Virgin Islands during 2012 were recorded as drownings, all of them being tourists.", "Despite this, the territory's most popular beach still has no lifeguard presence.===Religion===Jost Van Dyke Methodist Church in 2010Jost Van Dyke Methodist Church in 2019, after Hurricane IrmaOver 90% of the population who indicated a religious affiliation at the 2010 Census were Christian with the largest individual Christian denominations being Methodist (17.6%), Anglican (9.5%), Church of God (10.4%), Seventh-Day Adventists (9.0%) and Roman Catholic (8.9%).", "The largest non-Christian faiths in 2010 were Hinduism (1.9%) and Islam (0.9%).", "However Hindus and Muslims constitute each approximately 1.2% of the population according to Word Religion Database 2005.The Constitution of the British Virgin Islands commences with a professed national belief in God.", "+ Religionin % of populationNational Census 2010 2010 2001 1991 Methodist 17.6 22.7 32.9 Church of God 10.4 11.4 9.2 Anglican 9.5 11.6 16.7 Seventh Day Adventist 9.0 8.4 6.3 Roman Catholic 8.9 9.5 10.5 Pentecostal 8.2 9.1 4.1 None 7.9 6.4 3.6 Baptist 7.4 8.2 4.7 Other 4.1 3.4 4.4 Jehovah's Witnesses 2.5 2.2 2.1 Not stated 2.4 2.7 1.1 Hindu 1.9 2.0 2.2 Muslim 0.9 0.9 0.6 Evangelical 0.7 0.5 – Rastafarian 0.6 0.4 0.2 Moravian 0.3 0.5 0.6 Presbyterian 0.2 0.4 0.7 Buddhist 0.2 - - Jewish 0.04 - - Bahai 0.04 0.03 0.00 Brethren - 0.03 0.04 Salvation Army - 0.03 0.04" ], [ "Education", "The British Virgin Islands operates several government schools as well as private schools.", "There is also a community college, H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, that is located on the eastern end of Tortola.", "This college was named after Lavity Stoutt, the first Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands.", "There remains segregation in the school system; while BVIslander and Belonger children make up a significant proportion of pupils in private schools, Non-Belongers are prohibited from attending government schools.", "It is extremely common for students from the British Virgin Islands to travel overseas for secondary and tertiary education, either to the University of the West Indies, or to colleges and universities in either the United Kingdom, United States or Canada.", "Coaching in certain sports, such as athletics, squash and football is of a high level.The literacy rate in the British Virgin Islands is high at 98%.There is a University of the West Indies Open campus in the territory and a Marine Science educational facility." ], [ "Culture", "===Language===The primary language is English, although there is a local dialect.", "Spanish is spoken by Puerto Rican, Dominican and other Hispanic immigrants.===Music===The traditional music of the British Virgin Islands is called ''fungi'' after the local cornmeal dish with the same name, often made with okra.", "The special sound of fungi is due to a unique local fusion between African and European music.", "The fungi bands, also called \"scratch bands\", use instruments ranging from calabash, washboard, bongos and ukulele, to more traditional western instruments like keyboard, banjo, guitar, bass, triangle and saxophone.", "Apart from being a form of festive dance music, fungi often contains humorous social commentaries, as well as BVI oral history.===Sport===Because of its location and climate, the British Virgin Islands has long been a haven for sailing enthusiasts.", "Sailing is regarded as one of the foremost sports in all of the BVI.", "Calm waters and steady breezes provide some of the best sailing conditions in the Caribbean.Many sailing events are held in the waters of this country, the largest of which is a week-long series of races called the Spring Regatta, the premier sailing event of the Caribbean, with several races hosted each day.", "Boats include everything from full-size mono-hull yachts to dinghies.", "Captains and their crews come from all around the world to attend these races.", "The Spring Regatta is part race, part party, part festival.", "The Spring Regatta is normally held during the first week of April.Since 2009, the BVI have made a name for themselves as a host of international basketball events.", "The BVI hosted three of the last four events of the Caribbean Basketball Championship (''FIBA CBC Championship'')." ], [ "See also", "List of British Virgin IslandersOutline of the British Virgin Islands" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "; Directories* British Virgin Islands from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''; NGO sources; Official websites and overviews* Government of the British Virgin Islands official website* British Virgin Islands - London Office* Old Government House Museum, British Virgin Islands* British Virgin Islands Tourist Board* Home* National Parks Trust of the British Virgin Islands—Official site* British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission—Official site* The British Virgin Islands Ports Authority—Official site* British Virgin Islands.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "; Wikimedia content*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Burkina Faso" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Burkina Faso''' ( , ; , , ) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest.", "As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 20,321,378.Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara.", "Its citizens are known as ''Burkinabè'' ( ), and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.The largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso is the Mossi people, who settled the area in the 11th and 13th centuries.", "They established powerful kingdoms such as the Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga.", "In 1896, it was colonized by the French as part of French West Africa; in 1958, Upper Volta became a self-governing colony within the French Community.", "In 1960, it gained full independence with Maurice Yaméogo as president.", "Since it gained its independence, the country was subject to instability, droughts, famines and corruption.", "Various coups have also taken place in the country, in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and twice in 2022, in January and September, as well as an attempt in 1989 and another in 2015.Thomas Sankara came to power following a successful coup in 1983.As president, Sankara embarked on a series of ambitious socioeconomic reforms which included a nationwide literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, providing vaccinations to over 2 million children, railway and road construction, equalized access to education, and the outlawing of female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy.", "He served as the country's president until 1987 when he was deposed and assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré, who became president and ruled the country until his removal on 31 October 2014.Burkina Faso has been severely affected by the rise of Islamist terrorism in the Sahel since the mid-2010s.", "Several militias, partly allied with the Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda, operate in Burkina Faso and across the border in Mali and Niger.", "More than one million of the country's 21 million inhabitants are internally displaced persons.", "Burkina Faso's military seized power in a coup d'état on 23–24 January 2022, overthrowing President Roch Marc Kaboré.", "On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba as interim president, who was himself overthrown in a second coup on 30 September and replaced by military captain Ibrahim Traoré.Burkina Faso is one of the least developed countries in the world, with a GDP of $16.226 billion.", "Approximately 63.8 percent of its population practices Islam, while 26.3 percent practice Christianity.", "The country's official language of government and business was formerly French; its status was relegated by a constitutional amendment ratified in January 2024, turning French into a \"working language\" of the country, alongside English.", "There are 60 indigenous languages officially recognized by the Burkinabè government, with the most common language, Mooré, spoken by over half the population.", "The country has a strong culture and is geographically biodiverse, with plentiful reserves of gold, manganese, copper and limestone.", "Burkinabè art has a rich and long history, and is globally renowned for its orthodox style.", "The country is governed as a semi-presidential republic with executive, legislative and judicial powers.", "Burkina Faso is a member of the United Nations, La Francophonie and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.", "It is currently suspended from ECOWAS and the African Union." ], [ "Etymology", "Formerly the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed \"Burkina Faso\" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara.", "The words \"Burkina\" and \"Faso\" stem from different languages spoken in the country: \"Burkina\" comes from Mooré and means \"upright\", showing how the people are proud of their integrity, while \"Faso\" comes from the Dioula language (as written in N'Ko: ''faso'') and means \"fatherland\" (literally, \"father's house\").", "The \"-bè\" suffix added onto \"Burkina\" to form the demonym \"Burkinabè\" comes from the Fula language and means \"women or men\".", "The CIA summarizes the etymology as \"land of the honest (incorruptible) men\".The French colony of Upper Volta was named for its location on the upper courses of the Volta River (the Black, Red and White Volta)." ], [ "History", "===Early history===The northwestern part of present-day Burkina Faso was populated by hunter-gatherers from 14,000 BCE to 5000 BCE.", "Their tools, including scrapers, chisels and arrowheads, were discovered in 1973 through archaeological excavations.", "Agricultural settlements were established between 3600 and 2600 BCE.", "The Bura culture was an Iron-Age civilization centred in the southwest portion of modern-day Niger and in the southeast part of contemporary Burkina Faso.", "Iron industry, in smelting and forging for tools and weapons, had developed in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BCE.", "To date, the oldest evidence of iron smelting found in Burkina Faso dates from 800 to 700 BC and form part of the Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy World Heritage Site.", "From the 3rd to the 13th centuries CE, the Iron Age Bura culture existed in the territory of present-day southeastern Burkina Faso and southwestern Niger.", "Various ethnic groups of present-day Burkina Faso, such as the Mossi, Fula and Dioula, arrived in successive waves between the 8th and 15th centuries.", "From the 11th century, the Mossi people established several separate kingdoms.West Africa circa 1875===8th century to 18th century===There is debate about the exact dates when Burkina Faso's many ethnic groups arrived to the area.", "The Proto-Mossi arrived in the far Eastern part of what is today Burkina Faso sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, the Samo arrived around the 15th century, the Dogon lived in Burkina Faso's north and northwest regions until sometime in the 15th or 16th centuries and many of the other ethnic groups that make up the country's population arrived in the region during this time.The cavalry of the Mossi Kingdoms were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable Mali Empire.Armed men prevent the French explorer Louis-Gustave Binger from entering Sia (Bobo-Dioulasso) during his stay in April 1892.During the Middle Ages, the Mossi established several separate kingdoms including those of Tenkodogo, Yatenga, Zandoma, and Ouagadougou.", "Sometime between 1328 and 1338 Mossi warriors raided Timbuktu but the Mossi were defeated by Sonni Ali of Songhai at the Battle of Kobi in Mali in 1483.During the early 16th century the Songhai conducted many slave raids into what is today Burkina Faso.", "During the 18th century the Gwiriko Empire was established at Bobo Dioulasso and ethnic groups such as the Dyan, Lobi, and Birifor settled along the Black Volta.===From colony to independence (1890s–1958)===Starting in the early 1890s during the European Scramble for Africa, a series of European military officers made attempts to claim parts of what is today Burkina Faso.", "At times these colonialists and their armies fought the local peoples; at times they forged alliances with them and made treaties.", "The colonialist officers and their home governments also made treaties among themselves.", "The territory of Burkina Faso was invaded by France, becoming a French protectorate in 1896.French West Africa c. 1913The eastern and western regions, where a standoff against the forces of the powerful ruler Samori Ture complicated the situation, came under French occupation in 1897.By 1898, the majority of the territory corresponding to Burkina Faso was nominally conquered; however, French control of many parts remained uncertain.The Franco-British Convention of 14 June 1898 created the country's modern borders.", "In the French territory, a war of conquest against local communities and political powers continued for about five years.", "In 1904, the largely pacified territories of the Volta basin were integrated into the Upper Senegal and Niger colony of French West Africa as part of the reorganization of the French West African colonial empire.", "The colony had its capital in Bamako.The language of colonial administration and schooling became French.", "The public education system started from humble origins.", "Advanced education was provided for many years during the colonial period in Dakar.The indigenous population was highly discriminated against.", "For example, African children were not allowed to ride bicycles or pick fruit from trees, \"privileges\" reserved for the children of colonists.", "Violating these regulations could land parents in jail.Draftees from the territory participated in the European fronts of World War I in the battalions of the Senegalese Rifles.", "Between 1915 and 1916, the districts in the western part of what is now Burkina Faso and the bordering eastern fringe of Mali became the stage of one of the most important armed oppositions to colonial government: the Volta-Bani War.The French government finally suppressed the movement but only after suffering defeats.", "It also had to organize its largest expeditionary force of its colonial history to send into the country to suppress the insurrection.", "Armed opposition wracked the Sahelian north when the Tuareg and allied groups of the Dori region ended their truce with the government.The capital, Ouagadougou, in 1930French Upper Volta was established on 1 March 1919.The French feared a recurrence of armed uprising and had related economic considerations.", "To bolster its administration, the colonial government separated the present territory of Burkina Faso from Upper Senegal and Niger.The new colony was named ''Haute Volta'' for its location on the upper courses of the Volta River (the Black, Red and White Volta), and François Charles Alexis Édouard Hesling became its first governor.", "Hesling initiated an ambitious road-making program to improve infrastructure and promoted the growth of cotton for export.", "The cotton policy – based on coercion – failed, and revenue generated by the colony stagnated.", "The colony was dismantled on 5 September 1932, being split between the French colonies of Ivory Coast, French Sudan and Niger.", "Ivory Coast received the largest share, which contained most of the population as well as the cities of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.France reversed this change during the period of intense anti-colonial agitation that followed the end of World War II.", "On 4 September 1947, it revived the colony of Upper Volta, with its previous boundaries, as a part of the French Union.", "The French designated its colonies as departments of metropolitan France on the European continent.On 11 December 1958 the colony achieved self-government as the Republic of Upper Volta; it joined the Franco-African Community.", "A revision in the organization of French Overseas Territories had begun with the passage of the Basic Law (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956.This act was followed by reorganization measures approved by the French parliament early in 1957 to ensure a large degree of self-government for individual territories.", "Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French community on 11 December 1958.Full independence from France was received in 1960.===Upper Volta (1958–1984)===Maurice Yaméogo, the first president of Upper Volta, examines documents pertaining to the ratification of the country's independence in 1960The Republic of Upper Volta () was established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community.", "The name ''Upper Volta'' related to the nation's location along the upper reaches of the Volta River.", "The river's three tributaries are called the Black, White and Red Volta.", "These were expressed in the three colors of the former national flag.Before attaining autonomy, it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union.", "On 5 August 1960, it attained full independence from France.", "The first president, Maurice Yaméogo, was the leader of the Voltaic Democratic Union (UDV).", "The 1960 constitution provided for election by universal suffrage of a president and a national assembly for five-year terms.", "Soon after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the UDV.", "The government lasted until 1966.After much unrest, including mass demonstrations and strikes by students, labor unions, and civil servants, the military intervened.==== Lamizana's rule and multiple coups ====The 1966 military coup deposed Yaméogo, suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, and placed Lt. Col. Sangoulé Lamizana at the head of a government of senior army officers.", "The army remained in power for four years.", "On 14 June 1976, the Voltans ratified a new constitution that established a four-year transition period toward complete civilian rule.", "Lamizana remained in power throughout the 1970s as president of military or mixed civil-military governments.", "Lamizana's rule coincided with the beginning of the Sahel drought and famine which had a devastating impact on Upper Volta and neighboring countries.", "After conflict over the 1976 constitution, a new constitution was written and approved in 1977.Lamizana was re-elected by open elections in 1978.Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions, and on 25 November 1980, Col. Saye Zerbo overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup.", "Colonel Zerbo established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress as the supreme governmental authority, thus eradicating the 1977 constitution.Colonel Zerbo also encountered resistance from trade unions and was overthrown two years later by Maj. Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP) in the 1982 Upper Voltan coup d'état.", "The CSP continued to ban political parties and organizations, yet promised a transition to civilian rule and a new constitution.====1983 coup d'état====Infighting developed between the right and left factions of the CSP.", "The leader of the leftists, Capt.", "Thomas Sankara, was appointed prime minister in January 1983, but was subsequently arrested.", "Efforts to free him, directed by Capt.", "Blaise Compaoré, resulted in a military coup d'état on 4 August 1983.The coup brought Sankara to power and his government began to implement a series of revolutionary programs which included mass-vaccinations, infrastructure improvements, the expansion of women's rights, encouragement of domestic agricultural consumption, and anti-desertification projects.===Burkina Faso (since 1984)===On 2 August 1984, on President Sankara's initiative, the country's name changed from \"Upper Volta\" to \"Burkina Faso\", or ''land of the honest men''; (the literal translation is ''land of the upright men''.)", "The presidential decree was confirmed by the National Assembly on 4 August.", "The demonym for people of Burkina Faso, \"Burkinabè\", includes expatriates or descendants of people of Burkinabè origin.Sankara's government comprised the National Council for the Revolution (CNR – ), with Sankara as its president, and established popular Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs).", "The Pioneers of the Revolution youth programme was also established.Sankara launched an ambitious socioeconomic programme for change, one of the largest ever undertaken on the African continent.", "His foreign policies centred on anti-imperialism, with his government rejecting all foreign aid, pushing for odious debt reduction, nationalising all land and mineral wealth and averting the power and influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.", "His domestic policies included a nationwide literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, railway and road construction and the outlawing of female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy.Sankara pushed for agrarian self-sufficiency and promoted public health by vaccinating 2,500,000 children against meningitis, yellow fever, and measles.", "His national agenda also included planting over 10,000,000 trees to halt the growing desertification of the Sahel.", "Sankara called on every village to build a medical dispensary and had over 350 communities build schools with their own labour.In the 1980s, when ecological awareness was still very low, Thomas Sankara was one of the few African leaders to consider environmental protection a priority.", "He engaged in three major battles: against bush fires \"which will be considered as crimes and will be punished as such\"; against cattle roaming \"which infringes on the rights of peoples because unattended animals destroy nature\"; and against the anarchic cutting of firewood \"whose profession will have to be organized and regulated\".", "As part of a development program involving a large part of the population, ten million trees were planted in Burkina Faso in fifteen months during the revolution.", "To face the advancing desert and recurrent droughts, Thomas Sankara also proposed the planting of wooded strips of about fifty kilometers, crossing the country from east to west.", "He then thought of extending this vegetation belt to other countries.", "Cereal production, close to 1.1 billion tons before 1983, was predicted to rise to 1.6 billion tons in 1987.Jean Ziegler, former UN special rapporteur for the right to food, said that the country \"had become food self-sufficient.", "\"==== Compaoré presidency ====Blaise Compaoré, President 1987–2014.On 15 October 1987, Sankara and twelve other government officials were assassinated in a coup d'état organized by Blaise Compaoré, Sankara's former colleague, who would go on to serve as Burkina Faso's president from October 1987 until October 2014.After the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs mounted an armed resistance to the army for several days.", "A majority of Burkinabè citizens hold that France's foreign ministry, the Quai d'Orsay, was behind Compaoré in organizing the coup.", "There is some evidence for France's support of the coup.Compaoré gave as one of the reasons for the coup the deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries.", "Compaoré argued that Sankara had jeopardised foreign relations with the former colonial power (France) and with neighbouring Ivory Coast.", "Following the coup Compaoré immediately reversed the nationalizations, overturned nearly all of Sankara's policies, returned the country back into the IMF fold, and ultimately spurned most of Sankara's legacy.", "Following an alleged coup-attempt in 1989, Compaoré introduced limited democratic reforms in 1990.Under the new (1991) constitution, Compaoré was re-elected without opposition in December 1991.In 1998 Compaoré won election in a landslide.", "In 2004, 13 people were tried for plotting a coup against President Compaoré and the coup's alleged mastermind was sentenced to life imprisonment.", ", Burkina Faso remained one of the least-developed countries in the world.In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years and set term limits to two, preventing successive re-election.", "The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections.", "If passed beforehand, it would have prevented Compaoré from being reelected.", "Other presidential candidates challenged the election results.", "But in October 2005, the constitutional council ruled that, because Compaoré was the sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply to him until the end of his second term in office.", "This cleared the way for his candidacy in the 2005 election.", "On 13 November 2005, Compaoré was reelected in a landslide, because of a divided political opposition.In the 2010 presidential election, President Compaoré was re-elected.", "Only 1.6 million Burkinabè voted, out of a total population 10 times that size.", "In February 2011, the death of a schoolboy provoked the 2011 Burkinabè protests, a series of popular protests, coupled with a military mutiny and a magistrates' strike, that called for the resignation of Compaoré, democratic reforms, higher wages for troops and public servants and economic freedom.", "As a result, governors were replaced and wages for public servants were raised.", "In April 2011, there was an army mutiny; the president named new chiefs of staff, and a curfew was imposed in Ouagadougou.Compaoré's government played the role of negotiator in several West-African disputes, including the 2010–11 Ivorian crisis, the Inter-Togolese Dialogue (2007), and the 2012 Malian Crisis.====Kafando presidency====Thousands of protesters march through OuagadougouStarting on 28 October 2014 protesters began to march and demonstrate in Ouagadougou against President Compaoré, who appeared ready to amend the constitution and extend his 27-year rule.", "On 30 October some protesters set fire to the parliament building and took over the national TV headquarters.", "Ouagadougou International Airport closed and MPs suspended the vote on changing the constitution (the change would have allowed Compaoré to stand for re-election in 2015).", "Later in the day, the military dissolved all government institutions and imposed a curfew.On 31 October 2014, President Compaoré, facing mounting pressure, resigned after 27 years in office.", "Lt. Col. Isaac Zida said that he would lead the country during its transitional period before the planned 2015 presidential election, but there were concerns over his close ties to the former president.", "In November 2014 opposition parties, civil-society groups and religious leaders adopted a plan for a transitional authority to guide Burkina Faso to elections.", "Under the plan Michel Kafando became the transitional President of Burkina Faso and Lt. Col. Zida became the acting Prime Minister and Defense Minister.On 16 September 2015, the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) carried out a coup d'état, seizing the president and prime minister and then declaring the National Council for Democracy the new national government.", "However, on 22 September 2015, the coup leader, Gilbert Diendéré, apologized and promised to restore civilian government.", "On 23 September 2015 the prime minister and interim president were restored to power.====Kaboré presidency and Jihadist insurgency (2015-2023)====General elections took place on 29 November 2015.Roch Marc Christian Kaboré won the election in the first round with 53.5% of the vote, defeating businessman Zéphirin Diabré, who took 29.7%.", "Kaboré was sworn in as president on 29 December 2015.Kaboré was re-elected in the general election of 22 November 2020, but his party Mouvement du Peuple pour le Progrès (MPP), failed to reach absolute parliamentary majority.", "It secured 56 seats out of a total of 127.The Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), the party of former President Blaise Compaoré, was distant second with 20 seats.Smoke rising from French Embassy in Ouagadougou, 2 March 2018, during the 2018 Ouagadougou attacks.A Jihadist insurgency began in August 2015, part of the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel.", "Between August 2015 and October 2016, seven different posts were attacked across the country.", "On 15 January 2016, terrorists attacked the capital city of Ouagadougou, killing 30 people.", "Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al-Mourabitoune, which until then had mostly operated in neighbouring Mali, claimed responsibility for the attack.In 2016, attacks increased after a new group Ansarul Islam, led by imam Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was founded.", "Its attacks focused particularly on Soum province and it killed dozens of people in the attack on Nassoumbou on 16 December.Between 27 March – 10 April 2017, the governments of Mali, France, and Burkina Faso launched a joint operation named \"Operation Panga,\" composed of 1,300 soldiers from the three countries, in Fhero forest, near the Burkina Faso-Mali border, considered a sanctuary for Ansarul Islam.", "The head of Ansarul Islam, Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was killed in June 2017 and Jafar Dicko became leader.On 2 March 2018, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked the French embassy in Ouagadougou as well as the general staff of the Burkinabè army.", "Eight soldiers and eight attackers were killed, and a further 61 soldiers and 24 civilians were injured.", "The insurgency expanded to the east of the country and, in early October, the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso launched a major military operation in the country's East, supported by French forces.", "According to Human Rights Watch, between mid-2018 to February 2019, at least 42 people were murdered by jihadists and a minimum of 116 mostly Fulani civilians were killed by military forces without trial.", "The attacks increased significantly in 2019.According to the ACLED, armed violence in Burkina Faso jumped by 174% in 2019, with nearly 1,300 civilians dead and 860,000 displaced.", "Jihadist groups also began to specifically target Christians.On 8 July 2020, the United States raised concerns after a Human Rights Watch report revealed mass graves with at least 180 bodies, which were found in northern Burkina Faso where soldiers were fighting jihadists.", "On 4 June 2021, the Associated Press reported that according to the government of Burkina Faso, gunmen killed at least 100 people in Solhan village in northern Burkina Faso near the Niger border.", "A local market and several homes were also burned down.", "A government spokesman blamed jihadists.", "Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project said it was the deadliest attack recorded in Burkina Faso since the beginning of the jihadist insurgency.From 4–5 June 2021, unknown militants massacred over 170 people in the villages of Solhan and Tadaryat.", "Jihadists killed 80 people in Gorgadji on 20 August.", "On 14 November, the Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked a gendarmerie in Inata, killing 53 soldiers, the heaviest loss of life by the Burkinabe military during the insurgency, and a major morale loss in the country.", "In December Islamists killed 41 people in an ambush, including the popular vigilante leader Ladji Yoro.", "Yoro was a central figure in the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) a pro-government militia that had taken a leading role in the struggle against Islamists.In 2023, shortly after the murder of a Catholic priest at the hands of insurgents, the bishop of Dori, Laurent Dabiré, claimed in an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that around 50% of the country was in the hands of Islamists.====2022 coups d'état====In a successful coup on 24 January 2022, mutinying soldiers arrested and deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré following gunfire.", "The Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) supported by the military declared itself to be in power, led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.", "On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Damiba interim president.", "In the aftermath of the coup, ECOWAS and the African Union suspended Burkina Faso's membership.", "On 10 February, the Constitutional Council declared Damiba president of Burkina Faso.", "He was sworn in as president on 16 February.", "On 1 March 2022, the junta approved a charter allowing a military-led transition of 3 years.", "The charter provides for the transition process to be followed by the holding of elections.", "President Kaboré, who had been detained since the military junta took power, was released on 6 April 2022.The insurgency continued following the coup, with about 60% of the country under government control.", "The Siege of Djibo began in February 2022 and continues as of June 2023.Between 100 and 165 people were killed in Seytenga Department, Séno Province on 12–13 June and around 16,000 people fled their homes.", "In June, the Government announced the creation of \"military zones\", which civilians were required to vacate so that the country's Armed and Security Forces could fight insurgents without any \"hindrances\".On 30 September, Damiba was ousted in a military coup led by Capt.", "Ibrahim Traoré.", "This came eight months after Damiba seized power.", "The rationale given by Traore for the coup d'état was the purported inability of Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba to deal with an Islamist insurgency.", "Damiba resigned and left the country.", "On 6 October 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traore was officially appointed as president of Burkina Faso.", "Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla was appointed interim Prime Minister on 21 October 2022.On 13 April 2023, authorities in Burkina Faso declared a mobilisation in order to give the nation all means necessary to combat terrorism and create a \"legal framework for all the actions to be taken\" against the insurgents in recapturing 40 percent of the national territory from Islamist insurgents.", "On 20 April, the Rapid Intervention Brigade committed the Karma massacre, rounding up and executing civilians ''en masse''.", "Between 60 and 156 civilians were killed." ], [ "Government", "National Assembly building in downtown OuagadougouThe constitution of 2 June 1991 established a semi-presidential government: its parliament could be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who was to be elected for a term of seven years.", "In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years and set term limits to two, preventing successive re-election.", "The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections.The parliament consisted of one chamber known as the National Assembly, which had 111 seats with members elected to serve five-year terms.", "There was also a constitutional chamber, composed of ten members, and an economic and social council whose roles were purely consultative.", "The 1991 constitution created a bicameral parliament, but the upper house (Chamber of Representatives) was abolished in 2002.The Compaoré administration had worked to decentralize power by devolving some of its powers to regions and municipal authorities.", "But the widespread distrust of politicians and lack of political involvement by many residents complicated this process.", "Critics described this as a hybrid decentralisation.Political freedoms are severely restricted in Burkina Faso.", "Human rights organizations had criticised the Compaoré administration for numerous acts of state-sponsored violence against journalists and other politically active members of society.The prime minister is head of government and is appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly.", "He is responsible for recommending a cabinet for appointment by the president.=== Constitution ===In 2015, Kaboré promised to revise the 1991 constitution.", "The revision was completed in 2018.One condition prevents any individual from serving as president for more than ten years either consecutively or intermittently and provides a method for impeaching a president.", "A referendum on the constitution for the Fifth Republic was scheduled for 24 March 2019.Certain rights are also enshrined in the revised wording: access to drinking water, access to decent housing and a recognition of the right to civil disobedience, for example.", "The referendum was required because the opposition parties in Parliament refused to sanction the proposed text.Following the January 2022 coup d'état, the military dissolved the parliament, government and constitution.", "On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution, but it was suspended again following the September 2022 coup d'état.===Foreign relations===Burkina Faso is a member of the G5 Sahel, Community of Sahel–Saharan States, La Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and United Nations.", "It is currently suspended from ECOWAS and the African Union.===Military===The army consists of some 6,000 men in voluntary service, augmented by a part-time national People's Militia composed of civilians between 25 and 35 years of age who are trained in both military and civil duties.", "According to ''Jane's Sentinel Country Risk Assessment'', Burkina Faso's Army is undermanned for its force structure and poorly equipped, but has wheeled light-armour vehicles, and may have developed useful combat expertise through interventions in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa.In terms of training and equipment, the regular Army is believed to be neglected in relation to the élite Regiment of Presidential Security ( – RSP).", "Reports have emerged in recent years of disputes over pay and conditions.", "There is an air force with some 19 operational aircraft, but no navy, as the country is landlocked.", "Military expenses constitute approximately 1.2% of the nation's GDP.===Law enforcement===Burkina Faso employs numerous police and security forces, generally modeled after organizations used by French police.", "France continues to provide significant support and training to police forces.", "The ''Gendarmerie Nationale'' is organized along military lines, with most police services delivered at the brigade level.", "The Gendarmerie operates under the authority of the Minister of Defence, and its members are employed chiefly in the rural areas and along borders.There is a municipal police force controlled by the Ministry of Territorial Administration; a national police force controlled by the Ministry of Security; and an autonomous Regiment of Presidential Security (''Régiment de la Sécurité Présidentielle'', or RSP), a 'palace guard' devoted to the protection of the President of the Republic.", "Both the gendarmerie and the national police are subdivided into both administrative and judicial police functions; the former are detailed to protect public order and provide security, the latter are charged with criminal investigations.All foreigners and citizens are required to carry photo ID passports, or other forms of identification or risk a fine, and police spot identity checks are commonplace for persons traveling by auto, bush-taxi, or bus.===Administrative divisions===The country is divided into 13 administrative regions.", "These regions encompass 45 provinces and 301 departments.", "Each region is administered by a governor." ], [ "Geography", "Satellite image of Burkina FasoMap of Burkina FasoBurkina Faso lies mostly between latitudes 9° and 15° N (a small area is north of 15°), and longitudes 6° W and 3° E.It is made up of two major types of countryside.", "The larger part of the country is covered by a peneplain, which forms a gently undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills, the last vestiges of a Precambrian massif.", "The southwest of the country, on the other hand, forms a sandstone massif, where the highest peak, Ténakourou, is found at an elevation of .", "The massif is bordered by sheer cliffs up to high.", "The average altitude of Burkina Faso is and the difference between the highest and lowest terrain is no greater than .", "Burkina Faso is therefore a relatively flat country.The country owes its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers which cross it: the Black Volta (or ''Mouhoun''), the White Volta (''Nakambé'') and the Red Volta (''Nazinon'').", "The Black Volta is one of the country's only two rivers which flow year-round, the other being the Komoé, which flows to the southwest.", "The basin of the Niger River also drains 27% of the country's surface.The Niger's tributaries – the Béli, Gorouol, Goudébo, and Dargol – are seasonal streams and flow for only four to six months a year.", "They still can flood and overflow, however.", "The country also contains numerous lakes – the principal ones are Tingrela, Bam, and Dem.", "The country contains large ponds, as well, such as Oursi, Béli, Yomboli, and Markoye.", "Water shortages are often a problem, especially in the north of the country.Savannah near the Gbomblora Department, on the road from Gaoua to BatiéBurkina Faso lies within two terrestrial ecoregions: Sahelian Acacia savanna and West Sudanian savanna.===Climate===Map of Köppen climate classificationBurkina Faso has a primarily tropical climate with two very distinct seasons.", "In the rainy season, the country receives between of rainfall; in the dry season, the harmattan – a hot dry wind from the Sahara – blows.", "The rainy season lasts approximately four months, May/June to September, and is shorter in the north of the country.", "Three climatic zones can be defined: the Sahel, the Sudan-Sahel, and the Sudan-Guinea.", "The Sahel in the north typically receives less than of rainfall per year and has high temperatures, .A relatively dry tropical savanna, the Sahel extends beyond the borders of Burkina Faso, from the Horn of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the Sahara to its north and the fertile region of the Sudan to the south.", "Situated between 11° 3′ and 13° 5′ north latitude, the Sudan-Sahel region is a transitional zone with regards to rainfall and temperature.", "Further to the south, the Sudan-Guinea zone receives more than of rain each year and has cooler average temperatures.Damage caused by the Dourtenga floods in 2007Geographic and environmental causes can also play a significant role in contributing to Burkina Faso's food insecurity.", "As the country is situated in the Sahel region, Burkina Faso experiences some of the most radical climatic variation in the world, ranging from severe flooding to extreme drought.", "The unpredictable climatic shock that Burkina Faso citizens often face results in strong difficulties in being able to rely on and accumulate wealth through agricultural means.Burkina Faso's climate also renders its crops vulnerable to insect attacks, including attacks from locusts and crickets, which destroy crops and further inhibit food production.", "Not only is most of the population of Burkina Faso dependent on agriculture as a source of income, but they also rely on the agricultural sector for food that will directly feed the household.", "Due to the vulnerability of agriculture, more and more families are having to look for other sources of non-farm income, and often have to travel outside of their regional zone to find work.=== Natural resources ===Burkina Faso's natural resources include gold, manganese, limestone, marble, phosphates, pumice, and salt.===Wildlife===Burkina Faso has a larger number of elephants than many countries in West Africa.", "Lions, leopards and buffalo can also be found here, including the dwarf or red buffalo, a smaller reddish-brown animal which looks like a fierce kind of short-legged cow.", "Other large predators live in Burkina Faso, such as the cheetah, the caracal or African lynx, the spotted hyena and the African wild dog, one of the continent's most endangered species.Burkina Faso's fauna and flora are protected in four national parks:* The W National Park in the east which passes Burkina Faso, Benin, and Niger* The Arly Wildlife Reserve (Arly National Park in the east)* The Léraba-Comoé Classified Forest and Partial Reserve of Wildlife in the west* The Mare aux Hippopotames in the westand several reserves: see List of national parks in Africa and Nature reserves of Burkina Faso." ], [ "Economy", "A proportional representation of Burkina Faso exports, 2019GDP per capita in Burkina Faso, since 1950The value of Burkina Faso's exports fell from $2.77 billion in 2011 to $754 million in 2012.Agriculture represents 32% of its gross domestic product and occupies 80% of the working population.", "It consists mostly of rearing livestock.", "Especially in the south and southwest, the people grow crops of sorghum, pearl millet, maize (corn), peanuts, rice and cotton, with surpluses to be sold.", "A large part of the economic activity of the country is funded by international aid, despite having gold ores in abundance.The top five export commodities in 2017 were, in order of importance: gems and precious metals, US$1.9 billion (78.5% of total exports), cotton, $198.7 million (8.3%), ores, slag, ash, $137.6 million (5.8%), fruits, nuts: $76.6 million (3.2%) and oil seeds: $59.5 million (2.5%).A December 2018 report from the World Bank indicates that in 2017, economic growth increased to 6.4% in 2017 (vs. 5.9% in 2016) primarily due to gold production and increased investment in infrastructure.", "The increase in consumption linked to growth of the wage bill also supported economic growth.", "Inflation remained low, 0.4% that year but the public deficit grew to 7.7% of GDP (vs. 3.5% in 2016).", "The government was continuing to get financial aid and loans to finance the debt.", "To finance the public deficit, the Government combined concessional aid and borrowing on the regional market.", "The World Bank said that the economic outlook remained favorable in the short and medium term, although that could be negatively impacted.", "Risks included high oil prices (imports), lower prices of gold and cotton (exports) as well as terrorist threat and labour strikes.Burkina Faso is part of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UMEOA) and has adopted the CFA franc.", "This is issued by the Central Bank of the West African States (BCEAO), situated in Dakar, Senegal.", "The BCEAO manages the monetary and reserve policy of the member states, and provides regulation and oversight of financial sector and banking activity.", "A legal framework regarding licensing, bank activities, organizational and capital requirements, inspections and sanctions (all applicable to all countries of the Union) is in place, having been reformed significantly in 1999.Microfinance institutions are governed by a separate law, which regulates microfinance activities in all WAEMU countries.", "The insurance sector is regulated through the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA).Processing facilities at the Essakane Mine in Burkina FasoIn 2018, tourism was almost non-existent in large parts of the country.", "The U.S. government (and others) warn their citizens not to travel into large parts of Burkina Faso: \"The northern Sahel border region shared with Mali and Niger due to crime and terrorism.", "The provinces of Kmoandjari, Tapoa, Kompienga, and Gourma in East Region due to crime and terrorism\".The 2018 CIA World Factbook provides this updated summary.", "\"Burkina Faso is a poor, landlocked country that depends on adequate rainfall.", "Irregular patterns of rainfall, poor soil, and the lack of adequate communications and other infrastructure contribute to the economy's vulnerability to external shocks.", "About 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and cotton is the main cash crop.", "The country has few natural resources and a weak industrial base.", "Cotton and gold are Burkina Faso's key exports ...The country has seen an upswing in gold exploration, production, and exports.While the end of the political crisis has allowed Burkina Faso's economy to resume positive growth, the country's fragile security situation could put these gains at risk.", "Political insecurity in neighboring Mali, unreliable energy supplies, and poor transportation links pose long-term challenges.\"", "The report also highlights the 2018–2020 International Monetary Fund program, including the government's plan to \"reduce the budget deficit and preserve critical spending on social services and priority public investments\".A 2018 report by the African Development Bank Group discussed a macroeconomic evolution: \"higher investment and continued spending on social services and security that will add to the budget deficit\".", "This group's prediction for 2018 indicated that the budget deficit would be reduced to 4.8% of GDP in 2018 and to 2.9% in 2019.Public debt associated with the National Economic and Social Development Plan was estimated at 36.9% of GDP in 2017.Burkina Faso is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).", "The country also belongs to the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.=== Mining ===There is mining of copper, iron, manganese, gold, cassiterite (tin ore), and phosphates.", "These operations provide employment and generate international aid.", "Gold production increased 32% in 2011 at six gold mine sites, making Burkina Faso the fourth-largest gold producer in Africa, after South Africa, Mali and Ghana.A 2018 report indicated that the country expected record 55 tonnes of gold in that year, a two-thirds increase over 2013.According to Oumarou Idani, there is a more important issue.", "\"We have to diversify production.", "We mostly only produce gold, but we have huge potential in manganese, zinc, lead, copper, nickel and limestone\"." ], [ "Food insecurity <span class=\"anchor\" id=\"Food insecurity in Burkina Faso\"></span>", "According to the Global Hunger Index, a multidimensional tool used to measure and track a country's hunger levels, Burkina Faso ranked 65 out of 78 countries in 2013.It is estimated that there are currently over 1.5 million children who are at risk of food insecurity in Burkina Faso, with around 350,000 children who are in need of emergency medical assistance.", "However, only about a third of these children will actually receive adequate medical attention.", "Only 11.4 percent of children under the age of two receive the daily recommended number of meals.", "Stunted growth as a result of food insecurity is a severe problem in Burkina Faso, affecting at least a third of the population from 2008 to 2012.Additionally, stunted children, on average, tend to complete less school than children with normal growth development, further contributing to the low levels of education of the Burkina Faso population.The European Commission expects that approximately 500,000 children under age 5 in Burkina Faso will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2015, including around 149,000 who will suffer from its most life-threatening form.", "Rates of micronutrient deficiencies are also high.", "According to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS 2010), 49 percent of women and 88 percent of children under the age of five suffer from anemia.", "Forty percent of infant deaths can be attributed to malnutrition, and in turn, these infant mortality rates have decreased Burkina Faso's total work force by 13.6 percent, demonstrating how food security affects more aspects of life beyond health.These high rates of food insecurity and the accompanying effects are even more prevalent in rural populations compared to urban ones, as access to health services in rural areas is much more limited and awareness and education of children's nutritional needs is lower.An October 2018 report by USAid stated that droughts and floods remained problematic, and that \"violence and insecurity are disrupting markets, trade and livelihoods activities in some of Burkina Faso's northern and eastern areas\".", "The report estimated that over 954,300 people needed food security support, and that, according to UNICEF, an \"estimated 187,200 children under 5 years of age will experience severe acute malnutrition\".", "Agencies providing assistance at the time included USAID's Office of Food for Peace (FFP) working with the UN World Food Programme, the NGO Oxfam Intermón and ACDI/VOCA.===Approaches to improving food security=======World Food Programme====The United Nations' World Food Programme has worked on programs that are geared towards increasing food security in Burkina Faso.The Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation 200509 (PRRO) was formed to respond to the high levels of malnutrition in Burkina Faso, following the food and nutrition crisis in 2012.The efforts of this project are mostly geared towards the treatment and prevention of malnutrition and include take home rations for the caretakers of those children who are being treated for malnutrition.", "Additionally, the activities of this operation contribute to families' abilities to withstand future food crises.", "Better nutrition among the two most vulnerable groups, young children and pregnant women, prepares them to be able to respond better in times when food security is compromised, such as in droughts.The Country Programme (CP) has two parts: food and nutritional assistance to people with HIV/AIDS, and a school feeding program for all primary schools in the Sahel region.", "The HIV/AIDS nutrition program aims to better the nutritional recovery of those who are living with HIV/AIDS and to protect at-risk children and orphans from malnutrition and food security.", "As part of the school feeding component, the Country Programme's goals are to increase enrollment and attendance in schools in the Sahel region, where enrollment rates are below the national average.", "Furthermore, the program aims at improving gender parity rates in these schools, by providing girls with high attendance in the last two years of primary school with take-home rations of cereals as an incentive to households, encouraging them to send their girls to school.The WFP concluded the formation of a subsequently approved plan in August 2018 \"to support the Government's vision of 'a democratic, unified and united nation, transforming the structure of its economy and achieving a strong and inclusive growth through patterns of sustainable consumption and production.'", "It will take important steps in WFP's new strategic direction for strengthened national and local capacities to enable the Government and communities to own, manage, and implement food and nutrition security programmes by 2030\".====World Bank====The World Bank was established in 1944, and comprises five institutions whose shared goals are to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to promote shared prosperity by fostering income growth of the lower forty percent of every country.", "One of the main projects the World Bank is working on to reduce food insecurity in Burkina Faso is the Agricultural Productivity and Food Security Project.", "According to the World Bank, the objective of this project is to \"improve the capacity of poor producers to increase food production and to ensure improved availability of food products in rural markets.\"", "The Agricultural Productivity and Food Security Project has three main parts.", "Its first component is to work towards the improvement of food production, including financing grants and providing 'voucher for work' programs for households who cannot pay their contribution in cash.", "The project's next component involves improving the ability of food products, particularly in rural areas.", "This includes supporting the marketing of food products, and aims to strengthen the capabilities of stakeholders to control the variability of food products and supplies at local and national levels.", "Lastly, the third component of this project focuses on institutional development and capacity building.", "Its goal is to reinforce the capacities of service providers and institutions who are specifically involved in project implementation.", "The project's activities aim to build capacities of service providers, strengthen the capacity of food producer organizations, strengthen agricultural input supply delivery methods, and manage and evaluate project activities.The December 2018 report by the World Bank indicated that the poverty rate fell slightly between 2009 and 2014, from 46% to a still high 40.1%.", "The report provided this updated summary of the country's development challenges: \"Burkina Faso remains vulnerable to climatic shocks related to changes in rainfall patterns and to fluctuations in the prices of its export commodities on world markets.", "Its economic and social development will, to some extent, be contingent on political stability in the country and the subregion, its openness to international trade, and export diversification\"." ], [ "Infrastructure and services", "=== Water ===The ''Grand marché'' in Koudougou, Burkina FasoWhile services remain underdeveloped, the National Office for Water and Sanitation (ONEA), a state-owned utility company run along commercial lines, is emerging as one of the best-performing utility companies in Africa.", "High levels of autonomy and a skilled and dedicated management have driven ONEA's ability to improve production of and access to clean water.Since 2000, nearly 2 million more people have access to water in the four principal urban centres in the country; the company has kept the quality of infrastructure high (less than 18% of the water is lost through leaks – one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa), improved financial reporting, and increased its annual revenue by an average of 12% (well above inflation).", "Challenges remain, including difficulties among some customers in paying for services, with the need to rely on international aid to expand its infrastructure.", "The state-owned, commercially run venture has helped the nation reach its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets in water-related areas, and has grown as a viable company.However, access to drinking water has improved over the last 28 years.", "According to UNICEF, access to drinking water has increased from 39 to 76% in rural areas between 1990 and 2015.In this same time span, access to drinking water increased from 75 to 97% in urban areas.=== Electricity ===A 33-megawatt solar power plant in Zagtouli, near Ouagadougou, came online in late November 2017.At the time of its construction, it was the largest solar power facility in West Africa.=== Other ===The growth rate in Burkina Faso is high although it continues to be plagued by corruption and incursions from terrorist groups from Mali and Niger.===Transport===The railway station in Bobo Dioulasso was built during the colonial era and remains in operation.Transport in Burkina Faso is limited by relatively underdeveloped infrastructure.As of June 2014 the main international airport, Ouagadougou Airport, had regularly scheduled flights to many destinations in West Africa as well as Paris, Brussels and Istanbul.", "The other international airport, Bobo Dioulasso Airport, has flights to Ouagadougou and Abidjan.Rail transport in Burkina Faso consists of a single line which runs from Kaya to Abidjan in Ivory Coast via Ouagadougou, Koudougou, Bobo Dioulasso and Banfora.", "''Sitarail'' operates a passenger train three times a week along the route.There are 15,000 kilometres of roads in Burkina Faso, of which 2,500 kilometres are paved." ], [ "Science and technology", "In 2009, Burkina Faso spent 0.20% of GDP on research and development (R&D), one of the lowest ratios in West Africa.", "There were 48 researchers (in full-time equivalents) per million inhabitants in 2010, which is more than twice the average for sub-Saharan Africa (20 per million population in 2013) and higher than the ratio for Ghana and Nigeria (39).", "It is, however, much lower than the ratio for Senegal (361 per million inhabitants).", "In Burkina Faso in 2010, 46% of researchers were working in the health sector, 16% in engineering, 13% in natural sciences, 9% in agricultural sciences, 7% in the humanities and 4% in social sciences.", "Burkina Faso was ranked 124th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.In January 2011, the government created the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation.", "Up until then, management of science, technology and innovation had fallen under the Department of Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific Research.", "Within this ministry, the Directorate General for Research and Sector Statistics is responsible for planning.", "A separate body, the Directorate General of Scientific Research, Technology and Innovation, co-ordinates research.", "This is a departure from the pattern in many other West African countries where a single body fulfils both functions.", "The move signals the government's intention to make science and technology a development priority.In 2012, Burkina Faso adopted a ''National Policy for Scientific and Technical Research'', the strategic objectives of which are to develop R&D and the application and commercialization of research results.", "The policy also makes provisions for strengthening the ministry's strategic and operational capacities.", "One of the key priorities is to improve food security and self-sufficiency by boosting capacity in agricultural and environmental sciences.", "The creation of a centre of excellence in 2014 at the International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering in Ouagadougou within the World Bank project provides essential funding for capacity-building in these priority areas.A dual priority is to promote innovative, effective and accessible health systems.", "The government wishes to develop, in parallel, applied sciences and technology and social and human sciences.", "To complement the national research policy, the government has prepared a ''National Strategy to Popularize Technologies, Inventions and Innovations'' (2012) and a ''National Innovation Strategy'' (2014).", "Other policies also incorporate science and technology, such as that on ''Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific Research'' (2010), the ''National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security'' (2014) and the ''National Programme for the Rural Sector'' (2011).In 2013, Burkina Faso passed the Science, Technology and Innovation Act establishing three mechanisms for financing research and innovation, a clear indication of high-level commitment.", "These mechanisms are the National Fund for Education and Research, the National Fund for Research and Innovation for Development and the Forum of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation." ], [ "Demographics", "Tuareg man in OuagadougouPopulationYearMillion19504.3200011.6Burkina Faso is an ethnically integrated, secular state where most people are concentrated in the south and centre, where their density sometimes exceeds .", "Hundreds of thousands of Burkinabè migrate regularly to Ivory Coast and Ghana, mainly for seasonal agricultural work.", "These flows of workers are affected by external events; the September 2002 coup attempt in Ivory Coast and the ensuing fighting meant that hundreds of thousands of Burkinabè returned to Burkina Faso.", "The regional economy suffered when they were unable to work.In 2015, most of the population belonged to \"one of two West African ethnic cultural groups: the Voltaic and the Mandé.", "Voltaic Mossi make up about 50% of the population and are descended from warriors who moved to the area from Ghana around 1100, establishing an empire that lasted over 800 years\".The total fertility rate of Burkina Faso is 5.93 children born per woman (2014 estimates), the sixth highest in the world.In 2009 the U.S. Department of State's ''Trafficking in Persons Report'' reported that slavery in Burkina Faso continued to exist and that Burkinabè children were often the victims.", "Slavery in the Sahel states in general, is an entrenched institution with a long history that dates back to the trans-Saharan slave trade.", "In 2018, an estimated 82,000 people in the country were living under \"modern slavery\" according to the Global Slavery Index.===Ethnic groups===Burkina Faso's 17.3 million people belong to two major West African ethnic cultural groups: the Voltaic and the Mandé (whose common language is Dioula).", "The Voltaic Mossi make up about one-half of the population.", "The Mossi claim descent from warriors who migrated to present-day Burkina Faso from northern Ghana around 1100 AD.", "They established an empire that lasted more than 800 years.", "Predominantly farmers, the Mossi kingdom is led by the ''Mogho Naba,'' whose court is in Ouagadougou.===Languages===Burkina Faso is a multilingual country.", "The working languages are French, which was introduced during the colonial period, and English.", "Altogether, an estimated 69 languages are spoken in the country, of which about 60 languages are indigenous.", "The Mooré language is the most spoken language in Burkina Faso, spoken by about half the population, mainly in the central region around the capital, Ouagadougou.According to the 2006 census, the languages spoken natively in Burkina Faso were Mooré by 40.5% of the population, Fula by 9.3%, Gourmanché by 6.1%, Bambara by 4.9%, Bissa by 3.2%, Bwamu by 2.1%, Dagara by 2%, San by 1.9%, Lobiri with 1.8%, Lyélé with 1.7%, Bobo and Sénoufo with 1.4% each, Nuni by 1.2%, Dafing by 1.1%, Tamasheq by 1%, Kassem by 0.7%, Gouin by 0.4%, Dogon, Songhai, and Gourounsi by 0.3% each, Ko, Koussassé, Sembla, and Siamou by 0.1% each, other national languages by 5%, other African languages by 0.2%, French (the official language) by 1.3%, and other non-indigenous languages by 0.1%.In the west, Mandé languages are widely spoken, the most predominant being Dioula (also known as Jula or Dyula), others including Bobo, Samo, and Marka.", "Fula is widespread, particularly in the north.", "Gourmanché is spoken in the east, while Bissa is spoken in the south.===Health===In 2016, the average life expectancy was estimated at 60 for males and 61 for females.", "In 2018, the under-five mortality rate and the infant mortality rate was 76 per 1000 live births.", "In 2014, the median age of its inhabitants was 17 and the estimated population growth rate was 3.05%.In 2011, health expenditures was 6.5% of GDP; the maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 300 deaths per 100000 live births and the physician density at 0.05 per 1000 population in 2010.In 2012, it was estimated that the adult HIV prevalence rate (ages 15–49) was 1.0%.", "According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, HIV prevalence is declining among pregnant women who attend antenatal clinics.", "According to a 2005 World Health Organization report, an estimated 72.5% of Burkina Faso's girls and women have had female genital mutilation, administered according to traditional rituals.Central government spending on health was 3% in 2001., studies estimated there were as few as 10 physicians per 100,000 people.", "In addition, there were 41 nurses and 13 midwives per 100,000 people.", "Demographic and Health Surveys has completed three surveys in Burkina Faso since 1993, and had another in 2009.A Dengue fever outbreak in 2016 killed 20 patients.", "Cases of the disease were reported from all 12 districts of Ouagadougou.===Religion===Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of OuagadougouThe government of Burkina Faso's 2019 census reported that 63.8% of the population practice Islam, and that the majority of this group belong to the Sunni branch, while a small minority adheres to Shia Islam.", "A significant number of Sunni Muslims identify with the Tijaniyah Sufi order.The 2019 census also found that 26.3% of the population are Christians (20.1% being Roman Catholics and 6.2% members of Protestant denominations) and 9.0% follow traditional indigenous beliefs such as the Dogon religion, 0.2% have other religions, and 0.7% have none.Animists are the largest religious group in the country's Sud-Ouest region, forming 48.1% of its total population.===Education===Gando primary school.", "Its architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004.Education in Burkina Faso is divided into primary, secondary and higher education.", "High school costs approximately CFA 25,000 (US$50) per year, which is far above the means of most Burkinabè families.", "Boys receive preference in schooling; as such, girls' education and literacy rates are far lower than their male counterparts.", "An increase in girls' schooling has been observed because of the government's policy of making school cheaper for girls and granting them more scholarships.To proceed from primary to middle school, middle to high school or high school to college, national exams must be passed.", "Institutions of higher education include the University of Ouagadougou, The Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso, and the University of Koudougou, which is also a teacher training institution.", "There are some small private colleges in the capital city of Ouagadougou but these are affordable to only a small portion of the population.There is also the International School of Ouagadougou (ISO), an American-based private school located in Ouagadougou.The 2008 UN Development Program Report ranked Burkina Faso as the country with the lowest level of literacy in the world, despite a concerted effort to double its literacy rate from 12.8% in 1990 to 25.3% in 2008." ], [ "Culture", "A masked Winiama dancer, Literature in Burkina Faso is based on the oral tradition, which remains important.", "In 1934, during French occupation, Dim-Dolobsom Ouedraogo published his ''Maximes, pensées et devinettes mossi'' (''Maxims, Thoughts and Riddles of the Mossi''), a record of the oral history of the Mossi people.The oral tradition continued to have an influence on Burkinabè writers in the post-independence Burkina Faso of the 1960s, such as Nazi Boni and Roger Nikiema.", "The 1960s saw a growth in the number of playwrights being published.", "Since the 1970s, literature has developed in Burkina Faso with many more writers being published.The theatre of Burkina Faso combines traditional Burkinabè performance with the colonial influences and post-colonial efforts to educate rural people to produce a distinctive national theatre.", "Traditional ritual ceremonies of the many ethnic groups in Burkina Faso have long involved dancing with masks.", "Western-style theatre became common during colonial times, heavily influenced by French theatre.", "With independence came a new style of theatre inspired by forum theatre aimed at educating and entertaining Burkina Faso's rural people.Malika Outtara, poetSlam poetry is increasing in popularity in the country, in part due to the efforts of slam poet Malika Outtara.", "She uses her skills to raise awareness around issues such as blood donation, albinism and the impact of COVID-19.===Arts and crafts===Artisan garland of decorative painted gourds in OuagadougouIn addition to several rich traditional artistic heritages among the peoples, there is a large artist community in Burkina Faso, especially in Ouagadougou.", "Much of the crafts produced are for the country's growing tourist industry.Burkina Faso also hosts the International Art and Craft Fair, Ouagadougou.", "It is better known by its French name as SIAO, ''Le Salon International de l' Artisanat de Ouagadougou'', and is one of the most important African handicraft fairs.===Cuisine===A plate of fufu (right) accompanied with peanut soupTypical of West African cuisine, Burkina Faso's cuisine is based on staple foods of sorghum, millet, rice, maize, peanuts, potatoes, beans, yams and okra.", "The most common sources of animal protein are chicken, chicken eggs and freshwater fish.", "A typical Burkinabè beverage is Banji or Palm Wine, which is fermented palm sap; and Zoom-kom, or \"grain water\" purportedly the national drink of Burkina Faso.", "Zoom-kom is milky-looking and whitish, having a water and cereal base, best drunk with ice cubes.", "In the more rural regions, in the outskirts of Burkina, you would find Dolo, which is drink made from fermented millet.", "In times of crisis, one legume native to Burkina, ''Zamnè,'' can be served as a main dish or in a sauce.===Cinema===The cinema of Burkina Faso is an important part of the West African film industry and African film as a whole.", "Burkina's contribution to African cinema started with the establishment of the film festival FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou), which was launched as a film week in 1969.Many of the nation's filmmakers are known internationally and have won international prizes.For many years the headquarters of the Federation of Panafrican Filmmakers (FEPACI) was in Ouagadougou, rescued in 1983 from a period of moribund inactivity by the enthusiastic support and funding of President Sankara.", "(In 2006 the Secretariat of FEPACI moved to South Africa, but the headquarters of the organization is still in Ouagadougou.)", "Among the best known directors from Burkina Faso are Gaston Kaboré, Idrissa Ouedraogo and Dani Kouyate.", "Burkina produces popular television series such as ''Les Bobodiouf''.", "Internationally known filmmakers such as Ouedraogo, Kabore, Yameogo, and Kouyate make popular television series.===Sports===Burkina Faso national football team in white during a matchSport in Burkina Faso is widespread and includes football, basketball, cycling, rugby union, handball, tennis, boxing and martial arts.", "Football is the most popular sport in Burkina Faso, played both professionally, and informally in towns and villages across the country.", "The national team is nicknamed \"Les Etalons\" (\"the Stallions\") in reference to the legendary horse of Princess Yennenga.In 1998, Burkina Faso hosted the Africa Cup of Nations for which the Omnisport Stadium in Bobo-Dioulasso was built.", "Burkina Faso qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa and reached the final, but then lost to Nigeria 0–1.The country has never qualified for a FIFA World Cup.Basketball is another sport which enjoys much popularity for both men and women.", "The country's men's national team had its most successful year in 2013 when it qualified for the AfroBasket, the continent's prime basketball event.At the 2020 Summer Olympics, the athlete Hugues Fabrice Zango won Burkina Faso's first Olympic medal, winning bronze in the men's triple jump.", "Cricket is also picking up in Burkina Faso with Cricket Burkina Faso running a 10 club league.===Music===The '''music of Burkina Faso''' includes the folk music of 60 different ethnic groups.", "The Mossi people, centrally located around the capital, Ouagadougou, account for 40% of the population while, to the south, Gurunsi, Gurma, Dagaaba and Lobi populations, speaking Gur languages closely related to the Mossi language, extend into the coastal states.", "In the north and east the Fulani of the Sahel preponderate, while in the south and west the Mande languages are common; Samo, Bissa, Bobo, Senufo and Marka.", "Burkinabé traditional music has continued to thrive and musical output remains quite diverse.", "Popular music is mostly in French: Burkina Faso has yet to produce a major pan-African success.===Media===A cameraman in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2010The nation's principal media outlet is its state-sponsored combined television and radio service, ''Radio Télévision du Burkina'' (RTB).", "''RTB'' broadcasts on two medium-wave (AM) and several FM frequencies.", "Besides RTB, there are privately owned sports, cultural, music, and religious FM radio stations.", "''RTB'' maintains a worldwide short-wave news broadcast (''Radio Nationale Burkina'') in the French language from the capital at Ouagadougou using a 100 kW transmitter on 4.815 and 5.030 MHz.Attempts to develop an independent press and media in Burkina Faso have been intermittent.", "In 1998, investigative journalist Norbert Zongo, his brother Ernest, his driver, and another man were assassinated by unknown assailants, and the bodies burned.", "The crime was never solved.", "However, an independent Commission of Inquiry later concluded that Norbert Zongo was killed for political reasons because of his investigative work into the death of David Ouedraogo, a chauffeur who worked for François Compaoré, President Blaise Compaoré's brother.In January 1999, François Compaoré was charged with the murder of David Ouedraogo, who had died as a result of torture in January 1998.The charges were later dropped by a military tribunal after an appeal.", "In August 2000, five members of the President's personal security guard detail (''Régiment de la Sécurité Présidentielle'', or RSP) were charged with the murder of Ouedraogo.", "RSP members Marcel Kafando, Edmond Koama, and Ousseini Yaro, investigated as suspects in the Norbert Zongo assassination, were convicted in the Ouedraogo case and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.Since the death of Norbert Zongo, several protests regarding the Zongo investigation and treatment of journalists have been prevented or dispersed by government police and security forces.", "In April 2007, popular radio reggae host Karim Sama, whose programs feature reggae songs interspersed with critical commentary on alleged government injustice and corruption, received several death threats.Sama's personal car was later burned outside the private radio station ''Ouaga FM'' by unknown vandals.", "In response, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote to President Compaoré to request his government investigate the sending of e-mailed death threats to journalists and radio commentators in Burkina Faso who were critical of the government.", "In December 2008, police in Ouagadougou questioned leaders of a protest march that called for a renewed investigation into the unsolved Zongo assassination.", "Among the marchers was Jean-Claude Meda, the president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso.===Cultural festivals and events===Every two years, Ouagadougou hosts the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the largest African cinema festival on the continent (February, odd years).Held every two years since 1988, the International Art and Craft Fair, Ouagadougou (SIAO), is one of Africa's most important trade shows for art and handicrafts (late October-early November, even years).Also every two years, the Symposium de sculpture sur granit de Laongo takes place on a site located about from Ouagadougou, in the province of Oubritenga.The National Culture Week of Burkina Faso, better known by its French name La Semaine Nationale de la culture (SNC), is one of the most important cultural activities of Burkina Faso.", "It is a biennial event which takes place every two years in Bobo Dioulasso, the second-largest city in the country.The Festival International des Masques et des Arts (FESTIMA), celebrating traditional masks, is held every two years in Dédougou." ], [ "See also", "* Index of Burkina Faso-related articles* Outline of Burkina Faso* 2023 in Burkina Faso" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "" ], [ "Further reading", " Engberg-Perderson, Lars, ''Endangering Development: Politics, Projects, and Environment in Burkina Faso'' (Praeger Publishers, 2003).", "* Englebert, Pierre, ''Burkina Faso: Unsteady Statehood in West Africa'' (Perseus, 1999).", "* Howorth, Chris, ''Rebuilding the Local Landscape: Environmental Management in Burkina Faso'' (Ashgate, 1999).", "* McFarland, Daniel Miles and Rupley, Lawrence A, ''Historical Dictionary of Burkina Faso'' (Scarecrow Press, 1998).", "* Manson, Katrina and Knight, James, ''Burkina Faso'' (Bradt Travel Guides, 2011).", "* Roy, Christopher D and Wheelock, Thomas G B, ''Land of the Flying Masks: Art and Culture in Burkina Faso: The Thomas G.B.", "Wheelock Collection'' (Prestel Publishing, 2007).", "* Sankara, Thomas, ''Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–1987'' (Pathfinder Press, 2007).", "* Sankara, Thomas, ''We are the Heirs of the World's Revolutions: Speeches from the Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–1987'' (Pathfinder Press, 2007)." ], [ "External links", "* Premier Ministère, official government portal.", "(archived 15 September 2010)* Burkina Faso.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* LeFaso.net, a news information site (archived 7 May 2008)* Burkina Faso from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' (archived 21 August 2008)* * Burkina Faso profile from the BBC News.", "* * News headline links from AllAfrica.com.", "* Overseas Development Institute (archived 26 May 2012)* Country profile at New Internationalist.", "* Key Development Forecasts for Burkina Faso from International Futures.", "* Burkina Faso Business Facts from Bizpages===Trade===* World Bank 2011 Trade Summary for Burkiana Faso" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of the Bahamas" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of the Bahamas''' is dependent upon tourism and offshore banking.", "The Bahamas is the richest country in the West Indies and is ranked 14th in North America for nominal GDP.", "It is a stable, developing nation in the Lucayan Archipelago, with a population of 391,232 (2016).", "Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth for many years.", "The slowdown in the Economy of the United States and the September 11 attacks held back growth in these sectors from 2001 to 2003.Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for about 15% of GDP.", "However, since December 2000, when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international businesses have left the Bahamas.", "Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute approximately 10% of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives for those sectors.", "Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector, which depends on growth in the United States, the source of more than 80% of the visitors.", "In addition to tourism and banking, the government supports the development of a \"2nd-pillar\", e-commerce." ], [ "Features of the Bahamian economy", "The Bahamian economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism and financial services to generate foreign exchange earnings.", "The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of The Bahamas is approximately $5.7 billion with tourism accounting for 50%, financial services nearly 20% and the balance spread among retail and wholesale trade, fishing, light manufacturing and agriculture.", "The European Union lists the Bahamas as one of several Caribbean \"uncooperative jurisdictions\" because it fails to meet tax fairness and transparency benchmarks.===Tourism===Tourism alone provides an estimated 51% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about half the Bahamian workforce.", "In 2016, over 3 million tourists visited the Bahamas, most of whom are from the United States and Canada..A major contribution to the recent growth in the overall Bahamian economy is Kerzner International's Atlantis Resort and Casino, which took over the former Paradise Island Resort and has provided a much needed boost to the economy.", "In addition, the opening of Breezes Super Club and Sandals Resort also aided this turnaround.", "The Bahamian Government also has adopted a proactive approach to courting foreign investors and has conducted major investment missions to the Far East, Europe, Latin America, and Canada.", "The primary purpose of the trips was to restore the reputation of the Bahamas in these markets.===Offshore financial services===Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for up to 17% of GDP, due to the country's status as an offshore financial center.", "As of December 1998, 418 banks and trust companies have been licensed in the Bahamas.", "The Bahamas promulgated the International Business Companies (IBC) Act in January 1990 to enhance the country's status as a leading financial center.", "The Act simplified and reduced the cost of incorporating offshore companies in the Bahamas.", "Within 9 years, more than 100,000 IBC-type companies had been established.", "In February 1991, the government also legalized the establishment of Asset Protection Trusts in the Bahamas.", "In December 2000, partly as a response to appearing the plenary FATF Blacklist, the government enacted a legislative package to better regulate the financial sector, including creation of a Financial Intelligence Unit and enforcement of \"know-your-customer\" rules.", "Other initiatives include the enactment of the Foundations Act in 2004 and the planned introduction of legislation to regulate Private Trust Companies.", "After being later off the blacklist, in December 2020 Bahamas also was taken off the FATF greylist.===Agriculture===Agriculture and fisheries industry together account for 5% of GDP.", "The Bahamas exports lobster and some fish but does not raise these items commercially.", "There is no large scale agriculture, and most agricultural products are consumed domestically.", "The Bahamas imports more than $250 million in foodstuffs per year, representing about 80% of its food consumption.", "The government aims to expand food production to reduce imports and generate foreign exchange.", "It actively seeks foreign investment aimed at increasing agricultural exports, particularly specialty food items.", "The government officially lists beef and pork production and processing, fruits and nuts, dairy production, winter vegetables, and mariculture (shrimp farming) as the areas in which it wishes to encourage foreign investment.=== Trade ===The Bahamian Government maintains the value of the Bahamian dollar on a par with the U.S. dollar.", "The Bahamas is a beneficiary of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), Canada's CARIBCAN program, and the European Union's Lome IV Agreement.", "Although the Bahamas participates in the political aspects of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it has not entered into joint economic initiatives with other Caribbean states.===Industry===The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm, PharmaChem Technologies (GrandBahama) Ltd. (formerly Syntex); the BORCO oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces Heineken, Guinness, and Kalik beers; and Bacardi Corp., which distills rum in Nassau for shipment to the U.S. and European markets.", "Other industries include sun-dried sea salt in Great Inagua, a wet dock facility in Freeport for repair of cruise ships, and mining of aragonite—a type of limestone with several industrial uses—from the sea floor at Ocean Cay.", "Other smaller but more nimble players in the banking industry include Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. (FBB) and Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited (RFMBT).", "FBB offers a wide range of innovative banking products including loan products with built-in savings plans.", "RFMBT is the only merchant bank in the Bahamas and is a joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada.", "It provides investment products and services and attracts the majority of the corporate business deals in the Bahamas, most recently acting as financial advisor and placement agent for the largest initial public offering (IPO) ever in the Bahamas with the IPO of Commonwealth Brewery, a Heineken subsidiary.The Hawksbill Creek Agreement established a duty-free zone in Freeport, the Bahamas' second-largest city, with a nearby industrial park to encourage foreign industrial investment.", "The Hong Kong-based firm, Hutchison Whampoa, has opened a container port in Freeport.", "The Bahamian Parliament approved legislation in 1993 that extended most Freeport tax and duty exemptions through 2054." ], [ "Taxation", "The Bahamas has no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax.", "Payroll taxes fund social insurance benefits and amount to 3.9% paid by the employee and 5.9% paid by the employer.", "In 2010, overall tax revenue was 17.2% of GDP.", "A value-added tax (VAT) of 7.5% has been levied 1 January 2015.It then increased from 7.5% to 12% effective from 1 July 2018." ], [ "Statistics", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.Year GDP(in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Inflation(in Percent) Unemployment rate(in Percent) Government debt(Percentage of GDP) 1980 2.51 11,8772.60 7.1 % 12.2 % ... ... 1985 3.81 16,2963.92 4.1 % 4.6 % ... ... 1990 4.99 19,5755.22 1.1 % 4.6 % 12.0 % 13 % 1995 5.61 20,1035.65 4.4 % 2.0 % 10.9 % 21, % 2000 7.79 25,7228.08 5.0 % 1.7 % 7.0 % 19 % 2005 9.50 29,2319.84 3.4 % 1.8 % 10.2 % 23 % 2006 10.03 30,51210.17 2.5 % 2.0 % 7.6 % 23 % 2007 10.45 31,39810.62 1.4 % 2.4 % 7.9 % 23 % 2008 10.41 30,90610.53 −2.3 % 4.4 % 8.7 % 25 % 2009 10.05 29,5019.98 −4.2 % 1.7 % 14.2 % 30 % 2010 10.33 29,98610.10 1.5 % 1.6 % 15.1 % 34 % 2011 10.61 30,45210.07 0.6 % 3.1 % 15.9 % 35 % 2012 11.14 31,61810.72 3.1 % 1.9 % 14.4 % 38 % 2013 11.25 31,59310.40 −0.6 % 0.4 % 15.8 % 44 % 2014 11.31 31,41011.00 −1.2 % 1.2 % 14.6 % 48 % 2015 11.09 30,43511.67 −3.1 % 1.9 % 13.4 % 51 % 2016 11.25 30,53411.75 0.2 % −0.3 % 12.2 % 53 % 2017 11.60 31,13912.25 1.3 % 1.4 % 10.1 % 57 %* Household income or consumption by percentage share—highest 10%: 27% (2000)* Agriculture - products—citrus, vegetables, poultry* Electricity - production—2,505 GWh (2007 est.)", "- Rank 133* Electricity - consumption—1,793 GWh (2007) - Rank 133* Oil - consumption— (2006 est.)", "- Rank 115* Oil - exports—transhipments of (2003)* Exchange rate—Bahamian dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a one-to-one basisThe Bahamas has the 47th freest economy in the world according to The Heritage Foundation 2010 ''Index of Economic Freedom''.", "The Bahamas is ranked 7th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is higher than the regional and world averages.", "Total government spending, including consumption and transfer payments, is relatively low.", "In the most recent year, government spending was 23.4% of GDP." ], [ "See also", "* List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP growth* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP (nominal)* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP (PPP)" ], [ "References", "* ''Some of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2009.''" ], [ "External links", "* Bahamian Government Statistics" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Government of Barbados" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Government of Barbados''' (GoB), is a unitary parliamentary republic, where the President of Barbados is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Barbados is the head of government." ], [ "Structure", "Simplification of the government structure of BarbadosThe country has a bicameral legislature and a political party system, based on universal adult suffrage and fair elections.", "The Senate has 21 members, appointed by the President, 12 on the advice of the Prime Minister, two on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, and seven at the President's sole discretion.", "The House of Assembly has 30 members, all elected.", "Both houses debate all legislation.", "However, the House of Assembly may override Senate's rejection of money bills and other bills except bills amending the Constitution.Officers of each house (President and Deputy President of the Senate; Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Chairman of Committees of the Assembly) are elected from the members of the respective houses.In keeping with the Westminster system of governance, Barbados has evolved into an independent parliamentary democracy, meaning that all political power rests with the Parliament under a non-political President as head of state.", "Executive authority is vested in the President, who normally acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, who are collectively responsible to Parliament.", "Barbadian law is rooted in English common law, and the Constitution of Barbados implemented in 1966, is the supreme law of the land.Fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual are set out in the Constitution and are protected by a strict legal code.The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who must be an elected member of Parliament, and other ministers are appointed from either chamber by the President, as advised by the Prime Minister.Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados on Bay Street, Bridgetown, Barbados.", "(c.a.", "November 2000)The President appoints as Leader of the Opposition the member of House of Assembly who commands the support of the largest number of members of that House in opposition to the ruling party's government.The maximum duration of a Parliament is five years from the first sitting.", "There is a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses of Parliament by the President, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.There is an established non-political civil service.", "Also, there are separate constitutional commissions for the Judicial and Legal Service, the Public Service, and the Police Service." ], [ "History", "The government has been chosen by elections since 1961 elections, when Barbados achieved full self-governance.", "Before then, the government was a Crown colony consisting of either colonial administration solely (such as the Executive Council), or a mixture of colonial rule and a partially elected assembly, such as the Legislative Council.Between 1966 and 2021, the head of state of Barbados was the Monarchy of Barbados represented by the Governor-General of Barbados as its representative.", "After decades of republicanism, the monarchy was abolished and replaced with a new head of state office, the President of Barbados, on 30 November 2021.Since independence the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) held office 1966 to 1976, from 1986 to 1994, and from January 2008 to 2018.The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) governed from 1976 to 1986, from September 1994–2008 and has formed the government from 2018–Present." ], [ "Executive branch", "\| President 155px Sandra Mason Independent 30 November 2021Prime Minister155px Mia MottleyBarbados Labour Party25 May 2018The Executive Branch of government conducts the ordinary business of government.", "These functions are called out by the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers.", "The prime minister chooses the ministers of government they wish to have in the cabinet but they are actually appointed by the President.", "Heads of State* PresidentHead of Government* Prime Minister Attorney General's MinistersOffice Office HolderConstituencyPolitical PartyPrime MinisterMinister of Finance and Economic Affairs, with responsibility for Culture, Security, Public Service, Caricom and Development CommissionsMia MottleySt.", "Michael North EastBarbados Labour PartyDeputy Prime MinisterSenior MinisterMinister of Transport, Works and Water ResourcesSanita BradshawSt.", "Michael South EastAttorney General and Minister of Legal AffairsSenior Minister GovernanceDale MarshallSt.", "JosephMinister of Energy and Business DevelopmentSenior MinisterKerrie SymmondsSt.", "James CentralMinister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign TradeSenior Minister, Social and Environmental PolicyJerome WalcottN/A (Senator)Senior Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, with responsibility for Infrastructure and Town Planning MattersWilliam DuguidChrist Church WestMinister of Homes Affairs and InformationWilfred AbrahamsChrist Church EastMinister of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition SecurityIndar WeirSt.", "Philip SouthMinister of Tourism and International TransportIan Gooding EdghillSt.", "Michael West CentralMinister for the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender AffairsLisa CummingsN/A (Senator)Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational TrainingKay McConneySt.", "Philip WestMinister of Housing, lands and MaintenanceDwight SutherlandSt.", "George SouthMinister of People Empowerment and Elder AffairsKirk HumphreySt.", "Michael SouthMinister of the Environment and National Beautification and Blue EconomyAdrian FordeChrist Church West CentralMinister of Labour, Social Security and Third SectorColin JordanSt.", "PeterMinister of Industry, Innovation, Science and TechnologyDavidson IshmaelSt.", "Michael NorthMinister of Youth, Sports and Community EmpowermentCharles GriffithSt.", "JohnMinister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic DevelopmentRyan StraughnChrist Church East CentralMinister in the Office of the Prime MinisterChantal Munroe KnightN/A (Senator)Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and WellnessSonia BrowneSt.", "Philip NorthMinister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Ministry of Business DevelopmentSandra HusbandsSt.", "James SouthSource: St.Lucia Times+Parliamentary SecretariesOfficeOffice HolderConstituencyPolitical partyParliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources, with responsibility for Water ResourcesRommel SpringerSt.", "AndrewBarbados Labour PartyParliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder AffairsCorey LayneCity of BridgetownSource: St.Lucia Times+Permanent SecretariesMinisterial OfficePositionOffice HolderMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign TradeHEAD OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF FOREIGN TRADELouis WoodroffePrime Minister's OfficePERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Alies JordanMinistry of the Public ServiceDIRECTOR GENERAL (HUMAN RESOURCES)Ms. Gail AtkinsMinistry of Finance, Economic Affairs and InvestmentPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Nancy Headley Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign TradePERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Simone RudderOffice of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal AffairsPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Yvette GoddardMinistry of Education, Technological and Vocational TrainingPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Betty Alleyne Headley Ministry of Home AffairsPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Deborah PayneMinistry of Health & WellnessPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Janet PhilipsMinistry of Agriculture and Food SecurityPERMANENT SECRETARY Mr. Terry BascombeMinistry of Labour and Social Partnership RelationsPERMANENT SECRETARYDr.", "Karen BestMinistry of Housing, Lands and Rural DevelopmentPERMANENT SECRETARYMr.", "Timothy MaynardMinistry of International Business and IndustryPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "June Chandler National Insurance DepartmentDIRECTOR Ms. Jennifer Hunte Ministry of Tourism and International TransportPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Donna CadoganMinistry of Youth and Community EmpowermentPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Yolande HowardMinistry of People Empowerment and Elder AffairsPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Gabrielle SpringerMinistry of Energy, Small Business and EntrepreneurshipPERMANENT SECRETARY (SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS)Mr. Andrew GittensMinistry of Environment and National Beautification PERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Daphne KellmanMinistry of Energy, Small Business and EntrepreneurshipPERMANENT SECRETARY (SMALLBUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP)Ms. Francine Blackman Ministry of Transport, Works and MaintenancePERMANENT SECRETARYMr.", "Mark Cummins Prime Minister's OfficePERMANENT SECRETARY (CULTURE)Mr. Jehu Wiltshire Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue EconomyPERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Sonia FosterMinistry of Innovation, Science and Smart TechnologyPERMANENT SECRETARY Mr. Charley Browne Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Public AffairsPERMANENT SECRETARYMs.", "Sandra PhillipsCabinet OfficeCABINET SECRETARYMrs.", "Cecile Humphrey Ministry of Energy, Small Business and EntrepreneurshipPERMANENT SECRETARY (Small Business and Entrepreneurship)Mr. Esworth ReidSource: BGIS" ], [ "Legislative Branch", "Under Barbados' version of the Westminster system of government, the executive and legislative branches are partly intertwined.The only official Cabinet office (other than Prime Minister) expressly mentioned in the Constitution of Barbados is Office of the Attorney-General.", "* President* Chief Secretaries (Abolished)* Auditors-General* Senators** Presidents of the Senate* Members of the House ( a/k/a Members of Parliament)** Speakers of the House of Assembly* Clerks of Parliament=== Law ===The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the nation.", "The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary.", "Historically, Barbadian law was based entirely on English common law with a few local adaptations.", "At the time of independence, the Parliament of the United Kingdom lost its ability to legislate for Barbados, but the existing English and British common law and statutes in force at that time, together with other measures already adopted by the Barbadian Parliament, became the basis of the new country's legal system.Legislation may be shaped or influenced by such organisations as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, or other international bodies to which Barbados has obligatory commitments by treaty.", "Additionally, through international co-operation, other institutions may supply the Barbados Parliament with key sample legislation to be adapted to meet local circumstances before enacting it as local law.New acts are passed by the Barbadian Parliament and require approval by the President to become law.", "The President, has the power to \"withhold assent\" from laws by vetoing the proposed law without parliamentary override." ], [ "Judicial branch", "The judiciary is the legal system through which punishments are handed out to individuals who break the law.", "The functions of the judiciary are to enforce laws; to interpret laws; to conduct court hearings; to hear court appeals.The local court system of Barbados is made up of:Magistrates' Courts: Covering Criminal, Civil, Domestic, Domestic Violence, and Juvenile matters.", "But can also take up matters dealing with Coroner's Inquests, Liquor Licences, and civil marriages.", "Further, the Magistrates' Courts deal with Contract and Tort law where claims do not exceed $10,000.00.", "The Supreme Court: is made up of High Court and Court of Appeals.", "High Court: Consisting of Civil, Criminal, and Family law divisions.", "Court of Appeal: Handles appeals from the High Court and Magistrates' Court.", "It hears appeals in both the civil, and criminal law jurisdictions.", "It may consist of a single Justice of Appeal sitting in Chambers; or may sit as a Full Court of three Justices of Appeals.", "The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), (based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), is the court of last resort (final jurisdiction) over Barbadian law.", "It replaced the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC).", "The CCJ may resolve other disputed matters dealing with the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).", " Chief Justices Justices of Appeals Magistrates" ], [ "Perception", "Transparency International ranked Barbados as 29th place (of 180) in the world on its Corruption Perceptions Index in 2021, being the least corrupt country in the Caribbean." ], [ "See also", "* Politics of Barbados* Monarchy of Barbados* Parliament of Barbados* Prime Minister of Barbados* Cabinet of Barbados* List of government budgets by country* List of countries by tax revenue as percentage of GDP" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "Gallery", "File:Barbadian Prime Minister's Office.jpg\|Office of the Prime MinisterFile:Government Headquarters2 (Cabinet Office), Barbados.jpg\|The Cabinet Office in the Government Headquarters complex File:Government Headquarters (Cabinet Office), Barbados.jpg\|Main entrance to the Government Headquarters complex, with a statue of Sir Grantley Adams in the foreground" ], [ "External links", "* Barbadian Government Website* The Barbados Governmental System, Photius Coutsoukis* Barbados Government statement on the proper titles for members of Government* Social Security provided by the Government of Barbados* Laws of Barbados, The World Law Guide* Laws of Barbados, The World Intellectual Property Organization" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Government of Belarus" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Government of the Republic of Belarus''' (), which consists of the '''Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus''' (), is the executive branch of state power in Belarus, and is appointed by the President of Belarus.", "The head of the Government is the President of Belarus, who manages the main agenda of the government and direct the ministers.", "The National Assembly of Belarus is the continuation of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR and acts as the functioning parliament for Belarus." ], [ "Council of Ministers", "Below are the 30 members of the Council of Ministers as of 19 August 2020, as well as the head of the presidential administration and the chairmen of the State Committees, who are not technically ministers but are included in the Council of Ministers.", "Offices which are not technically counted as ministerial posts are italicized.", "The prime minister, the first deputy prime minister(s), the deputy prime minister(s), the ministers of economy, finance, and foreign affairs, the head of the presidential administration, and the chairman of the State Control Committee together form the Presidium of the Council of Ministers.", "These officials are highlighted in yellow.", "The incumbent government resigned en masse on 17 August 2020.A new government was formed on 19 August 2020, consisting of mostly the same people.===Composition===''As of 2023:'' Prime MinisterRoman GolovchenkoFirst Deputy Prime MinisterNikolai Snopkov Deputy Prime Minister (for Industry and Energy)Pyotr Parkhomchik Deputy Prime Minister (for the Social Sphere — Health Care, Education, Culture, Sports)Igor Petrishenko Deputy Prime Minister (for Construction, Housing-Communal Services and Transport Affairs)Anatoly Sivak Deputy Prime Minister (for Agriculture)Leonid ZayatsMinister of Agriculture and FoodIgor Brylo Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and TradeAleksei BogdanovMinister of Architecture and ConstructionRuslan ParkhamovichMinister of CultureAnatoly Markevich Minister of DefenceViktor Khrenin Minister of EconomyAleksandr Chervyakov Minister of EducationAndrei Ivanets Minister of Emergency SituationsVadim SinyavskyMinister of EnergyViktor KarankevichMinister of FinanceYury Selivyorstov Minister of Foreign AffairsSergei Aleinik Minister of ForestryAleksandr Kulik Minister of Health CareDmitry Pinevich Minister of Housing-Communal Servicesvacant Minister of IndustryAleksandr Rogozhnik Minister of InformationVladimir Pertsov Minister of Internal AffairsIvan KubrakovMinister of JusticeSergei Khomenko Minister of Labour and Social ProtectionIrina Kostevich Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental ConservationAndrei Khudyk Minister of Sport and TourismSergei Kovalchuk Minister of Taxes and DutiesSergei NalivaikoMinister of Telecommunications and InformatisationKonstantin Shulgan Minister of Transport and Communicationsvacant ''Chairman of the State Security Committee''Ivan Tertel ''Chairman of the State Control Committee''Vasily Gerasimov ''Chairman of the State Military-Industrial Committee''Dmitry Pantus ''Chairman of the State Committee on Property''Dmitry Matusevich ''Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology''Sergei Shlychkov ''Chairman of the State Committee on Standardisation''Valentin Tataritsky ''Chairman of the State Border Committee''Konstantin Molostov ''Chairman of the State Customs Committee''Vladimir Orlovsky''Head of the Presidential Administration''Igor Sergeyenko ''Chairman of the National Bank''Pavel Kallaur ''Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Science''Vladimir Gusakov ''Chairman of the Board of the Republican Union of Consumer Societies''Oleg Matskevich" ], [ "See also", "Supreme Soviet of Belarus, the preceding supreme state power in BelarusNational Assembly of Belarus, the current supreme state power in Belarus" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Belarus" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telecommunications in Belarus''' involves the availability and use of electronic devices and services, such as the telephone, television, radio or computer, for the purpose of communication." ], [ "Telephone system", "* Telephone lines in use: 3,9741 million (2011).", "* Mobile/cellular: 11,559,473 subscribers (Q1 2019).", "* The phone calling code for Belarus is +375.The Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications originating within the country through its carrier unitary enterprise, Beltelecom.Telephone booths in Minsk, September 2007 Minsk has a digital metropolitan network; waiting lists for telephones are long; fixed line penetration is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved; intercity – Belarus has developed a fibre-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998).", "Belarus's fibre optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems.===International connection===Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe Fibre-Optic Line (TAE) and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fibre-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations.In 2006 it was announced that Belarus and Russia completed the second broadband link between the two countries, the Yartsevo-Vitebsk cable.", "The capacity of this high speed terrestrial link which based on DWDM and STM technology is 400Gbit/s with the ability to upgrade in the future.===Cellular communications===Belarus has 3 GSM/UMTS operators – A1, MTS, life:).", "For 4G data operators use the infrastructure managed by state operator beCloud, VoLTE service currently is offered only with A1." ], [ "Radio and television", "\"Mass Media in Belarus\" exhibition.", "\"Mass Media for Diaspora\" booth.", "5 May 2005* Television broadcast stations: 100 of which 59 are privately owned.Belarus has switched from an analog to digital broadcast television.", "The process finished in May 2015.Belarus broadcasts according to the DVB-T2 standard with MPEG-4 compression.", "* Radio broadcast stations: 173 with 24 privately owned, including 30 FM stations.", "* Radios: 3.02 million (1997)." ], [ "Internet", "* Country code: .byThe state telecom monopoly, Beltelecom, holds the exclusive interconnection with Internet providers outside of Belarus.", "Beltelecom owns all the backbone channels that linked to the Lattelecom, TEO LT, Tata Communications (former Teleglobe), Synterra, Rostelecom, Transtelekom and MTS ISP's.", "Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide commercial VoIP services in Belarus.Until 2005–2006 broadband access (mostly using ADSL) was available only in a few major cities in Belarus.", "In Minsk there were a dozen privately owned ISP's and in some larger cities Beltelecom's broadband was available.", "Outside these cities the only options for Internet access were dial-up from Beltelecom or GPRS/cdma2000 from mobile operators.", "In 2006 Beltelecom introduced a new trademark, ''Byfly'', for its ADSL access.", "As of 2008 Byfly was available in all administrative centres of Belarus.", "Other ISPs are expanding their broadband networks beyond Minsk as well.Internet use:* According to a 2006 survey of 1,500 adults by Satio, a third of Belarusians use the Internet—38% of the urban population and 16% of the rural population.", "* A 2006 study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indicates 56.5% of Belarus' population were internet-users.", "* The International Telecommunication Union showed Internet penetration (Internet users per 100 population) in 2009 at 27% for Belarus, 42% for Serbia, 37% for Romania, 29% for Russia, and 17% for Ukraine.", "* According to Internet World Stats, Internet penetration in June 2010 was 47.5%.", "For comparison, Internet penetration in the Ukraine was 33.7%, in Romania 35.5%, Russia 42.8%, and Serbia 55.9%.The most active Internet users in Belarus belong to the 17–22 age group (38 percent), followed by users in the 23–29 age group.", "Internet access in Belarus is predominantly urban, with 60 percent of users living in the capital Minsk.", "The profile of the average Internet user is male, university educated, living in the capital, and working in a state enterprise.", "The Ministry for Statistics and Analysis estimates that one in four families in Belarus owns a computer at home.", "The popularity of Internet cafés has fallen in recent years, as most users prefer to access the Internet from home or work.", "Russian is the most widely used language by Belarusians on the Internet, followed by Belarusian, English, and Polish.In mid-2009 there were more than 22,300 Belarusian Web sites, of which roughly 13,500 domain names were registered with the top-level domain name \".by\".In June 2011 E-Belarus.org listed:* 2 ISPs in the Brest region, 4 in the Gomel region, 1 in the Grodno region, 26 in the Minsk region, 1 in the Mogilev region, and 1 in the Vitebsk region* 4 ADSL providers* 3 technology parks* 2 educational networks* more than 30 Internet cafes and Wi-Fi Hotspots" ], [ "Censorship and media freedom", "Many western human rights groups state that civil rights and free expression are severely limited in Belarus, though there are some individuals and groups that refuse to be controlled and some journalists have disappeared.Because the Belarus government limits freedom of expression, several opposition media outlets are broadcast from nearby countries to help provide Belarusians an alternative points of view.", "This includes the Polish state-owned Belsat TV station and European Radio for Belarus (Eŭrapéjskaje Rádyjo dla Biełarúsi)Reporters Without Borders ranked Belarus 157th out of 178 countries in its 2014 Press Freedom Index.", "By comparison, the same index ranked neighbor Ukraine, 126th and Russia, 148th.In the 2011 Freedom House ''Freedom of the Press report'', Belarus scored 92 on a scale from 10 (most free) to 99 (least free), because the government allegedly systematically curtails press freedom.", "This score placed Belarus 9th from the bottom of the 196 countries included in the report and earned the country a \"Not Free\" status." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* The Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian)* The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian)* Media in Belarus, e-Belarus.org* Mass media in Belarus on the official website of the Republic of Belarus'''Major telecommunications operators in Belarus (in Belarusian)''':* Beltelecom* MTS (GSM)* A1 (GSM)* Life (GSM)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Belarus" ], [ "Introduction", "M1 highway at OrshaRail transport map of BelarusMajor gas (red) and oil (green) pipelines in BelarusA Trolleybus in BrestDaugava river in VitebskThe autobus station of GomelThis article is about '''transport in Belarus'''." ], [ "Railways", "Rail transport in Belarus is operated by Belarusskaya Chyhunka''total:''''country comparison to the world:'' 32''broad gauge:'' of gauge ( electrified) (2006)City with underground railway system: Minsk, see Minsk MetroFor tramway systems: see List of town tramway systems in Belarus" ], [ "Highways", "The owners of highways may be the Republic of Belarus, its political subdivisions, legal and natural persons, who own roads, as well as legal entities, which roads are fixed on the basis of economic or operational management.Republican state administration in the field of roads and road activity is the Department Belavtodor under the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Belarus.In total, in Belarus there are more than of roads and of departmental thousand (agriculture, industry, forestry, etc.", "), including in cities and towns.", "The density of paved roads has been relatively low – 337 km per 1,000 km2 territory – for comparison, in European countries with well-developed road network, the figure is an average of .", "''total:''''paved:'' (2003)" ], [ "Waterways", " (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003)''country comparison to the world:'' 37Belarus' inland waterways are managed by Dneprobugvodput, Belvodput, and the Dnieper-Berezinsky Enterprise." ], [ "Pipelines", "gas ; oil ; refined products (2008)" ], [ "Ports and harbors", "* Mazyr - on the river Pripyat" ], [ "Airports", "65 (2008):''country comparison to the world:'' 76* Minsk International Airport* Minsk-1* Gomel Airport=== Airports - with paved runways ===''total:''35''over :''2'':''22'':''4'':''1''under :''6 (2008)=== Airports - with unpaved runways ===''total:''30'':''1'':''1'':''2''under :''26 (2008)=== Heliports ===1 (2007)Heliports is where helicopter land.=== National air-carrier ===Belavia" ], [ "See also", "Transport in the Soviet UnionVehicle registration plates of Belarus" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " Automobiles, Trains And Buses - Getting Around Belarus" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Armed Forces of Belarus" ], [ "Introduction", "Map showing main military units of the Belarusian Armed ForcesThe '''Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus''' (; ) are the military forces of Belarus.", "It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence.", "As a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy, however the Belarusian military does have control over some small Soviet inherited naval vessels in its rivers and lakes.", "In 2017, IISS estimated that personnel in the armed forces numbered 49,000, and nearly 350,000 reserves.", "Most soldiers are conscripts serving for a period of 18 months, although there is an alternative service option.", "The Belarusian military still holds many Soviet military laws and holds high numbers of reserve personnels as a high priority.", "Belarus conducted military reforms in the early 2000s which reshaped its armed forces as a relatively effective force for a small state in somewhat difficult economic conditions." ], [ "History", "Soldiers of the Belarusian Battalion within the Lithuanian Armed Forces 1919The Belarusian People's Republic of March 1918 to 1919 did not have time to create armed forces in its brief existence, although attempts to create a military have been documented.Until 1991, the Soviet Belorussian Military District comprised the 5th Guards Tank Army (HQ Bobruisk), the 7th Tank Army (HQ Borisov), the 28th Army (HQ Grodno), the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, the 72nd Guards District Training Center and logistical units and formations.", "Additionally, the Belorussian SSR hosted the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the 38th Guards Airborne Brigade, the 11th Air Defence Corps of the 2nd Air Defence Army, and the 26th Air Army, as well as units and formations of the Strategic Rocket Forces, Long Range Aviation, the Navy, and special forces.In late 1991 the 5th Guards Tank Army comprised the 30th Guards Motor Rifle Division, newly arrived from Czechoslovakia, and the 193rd Tank Division, plus two armament and equipment storage bases (the former 8th Guards and 29th Tank Divisions), and army troops.", "The 7th Tank Army comprised the 3rd Guards Tank Division, 34th, and 37th Guards Tank Divisions, plus army troops.", "The 28th Army comprised two divisions, the 6th Guards Tank and 50th Guards Motor Rifle, the 6314th Equipment Storage Base at Slonim, and the 5356th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment, formerly a low-status mobilisation division.", "Also arriving from the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary was the 19th Guards Tank Division.On September 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus passed resolution \"On the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus\" and on January 11, 1992, resolution \"On the Armed Forces deployed in the territory of the Republic of Belarus.\"", "On March 18, 1992, the parliament passed resolution \"On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus\" that bound the government \"to start the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus as of March 20, 1992\" and \"to submit to the Supreme Soviet for approval the suggested structure of the Armed Forces, their size and order of their material and technical supplies\".On May 6, 1992, the Belorussian Military District was abolished.", "The Belarusian Ministry of Defence and the Main Staff were formed from its resources.", "The former first deputy commander and military district Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Pavel Kozlovskiy, was appointed Minister of Defence on 22 April 1992, taking over from acting Minister of Defence Colonel-General Petr Chaus.", "On 8 September 1992, the Minsk Higher Military Engineering School and the Minsk Higher Military Command School (now the unified Military Academy of Belarus) were the first to take the military oath of allegiance to the armed forces, with their induction ceremony being held on Independence Square in the presence of defense minister Kozlovskii.", "This was done to commemorate anniversary of the Lithuanian-Polish victory at the Battle of Orsha, which was considered to be a Day of Belarusian Military Glory.On August 17, 1992, personnel from the United States Department of Defense made a Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty inspection of an installation in Urechye (near Minsk).", "The 969th Central Base for Reserve Tanks, and two elements of the 30th Guards Motor Rifle Division: the 30th Guards Tank Regiment and the 20th independent Reconnaissance Battalion were the three units at the site.On November 3, 1992, Belarus passed the law \"On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus\" defining the status, structure and guiding principles of the Armed Forces.", "After the introduction of presidency the law was amended twice: on September 4, 1996, and on November 9, 1999, but on the whole the law retains its initial contents.On January 1, 1993, all service personnel on Belarusian soil were required to either take an oath of loyalty to Belarus, or leave.", "This oath however did not alleviate concerns regarding loyalty to Russia in time of crisis, especially since nearly 50% of all military personnel were ethnically Russian in the end of 1992.In June 1995, President Alexander Lukashenko issued a decree on the Mobile Forces.", "By June 1996, they comprised a headquarters in Vitebsk, two brigades drawn from the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the 38th Independent Mobile Brigade (Brest, Belarus), an air transport regiment, and communications, logistics, and engineer units.Membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as the 1996 treaty on the Union of Russia and Belarus and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State in 1999, confirmed a close partnership with Russia.", "Much of the air defence system was integrated into the Russian air defence network, and in 2006 the two nations signed an agreement on the creation of a unified air defence system." ], [ "Structure", "Belarus government websites say that the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus is supported by Central Command Support Elements and the General Staff of the Armed Forces.Combat Support Elements of the Armed Forces included Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare, Signals, Engineer, NBC Defence, Navigation and Topography, and Maintenance organisations.", "Logistic Elements of the Armed Forces provided Material Support, Logistic Support, Medical Support, Veterinarian Support, and Military Construction.In 1995 the Military Academy of Belarus was set up on the basis of two military educational institutions – the Minsk Air Defence and Rocket School of the Soviet Air Defence Forces and the Minsk Higher Military Command School.", "Its 10 departments train officers of 38 specialties for practically all arms of service.", "Also in 1995 it was given the status of a government institution of secondary special military education for young men.=== Branches =======Ground Forces====A Library of Congress study of national ground forces said that in 1994 Belarus had ground forces of 52,500.They were organized into three corps headquarters, two motor divisions, one airborne division, the 51st Guards Artillery Division at Osipovichi, three mechanized divisions, one airborne brigade, three surface-to-surface missile brigades, two antitank brigades, one special duties brigade, and seven anti-aircraft missile brigades.", "Equipment included 3,108 main battle tanks (seventy-nine T-54, 639 T-55, 291 T-62, 299 T-64, eight T-80, and 1,800 T-72), 419 medium-range launchers, sixty surface to-surface missiles, and 350 surface-to-air missiles.In 1993 the 7th Tank Army was reorganised as the 7th Army Corps.", "In 1994 the 7th Army Corps was redesignated as the 65th Army Corps, still located at Borisov.By January 1, 1995, the composition of the Belarusian ground forces had changed.", "The Library of Congress study estimated at the time that Ministry of Defence forces included the 103rd Guards Airborne Division and the 38th Separate Assault-Landing Brigade; the 28th Army Corps (Grodno Region and Brest Region), composed of headquarters at Grodno, the 6th Guards Kiev-Berlin Mechanised Brigade, the 11th Guards Mechanised Brigade, the 50th Separate Mechanised Infantry Brigade, the Armament and Equipment base, and corps units (missile troops, antiaircraft, chemical and engineer troops, signals, and rear services); the 65th Army Corps (Minsk and Vitebsk Regions), composed of headquarters at Borisov, three armament and equipment bases, and corps units; and the 5th Guards Army Corps (Minsk and Mahilyow regions) made up of headquarters at Babruysk, the 30th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, two Armament and Equipment bases, and corps units.Actually, the 103rd Guards Airborne Division had been reorganized as Headquarters, Mobile Forces, in 1993.On 1 August 1996 the 51st Guards Artillery Division was reorganised as the 51st Guards Central Group of Artillery, still located at Osipovichi.On 21 December 2001, a major reorganisation of the Ground Forces produced two operational-territorial commands, formed from two former corps headquarters.", "All Belarus ground forces were now grouped within these two commands, the Western Operational Command at Grodno, former from the previous 28th Army Corps, the former Soviet 28th Army, and the North Western Operational Command, the former 65th Army Corps, at Barysaw (Borisov).Since about 2001, territorial defence forces, which as of 2002 number around 150,000, have been forming, organised into battalions, companies, and platoons spread across Belarus.In 2007, the Land Forces consisted of 29,600 soldiers (6th Guards Mechanised Brigade (Grodno), 11th Guards Mechanized Brigade at Slonim, the 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade (Minsk), 38th and 103rd Mobile Brigades (organized similarly to Soviet airborne regiments, not all of them are equipped with BMD-1), 5th Spetsnaz Brigade (Maryina Horka), five artillery brigades and four regiments, two MRL regiments, 15th, 29th, 115th, 120th and 302nd SAM Brigades, two SSM brigades, two brigades and one regiment of engineers, 8th independent NBC Brigade, two signals brigades, 40th independent NBC battalion.", "Army equipment includes 1800 main battle tanks (MBT) and 2600 AFV/APC.", "The weapons and equipment storage bases include the 50th (Brest), 19th, 34th & 37th (former tank divisions), 3rd, and 28th (Baranovichi).", "Weapons storage bases that have been disbanded include the 29th, 30th, 193rd, and the storage base that used to be the 8th Guards Tank Division at Marina Gorka.In 2012 it was reported that there were six mechanised brigades in the Ground Forces: three full-strength, the 6th (Grodno), 11th (Slonim), and 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade at Minsk.", "The others were at reduced strength, where there was one battalion, the 19th (Zaslonova), 37th, and 50th (Baranovichi).", "By 2017, the number of mechanised brigades had been further reduced to four, with two at full strength and two at reduced strength.====Air Force and Air Defence Forces====The 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 2nd Air Defence Corps, Moscow Air Defence District was stationed in Krichev in Mogilev Oblast, and disbanded in 1993.In 2007 the Air Force and Air Defence Force of Belarus (AF & ADF) consisted of 18,170 personnel (two fighter/interceptor bases, four FGA/reconnaissance squadrons, one transport air base, training aircraft, and attack and support helicopters, SAM units).", "Air Force equipment included in 2004 260 fighter-ground attack/training aircraft and 80 attack helicopters.", "According to Belarus government websites, the Air Forces now have two commands, the Western Operational-Tactical Command and the North-Western Operational-Tactical Command.The 61st and 927th Air Bases have now merged into the 61st (fighter) Air Base at Baranovichi, flying MiG-29s, and the 206th Air Base (Ross) has merged into the 116th Guards Assault Air Base at Lida, flying Su-25s.=== Independent forces ======= Special Forces ====Troops of the Special Forces during the 2015 Moscow Victory Day ParadeThe Special Forces of Belarus is the airmobile and strategic deterrence force.", "It has been a participant in conflicts such as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the Libyan Civil War (2011).==== Transport Troops ====The Belarusian Transport Troops is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, and air.", "It is also designed to carry the tasks of the transport support of the military formations from other service branches.", "General leadership is exercised by the Minister of Defense, while direct control is carried out by the Head of the Transport Support Department, a position that reports directly to the President.==== Territorial Forces ====The '''Territorial Forces''' (, ) are a homeland defence organization in the armed forces.", "It is managed by the Department of the Territorial Forces, being a support department of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus and is operated by the General Staff.", "It is currently located on Kommunisticheskaya Street in Minsk.", "The current head of the department of territorial forces is Colonel Andrei Paseko.", "The Territorial Defence system was established in the early 2000s.", "Over 120,000 troops constitute the size of the Territorial Forces, which is twice as much as it serves in the regular duty military.", "During an address by President Alexander Lukashenko on 18 February 2016, he announced the allocation of arms and to the territorial forces and the minimum and maximum amount of district troops ranging from one company and a battalion.", "Personnel of these units are recruited from residents of their respective administrative-territorial regions.=== Specialized forces ===Special troops are designed to support the combat activities of the Ground Forces and solve their inherent tasks.", "They include formations and military units of intelligence, communications, engineering, radiation, chemical and biological defense, electronic warfare, navigation and topographic.", "Electronic Warfare TroopsSignal CorpsEngineer troopsNBC Protection TroopsTopographic Navigation Service" ], [ "Security forces", "===Internal Troops===The Special Purpose Unit of the Internal Troops.The Internal Troops of Belarus were formed from the former Soviet Internal Troops after the collapse of the Soviet Union.", "They consist of three independent brigades and seven independent battalions (consecutively numbered).===Border Guard Service===The Border Guard Service is the paramilitary force of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus.", "It covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia." ], [ "Manpower", "Belarusian jets during a flyby in Minsk, July 2019.The Government Directive of 20 March 1992 'On the Establishment of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus' founded the Belarusian army.", "The Soviet troops of the BMD were smoothly converted into Belarusian military units.", "Yet one of the first tasks of the Belarusian government was a reduction in its numbers.", "240,000 soldiers and officers were serving in the Belarusian Military District.", "By early 2013 the numbers of military personnel had been scaled down nearly fourfold since 1991.In February 2014, Belorusskaya Voyennaya Gazeta, the official publication of the Ministry of Defense revealed that the Belarusian Armed Forces contains about 59,500 personnel, including 46,000 soldiers and 13,000 civilians." ], [ "Personnel", "=== Military commandants ===The military commandants of the Armed Forces of Belarus are regional administrations tasked with overseeing Belarusian regiments in the commandant's territory.", "Units are assigned to a specific commandant based on their location.", "There are 6 military commandants in the Belarusian Armed Forces.", "Commandant Name Commander Region Belarus Supreme Commander Supreme Commander Alexander Lukashenko All Regions Baranavichy Military Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pivovar Brest Region Babruysk Military Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Gritsuk Mogilev Region Barysaw Military Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Kislyi Minsk Region Brest Military Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Ivanyuk Brest Region Grodno Military Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lupyrev Grodno Region Minsk Military Commandant Colonel Nikolai Kurash Minsk RegionUnits under the command of commandants include military police, honour guards and military bands.=== Military education ===Military Academy of BelarusMinistry of the Interior Academy of BelarusBorder Guard Service Institute of BelarusMilitary Institute of the Belarusian State Medical UniversityMilitary Faculty of the Belarusian State University – The faculty was established on 4 November 1926, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council.", "In 1941, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, military training classes were interrupted only to be resumed in 1943.In the post-war and subsequent years, the military department continued to train reserve officers from among the students in the required military accounting specialties.", "In 2003, the military department was reorganized into the modern military faculty of Belarusian State University.", "Military Faculty of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics Military Faculty of the Belarusian National Technical UniversityMilitary Faculty of the Grodno State UniversityMilitary Faculty of the Belarusian State University of TransportMilitary Faculty of the Belarusian State Academy of Aviation" ], [ "Equipment", "BTR-DThe military forces of Belarus are almost exclusively armed with Soviet-era equipment inherited from the Soviet Union.", "Although large in numbers, some Western experts consider some of it outdated.", "\"The Belarusian armed forces receive around 100 brand-new and upgraded systems a year\", said in late July 2018, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defence for Armament and Chief of Armament Major General Sergei Simonenko.", "The MBTs are of Russian type T-72, T-62, and T-55, the APCs and IFVs are of Russian type MT-LB, BMP-2, BMP-1, and the BMD-1, and Russian type trucks are the GAZ-66 and the KAMAZ-6560.While the IISS Military Balance 2016 listed 69 T-80s in service, by 2018 the listing had been removed, and the only MBTs listed were 527 T-72 as well as 5 T-72B3.The Air Force is equipped with MiG-29 fighters, Su-25 attack aircraft, as well as Mi-8, Mi-24, and some old, Polish built Mi-2 helicopters.", "In December 2005, Belarus bought 10 L-39C jet trainer aircraft from Ukraine, and in 2017 a contract have been signed to buy 12 Su-30SM fighters.", "In 2006, four batteries (''divizions'' in Russian terminology; about six systems each) of S-300 anti-aircraft systems were acquired from Russia to reinforce the Joint CIS Air Defense System.", "The Military Balance 2018 listed a brigade with the S-300P and a brigade with the S-300V (SA-12A Gladiator/SA-12B Giant).", "Moscow and Minsk signed contracts in 2021 for the supply of fighters, helicopters, air defense systems and other weapons to Belarus.", "S-400 air defense systems and 9K720 Iskander tactical ballistic missiles were delivered in 2022.It was also reported that almost every company was equipped with quadcopters.", "In July of 2023, the Russian defense ministry released a video with an short article, describing the future defense operations with Belarus, the video included images of Su35, Mig 29, and Su34 fighter jets, T80 and T72 main battle tanks, drones, S400 anti-air systems and more.", "Which is leading experts to believe that these are some weapons that Belarus has shown heavy interests in buying." ], [ "Military cooperation", "=== CSTO ===The armed forces took part in a joint CSTO military intervention in Kazakhstan during the 2022 Kazakh unrest.=== Military advisors ===The armed forces have sent their military specialists to countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Venezuela, Libya, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, acting both officially and secretly.", "In Belarus, they have previously trained military personnel from the Nigerian Army.", "In 2014 and 2015, the special forces of the Nigerian Army were trained on the territory of Belarus, with the Belarusians training the Nigerians in counterterrorism.In 2007, an agreement was signed in Caracas with Venezuela, according to which Belarusian military specialists for the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela were developing a unified air defense and electronic warfare system.", "The following year, the first ten servicemen went to the country, with Lieutenant-General Oleg Paferov being appointed as the officer responsible for the activities of the advisers.", "A contingent of about 500 military advisers was also present in Libya during the First Libyan Civil War, supporting the government of Muammar Gaddafi.", "As of autumn 2013, there were at least two Belarusian advisers in Yemen at the Ministry of Defense.", "On November 26 of the same year, during an attack on a hotel in Sana'a, a Belarusian was killed and another was wounded.", "In February 2020, a dozen Belarusian military instructors arrived in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), where they were stationed at the Agban military base, which is occupied by one of the country's national gendarmerie units." ], [ "Institutions and special units of the armed forces", "=== Museum of Military History of Belarus ===The Museum of Military History of Belarus () is located in the Pyershamayski District of Minsk.", "It was established as the Museum of the History of the Belarusian Military District, opened in Minsk on February 21, 1978.In July 1993, it was converted into a museum on the military history of Belarus.", "The exhibits are the same as before the collapse of the USSR, with a small section on the medieval history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania having since been added.", "Its collection numbers over 18 thousand exhibits.", "The most ancient of them date back to the 6th century.=== Drama Theatre of the Belarusian Army ====== Belarusian Union of Officers ===The Public Association \"Belarusian Union of Officers\" (hereinafter referred to as BSO) is a public association of officers and warrant officers who are on active duty and in retirement.", "It was established on 20 September 1992 at its founding congress.", "On September 18, 1993, Deputy of the Supreme Soviet Alexander Lukashenko took part in the 2nd Congress.", "From October 2005 to January 2015, the Republican Council of the BSO was headed by retired Lieutenant General E. Mikulchik, and until November 2017 was led by retired Major General V. Bamburov.=== Other ===Military Band Service of the Armed ForcesBelarusian Armed Forces Academic Song and Dance EnsembleCentral House of Officers (Minsk)Honor Guard of the Armed Forces of BelarusBelarusian Great Patriotic War MuseumBelaya Rus demonstration team" ], [ "Military holidays", "In Belarus, the holiday annual Defender of the Fatherland Day (known as ''Дзень абаронцы Айчыны'' in the Belarusian language) celebrations on 23 February also coincide with the Day of the Armed Forces (''Дзень Узброеных Сіл'').", "It commemorates that day 1918 when the first unified military in the country was established as part of the Red Army.", "Officially declared a public holiday by President Lukashenko on 25 March 2004, it has traditionally been honoured with a wreath laying ceremony by the President of Belarus on Victory Square.", "Joint festive events with soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces soldiers are also hold on 23 February in connection with their professional holiday.", "During the centennial of the armed forces in 2018, events were held throughout the year, including a military parade in Gomel and celebrations in Vitebsk.", "Although a national holiday, Independence Day is primarily an armed forces celebration which honours those who took part in the Red Army's 1944 Minsk Offensive.", "The Minsk Independence Day Parade is the main military event done on this day." ], [ "Combat Banners and military marches", "The Battle Banner of a military unit is a symbol of the unit, retained throughout its lineage.", "Changes in the name and numbering of a military unit are entered in the Certificate of the President of the Republic of Belarus, issued upon presentation of the Battle Banner.", "The Battle Banner is awarded to formations, brigades/regiments, battalions, divisions, air squadrons, training units, and military educational institutions.", "Guards units are awarded with a black-and-orange guards ribbon attached to its shaft.", "Upon presentation of the Battle Banner to a military unit, a Diploma of the President of the Republic of Belarus is issued.", "In the event of the loss of the Battle Banner, the commander of a military unit and its servicemen are subject to legal consequences and the military unit is disbanded.The following is a list of notable Belarusian military pieces:Motherland My Dear (Радзіма мая дарагая)Victory March (Марш Перамогi)Anthem of the Military Academy (Гимн Военной академии)Grenadier March (Марш Грэнадыі)Our Fatherland's Flag (Айчыны нашай сцяг)Song from 45 (Письмо из 45-го)" ], [ "References", " , Conflict Studies Research Centre, RMA Sandhurst." ], [ "External links", "* Official website of the Belarusian defense ministry" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Belarus" ], [ "Introduction", "The Byelorussian SSR was one of only two Soviet republics to be separate members of the United Nations (the other being the Ukrainian SSR).", "Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded in 1945." ], [ "Prior to 2001", "After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, at which time Belarus gained its independence, Belarus became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), NATO's Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.", "The adoption by Supreme Council of the BSSR of the declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus in 1990 was a turning point on the development of the state.", "It has also been in a supranational union with Russia since 2 April 1996, although this has had little practical effect.===Belarus–Russia relations===The introduction of free trade between Russia and Belarus in mid-1995 led to a spectacular growth in bilateral trade, which was only temporarily reversed in the wake of the financial crisis of 1998.President Alexander Lukashenko sought to develop a closer relationship with Russia.", "The framework for the Union of Russia and Belarus was set out in the Treaty on the Formation of a Community of Russia and Belarus (1996), the Treaty on Russia-Belarus Union, the Union Charter (1997), and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State (1999).", "The integration treaties contained commitments to monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common defence and foreign policy.===Belarus–European Union relations===Following the recognition of Belarus as an independent state in December 1991 by the European Community, EC/EU-Belarus relations initially experienced a steady progress.", "The signature of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1995 signaled a commitment to political, economic and trade cooperation.", "Some assistance was provided to Belarus within the framework of the TACIS programme and also through various aid programs and loans.", "However, progress in EU-Belarus relations stalled in 1996 after serious setbacks to the development of democracy, and the Drazdy conflict.The EU did not recognize the 1996 constitution, which replaced the 1994 constitution.", "The Council of the European Union decided against Belarus in 1997: The PCA was not concluded, nor was its trade-related part; Belarusian membership in the Council of Europe was not supported; bilateral relations at the ministerial level were suspended and EU technical assistance programs were frozen.Acknowledging the lack of progress in relation to bilateral relations and the internal situation following the position adopted in 1997, the EU adopted a step-by-step approach in 1999, whereby sanctions would be gradually lifted upon fulfillment of the four benchmarks set by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "In 2000, some moderately positive developments toward the implementation of recommendations made by the OSCE AMG were observed but were not sufficient in the realm of access to fair and free elections.===Belarus–United States relations===The United States has encouraged Belarus to conclude and adhere to agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the program of macroeconomic stabilization and related reform measures, as well as to undertake increased privatization and to create a favorable climate for business and investment.", "Although there has been some American direct private investment in Belarus, its development has been relatively slow given the uncertain pace of reform.", "An Overseas Private Investment Corporation agreement was signed in June 1992 but has been suspended since 1995 because Belarus did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement.Belarus is eligible for Export-Import Bank short-term financing insurance for U.S. investments, but because of the adverse business climate, no projects have been initiated.", "The IMF granted standby credit in September 1995, but Belarus has fallen off the program and did not receive the second tranche of funding, which had been scheduled for regular intervals throughout 1996.The United States - along with the European Union - has restricted the travel of President Alexander Lukashenko and members of his inner circle, as well as imposing economic sanctions.===Belarus–Baltic relations===, ," ], [ "Present situation (2001 onwards)", "===Relations with the European Union===The structure of Belarus trade reflects the low competitiveness and output decline of manufacturing industry in the country over the past decade, leading to the predominance of primary production, work-intensive goods as exports.", "Belarusian exports to the EU consist mainly of agricultural and textile products, while imports from the EU are primarily machinery.Belarus is a beneficiary of the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).", "The European Commission decided in 2003 to initiate an investigation into violations of freedom of association in Belarus as the first step towards a possible temporary withdrawal of the GSP from Belarus.In December 2004, the EU adopted a position aimed at imposing travel restrictions on officials from Belarus responsible for the fraudulent parliamentary elections and referendum on 17 October 2004, and for human rights violations during subsequent peaceful political demonstrations in Minsk.The European Parliament released a statement in March 2005 in which it denounced the Belarusian government as a dictatorship.", "The European parliamentarians were primarily concerned about the suppression of independent media outlets in the country and the fraudulent referendum.", "A resolution of the European Parliament declared that the personal bank accounts of President Lukashenko and other high-ranking Belarusian officials should be tracked and frozen.In 2005, Amnesty International reported a ''pattern of deliberate obstruction, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders'' in Belarus.", "Reporters Without Borders accused the Belarusian authorities of hounding and arresting journalists from the country's Polish minority.", "Lukashenko has closed the country's main Polish newspaper, printing a bogus paper instead with the same name and size that praises his incumbent government.", "Several foreign, mainly Polish, journalists have been arrested or expelled from the country.", "Lukashenko accused Poland of an attempt to overthrow his government by stirring up a peaceful revolution in Belarus comparable to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004.Later in 2005 the Belarusian riot police seized the headquarters of the Union of Poles in Belarus, an association representing the 400,000 ethnic minority Polish living in western areas the country that were part of Poland until World War II.", "The dispute between Poland and Belarus escalated further as Poland responded by recalling its ambassador from Belarus for indefinite consultations, and called on the European Union to impose sanctions on the Belarusian leadership in order to curtail the human rights abuses in Belarus.", "Belarusian papers described this as a 'dirty political game', and part of a 'cold war' waged on president Lukashenko.", "Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld said a clampdown was under way, aimed at destroying ''\"all elements of political pluralism and independence\"'' in Belarus.Members of the Eastern PartnershipIn August 2005 the EU's executive commission called for human rights to be respected in Belarus.", "The commission said it was considering offering support to independent media in the country and had set aside more than eight million euros from its budget to offer support for human rights activities.", "France expressed her solidarity with Poland on the issue of human rights in Belarus a day after the EU declared it was worried about the situation in that country.", "Several former Soviet Republics, including neighbouring Ukraine, also expressed their concerns about the development of the situation in Belarus.In May 2009 Belarus and the EU agree on cooperation in the Eastern Partnership (EaP).", "However, it is contended by some scholars that the (EaP) is unable to create a workable partnership.", "This proved to be correct when Belarus withdrew from the Partnership on 30 September 2011.In August 2012, Belarus expelled all Swedish diplomats, including the Swedish Ambassador to Belarus, Stefan Eriksson, and closed its embassy in Stockholm, after a Swedish public relations firm released teddy bears carrying pro-democracy flyers in parachutes from an airplane over Minsk on 4 July 2012.Lukashenko also fired his air defence chief and the head of the border guards over the incident.", "Their replacements have been told not to hesitate to use force to stop future intrusions from abroad.===Relations with Russia===Russia remains the largest and most important partner for Belarus both in the political and economic fields.", "After protracted disputes and setbacks, the two countries' customs duties were unified in March 2001 but the customs controls were soon restored.", "In terms of trade, almost half of Belarusian export goes to Russia.", "Due to the structure of Belarusian industry, Belarus relies heavily on Russia both for export markets and for the supply of raw materials and components.After initial negotiation with the Russian Central Bank on monetary union, the Russian ruble was set to be introduced in Belarus in 2004, but this was postponed first until 2005, then until 2006, and now seems to have been suspended indefinitely.===Relations with the United States===Belarus has had an ongoing discussion to relaunch IMF-backed reforms, concluding an arrangement for an IMF Staff-monitored program (SMP) in 2001.However, the authorities did not follow through with reforms as hoped, leaving an uncertain future for IMF-backed cooperation.", "Belarus authorities have said on several occasions that they find IMF intervention and recommendations in Belarus counter-productive to the economic development of those countries.The relationships with the United States have been further strained, after Congress of the United States unanimously passed the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004.On 7 March 2008 the government of Belarus ejected US Ambassador Karen B. Stewart from the country, following a row over travel restrictions placed on President Lukashenko and sanctions against state-owned chemical company Belneftekhim.", "The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced at the same time that it was recalling its own ambassador to the US.", "This was followed by the expulsion of ten other U.S. embassy staff from Minsk in late April.", "At the same time the government of Belarus ordered the U.S. Embassy in Minsk to cut its staff by half.", "A White House spokesman described the expulsion as \"deeply disappointing\".===Relations with other countries===Due to strained relations with the United States and the European Union, as well as occasional high-level disputes with Russia over prices on core imported natural resources such as oil and gas, Belarus aims to develop better relations with countries in other regions, like the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.====Hong Kong national security law====Belarus was one of 53 countries that in June 2020 supported the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations Human Rights Council.===Nuclear weapons offer===In May 2023, the President of Belarus offered nuclear weapons to other countries who join Belarus and Russia." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Belarus maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px # Country Date 1 234 5 678910 11 121314 15 16 17 18 19 202122232425 26 27282930313233 34 353637 38 3940 41 42 43444546 47 4849 50 51525354555657 58 59 6061626364 65 66 67 — 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 7576777879 80 81 82 83 8485 86 87 8889 90 919293 94 9596 97 9899100101102 103 104 105106 107 108— 109 110 111 112 113 114115116117 118 119120121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136137 138 139 140 141 142143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 — 154 155 156157158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172173174 175 176 177 178 179 180 1812020" ], [ "Bilateral relations", "===Multilateral=== Organization Formal Relations BeganNotesSee Belarus–European Union relations See Belarus–NATO relations===Africa=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes1995-04-24Bilateral relations were established on 24 April 1995.", "* Angola is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Russia.", "* Belarus is accredited to Angola from its embassy in South Africa.1994-05Diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in May 1994.", "* Belarus had an embassy in Addis Ababa, which opened in 2013 and closed in 2018.1993-11-17Bilateral relations were established on 17 November 1993* Belarus has an embassy in Nairobi.", "* Kenya is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "1992See Belarus–Libya relations.", "* Belarus operated an embassy in Tripoli between 2000 and 2014, but suspended operations due to escalation of the military conflict.", "* Libya closed its embassy in Belarus in 2015.2000-02-29Bilateral relations were established between Belarus and Mozambique on 29 February 2000.", "* Belarus is represented in Mozambique through its embassy in South Africa.", "* In 2017 the interior ministries of the two countries signed an agreement to work together to fight terrorism.2000-12-21The two countries established bilateral relations on 21 December 2000.", "* Belarus is represented in Namibia through its embassy in South Africa.", "* Namibia is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "March 1993 Belarus has an embassy in PretoriaSouth Africa is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia1999-07-15 See Belarus–Sudan relations1992-04-16Bilateral relations were established on 16 April 1992.", "* Belarus opened an embassy in Harare in July 2022.===Americas=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes* Argentina is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Buenos Aires.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Minsk.1992-04-15Belarus and Canada established diplomatic relations on 15 April 1992.", "* Belarus had an embassy in Ottawa, which was closed on September 1, 2021, as a result of Canada's condemnation of the forced grounding of Ryanair Flight 4978* Canada is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw (Poland).", "* Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade about relations with Belarus1992-04Bilateral relations between Cuba and Belarus began in April 1992.", "* Belarus opened an embassy in Havana, Cuba, in November 1998, its first in Latin America and the Caribbean.", "* Cuba upgraded its representation in Havana Minsk?, Belarus, to an embassy in May 1997.2004Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 July 2004.", "* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Santo Domingo, operated though the embassy in Cuba.", "* Dominican Republic has an honorary consulate in Minsk.The governments of Belarus and Ecuador concluded an agreement about mutual visa-free travel.", "It was signed in Quito on 20 June 2014, ratified by Belarus law on 29 December 2014.", "* Belarus is accredited to Ecuador from its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.", "* Ecuador is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.2000Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 February 2000.January 1992See Belarus–Mexico relationsBelarus and Mexico established diplomatic relations in January 1992.", "* Belarus is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Havana, Cuba, and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia, and maintains an honorary consulate in Minsk.1998-10-22Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 October 1998.", "* Panama is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia.1991See Belarus–United States relationsEmbassy of Belarus in Washington, D.C.Diplomatic relations between the United States and Belarus began in 1991 upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, of which Belarus had been a part.", "However, the relations have turned sour due to accusations by the United States that Belarus has been undemocratic.", "Belarus, in turn, has accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and a consulate-general in New York.", "* United States closed its embassy in Minsk in February 2022 for allowing Russian soldiers to use Belarus as a staging for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.1992* Belarus is accredited to Uruguay from its embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and maintains an honorary consulate in Montevideo.", "* Uruguay is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.1992* Belarus has an embassy in Caracas.", "* Venezuela has an embassy in Minsk.===Asia=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 1992* Before 1991, both countries were part of the USSR, and before then part of the Russian Empire.", "* Armenia has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Yerevan.", "* There are around 25,000 people of Armenian descent living in Belarus.", "1992 See Azerbaijan–Belarus relations* Before 1918, they were part of the Russian Empire and before 1991, they were part of the Soviet Union.", "* Azerbaijan has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Baku.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).", "* Azerbaijan is a full member of the Council of Europe, Belarus is a candidate* Both Belarus and Azerbaijan are full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).1992-02-21Bilateral relations were established on 21 February 1992.", "* Belarus is primarily represented in Bangladesh through its embassy in India, but also has an honorary consulate in Dhaka.", "* Bangladesh has represented in Belarus by its ambassador in Moscow, Russia since June 2010.1992* Belarus has an embassy in Beijing.", "* China has an embassy in Minsk.1992See Belarus–Georgia relations* Belarus has an embassy in Tbilisi, which opened on 20 December 2016.", "* Georgia has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus1992-04-17* Belarus has had an embassy in New Delhi since June 1998.It also has an honorary consul in Kolkata.", "* Since 14 May 1992, India has an embassy in Minsk.1993-03-18See Belarus–Iran relations.", "Bilateral relations were established on 18 March 1993.", "* Belarus has had an embassy in Tehran since 6 March 1998.", "* Iran opened an embassy in Minsk in February 2001.", "* The two countries have enjoyed good relations in recent years reflected in regular high level meetings and various agreements.", "In 2008, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov described Iran as an important partner of his country in the region and the world.1992See Israel-Belarus relationsBelarus and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992.During the 1990s, around 130,000 Belarusian citizens immigrated to Israel, forming one of the largest Belarusian expatriate communities in the world.", "In August 2015, an agreement was signed on visa-free entry, Israel and Belarus have signed multiple agreements, including for visa-free travel.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Tel Aviv.", "* Israel has an embassy in Minsk.", "This was closed for 2 years from 2002 and a decision to close it again in 2016 was reversed after two months.1992-01-26The two countries established bilateral relations on 26 January 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Tokyo, opened in June 1995.", "* Japan opened an embassy in Minsk in January 1993.1992-09-16Bilateral relations began on 16 September 1992.", "* Since 13 July 1997, Belarus has an embassy in Astana, an embassy division in Almaty opened in July 2002.", "* Since 9 January 1993, Kazakhstan has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States* Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus1993-07-21Belarus and Kyrgyzstan established diplomatic relations on 21 July 1993.Relations were disrupted between August 2012 and October 2015 after Kyrgyzstan recalled their ambassador.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Bishkek.", "* Kyrgyzstan has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States.1993-12-06Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 December 1993.22 September 2000 See Belarus-Myanmar relations1993-07-19Belarus and Nepal established diplomatic relations on 19 July 1993.", "* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Kathmandu, operated by the embassy in India.", "* Nepal has an honorary consulate general in Minsk.", "* Minsk and Kathmandu have established twin city relations.1992See Foreign relations of North Korea.Relations were established in 1992.", "* Belarus has a consulate in Hamgyong-namdo* North Korea operates an embassy in Minsk, opened in 2016, although Belarus recognises this only as a trade mission, with other representation through the embassy in Moscow (Russia).", "* North Korean President Kim Il Sung visited the Belarusian SSR in 1984.During the visit, he visited the Minsk Tractor Works and the Brest Fortress.", "See Pakistan–Belarus relationsDiplomatic relations were established on 3 February 1994.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Islamabad.", "Pakistan maintains an embassy in Minsk.", "Pakistan and Belarus maintain very close relations with each other, Pakistan was one of the first countries to accept Belarus after its independence.", "President of Belarus and PM of Pak have visited each other's countries on state visits.", "Pakistan and Belarus have a huge trade partnership.", "Pakistan also provides Belarus with Military expertise.1992-02-10See Belarus–South Korea relations The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Belarus started on 10 February 1992.", "* Belarusian embassy in Seoul.", "* South Korean embassy in Minsk.", "* The Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has visited Seoul on 9 February 2015.", "* South Korean Ministry of Foreign affairs and Trade about relations with Belarus* Foreign relations of South Korea#Europe.", "2000-11-20Bilateral relations were established on 20 November 2000.", "* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Colombo and is mainly represented through its embassy in India.", "* Sri Lanka opened an honorary consulate in Belarus in 2004.1992* Belarus has an embassy in Damascus.", "* Syria has an embassy in Minsk.See Belarus-Syria relations1992* Belarus has an embassy in Dushanbe.", "* Tajikistan has an embassy in Minsk.1992-05-25See Belarus–Turkey relations* Turkey was the first country to recognize Belarus on 16 December 1991 after the declaration of its independence on 25 August 1991.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Ankara.", "* Turkey has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).", "* Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus1992* Belarus has an embassy in Ashgabat.", "* Turkmenistan has an embassy in Minsk.1992* Belarus has an embassy in Tashkent.", "* Uzbekistan is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States 27 December 1991 * Since 1997, Belarus has an embassy in Hanoi.", "* Since November 2003, Vietnam has an embassy in Minsk.===Europe=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 1992* Austria recognised Belarus in December 1991 and both countries established diplomatic relations in February 1992.", "* Austria is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Since March 1993, Belarus has an embassy in Vienna.", "* Austria Ministry of Foreign Affairs: list of bilateral treaties (in German only)1993-11-22Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina established bilateral relations on 22 November 1993.", "* Belarus has been represented in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the ambassador to Hungary since March 2014.", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented in Belarus by the embassy in Russia.", "1992-03-26* Bulgaria recognised Belarus on 23 December 1991.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Sofia and an honorary consulate in Burgas.", "* Bulgaria has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "1992-09-25See Belarus–Croatia relations * Croatia is primarily represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia, although an honorary consulate opened in Minsk in 2011.", "* Belarus is represented in Croatia through its embassy in Vienna, Austria, and an honorary consulate in Rijeka, Croatia.", "* Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula on 24 June 2000 attended a summit of the Central European Initiative in Szeged, Hungary, and held bilateral talks with his counterpart from Belarus.", "At least three bilateral agreements have been signed between the two counties.", "2001 Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments2004 Avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital2005 International Road Transport Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration: list of bilateral treaties with Belarus 1991* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Nicosia.", "* Cyprus is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia, and through an honorary consulate in Minsk.", "* Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs: list of bilateral treaties with Belarus1993* Belarus has an embassy in Prague.", "* The Czech Republic has an embassy in Minsk and an honorary consulate in Brest.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.See Belarus–Denmark relations* Belarus is accredited to Denmark from its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.", "* Denmark is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.1992-04-06Bilateral relations began on 6 April 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Tallinn.", "* Estonia opened its embassy in Minsk on 20 October 2009.1992-02-26* Finland recognised the independence of Belarus on 30 December 1991.", "* Finland is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, which also operates a liaison office in Minsk.", "* Belarus opened an embassy in Helsinki on 5 December 2011.1992-01Belarus and France established diplomatic relations in January 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Paris and honorary consulates in Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille* France has an embassy in Minsk.", "* The late French director Roger Vadim was of partial Belarusian descent.", "* French Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus 1923* Belarus has an embassy in Berlin.", "It also has a consulate general in Munich and honorary consulates in Hamburg and Cottbus.", "The embassy branch office in Bonn closed on 22 December 2013.", "* Germany has an embassy in Minsk.", "* German Federal Foreign Office about relations with Belarus* In 2018, for the first time a German head of state visited Belarus.See Belarus–Greece relations* Belarus is accredited to Greece from its embassy in Paris, France.", "* Greece is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.1992-02-12Bilateral relations were established between Belarus and Hungary on 12 February 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Budapest which opened in January 2000.", "* Hungary has an embassy in Minsk which opened in December 2007.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "* Belarus and Hungary have in place a bilateral agreement to prevent double taxation.1992-03-27Belarus and Ireland established bilateral relations on 27 March 1992.", "* Belarus is represented in Ireland through its embassy in London, United Kingdom, and also has an honorary consulate in Rathdrum, County Wicklow.", "* Ireland is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Lithuania.1992-04-13Bilateral relations were established on 13 April 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Rome and five honorary consulates (in Cagliari, Florence, Naples, Reggio Emilia and Turin).", "The embassy was opened as a consulate general in November 1993 and was upgraded to an embassy on 20 March 1996.", "* Italy has an embassy in Minsk, opened in May 1992.1992-04-07See Belarus–Latvia relationsThe two countries signed a \"Declaration on the Principles of Good-Neighborly Relations\" on 16 December 1991 and established full bilateral relations on 7 April 1992.Embassies were opened in both countries in 1993 and consulates general the following year.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Riga and a general consulate in Daugavpils.", "* Latvia has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate in Vitebsk.", "* The countries share 161 km of common border.", "Belarusian and Latvian regions have signed about 60 twin city and partner agreements.1992-12-30See Belarus–Lithuania relations Both countries recognised each other's independence in December 1991, and signed an agreement on diplomatic relations on 30 December 1992.", " Belarus has an embassy in Vilnius and an honorary consulate in Klaipėda.", "* Lithuania has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate general in Hrodna.", "* Both countries share of common border.", "* Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign affairs: list of bilateral treaties with Belarus (in Lithuanian only) 1993-02-16Diplomatic relations were established on 16 February 1993.", "* Belarus is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome, Italy.", "* Malta is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw, Poland.1992-11-19Bilateral relations were established on 19 November 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Chisinau, opened in May 1995.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Minsk, opened July 1995.", "* President Alexander Lukashenko has made three state visits to Chisinau (August 1995, September 2014, April 2018)* List of Ambassadors of Belarus in Moldova: Vasily Sakovich (1999-2009), Vyacheslav Osipenko (2009-2015), Sergei Chichuk (2015-2020), Anatoly Kalinin( 2020–present)1994-03-24See Belarus–Netherlands relationsBilateral relations began on 24 March 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in The Hague and honorary consulates in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Hoogeveen.", "* The Netherlands is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw, Poland, and through an honorary consulate in Minsk.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.1992-03-02See Belarus–Poland relationsBelarus and Poland established bilateral relations on 2 March 1992.", "* Poland was one of the first countries to recognise Belarusian independence.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Warsaw, consulates general in Gdańsk and Białystok, and a consulate in Biała Podlaska.", "* Poland has an embassy in Minsk and consulates general in Brest and Grodno.1992-02-14See Belarus–Romania relationsRomania recognised the independence of Belarus on 20 December 1991 and bilateral relations were established on 14 February 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Bucharest.", "* Romania has an embassy in Minsk.1992-06-25See Belarus–Russia relationsBelarus and Russia established diplomatic relations on 25 June 1992.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Moscow with departments in Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosbirsk, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Ufa and Khabarovsk.", "It also has honorary consuls based in Karsnodar, Moscow, Murmansk and the Republic of Tatarstan.", "* Russia has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate general in Brest.", "* Russia remains the largest and most important partner for Belarus both in the political and economic fields.1994-11-15See Belarus–Serbia relationsSerbia (then Yugoslavia) recognised Belarus in December 1991 and both countries established diplomatic relations in November 1994 and at the ambassadorial level in 1996.", "Belarus has an embassy in Belgrade.", "Serbia has an embassy in Minsk.1993 Belarus has an embassy in Bratislava.", "* Since 1995, Slovakia has an embassy in Minsk.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.1992-07-23Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 23 July 1992.", "* Belarus is represented in Slovenia through its embassy in Hungary.", "* Slovenia is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Russia.1992-02-13See Belarus–Spain relations* Belarus has an embassy in Madrid.", "* Spain is represented in Belarus through it embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "* Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation about relations with Belarus (in Spanish only)1992* In August 2012 Belarus announced that their embassy in Stockholm would be shut down.", "* Sweden has an embassy in Minsk, however, no accredited diplomats are stationed there and the embassy has been closed to the public since 30 August 2012.", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "* Switzerland recognised Belarus on 23 December 1991.", "* Since 1992, the Swiss ambassador in Poland has also been accredited in Minsk.", "Switzerland has a consulate in Minsk.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Bern.", "* Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs about relations with BelarusSee Belarus–Ukraine relations* The two countries share 891 km of border.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Kyiv and an honorary consulate in Lviv.", "* Ukraine has an embassy in Minsk and a general consulate in Brest.", "* Both countries are members of the Baku Initiative and Central European Initiative.1991* In 1994, Belarus opened its embassy in London.", "* In 1995, the British embassy in Minsk was opened.", "* British Foreign and Commonwealth Office about relations with Belarus===Oceania=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 9 January 1992 Australia is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", " Belarus is accredited to Australia from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.9 April 1992* Belarus is accredited to New Zealand from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.", "* New Zealand is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia." ], [ "See also", "* Belarus–European Union relations* List of diplomatic missions in Belarus* List of diplomatic missions of Belarus* Visa requirements for Belarusian citizens* EU Neighbourhood Info Centre: Country profile of Belarus" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Back from the Cold?", "The EU and Belarus in 2009 (Chaillot Paper No.119) European Union Institute for Security Studies* Belarus OKs European Integration Of Moldova, Offers To Promote China In Europe - Belarus Foreign Policy Digest* EU Should Keep Belarus In Its Orbit* Is Belarus-China Cooperation A Pipe Dream?", "* Belarus Discovers Its Eurasian Side* Belarus Welcomes Top EU Leaders: A Rare Show* A 'Nice Dialogue' With Europe, Befriending Middle East Hardliners - Belarus Foreign Policy Digest * Multi-Vector Diplomacy With Trade In Focus - Belarus Foreign Policy Digest* Both An EU Partner And Russia's Satellite?", "* Belarus Engages With The US, Improves Ties With Europe And Post-Soviet Countries – Foreign Policy Digest* Minsk Dialogue Non-Paper: Another Yalta Is Impossible* Analytical paper: Belarus-Russia relations after the Ukraine conflict" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Belgium" ], [ "Introduction", "3G mobile data network speed test in downtown Brussels, September 2012.After 2 years of bans on new mobile basestations, the mobile network download speed is down at 0.25 Mbit/s.", "'''Communications in Belgium''' are extensive and advanced.", "Belgium possesses the infrastructure for both mobile and land-based telecom, as well as having significant television, radio and internet infrastructure.", "The country code for Belgium is '''BE'''." ], [ "Services", "===Mail===Mail regulation is a national competency.", "Postal service in Belgium is in many cases performed by Belgian Post Group, a semi-private public company.", "Competitors include DHL and UPS.Postal codes in Belgium consist of four digits which indicate regional areas, e.g.", "\"9000\" is the postal code for Ghent.===Telephone===The telephone system itself is highly developed and technologically advanced, with full automation in facilities that handle domestic and international telecom.", "Domestically speaking, the county has a nationwide cellular telephone system and an extensive network of telephone cables.", "Telephone regulation is a national competency.The country code for Belgium is '''32''' and the international call prefix is '''00'''.A telephone number in Belgium is a sequence of nine or ten numbers dialled on a telephone to make a call on the telephone network in Belgium.", "Belgium is under a closed telephone numbering plan, but retains the trunk code, \"0\", for all national dialling.====Fixed telephones====There were 4.668 million land telephone lines in use in Belgium in 2007, a slight decrease on the 4.769 million in use in 1997.The majority state-owned public telephone company of Belgium is Proximus.", "Some other or private operators exist, as Scarlet (Proximus) and Base (Telenet).====Mobile telephones====Mobile telephone ownership has increased by nearly one thousand percent in the period 1997–2007, from 974,494 to 10.23 million.There are three licensed mobile network operators (MNO) in Belgium, Proximus (Belgacom), Orange Belgium (Orange S.A.) and Telenet/Base and numerous mobile virtual network operators (MVNO).A fourth license will be auctioned off by the government in January 2010.===Internet===There were 61 (2003) internet service providers in Belgium, serving 8.113 million internet users in 2009.The country code for Belgian websites is .be.In September 2009 in Flanders there were 3,048,260 broadband internet customers (DSL and cable), of which 2,520,481 were residential users and 527,779 business users.", "Only 65,175 dial-up internet access accounts remained in the residential market and 9,580 in the business market.====Internet providers=========xDSL Internet Providers=====Belgium has numerous copper cable internet providers:* Altercom End service 2011 Base* Proximus* Destiny* Digiweb* EDPnet* Evonet* Full Telecom* Interxion* iPFix* LCL* Mobistar (Orange S.A.) End service : 2013 Numericable (France Numericable)* Perceval* Portima* Proximedia Group* Scarlet (Belgacom)* Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)* ErgatelOnly Belgacom and Numericable currently offers fixed telephony and digital television in a triple play formula.", "All other companies offer also fixed telephony in a duo play formula.=====Cable Internet Providers=====Belgium has three major fiberglass cable internet providers:* Numéricable for the Brussels region (Ypso Holding)* Telenet for the Flanders and Brussels regions (Liberty Global)* VOO for the Walloon and Brussels regions (TECTEO)Orange Belgium use Telenet and VOO network combinedThese companies all offer fixed telephony and digital television in a triple play formula.", " Interoute Managed Services* Interxion* LCL* Nucleus* Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)These companies all offer specialised services.=====Terrestrial Internet Providers=====* Clearwire in Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, Aalst, Halle and Vilvoorde (Sprint Nextel)* Perceval=====Satellite Internet Providers=====* Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)=====ISP for public services=====* The Brussels Regional Informatics Center (BRIC, Centre d'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise in French) offers Internet access to public administrations in the Brussels-Capital Region, relying directly on the national Belnet network and the IRISnet network.=====Not categorized=====Other ISP are Chat.be, Connexeon, HostIT, Microsoft Belgium, Netlog, Ulysse, Ven Brussels, Rack66 (EUSIP bvba), WSD Hosting.===Other===The microwave relay network is, however, more limited.", "For international communications, Belgium has 5 submarine cables and a number of satellite earth stations, two of which are Intelsat, and one Eutelsat." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* BIPT - Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications* ISPA - Internet Service Providers Association of Belgium* DNS - Domain Name System Belgium* MAVISE - Belgian TV market* Agoria - Federation of Belgian IT Employers* Beltug - Federation of Belgian ICT Professionals* UPP - Union of Belgian Periodical Press Publishers* Febelma - Belgian Federation of Magazines* VRM - Flemish Media Regulator (Dutch community)* CSA - High Council for the Audiovisual Media (French community)* MDGB - Germanic Media Council of Belgium (Germanic community)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Belgium" ], [ "Introduction", "Eurostar trains in Brussel Zuid-Bruxelles Midi station.", "'''Transport in Belgium''' is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks.", "The rail network has of electrified tracks.", "There are of roads, among which there are of motorways, of main roads and of other paved roads.", "There is also a well-developed urban rail network in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi.", "The ports of Antwerp and Bruges-Zeebrugge are two of the biggest seaports in Europe.", "Brussels Airport is Belgium's biggest airport." ], [ "Railways", " A common Belgian train.High-speed trains in the Brussels-South railway station.Rail transport in Belgium was historically managed by the National Railway Company of Belgium, known as SNCB in French and NMBS in Dutch.", "In 2005, the public company was split into 2 companies: Infrabel, which manages the rail network and SNCB/NMBS itself, which manages the freight and passenger services.", "There is a total of , ( double track (as of 1998)), of which are electrified, mainly at 3,000 volts DC but with at 25 kV 50 Hz AC (2004) and all on standard gauge of .", "In 2004 the National Railway Company of Belgium, carried 178.4 million passengers a total of 8,676 million passenger-kilometres.", "Due to the high population density, operations are relatively profitable, so tickets are cheap and the frequency of services is high.", "The SNCB/NMBS is continually updating its rolling stock.The network currently includes four high speed lines, three operating up to , and one up to .", "HSL 1 runs from just south of Brussels to the French border, where it continues to Lille, and from there to Paris or London.", "HSL 2 runs from Leuven to Liège.", "HSL 3 continues this route from Liège to the German border near Aachen.", "HSL 4 runs from Antwerp to Rotterdam by meeting HSL-Zuid at the border with Netherlands.Electrification is at 3 kV DC, with the exception of the new high-speed lines, and of two recently electrified lines in the south of the country which are at 25 kV AC.", "Trains, contrary to tram and road traffic, run on the left.===Rail links with adjacent countries===* France — voltage change 3 kV DC – 25 kV AC LGV 1 — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.", " via France to the UK on HSL 1, LGV 1, Channel Tunnel and CTRL (Channel Tunnel Rail Link) — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.", "* Germany — voltage change 3 kV DC – 15 kV AC** HSL 3 — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.", "* Netherlands — voltage change 3 kV DC – 1500 V DC** HSL-Zuid — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.", "* Luxembourg — no voltage change at the border (the line Hatrival (Libramont)-Luxembourg is at 25 kV AC and the line Gouvy-Luxembourg is at 25 kV AC)===Urban rail===An urban commuter rail network, Brussels RER (, ), is operational in the Brussels-Capital Region and surrounding areas.===Metros and light rail===In Belgium an extensive system of tram-like local railways called ''vicinal or buurtspoor'' lines crossed the country in the first half of the 20th century, and had a greater route length than the main-line railway system.", "The only survivors of the vicinal/buurtspoor system are the Kusttram (covering almost the entire coast from France to the Netherlands, being the longest tram line in the world) and some sections of the Charleroi Pre-metro.", "Urban tram networks exist in Antwerp (the Antwerp Pre-metro), Ghent and Brussels (the Brussels trams), and are gradually being extended.", "The only rapid transit system in Belgium is the Brussels Metro.", "Some heavy metro infrastructures were built in Brussels, Antwerp and the Charleroi area, but these are currently used by light rail vehicles, and their conversion to full metro is not envisaged at present due to lack of funds.Regional transport in Belgium is operated by regional companies: De Lijn in Flanders operates the Kusttram and the Antwerp pre-metro and tram, and the tram in Gent, as well as a bus network both urban and interurban, TEC in Wallonia operates the Charleroi pre-metro as well as a bus network and MIVB/STIB in the Brussels Capital-Region operates the Brussels metro as well as the Brussels tram and bus network.", "Despite this regional organization, some bus and tram routes operated by STIB/MIVB go beyond the regional border, and some bus routes operated by TEC or De Lijn transport passengers from the Flemish or Walloon regions to the capital city or in the other regions." ], [ "Road transport", "===Road network===A12 with a railway in the centre.The road network in Belgium is managed by regional authorities, meaning that a road section in Flanders is managed by the Flemish Government, a road section in Brussels by the Brussels government and a road section in Wallonia by the Walloon Government.", "This explains that road signs in Flanders are written in Dutch, even when referring to a Walloon region, and conversely, which can be confusing for foreigners who do not know the different translations of Flemish or Walloon cities in the other language.", "The road network in Belgium is made of highways, national (or regional) roads (the secondary network) and communal roads (or streets).", "Communal roads are managed at the municipal level.", "There are also a number of orbital roads in Belgium around major cities.", "* ''total:'' 152,256 km (2006)* ''country comparison to the world:'' 35* ''paved:'' 119,079 km (including 1,763 km of expressways)* ''unpaved:'' 33,177 kmBelgian road numbering evolved during the middle decades of the twentieth century, in a relatively inconsistent way.", "Road number allocations became less systematic during the surge in road building that took place in the 1960s and 70s.", "Frequently downgraded and deteriorating older national roads retained two digit numbers while newer major roads were identified with less instantly memorable three digit numbers, if only because the shorter numbers were already taken.", "1985 saw a comprehensive renumbering of the \"N\" (National) roads which now followed the scheme described below.====Highways====The highways in Belgium are marked with a letter '''A''' and a number.", "Most often however the European numbering system for the international E-road network is used.", "There is however not always a one-on-one relationship between the two numbering systems along the whole length of the highways.", "A1 (E19): Brussels - Antwerp - BredaA2 (E314): Leuven - Lummen - GenkA3 (E40): Brussels - Leuven - Liège - AachenA4 (E411): Brussels - Wavre - Namur - Arlon - LuxembourgA10 (E40): Brussels - Ghent - Bruges - OstendA12 (Brussels - Boom - Antwerp - ''Netherlands'' (Bergen op Zoom):''(includes a section not yet fully upgraded to motorway standard)''A13 (E313): Antwerp - Beringen - Hasselt - LiègeA14 (E17): Lille - Kortrijk - Ghent - AntwerpA15 (E42): Charleroi - Namur - Huy - LiègeA17 (E403): Bruges - Kortrijk - TournaiA18 (E40): Bruges - Veurne - Dunkerque====Ringways====The ringways (or orbital roads) around bigger cities have their own series of numbers.", "The names start with a '''R''' then a first digit indicating the (old) province, and sometimes a second digit to further differentiate in between different ringways.Some major examples are:R0 is the outer ringway around Brussels.", "The R20 and R22 are (parts of) inner ringways around Brussels.", "R1 is the southern half ringway and R2 is the northern half ringway around Antwerp.", "R3 is the outer ringway and R9 is the inner ringway around Charleroi.", "The inner ring is counterclockwise-only.", "R4 is the outer ringway and R40 is the inner ringway around Ghent.", "R6 is the outer ringway and R12 is the inner ringway around Mechelen.", "R8 is the outer ringway and R36 is the inner ringway around Kortrijk.", "R23 is the ringway around Leuven.", "R30 is the inner ringway around Bruges.====National roads====The national roads were renumbered in 1985 according to a national scheme and are identified with the letter '''N''' followed by a number.The principal national roads fan out from Brussels, numbered in clockwise order:N1: Brussels - Mechelen - AntwerpN2: Brussels - Leuven - Diest - Hasselt - MaastrichtN3: Brussels - Leuven - Tienen - Sint-Truiden - Liège - AachenN4: Brussels - Wavre - Namur - Marche-en-Famenne - Bastogne - ArlonN5: Brussels - Charleroi - PhilippevilleN6: Brussels - Halle - Soignies - MonsN7: Halle - Ath - TournaiN8: Brussels - Ninove - Oudenaarde - Kortrijk - Ypres - Veurne - KoksijdeN9: Brussels - Aalst - Ghent - Eeklo - Bruges - OstendSecondary national roads intersect these.National roads have an N plus 1, 2 or 3 digits.", "National roads numbered with 3 digits are provincial roads, their first number indicating the province in which the road begins:* N1xx Province of Antwerp* N2xx Provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant* N3xx Province of West Flanders* N4xx Province of East Flanders* N5xx Province of Hainaut* N6xx Province of Liège* N7xx Province of Limburg* N8xx Province of Luxembourg* N9xx Province of Namur===Cars=======Changes====Between 1993 and 2012 the average age of the passengers cars registered as running in Belgium increased from just over 6 years and 4 months to 8 years and 17 days.", "2012 data for other European countries are not yet available, but in 2010 the average age of car Belgium was 7.9 years against a European Union average of 8.3 years.", "Government policy provides an important clue as to one reason for the relative newness of the national car parc.", "Despite recent high-profile plant closures by Ford and Renault, Belgium remains an important centre for automobile component and passenger car production, with important plants operated by Volvo and Audi, and this is reflected in a relatively benign taxation environment whereby company cars are a still a popular and relatively tax efficient element in many remuneration packages." ], [ "Water", "===Ports and harbours===The Port of Antwerp is one of the largest in Europe and the world====Sea ports====Antwerp - Port of Antwerp (one of the world's busiest ports)Bruges (Zeebrugge) - Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge (one of the busiest in Europe)Ghent - Port of Ghent Ostend - Port of Ostend ====Main inland ports====Brussels - Port of Brussels (also accessible for ocean-going ships)Liège - Port of Liège (one of the busiest in Europe)====European portuary context====European Sea Ports Organisation ESPOEuropean Federation of Inland Ports FEPIInland Navigation Europe INE2002 ranking of world ports by tonnage and by container volume (in TEU) Port ranking===Merchant marine======Waterways===The Belgian waterway network has 2,043 km, 1,532 km of which is in regular commercial use.", "The main waterways are the Albert Canal connecting Antwerp to Liège, the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal through the port of Ghent connecting Ghent with the Westerschelde, the Boudewijn Canal through the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge connecting Bruges with the North Sea, the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal and Scheldt connecting Charleroi to Antwerp, the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal and Scheldt connecting the Borinage to Antwerp, the connection between the North Sea and Antwerp and the connection between Dunkerque and Liège via the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal, the Canal du Centre, the lower Sambre and the Meuse.", "Waterways are managed on a regional level in Belgium.", "The region of Brussels only managed 14 km of waterways from the Anderlecht lock to the Vilvoorde bridge.", "In Flanders, the management of waterways is outsourced to 4 companies: NV De Scheepvaart, Departement Mobiliteit en Openbare Werken, Agentschap voor Maritieme Dienstverlening en Kust and Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV." ], [ "Air transport", "Brussels Airport is the main airport in Belgium.According to the 2009 CIA World Factbook, there are a total of 43 airports in Belgium, 27 of which have paved runways.", "Airplane passengers in Belgium can use 5 airports, the largest of which being the Brussels Airport.", "The other airports are the Ostend-Bruges International Airport, the Brussels-South Charleroi Airport, the Liège Airport and the Antwerp International Airport.", "Other airports are military airports or small civil airports with no scheduled flights.", "Well-known military airports include the Melsbroek Air Base and the Beauvechain Air Base.The Belgian national airline used to be Sabena from 1923 to 2001, until it went into bankruptcy.", "A new Belgian airline named SN Brussels Airlines was subsequently founded by business man Étienne Davignon.", "The company was then renamed as Brussels Airlines in 2006.In 2016, Air Belgium was founded by Nicky Terzakis, former CEO of TNT Airways, with the goal of connecting Belgium offering long-haul flights.", "In 2019, Brussels Airlines became a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa." ], [ "See also", "* Transport in France* Transport in Germany* Transport in the Netherlands* List of tunnels in Belgium* Plug-in electric vehicles in Belgium" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "External links", " Transport at Belgium.be" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Benin" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Benin''' remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture and cotton.", "Cotton accounts for 40% of Benin's GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts.", "There is also production of textiles, palm products, and cocoa beans.", "Maize (corn), beans, rice, peanuts, cashews, pineapples, cassava, yams, and other various tubers are grown for local subsistence.", "Benin began producing a modest quantity of offshore oil in October 1982.Production ceased in recent years but exploration of new sites is ongoing.A modest fishing fleet provides fish and shrimp for local subsistence and export to Europe.", "Formerly government-owned commercial activities are now privatized.", "A French brewer acquired the former state-run brewery.", "Smaller businesses are privately owned by Beninese citizens, but some firms are foreign owned, primarily French and Lebanese.", "The private commercial and agricultural sectors remain the principal contributors to growth." ], [ "Economic development", "Since the transition to a democratic government in 1990, Benin has undergone an economic recovery.", "A large injection of external investment from both private and public sources has alleviated the economic difficulties of the early 1990s caused by global recession and persistently low commodity prices (although the latter continues to affect the economy).", "The manufacturing sector is confined to some light industry, which is mainly involved in processing primary products and the cow production of consumer goods.", "A planned joint hydroelectric project with neighboring Togo is intended to reduce Benin's dependence on imported energy mostly from Ghana, which currently accounts for a significant proportion of the country's imports.The service sector has grown quickly, stimulated by economic liberalization and fiscal reform, and the use of modern technology such as automobiles and computers has grown considerably as a result.", "Membership of the CFA Franc Zone offers reasonable currency stability as well as access to French economic support.", "Benin sells its products mainly to France and, in smaller quantities, to the Netherlands, Korea, Japan, and India.", "France is Benin's leading source for imports.", "Benin is also a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).Despite its rapid growth, the economy of Benin still remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade.", "Growth in real output averaged a sound 5% since 1996, but a rapid population rise offset much of this growth on a per capita basis.", "Inflation has subsided over the past several years.", "Commercial and transport activities, which make up a large part of GDP, are vulnerable to developments in Nigeria, particularly fuel shortages.Although trade unions in Benin represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the large informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labour, and the continuing issue of forced labour.In December 2014, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs issued a ''List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor'' in which the Republic of Benin was mentioned among 74 other countries where significant instances of child labor were observed.", "Two major products involved such working conditions in Benin: cotton and crushed granite." ], [ "Agriculture", "Benin produced in 2018:* 3.8 million tons of cassava (17th largest producer in the world);* 2.7 million tons of yam (4th largest producer in the world, losing only to Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast);* 1.5 million tons of maize;* 758 thousand tons of cotton (12th largest producer in the world);* 598 thousand tons of palm oil;* 459 thousand tons of rice;* 372 thousand tons of pineapple;* 319 thousand tons of sorghum;* 253 thousand tons of tomato;* 225 thousand tons of peanut;* 221 thousand tons of soy;* 215 thousand tons of cashew nuts (5th largest producer in the world, losing only Vietnam, India, Ivory Coast and Philippines);In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products." ], [ "Financial Sector", "Benin's financial sector is dominated by banks, and in general remains shallow.", "However, a series of reforms were undertaken in the 1990s, which resulted in the consolidation of the banking sector and in the privatization of all state banks.A legal framework regarding licensing, bank activities, organizational and capital requirements, inspections and sanctions (all applicable to all countries of the Union) is in place and underwent significant reforms in 1999.There is no customer deposit insurance system.Benin has a lively and diversified microfinance sector.", "Data from 2003 by the Central Bank stated a penetration rate of microfinance services of almost 60 percent.", "In 2006 the Ministry of Microfinance and Employment of Youth and Women counted 762 organizations with 1308 branches, including Cooperatives, NGOs, Savings/Credit Associations and government projects.", "Programmes for strengthening the sector are carried out on national and regional levels, such as the PRAFIDE (Programme Régional d’Appui à la finance Décentralisée).", "The microfinance sector is also subject to supervision through the Central Bank as well as the responsible Ministry for Microfinance and Employment of Youth and Women.Benin is member of the Bourse Regionale des Valeures Mobilières (BRVM) located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.", "Stocks were issued by a number of companies in the region.", "Listed bonds were partly issued by companies and partly by governments of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA).The payment and settlement system and clearing mechanisms were reformed in 2004 through the BCEAO and offer RTGS and SWIFT access to banks, financial institutions, the stock exchange as well as the Central bank and special banks.", "Banque Internationale du Bénin (BI.BE)Bank of Africa BeninContinental Bank BeninDiamond Bank Benin (DBB)EcobankFinancial BankFinadevCaisse Nationale d'EpargneCredit du BéninEquibail* United Bank of Africa* Africa Bank for the Industry and the trade* Sahelo-Saharian Bank of the Industry and Trade Development" ], [ "Data", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.Year GDP(in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Inflation(in Percent) Government debt(Percentage of GDP) 1980 2.69 7402.30 9.3% 9.6% ... 1985 3.70 8661.58 4.3% 1.2% ... 1990 4.75 9542.89 9.0% 1.1% ... 1995 6.59 1,1152.99 6.0% 14.5% ... 2000 9.06 1,3213.52 4.9% 4.2% 54% 2005 12.33 1,5456.57 1.7% 5.4% 39% 2006 13.22 1,6087.03 3.9% 3.8% 11% 2007 14.38 1,7018.17 6.0% 1.3% 20% 2008 15.38 1,7689.79 4.9% 7.9% 25% 2009 15.86 1,7739.73 2.3% 0.4% 26% 2010 16.39 1,7829.54 2.1% 2.2% 29% 2011 17.23 1,82110.69 3.0% 2.7% 30% 2012 18.39 1,89011.15 4.8% 6.7% 27% 2013 20.03 2,00312.52 7.2% 1.0% 25% 2014 21.69 2,11113.29 6.4% −1.1% 30% 2015 22.38 2,12111.39 2.1% 0.3% 42% 2016 23.57 2,17511.82 4.0% −0.8% 50% 2017 25.33 2,27712.70 5.6% 0.1% 55%" ], [ "See also", "Agriculture in BeninFishing in Benin* United Nations Economic Commission for AfricaForeign trade of Benin" ], [ "References", "" ], [ "External links", "* Benin Banking Information* * West African Agricultural Market Observer/Observatoire du Marché Agricole (RESIMAO), a project of the West-African Market Information Network (WAMIS-NET), provides live market and commodity prices from fifty seven regional and local public agricultural markets across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, and Nigeria.", "Sixty commodities are tracked weekly.", "The project is run by the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, and a number of European, African, and United Nations agencies.", "* Benin latest trade data on ITC Trade Map" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Bhutan" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Bhutan''' is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population.", "Agriculture consists largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry.", "Rugged mountains dominate the terrain and make the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult.", "Bhutan is among the richest by gross domestic product (nominal) per capita in South Asia, at $3,491 as of 2022, but it still places 153rd, and among the poorest in the world.", "The total gross domestic product is only $2,653 million, and 178th according to IMF.Bhutan's economy is closely aligned with India's through strong trade and monetary links and dependence on India's financial assistance.", "Most production in the industrial sector is of the cottage industry type.", "Most development projects, such as road construction, rely on Indian migrant labour.", "Model education, social, and environment programs are underway with support from multilateral development organisations.Each economic program takes into account the government's desire to protect the country's environment and cultural traditions.", "For example, the government, in its cautious expansion of the tourist sector, encourages visits by upscale, environmentally conscientious tourists.", "Detailed controls and uncertain policies in areas such as industrial licensing, trade, labour, and finance continue to hamper foreign investment.", "Hydropower exports to India have boosted Bhutan's overall growth, even though GDP fell in 2008 as a result of a slowdown in India, its predominant export market.Since 1961, the government of Bhutan has guided the economy through five-year plans in order to promote economic development.On 13 December 2023, Bhutan graduated from the UN's list of least developed countries (LDCs), making it only the 7th country to do so and the first in 3 years." ], [ "Macro-economic trend", "This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Bhutan at market prices by the International Monetary Fund: Year GDP (millions of BTN) GDP (millions of USD) 1985 2,166 175 1990 4,877 279 1995 9,531 294 2000 20,060 460 2005 36,915 828 2008 45,000 1280 2011 84,950 1695 2014 119,5461784 2017 159,5722294Bhutan's hydropower potential and its attraction for tourists are key resources.", "The Bhutanese Government has made some progress in expanding the nation's productive base and improving social welfare.In 2010, Bhutan became the first country in the world to ban smoking and the selling of tobacco.", "In order to stamp out cross-border smuggling during the pandemic, a new Tobacco Control Rules and Regulations (TCRR) 2021 allowed the import, sales and consumption of tobacco products." ], [ "GNH versus GDP", "In the 1970s the King placed Gross National Happiness over Gross Domestic Product." ], [ "See also", "* Agriculture in Bhutan* Banking in Bhutan* Mining in Bhutan* Fishing in Bhutan* Forestry in Bhutan* Bhutanese ngultrum, currency" ], [ "References", ";Notes;Public domain;Citations" ], [ "Further reading", "**" ], [ "External links", " Global Economic Prospects: Growth Prospects for South Asia The World Bank, 13 December 2006" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Lhop people" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Lhop''' or '''Doya people''' are a little-known tribe of southwest Bhutan.", "The Bhutanese believe them to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the country.", "The Lhop are found in the low valleys of Dorokha Gewog and near Phuntsholing in the Duars.", "The dress of the Lhop resembles the Lepcha, but they bear little similarity with the Bhutia in the North and the Toto in the west.", "The Doya trace their descent matrilineally, marry their cross cousins, and embalm the deceased who are then placed in a foetal position in a circular sarcophagus above the ground.", "They follow a blend of Tibetan Buddhism mixed with animism." ], [ "See also", "Ethnic groups in BhutanSharchop" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* RAOnline Bhutan: The Lhop" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "thumbBosnia and Herzegovina is located in Southeastern Europe.", "Situated in the western Balkans, it has a border with Croatia to the north and southwest, a border with Serbia to the east, and a border with Montenegro to the southeast.", "It borders the Adriatic Sea along its coastline.The most striking features of the local terrain are valleys and mountains which measure up to in height.", "The country is mostly mountainous, encompassing the central Dinaric Alps.", "The northeastern parts reach into the Pannonian basin, while in the south it borders the Adriatic Sea.The country's natural resources include coal, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, timber and hydropower." ], [ "Regions", "The country's name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them.", "Bosnia occupies the northern areas which are roughly four fifths of the entire country, while Herzegovina occupies the rest in the southern part of the country.The major cities are the capital Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Bihać in the northwest region known as Bosanska Krajina, Tuzla in the northeast, Zenica in the central part of Bosnia and Mostar is the capital of Herzegovina.The south part of Bosnia has Mediterranean climate and a great deal of agriculture.", "Central Bosnia is the most mountainous part of Bosnia featuring prominent mountains Vlašić, Čvrsnica, and Prenj.", "Eastern Bosnia also features mountains like Trebević, Jahorina, Igman, Bjelašnica and Treskavica.", "It was here that the 1984 Winter Olympics were held.Eastern Bosnia is heavily forested along the river Drina, and overall close to 50% of Bosnia and Herzegovina is forested.", "Most forest areas are in Central, Eastern and Western parts of Bosnia.", "Northern Bosnia contains very fertile agricultural land along the river Sava and the corresponding area is heavily farmed.", "This farmland is a part of the Parapannonian Plain stretching into neighbouring Croatia and Serbia.", "The river Sava and corresponding Posavina river basin hold the cities of Brčko, Bosanski Šamac, Bosanski Brod and Bosanska Gradiška.The northwest part of Bosnia is called Bosanska Krajina and holds the cities of Banja Luka, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Jajce, Cazin, Velika Kladuša and Bihać.", "Kozara National Park and Mrakovica World War II monument is located in this region.The country has only of coastline, around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, although surrounded by Croatian peninsulas it is possible to get to the middle of the Adriatic from Neum.", "By United Nations law, Bosnia has a right of passage to the outer sea.", "Neum has many hotels and is an important tourism destination." ], [ "Rivers", "Watersheds in Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosna river, IlidžaThere are seven major rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina:The Una in the northwest part of Bosnia flows along the northern and western border of Bosnia and Croatia and through the Bosnian city of Bihać.", "It is popular for rafting and adventure sports.", "The Sana flows through the city of Sanski Most and Prijedor and is a tributary of the river Una in the north.", "The Vrbas flows through the cities of Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje, Bugojno, Jajce, Banja Luka, Srbac and reaches the river Sava in the north.", "The Vrbas flows through the central part of Bosnia and flows outwards to the North.", "The Bosna is the longest river in Bosnia and is fully contained within the country as it stretches from its source near Sarajevo to the river Sava in the north.", "It gave its name to the country.", "The Drina flows through the eastern part of Bosnia, at many places in the border between Bosnia and Serbia.", "The Drina flows through the cities of Foča, Goražde Višegrad and Zvornik.", "The Neretva is the longest river in Herzegovina, flowing from Jablanica south to the Adriatic Sea.", "The river is famous as it flows through the city of Mostar.Percent of population affected by Flood Disasters in Europe by country from 2005 to 2015.The Sava is the longest river in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "However, within Bosnia and Herzegovina, it only runs along the border with Croatia.", "It then flows into Serbia.", "Towns like Brčko, Bosanski Šamac, and Bosanska Gradiška lie on the river." ], [ "Phytogeography", "Phytogeographically, Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region and Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region.", "According to the WWF, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be subdivided into three ecoregions: the Pannonian mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests." ], [ "Climate", "Except for the easternmost provinces, the country experiences a wet Mediterranean climate.The hills and mountains are drier, colder, windier, and cloudier.The north region has a typical continental climate.=== Climate change ===" ], [ "Mining industry", " Calcite Crystal found at Trebević mountain around Sarajevo; Bosnia and Herzegovina on display at National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Various archaeological artifacts including relicts of mining activities and tools belonging to similar age groups, provide an indication of the geographical distribution, scale and methods of mining activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Paleolithic to Roman era.Most important of these is the so-called area of “central Bosnian mountains” located between the rivers Vrbas, Lašva, Neretva, Rama and their tributaries.", "The second one is the area of western Bosnia, bordered by the Vrbas and Una rivers, with its main orebearing formations found in the river-valleys of Sana and Japra, and their tributaries.", "The third area is eastern Bosnia, around the river Drina between the towns of Foča and Zvornik, the principal mining activity centered around Srebrenica.Ores of various metals, including iron, are found in these areas and exploitation has been going on for more than 5000 years – from the period of prehistoric human settlers, through Illyrian, Roman, Slavic, Turkish and Austrian rulers, into the present." ], [ "Land use", "'''Arable land:''' 19.73%'''Permanent crops:''' 2.06%'''Other:''' 78.22% (2012 est.", ")'''Irrigated land:''' (2003)'''Total renewable water resources:''' (2011)" ], [ "Environment", "'''Natural hazards:'''Destructive earthquakes'''Current issues:'''Air pollution from metallurgical plantsSites for disposing of urban waste are limitedWidespread casualties, water shortages, and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992–95 warDeforestation'''International agreements:'''Party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, WetlandsSigned, but not ratified: none" ], [ "Gallery", "File:NP001 nacionalni park sutjeska perucica.jpg\|Sutjeska National ParkFile:NP002 - 14.jpg\|Kozara National ParkFile:Štrbački buk 1.jpg\|Una National ParkFile:Drina Canyon.JPG\|Drina National Park" ], [ "See also", "Environment of Bosnia and HerzegovinaGeography of Europe*List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "References" ], [ "Notes" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population." ], [ "Demographic characteristics", "===Population======Vital statistics===Population density in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipality, early data from the 2013 censusSource: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and HerzegovinaAverage populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateFemale fertile population (15-49 years)'''1947''' 2,532,000 '''84,600''' 38,900'''45,700''' '''33.4''' 15.4'''18.0''' '''1948'''2,581,987'''90,700'''41,600'''49,100''''''35.1'''16.1'''19.0''' 647,112'''1949'''2,641,990'''98,200'''42,200'''56,000''''''37.2'''16.0'''21.2''' 669,152'''1950'''2,662,010'''102,680'''35,991'''66,689''''''38.6'''13.5'''25.1''''''5.17'''691,192'''1951'''2,721,009'''92,330'''46,358'''45,972''''''33.9'''17.0'''16.9''''''4.51'''713,232'''1952'''2,790,991'''112,216'''34,817'''77,399''''''40.2'''12.5'''27.7''''''5.33'''735,272'''1953'''2,863,124'''110,373'''41,199'''69,174''''''38.5'''14.4'''24.2''''''4.84'''757,312'''1954'''2,916,007'''115,854'''35,158'''80,696''''''39.7'''12.1'''27.7''''''4.93'''765,462'''1955'''2,973,986'''110,866'''40,513'''70,353''''''37.3'''13.6'''23.7''''''4.59'''773,612'''1956'''3,025,000'''111,561'''38,320'''73,241''''''36.9'''12.7'''24.2''''''4.48'''781,761'''1957'''3,076,006'''102,649'''36,830'''65,819''''''33.4'''12.0'''21.4''''''4.02'''789,911'''1958'''3,126,012'''110,332'''30,123'''80,209''''''35.3'''9.6'''25.7''''''4.22'''798,061'''1959'''3,185,005'''108,123'''32,507'''75,616''''''33.9'''10.2'''23.7''''''4.06'''806,211'''1960'''3,240,010'''110,499'''33,360'''77,139''''''34.1'''10.3'''23.8''''''4.06'''814,360'''1961'''3,291,684'''108,076'''29,413'''78,663''''''32.8'''8.9'''23.9''''''3.91'''822,510'''1962'''3,338,505'''106,826'''31,087'''75,739''''''32.0'''9.3'''22.7''''''3.86'''838,877'''1963'''3,385,326'''104,240'''29,161'''75,079''''''30.8'''8.6'''22.2''''''3.75'''855,245'''1964'''3,432,147'''101,147'''29,846'''71,301''''''29.5'''8.7'''20.8''''''3.62'''871,612'''1965'''3,478,968'''101,351'''27,814'''73,537''''''29.1'''8.0'''21.1''''''3.61'''887,979'''1966'''3,525,789'''97,689'''25,138'''72,551''''''27.7'''7.1'''20.6''''''3.46'''904,347'''1967'''3,572,609'''92,972'''26,195'''66,777''''''26.0'''7.3'''18.7''''''3.28'''920,714'''1968'''3,619,430'''89,134'''26,031'''63,103''''''24.6'''7.2'''17.4''''''3.14'''937,081'''1969'''3,666,251'''87,687'''27,805'''59,882''''''23.9'''7.6'''16.3''''''3.05'''953,448'''1970'''3,713,072'''79,296'''26,355'''52,941''''''21.4'''7.1'''14.3''''''2.74'''969,816'''1971'''3,759,893'''82,694'''24,915'''57,779''''''22.0'''6.6'''15.4''''''2.83'''986,183'''1972'''3,797,523'''82,068'''26,844'''55,224''''''21.6'''7.1'''14.5''''''2.76'''998,220'''1973'''3,835,154'''77,896'''24,672'''53,224''''''20.3'''6.4'''13.9''''''2.57'''1,010,257'''1974'''3,872,784'''77,833'''23,661'''54,172''''''20.1'''6.1'''14.0''''''2.52'''1,022,293'''1975'''3,910,414'''78,844'''25,571'''53,273''''''20.2'''6.5'''13.6''''''2.51'''1,034,330'''1976'''3,948,045'''79,061'''25,178'''53,883''''''20.0'''6.4'''13.6''''''2.47'''1,046,367'''1977'''3,985,675'''75,669'''24,821'''50,848''''''19.0'''6.2'''12.8''''''2.32'''1,058,404'''1978'''4,023,305'''73,306'''26,016'''47,290''''''18.2'''6.5'''11.8''''''2.21'''1,070,441'''1979'''4,060,935'''71,120'''25,370'''45,750''''''17.5'''6.2'''11.3''''''2.10'''1,082,477'''1980'''4,098,566'''70,928'''26,115'''44,813''''''17.3'''6.4'''10.9''''''2.06'''1,094,514'''1981'''4,136,196'''71,031'''26,222'''44,809''''''17.2'''6.3'''10.8''''''2.03'''1,106,551'''1982'''4,160,280'''73,375'''26,775'''46,600''''''17.6'''6.4'''11.2''''''2.09'''1,105,958'''1983'''4,184,363'''74,296'''29,999'''44,297''''''17.8'''7.2'''10.6''''''2.12'''1,105,366'''1984'''4,208,447'''74,539'''29,046'''45,493''''''17.7'''6.9'''10.8''''''2.13'''1,104,773'''1985'''4,232,531'''72,722'''28,966'''43,756''''''17.2'''6.8'''10.3''''''2.08'''1,104,181'''1986'''4,256,615'''71,203'''29,127'''42,076''''''16.7'''6.8'''9.9''''''2.04'''1,103,588'''1987'''4,280,698'''70,898'''29,382'''41,516''''''16.6'''6.9'''9.7''''''2.03'''1,102,995'''1988'''4,304,782'''70,711'''29,555'''41,156''''''16.4'''6.9'''9.6''''''2.03'''1,102,403'''1989'''4,328,866'''66,809'''30,383'''36,426''''''15.4'''7.0'''8.4''''''1.92'''1,101,810'''1990'''4,352,949'''66,952'''29,093'''37,859''''''15.4'''6.7'''8.7''''''1.93'''1,101,218'''1991'''4,377,033'''64,769'''30,680'''34,089''''''14.8'''7.0'''7.8''''''1.87'''1,100,625'''1992''' '''1993''' '''1994''' '''1995''' '''1996'''3,368,597'''46,594'''25,152'''21,442''''''13.8'''7.5'''6.4''''''1.88'''862,840'''1997'''3,398,264'''48,061'''27,875'''20,186''''''14.1'''8.2'''5.9''''''1.95'''866,251'''1998'''3,423,921'''45,007'''28,679'''16,328''''''13.1'''8.4'''4.8''''''1.83'''870,474'''1999'''3,445,172'''42,464'''28,637'''13,827''''''12.3'''8.3'''4.0''''''1.73'''874,188'''2000'''3,462,336'''39,563'''30,482'''9,081''''''11.4'''8.8'''2.6''''''1.61'''876,695'''2001'''3,478,679'''37,717'''30,325'''7,392''''''10.8'''8.7'''2.1''''''1.54'''879,484'''2002'''3,493,146'''36,485'''30,831'''5,654''''''10.4'''8.8'''1.6''''''1.49'''881,166'''2003'''3,498,291'''34,691'''32,018'''2,673''''''9.9'''9.2'''0.8''''''1.42'''879,547'''2004'''3,501,467'''33,862'''32,223'''1,639''''''9.7'''9.2'''0.5''''''1.38'''877,903'''2005'''3,503,634'''33,233'''33,925'''-692''''''9.5'''9.7'''-0.2''''''1.36'''875,167'''2006'''3,500,212'''33,038'''32,652'''386''''''9.4'''9.3'''0.1''''''1.36'''871,089'''2007'''3,498,023'''32,801'''34,392'''-1,591''''''9.4'''9.8'''-0.5''''''1.35'''867,212'''2008'''3,493,737'''34,023'''33,871'''152''''''9.7'''9.7'''0.0''''''1.41'''859,217'''2009'''3,491,327'''34,449'''34,709'''-260''''''9.9'''9.9'''-0.1''''''1.43'''851,596'''2010'''3,488,441'''33,445'''34,905'''-1,460''''''9.6'''10.0'''-0.4''''''1.40'''847,365'''2011'''3,484,154'''31,694'''34,820'''-3,126''''''9.1'''10.0'''-0.9''''''1.33'''843,765'''2012'''3,479,339'''32,414'''35,578'''-3,164''''''9.3'''10.2'''-0.9''''''1.36'''839,698'''2013'''3,473,826'''30,551'''35,379'''-4,828''''''8.8'''10.2'''-1.4''''''1.30'''832,872'''2014'''3,466,507'''30,134'''35,692'''-5,558''''''8.7'''10.3'''-1.6''''''1.29'''825,060'''2015'''3,456,500'''29,647'''37,876'''-8,229''''''8.6'''11.0'''-2.4''''''1.28'''815,928'''2016'''3,447,001'''29,985'''36,065'''-6,080''''''8.7'''10.5'''-1.8''''''1.30'''806,794'''2017''' 3,437,453'''30,061'''37,453'''-7,392''''''8.7'''10.9'''-2.2''''''1.31'''797,851'''2018 '''3,427,369'''29,328'''37,237'''-7,909''''''8.6'''10.9'''-2.3''''''1.29'''789,269'''2019'''3,415,752'''28,192'''38,237'''-10,045''''''8.3'''11.2'''-2.9''' '''1.26'''781,299'''2020'''3,403,638'''27,156'''43,808'''-16,652''''''8.0'''12.9'''-4.9''' '''1.23'''772,876'''2021'''3,378,821'''26,993'''49,682'''-22,689''''''8.0'''14.7'''-6.7''''''1.24'''763,709'''2022''''''3,358,496''''''26,516''''''40,692''''''-14,176''''''7.9''''''12.1''''''-4.2''''''1.23''''''755,419'''No data for the period 1992-1995====Current vital statistics====+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January - September 2022''' 18.492 30.687 -12.195 '''January - September 2023''' 18.344 25.807 -7.463 '''Difference''' -148 (-0.80%) -4,880 (-15.90%) +4,732===Structure of the population===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 732 270 1 798 889 3 531 159 100 0–4 89 442 84 622 174 064 4.93 5–9 90 881 86 099 176 980 5.01 10–14 98 653 94 022 192 675 5.46 15–19 124 900 117 842 242 742 6.87 20–24 116 883 111 173 228 056 6.46 25–29 129 248 123 070 252 318 7.15 30–34 128 593 124 040 252 633 7.15 35–39 126 145 123 121 249 266 7.06 40–44 121 595 119 543 241 138 6.83 45–49 130 087 130 841 260 928 7.39 50–54 136 153 140 422 276 575 7.83 55–59 125 576 132 961 258 537 7.32 60–64 104 970 118 281 223 251 6.32 65-69 69 066 84 503 153 569 4.35 70-74 59 854 80 601 140 455 3.98 75-79 47 403 69 864 117 267 3.32 80-84 23 769 38 867 62 636 1.77 85+ 9 052 19 017 28 069 0.79Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 278 976 264 743 543 719 15.40 15–64 1 244 150 1 241 294 2 485 444 70.39 65+ 209 144 292 852 501 996 14.22===Vital statistics by entity=======Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina====Source: Institute for Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and HerzegovinaAverage populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1,000)Crude death rate (per 1,000)Natural change (per 1,000)Total fertility rateFemale fertile population (15-49 years)'''1991'''2,720,074'''42,426'''18,332'''24,094''''''15.6'''6.7'''8.9''''''1.92'''696,784'''1992''' '''1993''' '''1994''' '''1995''' '''1996'''2,141,341'''34,331'''14,221'''20,110''''''16.0'''6.6'''9.4''''''2.05'''579,263'''1997'''2,161,442'''34,304'''16,120'''18,184''''''15.9'''7.5'''8.4''''''2.06'''581,215'''1998'''2,176,885'''31,480'''16,210'''15,270''''''14.5'''7.4'''7.0''''''1.90'''583,979'''1999'''2,189,576'''27,964'''16,108'''11,856''''''12.8'''7.4'''5.4''''''1.70'''586,234'''2000'''2,199,128'''25,372'''17,112'''8,260''''''11.5'''7.8'''3.8''''''1.54'''587,282'''2001'''2,208,263'''24,018'''16,891'''7,127''''''10.9'''7.6'''3.2''''''1.47'''588,612'''2002'''2,215,548'''23,251'''17,175'''6,076''''''10.5'''7.8'''2.7''''''1.43'''588,834'''2003'''2,222,079'''23,168'''18,259'''4,909''''''10.4'''8.2'''2.2''''''1.42'''588,042'''2004'''2,227,181'''22,250'''18,350'''3,900''''''10.0'''8.2'''1.8''''''1.36'''587,226'''2005'''2,231,764'''21,934'''19,293'''2,641''''''9.8'''8.6'''1.2''''''1.35'''585,319'''2006'''2,230,967'''21,602'''18,678'''2,924''''''9.7'''8.4'''1.3''''''1.33'''582,071'''2007'''2,231,548'''21,715'''19,428'''2,287''''''9.7'''8.7'''1.0''''''1.35'''579,026'''2008'''2,229,787'''22,920'''19,480'''3,440''''''10.3'''8.7'''1.5''''''1.43'''571,863'''2009'''2,229,072'''22,913'''20,022'''2,891''''''10.3'''9.0'''1.3''''''1.44'''565,074'''2010'''2,228,027'''22,382'''20,482'''1,900''''''10.0'''9.2'''0.9''''''1.41'''561,677'''2011'''2,226,011'''21,228'''20,208'''1,020''''''9.5'''9.1'''0.5''''''1.34'''558,911'''2012'''2,222,587'''21,472'''20,859'''613''''''9.7'''9.4'''0.3''''''1.36'''555,678'''2013'''2,219,131'''20,145'''20,465'''-320''''''9.1'''9.2'''-0.1''''''1.29'''551,251'''2014'''2,215,997'''19,880'''20,283'''-403''''''9.0'''9.2'''-0.2''''''1.29'''546,324'''2015'''2,210,994'''19,358'''21,703'''-2,345''''''8.8'''9.8'''-1.1''''''1.26'''540,354'''2016'''2,206,231'''19,655'''21,105'''-1,450''''''8.9'''9.6'''-0.7''''''1.28'''534,268'''2017'''2,201,193'''19,824'''21,689'''-1,865''''''9.0'''9.9'''-0.8''''''1.29'''528,096'''2018'''2,196,233'''18,899'''21,442'''-2,543''''''8.6'''9.8'''-1.2''''''1.25'''522,242'''2019'''2,190,098'''18,019'''22,024'''-4,005''''''8.2'''10.1'''-1.8''' '''1.21'''516,595'''2020'''2,184,680'''17,211'''26,026'''-8,815''''''7.9'''11.9'''-4.0''''''1.16'''512,053'''2021'''2,168,602'''16,873'''29,086'''-12,213''''''7.8'''13.4'''-5.6''''''1.15'''506,760'''2022''''''2,156,846''''''16,538''''''23,187''''''-6,649''''''7.7''''''10.8''''''-3.1''''''1.14''''''501,018'''=====Current vital statistics=====+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January - November 2022''' 14,492 20,519 -6,027 '''January - November 2023''' 14,339 18,142 -3,803 '''Difference''' -153 (-1.06%) -2,377 (-11.58%) +2,224====Republika Srpska====Source: Republika Srpska Institute of StatisticsAverage populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateFemale fertile population (15-49 years)'''1991'''1,569,332'''21,149'''11,735'''9,414''''''13.5'''7.5'''6.0''''''1.79'''381,699'''1992''' '''1993''' '''1994''' '''1995''' '''1996'''1,193,656'''11,939'''10,676'''1,263''''''10.0'''8.9'''1.1''''''1.54'''274,878'''1997'''1,194,919'''13,374'''11,464'''1,910''''''11.2'''9.6'''1.6''''''1.73'''274,188'''1998'''1,196,829'''13,046'''12,123'''923''''''10.9'''10.1'''0.8''''''1.69'''273,497'''1999'''1,197,086'''13,995'''12,152'''1,843''''''11.7'''10.2'''1.5''''''1.83'''272,806'''2000'''1,196,395'''13,643'''12,960'''683''''''11.4'''10.8'''0.6''''''1.78'''272,116'''2001'''1,195,299'''13,047'''12,932'''115''''''10.9'''10.8'''0.1''''''1.72'''271,425'''2002'''1,194,178'''12,336'''12,980'''-644''''''10.3'''10.9'''-0.5''''''1.62'''270,735'''2003''' 1,192,622'''10,537'''12,988'''-2,451''''''8.8'''10.9'''-2.1''''''1.40'''270,044'''2004'''1,190,526'''10,628'''13,082'''-2,454''''''8.9'''11.0'''-2.1''''''1.41'''269,354'''2005'''1,187,940'''10,322'''13,802'''-3,480''''''8.7'''11.6'''-2.9''''''1.37'''268,663'''2006'''1,185,145'''10,524'''13,232'''-2,708''''''8.9'''11.2'''-2.3''''''1.40'''267,972'''2007'''1,182,217'''10,110'''14,146'''-4,036''''''8.6'''12.0'''-3.4''''''1.34'''267,282'''2008'''1,179,717'''10,198'''13,501'''-3,303''''''8.6'''11.4'''-2.8''''''1.36'''266,591'''2009'''1,177,995'''10,603'''13,775'''-3,172''''''9.0'''11.7'''-2.7''''''1.41'''265,901'''2010'''1,176,419'''10,147'''13,517'''-3,370''''''8.6'''11.5'''-2.9''''''1.35'''265,210'''2011'''1,174,420'''9,561'''13,658'''-4,097''''''8.1'''11.6'''-3.5''''''1.28'''264,520'''2012'''1,173,131'''9,978'''13,796'''-3,818''''''8.5'''11.8'''-3.3''''''1.34'''263,829'''2013'''1,171,179'''9,510'''13,978'''-4,468''''''8.1'''11.9'''-3.8''''''1.29'''261,574'''2014'''1,167,082'''9,335'''14,409'''-5,074''''''8.0'''12.3'''-4.3''''''1.28'''258,833'''2015'''1,162,164'''9,357'''15,059'''-5,702''''''8.1'''13.0'''-4.9''''''1.29'''255,815'''2016'''1,157,516'''9,452'''13,970'''-4,518''''''8.2'''12.1'''-3.9''''''1.32'''252,911'''2017''' 1,153,017'''9,339'''14,663'''-5,324''''''8.1'''12.7'''-4.6''''''1.31'''250,241'''2018'''1,147,902'''9,568'''14,763'''-5,195''''''8.3'''12.9'''-4.5''''''1.37'''247,599'''2019'''1,142,495'''9,274'''15,081'''-5,807''''''8.1'''13.2'''-5.1''' '''1.34'''245,368'''2020'''1,136,274'''9,161'''16,582'''-7,421''''''8.1'''14.6'''-6.5''''''1.36'''241,626'''2021'''1,128,309'''9,274'''19,002'''-9,728''''''8.2'''16.8'''-8.6''''''1.41'''237,927'''2022''''''1,120,236''''''9,118''''''16,263''''''-7,145''''''8.1''''''14.5''''''-6.4''''''1.40''''''235,589'''=====Current vital statistics=====+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January - December 2022''' 8,381 15,992 -7,611 '''January - December 2023''' 8,457 13,570 -5,113 '''Difference''' +76 (+0,91%) -2,292 (-15.14%) +2,442====Brčko District====Source: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Statistics of the Brčko District BiHAverage populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateFemale fertile population (15-49 years)'''1991'''87,627'''1,194'''613'''581''''''13.6'''7.0'''6.6''''''1.69'''22,142'''1992''' '''1993''' '''1994''' '''1995''' '''1996'''33,600'''324'''255'''69''''''9.6'''7.6'''2.1''''''1.38'''8,699'''1997'''41,903'''383'''291'''92''''''9.1'''6.9'''2.2''''''1.31'''10,848'''1998'''50,207'''481'''346'''135''''''9.6'''6.9'''2.7''''''1.38'''12,998'''1999'''58,510'''505'''377'''128''''''8.6'''6.4'''2.2''''''1.24'''15,148'''2000'''66,813'''548'''410'''138''''''8.2'''6.1'''2.1''''''1.17'''17,297'''2001'''75,117'''652'''502'''150''''''8.7'''6.7'''2.0''''''1.25'''19,447'''2002'''83,420'''898'''676'''222''''''10.8'''8.1'''2.7''''''1.58'''21,597'''2003'''83,590'''986'''771'''215''''''11.8'''9.2'''2.6''''''1.72'''21,461'''2004'''83,760'''984'''791'''193''''''11.7'''9.4'''2.3''''''1.73'''21,323'''2005'''83,930'''977'''830'''147''''''11.6'''9.9'''1.8''''''1.70'''21,185'''2006'''84,100'''912'''742'''170''''''10.8'''8.8'''2.0''''''1.59'''21,045'''2007'''84,258'''976'''818'''158''''''11.6'''9.7'''1.9''''''1.71'''20,905'''2008'''84,233'''905'''890'''15''''''10.7'''10.6'''0.2''''''1.58'''20,763'''2009'''84,260'''933'''912'''21''''''11.1'''10.8'''0.2''''''1.63'''20,621'''2010'''83,995'''916'''906'''10''''''10.9'''10.8'''0.1''''''1.61'''20,478'''2011'''83,723'''905'''954'''-49''''''10.8'''11.4'''-0.6''''''1.61'''20,335'''2012'''83,621'''964'''923'''41''''''11.5'''11.0'''0.5''''''1.71'''20,191'''2013'''83,516'''896'''936'''-40''''''10.7'''11.2'''-0.5''''''1.60'''20,047'''2014'''83,428'''919'''1,000'''-81''''''11.0'''12.0'''-1.0''''''1.65'''19,903'''2015'''83,342'''932'''1,114'''-182''''''11.2'''13.4'''-2.2''''''1.69'''19,759'''2016'''83,254'''878'''990'''-112''''''10.5'''11.9'''-1.3''''''1.59'''19,615'''2017'''83,243'''898'''1,101'''-203''''''10.8'''13.2'''-2.4''''''1.63'''19,514'''2018'''83,234'''861'''1,032'''-171''''''10.3'''12.4'''-2.1''''''1.58'''19,428'''2019'''83,159'''899'''1,132'''-233''''''10.8'''13.6'''-2.8''''''1.66'''19,336'''2020'''82,684'''784'''1,200'''-416''''''9.5'''14.5'''-5.0''''''1.47'''19,197'''2021'''81,910'''846'''1,594'''-748''''''10.3'''19.5'''-9.1''''''1.58'''19,022'''2022''''''81,414''''''860''''''1,242''''''-382''''''10.6''''''15.3''''''-4.7''''''1.63''''''18,812'''=====Current vital statistics=====+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January - October 2022''' 710 1,045 -335 '''January - October 2023''' 675 902 -227 '''Difference''' -35 (-4.93%) -143 (-13.68%) +1089/===Marriages and divorces===Average populationMarriagesDivorcesCrude marriage rate (per 1,000)Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)Divorces per 1,000 marriages'''1950'''2,662,010'''30,242''''''2,447'''11.40.9'''80.9''''''1951'''2,721,009'''30,638''''''1,883'''11.30.7'''61.5''''''1952'''2,790,991'''33,040''''''1,313'''11.80.5'''39.7''''''1953'''2,863,124'''31,069''''''1,931'''10.90.7'''62.2''''''1954'''2,916,007'''31,658''''''2,023'''10.90.7'''63.9''''''1955'''2,973,986'''29,179''''''2,331'''9.80.8'''79.9''''''1956'''3,025,000'''27,361''''''2,596'''9.00.9'''94.9''''''1957'''3,076,006'''27,928''''''2,662'''9.10.9'''95.3''''''1958'''3,126,012'''33,901''''''3,249'''10.81.0'''95.8''''''1959'''3,185,005'''31,926''''''2,788'''10.00.9'''87.3''''''1960'''3,240,010'''32,855''''''3,320'''10.11.0'''101.1''''''1961'''3,291,684'''31,842''''''3,126'''9.70.9'''98.2''''''1962'''3,368,774'''30,620''''''3,150'''9.10.9'''102.9''''''1963'''3,444,107'''29,749''''''3,002'''8.60.9'''100.9''''''1964'''3,517,207'''31,424''''''3,267'''8.90.9'''104.0''''''1965'''3,589,486'''33,214''''''2,693'''9.30.8'''81.1''''''1966'''3,667,002'''31,842''''''3,554'''8.71.0'''111.6''''''1967'''3,735,394'''31,116''''''3,181'''8.30.9'''102.2''''''1968'''3,750,866'''30,814''''''2,865'''8.20.8'''93.0''''''1969'''3,710,120'''31,868''''''2,960'''8.60.8'''92.9''''''1970'''3,708,455'''34,411''''''3,074'''9.30.8'''89.3''''''1971'''3,759,893'''35,290''''''3,114'''9.40.8'''88.2''''''1972'''3,818,703'''34,660''''''3,201'''9.10.8'''92.4''''''1973'''3,871,815'''33,991''''''3,429'''8.80.9'''100.9''''''1974'''3,924,760'''34,917''''''3,579'''8.90.9'''102.5''''''1975'''3,976,913'''35,776''''''4,512'''9.01.1'''126.1''''''1976'''4,033,031'''33,849''''''3,696'''8.40.9'''109.2''''''1977'''4,085,918'''34,951''''''3,023'''8.60.7'''86.5''''''1978'''4,134,878'''34,970''''''3,423'''8.50.8'''97.9''''''1979'''4,147,344'''35,111''''''3,055'''8.50.7'''87.0''''''1980'''4,125,486'''35,012''''''2,610'''8.50.6'''74.5''''''1981'''4,136,196'''36,631''''''3,419'''8.90.8'''93.3''''''1982'''4,154,000'''36,422''''''3,075'''8.80.7'''84.4''''''1983'''4,178,000'''37,239''''''3,149'''8.90.8'''84.6''''''1984'''4,203,000'''35,767''''''2,599'''8.50.6'''72.7''''''1985'''4,227,000'''35,015''''''2,926'''8.30.7'''83.6''''''1986'''4,251,000'''34,338''''''2,228'''8.10.5'''64.9''''''1987'''4,275,000'''34,466''''''2,118'''8.10.5'''61.5''''''1988'''4,299,000'''34,700''''''2,089'''8.10.5'''60.2''''''1989'''4,323,000'''34,550''''''2,098'''8.00.5'''60.7''''''1990'''4,347,000'''29,990''''''1,756'''6.90.4'''58.6''''''1991'''4,377,033'''28,238''''''1,590'''6.50.4'''56.3''''''1992''''''1993''''''1994''''''1995''''''1996'''3,530,799'''21,107''''''1,115'''6.00.3'''52.8''''''1997'''3,529,909'''23,181''''''1,835'''6.60.5'''79.2''''''1998'''3,529,573'''22,398''''''1,964'''6.30.6'''87.7''''''1999'''3,527,549'''22,472''''''1,995'''6.40.6'''88.8''''''2000'''3,524,627'''21,897''''''1,929'''6.20.5'''88.1''''''2001'''3,521,310'''20,302''''''2,126'''5.80.6'''104.7''''''2002'''3,517,955'''20,766''''''2,330'''5.90.7'''112.2''''''2003'''3,514,019'''20,526''''''1,998'''5.80.6'''97.3''''''2004'''3,509,542'''21,620''''''1,524'''6.20.4'''70.5''''''2005'''3,505,037'''21,099''''''1,719'''6.00.5'''81.5''''''2006'''3,501,621'''20,545''''''1,548'''5.90.4'''75.3''''''2007'''3,498,023'''22,613''''''1,721'''6.50.5'''76.1''''''2008'''3,493,737'''21,990''''''1,337'''6.30.4'''60.8''''''2009'''3,491,327'''20,471''''''1,399'''5.90.4'''68.3''''''2010'''3,488,441'''19,373''''''1,665'''5.60.5'''85.9''''''2011'''3,484,154'''19,004''''''2,306'''5.50.7'''121.3''''''2012'''3,479,234'''18,089''''''2,290'''5.20.7'''126.6''''''2013'''3,473,720'''17,470''''''2,607'''5.00.8'''149.2''''''2014'''3,466,388'''18,468''''''2,678'''5.30.8'''145.0''''''2015'''3,456,394'''19,537''''''2,956'''5.70.9'''151.3''''''2016'''3,447,001'''19,006''''''2,759'''5.50.8'''145.2''''''2017'''3,437,453'''19,666''''''3,005'''5.70.9'''152.8''''''2018 '''3,427,369'''19,659''''''3,084'''5.70.9'''156.9''''''2019''''''3,415,752''''''18,687''''''2,775''''''5.5''''''0.8''''''148.5'''====Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina====Average populationMarriagesDivorcesCrude marriage rate (per 1,000)Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)Divorces per 1,000 marriages'''1991'''2,720,074'''18,352''''''813'''6.70.3'''44.3''''''1992''''''1993''''''1994''''''1995''''''1996'''2,283,335'''14,692''''''378'''6.40.2'''25.7''''''1997'''2,281,226'''16,061''''''1,098'''7.00.5'''68.4''''''1998'''2,279,083'''14,921''''''1,163'''6.50.5'''77.9''''''1999'''2,276,927'''14,285''''''1,201'''6.30.5'''84.1''''''2000'''2,274,789'''13,894''''''1,180'''6.10.5'''84.9''''''2001'''2,272,655'''12,758''''''1,286'''5.60.6'''100.8''''''2002'''2,239,417'''12,889''''''1,424'''5.80.6'''110.5''''''2003'''2,237,334'''13,102''''''1,174'''5.90.5'''89.6''''''2004'''2,235,250'''13,695''''''857'''6.10.4'''62.6''''''2005'''2,233,167'''13,620''''''966'''6.10.4'''70.9''''''2006'''2,232,376'''13,012''''''933'''5.80.4'''71.7''''''2007'''2,231,548'''14,808''''''1,031'''6.60.5'''69.6''''''2008'''2,229,787'''14,909''''''938'''6.70.4'''62.9''''''2009'''2,229,072'''13,670''''''805'''6.10.4'''58.9''''''2010'''2,228,027'''12,988''''''994'''5.80.4'''76.5''''''2011'''2,226,011'''12,589''''''1,221'''5.70.5'''97.0''''''2012'''2,222,587'''12,060''''''1,176'''5.40.5'''97.5''''''2013'''2,219,131'''11,381''''''1,364'''5.10.6'''119.8''''''2014'''2,215,997'''11,982''''''1,321'''5.40.6'''110.2''''''2015'''2,210,994'''12,972''''''1,502'''5.90.7'''115.8''''''2016'''2,206,231'''12,790''''''1,445'''5.80.7'''113.0''''''2017'''2,201,193'''12,994''''''1,725'''5.90.8'''132.8''''''2018 '''2,196,233'''13,061''''''1,823'''5.90.8'''139.6''''''2019''''''2,190,098''''''12,266''''''1,673''''''5.6''''''0.8''''''136.4'''====Republika Srpska====Average populationMarriagesDivorcesCrude marriage rate (per 1,000)Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)Divorces per 1,000 marriages'''1991'''1,569,332'''9,232''''''621'''5.90.4'''67.3''''''1992''''''1993''''''1994''''''1995''''''1996'''1,247,464'''6,415''''''737'''5.10.6'''114.9''''''1997'''1,248,683'''7,120''''''737'''5.70.6'''103.5''''''1998'''1,250,490'''7,477''''''801'''6.00.6'''107.1''''''1999'''1,250,622'''8,187''''''794'''6.50.6'''97.0''''''2000'''1,249,838'''8,003''''''749'''6.40.6'''93.6''''''2001'''1,248,655'''7,544''''''840'''6.00.7'''111.3''''''2002'''1,194,178'''7,233''''''848'''6.10.7'''117.2''''''2003'''1,192,622'''6,769''''''744'''5.70.6'''109.9''''''2004'''1,190,526'''7,143''''''637'''6.00.5'''89.2''''''2005'''1,187,940'''6,810''''''721'''5.70.6'''105.9''''''2006'''1,185,145'''6,860''''''526'''5.80.4'''76.7''''''2007'''1,182,217'''7,093''''''596'''6.00.5'''84.0''''''2008'''1,179,717'''6,401''''''317'''5.40.3'''49.5''''''2009'''1,177,995'''6,131''''''455'''5.20.4'''74.2''''''2010'''1,176,419'''5,767''''''517'''4.90.4'''89.6''''''2011'''1,174,420'''5,802''''''886'''4.90.8'''152.7''''''2012'''1,173,131'''5,326''''''878'''4.50.7'''164.9''''''2013'''1,171,179'''5,467''''''1,052'''4.70.9'''192.4''''''2014'''1,167,082'''5,823''''''1,106'''5.00.9'''189.9''''''2015'''1,162,164'''5,895''''''1,143'''5.11.0'''193.9''''''2016'''1,157,516'''5,563''''''1,025'''4.80.9'''184.3''''''2017'''1,153,017'''5,954''''''985'''5.20.9'''165.4''''''2018 '''1,147,902'''5,966''''''963'''5.20.8'''161.4''''''2019''''''1,142,495''''''5,822''''''920''''''5.1''''''0.8''''''158.0'''====Brčko District====Average populationMarriagesDivorcesCrude marriage rate (per 1,000)Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)Divorces per 1,000 marriages'''1991'''87,627'''654''''''156'''7.51.8'''238.5''''''1992''''''1993''''''1994''''''1995''''''1996''''''1997''''''1998''''''1999''''''2000''''''2001''''''2002'''84,360'''644''''''58'''7.60.7'''90.1''''''2003'''84,063'''655''''''80'''7.81.0'''122.1''''''2004'''83,766'''782''''''30'''9.30.4'''38.4''''''2005'''83,930'''669''''''32'''8.00.4'''47.8''''''2006'''84,100'''673''''''89'''8.01.1'''132.2''''''2007'''84,258'''712''''''94'''8.51.1'''132.0''''''2008'''84,233'''680''''''82'''8.11.0'''120.6''''''2009'''84,260'''670''''''139'''8.01.6'''207.5''''''2010'''83,995'''618''''''154'''7.41.8'''249.2''''''2011'''83,723'''613''''''199'''7.32.4'''324.6''''''2012'''83,516'''703''''''236'''8.42.8'''335.7''''''2013'''83,410'''622''''''191'''7.52.3'''307.1''''''2014'''83,309'''663''''''251'''8.03.0'''378.6''''''2015'''83,236'''670''''''311'''8.03.7'''464.2''''''2016'''83,254'''653''''''289'''7.83.5'''442.6''''''2017'''83,243'''718''''''295'''8.63.5'''410.9''''''2018 '''83,234'''632''''''298'''7.63.6'''471.5''''''2019''''''83,159''''''599''''''182''''''7.2''''''2.2''''''303.8'''=== Life expectancy at birth in Bosnia and Herzegovina ===Life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1950Life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1960 by genderPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950-195553.671955-1960 58.461960-1965 61.931965-1970 64.731970-1975 67.571975-1980 69.871980-1985 70.721985-1990 71.951990-1995 70.131995-2000 73.612000-2005 74.812005-2010 75.532010-2015 76.532015-2020 77.18=== Ethnic groups ===According to data from the 2013 census published by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks constitute 50.11% of the population, Bosnian Serbs 30.78%, Bosnian Croats 15.43%, and others form 2.73%, with the remaining respondents not declaring their ethnicity or not answering.The census results are contested by the Republika Srpska statistical office and by Bosnian Serb politicians, who oppose the inclusion of non-permanent Bosnian residents in the figures.The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, determined that the methodology used by the Bosnian statistical agency was in line with international recommendations.In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religion is often linked to ethnicity, i.e.", "(with the exception of agnostics and atheists) most Bosniaks are Muslim, Serbs are Orthodox Christian, and Croats are Roman Catholic.+'''Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to ethnic group 1948-2013''' Ethnicgroup census 1948 census 1953 census 1961 census 1971 census 1981 census 1991 census UNHCR 1996 census 2013 change 1991-2013 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Muslims/Bosniaks 788,403 30.7 891,800 31.3 842,248 25.7 1,482,430 39.6 1,629,924 39.5 1,902,956 43.48 1,805,910 46.1 1,769,592 50.11 -133,364 +6.63pp Serbs 1,136,116 44.3 1,264,372 44.4 1,406,057 42.9 1,393,148 37.2 1,320,644 32.0 1,366,104 31.22 1,484,530 37.9 1,086,733 30.78 -279,371 -0.44pp Croats 614,123 23.9 654,229 23.0 711,665 21.7 772,491 20.6 758,136 18.4 760,852 17.39 571,317 14.6 544,780 15.43 -216,072 -1.96pp Yugoslavs 275,883 8.4 43,796 1.2 326,280 7.9 242,682 5.55 2,570 0.07 Montenegrins 3,094 0.1 7,336 0.3 12,828 0.4 13,021 0.3 14,114 0.3 10,071 0.23 1,883 0.05 Roma 442 0.0 2,297 0.1 588 0.0 1,456 0.0 7,251 0.2 8,864 0.20 12,583 0.36 Albanians3,6420.13,7640.14,3960.14,9250.112,569 0.07 Others/undeclared 23,099 0.9 27,756 1.0 28,679 0.8 36,005 1 63,263 1.5 80,579 1.84 58,196 1.5 110,449 3.13 Total 2,565,277 2,847,790 3,277,948 3,746,111 4,124,008 4,377,033 3,919,953 3,531,159 Image:BiH_-_Etnicki_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_1.gif\|Ethnic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH_-_Etnicki_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_2.gif\|Ethnic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo Bosnjaka po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo Srba po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo Hrvata po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013=== Languages ===Bosnia's constitution does not specify any official languages; however, academics Hilary Footitt and Michael Kelly note that the Dayton Agreement states that it is \"done in Bosnian, Croatian, English and Serbian\", and they describe this as the \"de facto recognition of three official languages\" at the state level.", "The equal status of Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian was verified by the Constitutional Court in 2000.It ruled that the provisions of the Federation and Republika Srpska constitutions on language were incompatible with the state constitution, since they only recognised \"Bosniak\" and Croatian (in the case of the Federation) and Serbian (in the case of Republika Srpska) as official languages at the entity level.As a result, the wording of the entity constitutions was changed and all three languages were made official in both entities.", "The three languages are mutually intelligible and are also known collectively as Serbo-Croatian.", "Use of one of the three varieties has become a marker of ethnic identity.", "Michael Kelly and Catherine Baker argue: \"The three official languages of today's Bosnian state...represent the symbolic assertion of national identity over the pragmatism of mutual intelligibility\".All standard varieties are based on the Ijekavian varieties of the Shtokavian dialect (non-standard spoken varieties including, beside Ijekavian, also Ikavian Shtokavian).", "Serbian and Bosnian are written in both Latin and Cyrillic (the latter predominantly using the Latin script), whereas Croatian is written only in Latin alphabet.", "There are also some speakers of Italian, German, Turkish and Ladino.", "Yugoslav Sign Language is used with Croatian and Serbian variants.According to the results of the 2013 census, 52.86% of the population consider their mother tongue to be Bosnian, 30.76% Serbian, 14.6% Croatian and 1.57% another language, with 0.21% not giving an answer.", "Image:BiH_-_Jezicki_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_1.gif\|Linguistic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH_-_Jezicki_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_2.gif\|Linguistic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo bosanskog jezika po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Bosnian in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo srpskog jezika po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Serbian in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo hrvatskog jezika po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Croatian in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013=== Religion ===According to the 2013 census, 50.7% of the population identify religiously as Muslim, 30.75% as Serbian Orthodox Christian, 15.19% as Roman Catholic, 1.15% as other, 1.1% as agnostic or atheist, with the remainder not declaring their religion or not answering.", "A 2012 survey found that 47% of Bosnia's Muslims are non-denominational Muslims, while 45% follow Sunnism.In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religion is strongly linked to ethnicity.", "File:BosniaHerzegovina1879Census.tif\|Religious structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1879Image:BiH_-_Verski_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_1.gif\|Religious structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH_-_Verski_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_2.gif\|Religious structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo muslimana po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo pravoslavaca po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Orthodox Christians in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013Image:BiH - Udeo katolika po opstinama 2013.gif\|Share of Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013" ], [ "Demographic statistics", "Population pyramid 2016The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.===Population===:3,378,821===Age structure===:0-14 years: 13.18% (male 261,430/female 244,242):15-24 years: 10.83% (male 214,319/female 201,214):25-54 years: 44.52% (male 859,509/female 848,071):55-64 years: 15.24% (male 284,415/female 300,168):65 years and over: 16.22% (male 249,624/female 372,594) (2020 est.", ")===Median age===:Total: 43.3 years:Male: 41.6 years:Female: 44.8 years (2020 est.", ")===Sex ratio===:At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female:0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female:15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female:25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female:55-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female:65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female:Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.", ")===Infant mortality rate===:Total: 5.32 deaths/1,000 live births:Male: 5.44 deaths/1,000 live births:Female: 5.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===:Total population: 77.74 years:Male: 74.76 years:Female: 80.93 years (2021 est.", ")===HIV/AIDS===:Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2018):People living with HIV/AIDS: Less than 500 (2018):Deaths: less than 100 (2018)===Literacy===:Definition: age 15 and over can read and write:Total population: 98.5%:Male: 99.5%:Female: 97.5% (2015 est.)" ], [ "See also", "* Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina* Demographics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Demographics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia* Demographics of Croatia* Demographics of Montenegro* Demographics of Serbia* Exodus of Muslims from Serbia* Bosnia and Herzegovina* Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina* Republika Srpska* Brčko District* List of Bosnians and Herzegovinians'''Religion:'''* Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina* Serbian Orthodox Church* Roman Catholicism in Bosnia and Herzegovina* Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina'''Groups:'''* Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina* Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Living standard measurement survey 2001" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina''' are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic framework, where the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the head of government.", "Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation system.", "The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.The system of government established by the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian war in 1995 is an example of consociationalism, as representation is by elites who represent the country's three major ethnic groups termed ''constituent peoples'', with each having a guaranteed share of power.Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into two ''Entities'' – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, which are politically autonomous to an extent, as well as the Brčko District, which is jointly administered by both.", "The Entities have their own constitutions." ], [ "Dayton Agreement", "Due to the Dayton Agreement, signed on 14 December 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina forms an undeclared protectorate, where highest power is given to the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Peace Implementation Council.", "The intention of the Agreement was to retain Bosnia's exterior border, while creating a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government based on proportional representation, and charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy.The Dayton Agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement.", "About 250 international and 450 local staff members are employed by the OHR." ], [ "High Representative", "High Representative in SarajevoThe highest political authority in the country is the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country.", "The High Representative has power to remove government officials, including court justices, local government members, members of parliament, etc.", "From its establishment, the Office of the High Representative has sacked 192 Bosnian officials.", "The mandate of the High Representatives derives from the Dayton Agreement, as confirmed by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), a body with a Steering Board composed of representatives of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.", "The Peace Implementation Council has established several criteria for the OHR to be closed, two of which have been completed but must be sustained until all five are completed.Due to the vast powers of the High Representative over Bosnian politics and essential veto powers, the position has also been compared to that of a viceroy." ], [ "Executive branch", "Presidency Building in central SarajevoThe Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates amongst three members (a Bosniak, a Serb, and a Croat) every 8 months within their 4-year term.", "The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people, with Federation voters electing both the Bosniak and the Croat member, and Republika Srpska voters electing the Serb member.", "The Presidency serves as a collective head of state.", "The Presidency is mainly responsible for the foreign policy and proposing the budget.The Prime Minister, formally titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the House of Representatives.", "They appoint the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Trade and other ministers as may be appropriate (no more than two thirds of the ministers may be appointed from the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives; also, the Chair appoints deputy ministers (who may not be from the same constituent people as their ministers), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives.The Council is responsible for carrying out policies and decisions in the fields of diplomacy, economy, inter-entity relations and other matters as agreed by the entities.The two Entities have Governments that deal with internal matters not dealt with by the Council of Ministers." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The Parliamentary Assembly or ''Parliamentarna skupština'' is the main legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "It consists of two chambers:the House of Peoples or ''Dom naroda''the House of Representatives or ''Predstavnički dom/Zastupnički dom''Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe Parliamentary Assembly is responsible for:enacting legislation as necessary to implement decisions of the Presidency or to carry out the responsibilities of the Assembly under the Constitution.", "deciding upon the sources and amounts of revenues for the operations of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "approving the budget for the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "deciding ratify treaties and agreements.", "other matters as are necessary to carry out its duties of as are assigned to it by mutual agreement of the Entities.Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have a permanent election law until 2001, during which time a draft law specified four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures.", "The final election law was passed and publicized on 9 September 2001.===House of Peoples===The House of Peoples includes 15 delegates who serve two-year terms.", "Two-thirds of delegates come from the Federation (5 Croats and 5 Bosniaks) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs).", "Nine constitutes a quorum in the House of Peoples, provided that at least three delegates from each group are present.", "Federation representatives are selected by the House of Peoples of the Federation, which has 58 seats (17 Bosniaks, 17 Croats, 17 Serbs, 7 others), and whose members are delegated by cantonal assemblies to serve four-year terms.", "Republika Srpska representatives are selected by the 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples, which was established in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska; each constituent people has eight delegates, while four delegates are representatives of \"others\".===House of Representatives===The House of Representatives comprises 42 members elected under a system of proportional representation (PR) for a four-year term.", "Two thirds of the members are elected from the Federation (14 Croats; 14 Bosniaks) and one third from the Republika Srpska (14 Serbs).For the 2010 general election, voters in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina elected twenty-one members in five multi-member constituencies by PR, while the remaining seven seats were allocated by compensatory PR.", "Voters in the Republika Srpska elected nine members in three multi-member constituencies by PR, while the five other seats were allocated by compensatory PR." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "CandidatePartyVotes%Bosniak memberŠefik DžaferovićParty of Democratic Action212,58136.61Denis BećirovićSocial Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina194,68833.53Fahrudin RadončićUnion for a Better Future of BiH75,21012.95Mirsad HadžikadićIndependent58,55510.09Senad ŠepićIndependent Bloc29,9225.15Amer JerlagićParty for Bosnia and Herzegovina9,6551.66Croat memberŽeljko KomšićDemocratic Front225,50052.64Dragan ČovićCroatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina154,81936.14Diana ZelenikaCroatian Democratic Union 199025,8906.04Boriša FalatarOur Party16,0363.74Jerko Ivanković LijanovićPeople's Party Work for Prosperity6,0991.42Serb memberMilorad DodikAlliance of Independent Social Democrats368,21053.88Mladen IvanićSerb Democratic Party292,06542.74Mirjana PopovićFair Policy Party12,7311.86Gojko KličkovićFair Policy Party10,3551.52Invalid/blank votes120,259–'''Total''''''1,812,575''''''100'''Registered voters/turnout Source: CEC===House of Representatives===PartyFederationRepublika SrpskaTotalVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%Seats+/–Party of Democratic Action252,08125.48829,6734.451281,75417.019–1Alliance of Independent Social Democrats4,6630.470260,93039.106265,59316.0360SDS–NDP–NS–SRS––162,41424.343162,4149.803–2Social Democratic Party140,78114.2351.450150,4539.085+2HDZ BiH–HSS–HSP-HNS–HKDU–HSP-AS BiH–HDU BiH145,48714.7150.660149,8729.055+1Democratic Front–Civic Alliance96,1809.723–––96,1805.813–1Social Democratic Party92,9069.45315,7362.43–108,6426.663–5PDP–NDP1940.02050,3387.76150,5323.1010Croatian Democratic Union 199040,1134.081––40,1132.461–Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović35,8663.6512,4520.38038,3182.351+1Democratic People's Alliance––37,0725.72137,0722.2710Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina25,6772.610––25,6771.570–2Party of Democratic Activity22,0882.251––22,0881.351NewSocialist Party––18,7322.89018,7321.1500SPP–SDU–DNZ12,8851.3103,4290.53016,3141.000–1People's Party for Work and Betterment12,9271.310––12,9270.790–1Serbian Progressive Party––11,4211.76011,4210.7000Our Party10,9131.110––10,9130.6700Party of Justice and Trust––9,7631.5109,7630.600NewBosnian Party7,5180.760––7,5180.4600Social Democratic Union5,8810.608530.1306,7340.4100Labour Party5,7310.580––5,7310.350NewHSP–DSI5,4750.560––5,4750.340–Communist Party3,0750.3101,9760.3005,0510.310NewHKDU4,7180.480––4,7180.290NewDiaspora Party3,3710.340––3,3710.210NewNew Movement1,8300.190––1,8300.110NewTomo Vukić––3970.0603970.020NewInvalid/blank votes97,720––58,857––156,577–––'''Total''''''1,081,025''''''100''''''28''''''701,156''''''100''''''14''''''1,782,181''''''100''''''42''''''–'''Registered voters/turnout – – ––Source: CEC===Election history===National House of Representatives:elections held 12–13 September 1998:*seats by party/coalition – KCD 17, HDZ-BiH 6, SDP-BiH 6, Sloga 4, SDS 4, SRS-RS 2, DNZ 1, NHI 1, RSRS 1elections held 5 October 2002:percent of vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP 10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%seats by party/coalition – SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP 2, others 7House of Peoples:constituted 4 December 1998constituted in fall 2000constituted in January 2003next to be constituted in 2007Federal House of Representatives:elections held fall 1998:seats by party/coalition – KCD 68, HDZ-BiH 28, SDP-BiH 25, NHI 4, DNZ 3, DSP 2, BPS 2, HSP 2, SPRS 2, BSP 1, KC 1, BOSS 1, HSS 1elections held 5 October 2002:*seats by party/coalition – SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15, SBiH 15, other 20Federal House of Peoples:constituted November 1998constituted December 2002Republika Srpska National Assembly:elections held fall 1998*seats by party/coalition – SDS 19, KCD 15, SNS 12, SRS-RS 11, SPRS 10, SNSD 6, RSRS 3, SKRS 2, SDP 2, KKO 1, HDZ-BiH 1, NHI 1elections held fall 2000elections held 5 October 2002seats by party/coalition – SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3, DNZ 3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6" ], [ "Judicial branch", "===Constitutional Court===The Presidency Building, seat of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of constitutional matters.", "The court is composed of nine members: four selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and three are foreign citizens appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after courtesy-consultation with the Presidency.The initial term of appointee is 5 years, unless they resign or are removed by consensus of other judges.", "Appointed judges are not eligible for reappointment.", "Judges subsequently appointed will serve until the age of 70, unless they resign sooner or are removed.", "Appointments made 5 years into the initial appointments may be governed by a different regulation for selection, to be determined by the Parliamentary Assembly.Proceedings of the Court are public, and decisions are published.", "Court rules are adopted by a majority in the Court.", "Court decisions are final and supposedly binding though this is not always the case, as noted.The Constitutional Court has jurisdiction over deciding in constitutional disputes that arise between the Entities or amongst Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Entity or Entities.", "Such disputes may be referred only by a member of the Presidency, the Chair of the Council of Ministers, the Chair or Deputy Chair of either of the chambers of the Parliamentary Assembly, or by one-fourth of the legislature of either Entity.The Court also has appellate jurisdiction within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.===State Court===The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three divisions – Administrative, Appellate and Criminal – having jurisdiction over cases related to the state-level law and executive, as well as appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities.A War Crimes Chamber was introduced in January 2005, and has adopted two cases transferred from the ICTY, as well as dozens of war crimes cases originally initiated in cantonal courts.The State Court also deals with organized crime, and economic crime including corruption cases.", "For example, the former member of the Presidency Dragan Čović was on trial for alleged involvement in organized crime.===Human Rights Chamber===The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina (''Dom za ljudska prava za Bosnu i Hercegovinu'') existed between March 1996 and 31 December 2003.It was a judicial body established under the Annex 6 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement).===Entities===The two Entities have Supreme Courts.", "Each entity also has a number of lower courts.", "There are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, along with a number of municipal courts.", "The Republika Srpska has five municipal courts.===High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council===The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (JHPC / VSTV) is the self-regulatory body of the judiciary in the country, tasked with guaranteeing its independence.", "It is based on the continental tradition of self-management of the judiciary.", "It was formed in 2004." ], [ "See also", "Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Office of the High Representative* Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina* Government of the Republic of Srpska* Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina* Bosnia: a single country or an apple of discord?, Bosnian Institute, 12 May 2006* Bertelsmann Stiftung – Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Report* Balkaninsight – The future of Bosnia" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina''' is a transitional, upper middle income economy.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from socialist Yugoslavia on 1 March 1992.The main trading partners are Germany, Italy, Austria, Turkey and other neighboring Balkan countries." ], [ "Overview", "Bosnia and Herzegovina is an upper middle-income country which has accomplished a great deal since the mid-1990s.", "Today, it is an EU potential candidate country and is now embarking on a new growth model amid a period of slow growth and the global financial crisis.Bosnia and Herzegovina is a small, open economy, dominated by services, which accounted for 55% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, with a moderately developed industrial and manufacturing sector (23% and 12%, respectively), and a limited agricultural base (about 6% of GDP).The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM) - the national currency introduced in 1998 - is pegged to the euro, and confidence in the currency and the banking sector has increased.", "Implementation of privatization, however, has been slow, and local entities only reluctantly support national-level institutions.", "Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all ; foreign banks, primarily from Western Europe, now control most of the banking sector.", "A sizable current account deficit and very high unemployment rate remain the two most serious economic problems.", "The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.The United States Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina produces the Country Commercial Guide – an annual report that delivers a comprehensive look at Bosnia and Herzegovina's commercial and economic environment, using economic, political, and market analysis.According to Serbian American economist, Branko Milanović, Bosnia and Herzegovina did the best job in the transition from socialism to capitalism when compared to the other republics of the former Yugoslavia.", "From 1985 until 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina performed the best on the annual average GDP growth per capita (1.6%), Slovenia (1.4%), Croatia (1%), Serbia without Kosovo (0.9%) and North Macedonia (0.5%)." ], [ "Brief economic history until the 1990s", "Real GDP growth rates in Republika Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and HerzegovinaAt the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), Bosnia and Herzegovina was an important mineral processing centre and provided the other republics with basic mineral commodities in exchange for current consumption goods.", "While large amounts of public capital investments poured in during the 1970s, productivity levels remained low, often due to the limited capacity of public managers.", "Under former republican premier Džemal Bijedić, and Yugoslav president Tito, metal-product industries were promoted in the republic, resulting in the development of a large share of Yugoslavia's metal products plants.Merging small firms into larger agglomerates was a common practice in the SFRY to preserve employment levels.", "As a result, four large conglomerates emerged in Bosnia and Herzegovina over time: Energoinvest (energy sector), Unis (automotive and defence industry, which partnered with Volkswagen in the early 1970s), Šipad (wood processing) and RMK Zenica (steel industry, later acquired by ArcelorMittal).", "Construction and defence were important industries of the Bosnian economy, despite their low efficiency and, ultimately, supply excess.", "The defence industry was particularly developed in the southern districts and around Mostar, which was also a relevant metallurgical centre (Aluminij Mostar).", "Machinery production was concentrated in the north, particularly around Banja Luka.", "The Tuzla district was renowned for its chemical industry.", "The automotive industry, which developed in the 1950s with the production of vehicle components, extended later on to passenger and commercial vehicles, with plants in Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka.", "Agriculture was not highly developed, despite its importance for employment and the presence of the large Agrokomerc conglomerate based at the north-west border with Croatia.Tito had pushed the development of metal industries, and electro-energetic sector, in the republic with the result that Bosnia and Herzegovina were a host of large numbers of industrial firms.", "Some of them were worked with World brand names, companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Marlboro, Volkswagen and SKF.", "Big Companies like Energoinvest, UNIS, Hidrogradnja, Vranica, RMK Zenica, TAS Sarajevo, FAMOS Sarajevo and BNT Novi Travnik, have yearly income in billions of USD$ at that time.", "Building sector companies bringing large amounts of income in USD$.", "Unemployment at that time is very low.", "Work force is highly skilled, with highly professional, educated managers, engineers, science experts, which use western world's newest technologies in large scale areas.", "Before the war, Yugoslav premier Ante Marković, made some preparations for privatization, in economy, finance, and industry sectors, but the war ceased development in these actions.The economy suffered heavily from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with over €200 billion in material damages and GDP (excluding services) reduced by 90% between 1990 and 1995.Today, most of the above-mentioned companies have been privatised.", "The economy remains fragile, primarily consumption driven and vulnerable to external fluctuations.", "This was seen with the global economic crisis, which pushed Bosnia and Herzegovina into recession in 2009 and 2012 (with GDP growth of -3% and -0.8%, respectively) and severe floods in 2014, which caused damage of approximately 15% of GDP.", "Since 2015, annual GDP growth has increased to more than 3%.", "Still, the country registered a current account deficit of 4.7% of GDP in 2017, decreasing from 5.3% in 2015, resulting from a reduction in its trade deficit, which nevertheless remains large (17.4% of GDP in 2017).A Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established in late 1997, debt negotiations were held with the London Club in December 1997 and with the Paris Club in October 1998, and a new currency, the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, was introduced in mid-1998.In 1999, the Convertible Mark gained wider acceptance, and the Central Bank dramatically increased its reserve holdings.", "Due to Bosnia's strict currency board regime attaching the Bosnian mark to the Euro, inflation has remained low in the entire country.With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in 1996–99 at high percentage rates from a low base; but output growth slowed in 2000–02.The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community.", "Support for East European Democracy (SEED) assistance accounts for 20%-25% of economic growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "However, growth has been uneven throughout the post-war period, with the Federation outpacing the RS.", "According to World Bank estimates, GDP growth was 62% in the Federation and 25% in the RS in 1996, 35% in the Federation and flat in the RS in 1997, and continued growth in the Federation in 1998.Movement has been slow, but considerable progress has been made in economic reform since peace was re-established.", "Banking reform lagged, as did the implementation of privatization.", "Many companies (mainly factories) that were privatized faced massive problems, causing the owners to reduce salaries and deny the workers their salaries, and some of the new owners and tycoons destroy that factories.===Macro-Economic===The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1997–2023.Year GDP(in Bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP) GDP(in Bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP per capita(in US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Unemployment rate(in Percent) Debt 1996 11.394 3,027 3.584 952 1997 14.239 3,811 4.578 1,225 22.9% 44,6% 1998 16.389 4,391 5.281 1,415 29.3% 54.3% 1999 18.406 4,917 5.766 1,540 31.1% 56% 2000 19.659 5,241 5.554 1,480 4.4% 31.1% 34.6% 2001 20.577 5,479 5.784 1,540 31.1% 35.2% 2002 21.954 5,840 6.711 1,785.31.1% 31.2% 2003 23.251 6,183 8.477 2,254 31.1% 27.6% 2004 25.369 6,741 10.157 2,699 31.1% 25.5% 2005 27.273 7,241 10.935 2,903 4,2% 31.1% 25.5% 2006 29.714 7,885 12.460 3,306 5.7% 31.1% 21.2% 2007 32.342 8,597 15.323 4,073 6.0% 32.4% 18.7% 2008 34.806 9,271 18.712 4,984 5.6% 34% 30.9% 2009 34.743 9,299 17.601 4,711 −0.8% 35% 35% 2010 35.431 9,565 17.164 4,633 0.8% 34% 40.8% 2011 36.495 9,971 18.629 5,089 0.9% 31% 39.6% 2012 37.104 10,292 17.207 4,773 −0.7% 30% 42.2% 2013 38.975 11,003 18.155 5,125 2.4% 31% 42.5% 2014 39.732 11,410 18.522 5,319 1.2% 32% 45.9% 2015 41.195 12,013 16.210 4,727 3.1% 35% 45.5% 2016 44.253 13,069 16.910 4,994 3.2% 25.4% 44.1% 2017 46.394 13,836 18.081 5,392 2.7% 20.5% 39.5% 2018 49.279 14,829 20.184 6,073 3.5% 19.4% 34.3% 2019 51.581 15,625 20.203 6,120 3.9% 15.7% 32.5% 2020 49.943 15,231 19.789 6,034 −6.5% 19% 36.5% 2021 57.733 16,584 23.673 6,800 5% 17.5% 34.5% 2022 64.314 18,517 24.520 7,059 3.2% 15.7% 29.7% 2023 68.012 19,633 26.945 7,778 4% 13.1% 28.6%202471.64020,73428.7388,3173%28,1%" ], [ "Present", "Exports of Bosnia and Herzegovina during 2006.", "'''Overall value of foreign direct investment (1999–2011):'''1999: €166 million2000: €159 million2001: €133 million2002: €282 million2003: €338 million2004: €534 million2005: €421 million2006: €556 million2007: €1.628 billion2008: €1.083 billion2009: €434 million2010: €359 million2011: €313 million2022: €730 million From 1994 to 2011, €6.4 billion were invested in the country.", "'''The top investor countries (1994–2007)''':Austria (€1,294 million)Serbia (€773 million)Croatia (€434 million)Slovenia (€427 million)Switzerland (€337 million)Germany (€270 million)Italy (€94.29 million)Netherlands (€63.52 million)United Arab Emirates (€56.70 million)Turkey (€54.81 million)All Other Countries (€892.54 million)'''Foreign investments by sector for (1994–2007):'''37.7% Manufacturing21% Banking4.9% Services9.6% Trade0.30% Transport1% TourismBy some estimates, grey economy is 25.5% of GDP.===Recent years=======2017====In 2017, exports grew by 17% when compared to the previous year, totaling €5.65 billion.", "The total volume of foreign trade in 2017 amounted to €14.97 billion and increased by 14% compared to the previous year.", "Imports of goods increased by 12% and amounted to €9.32 billion.", "The coverage of imports by exports has increased by 3% compared to the previous year and now it is 61 percent.", "In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina mostly exported car seats, electricity, processed wood, aluminum and furniture.", "In the same year, it mostly imported crude oil, automobiles, motor oil, coal and briquettes.The unemployment rate in 2017 was 20.5%, but The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies is predicting falling unemployment rate for the next few years.", "In 2018, the unemployment should be 19.4% and it should further fall to 18.8% in 2019.In 2020, the unemployment rate should go down to 18.3%.On 31 December 2017, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued the report on public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that the public debt was reduced by €389.97 million, or by more than 6% when compared to December 31, 2016.By the end of 2017, public debt was €5.92 billion, which amounted to 35.6 percent of GDP.As of 31 December 2017, there were 32,292 registered companies in the country, which together had revenues of €33.572 billion that same year.In 2017, the country received €397.35 million in foreign direct investment, which equals to 2.5% of the GDP.In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked 3rd in the world in terms of the number of new jobs created by foreign investment, relative to the number of inhabitants.In 2017, 1,307,319 tourists visited Bosnia-Herzegovina, an increase of 13.7%, and had 2,677,125 overnight hotel stays, a 12.3% increase from the previous year.", "Also, 71.5% of the tourists came from foreign countries.====2018====In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina exported goods worth 11.9 billion KM (€6.07 billion), which is 7.43% higher than in the same period in 2017, while imports amounted to 19.27 billion KM (€9.83 billion), which is 5.47% higher.The average price of new apartments sold in the country in the first six months of 2018 is 1,639 km (€886.31) per square meter.", "This represents a jump of 3.5% from the previous year.On June 30, 2018, public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to about €6.04 billion, of which external debt is 70.56 percent, while the internal debt is 29.4 percent of total public indebtedness.", "The share of public debt in gross domestic product was 34.92 percent.In 2018, 1,465,412 tourists visited Bosnia-Herzegovina, an increase of 12.1%, and had 3,040,190 overnight hotel stays, a 13.5% increase from the previous year.", "Also, 71.2% of the tourists came from foreign countries.In 2018, the total value of mergers and acquisitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to €404.6 million.In 2018, 99.5 percent of enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina used computers in their business, while 99.3 percent had internet connections, according to a survey conducted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Statistics Agency.In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina received 783.4 million KM (€400.64 million) in direct foreign investment, which was equivalent to 2.3% of GDP.In 2018, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a profit of 8,430,875 km (€4,306,347).====2019====The World Bank estimates that the economy grew by 2.8% in 2019.Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed 83rd on the Index of Economic Freedom for 2019.The total rating for Bosnia and Herzegovina is 61.9.This position represents some progress relative to the 91st place in 2018.This result is below the regional level, but still above the global average, making Bosnia and Herzegovina a \"moderately free\" country.On 31 January 2019, total deposits in Bosnian banks were KM 21.9 billion (€11.20 billion), which represents 61.15% of nominal GDP.In the second quarter of 2019, the average price of new apartments sold in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 1,606 km (€821.47) per square meter.In the first six months of 2019, exports amounted to 5.829 billion KM (€2.98 billion), which is 0.1% less than in the same period of 2018, while imports amounted to 9.779 billion KM (€5.00 billion), which is by 4.5% more than in the same period of the previous year.In the first seven months of 2019, 906,788 tourists visited the country, an 11.7% jump from the previous year.In the first six months of 2019, foreign direct investment amounted to 650.1 million KM (€332.34 million).====2020–2022====2020 saw a contraction in the economy of around 4.7%, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with increased costs by the government, before bouncing back in 2021.Employment rates have been climbing, however youth unemployment in 2022 was still over 33%.====2023====As of 30 November 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 1.3 million registered motor vehicles.===Sarajevo===ARIA shopping and business center, also the headquarters of Al Jazeera BalkansSarajevo industries now include tobacco products, furniture, hosiery, automobiles, and communication equipment.", "Companies based in Sarajevo include BH Telecom, Bosnalijek, Energopetrol, FlyBosnia, Sarajevo Tobacco Factory, and Sarajevska Pivara (Sarajevo Brewery).Sarajevo has a strong tourist industry and was named by Lonely Planet one of the top 50 \"Best Cities in the World\" in 2006.Sports-related tourism uses the legacy facilities of the 1984 Winter Olympics, especially the skiing facilities on the nearby mountains of Bjelašnica, Igman, Jahorina, Trebević, and Treskavica.", "Sarajevo's 600 years of history, influenced by both Western and Eastern empires, is also a strong tourist attraction.", "Sarajevo has hosted travellers for centuries, because it was an important trading center during the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian empires.Today, Sarajevo is one of the fastest developing cities in the region.", "Various new modern buildings have been built, most significantly the Bosmal City Center, ARIA Centar and the Avaz Twist Tower, which is one of the tallest skyscraper in the Balkans.", "A new highway was recently (2006–2011) completed between Sarajevo and the city of Kakanj.", "Due to growth in population, tourism and airport traffic the service sector in the city is developing fast and welcoming new investors from various businesses.Sarajevo has one of the most representable commercial infrastructures in South-East Europe.", "The Sarajevo City Center is one of the biggest shopping centres in South-East Europe, after its completion in 2014.Airport Center Sarajevo which will be connected directly to the new airport terminal will offer a great variety of brands, products and services.In 1981, Sarajevo's GDP per capita was 133% of the Yugoslav average.In 2011, Sarajevo's GDP was estimated to be 16.76 billion US$ by the Central Bank of Bosnia, comprising 37% of the total GDP of the country.===Mostar===The construction of the largest trade center in Herzegovina – \"Brodomerkur\"Mostar's economy relies heavily on tourism, aluminum and metal industry, banking services and telecommunication sector.", "The city is the seat of some of the country's largest corporations.Along with Sarajevo, it is the largest financial center in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with two out of three largest banks in the country having their headquarters in Mostar.", "Bosnia-Herzegovina has three national electric, postal and telecommunication service corporations; These three companies banks and the aluminium factory make a vast portion of overall economic activity in the city.Aluminij is one of the most influential companies in the city, region, but also country.", "In relation to the current manufacturing capacity it generates an annual export of more than €150 million.", "The partners with which the Aluminij does business are renowned global companies, from which the most important are: Venture Coke Company L.L.C.", "(Venco-Conoco joint Venture) from the US, Glencore International AG from Switzerland, Debis International trading GmbH, Daimler-Chrysler and VAW Aluminium Technologie GmbH from Germany, Hydro ASA from Norway, Fiat from Italy, and TLM-Šibenik from Croatia5.Mostar area alone receives an income of €40 million annually from Aluminij.===Prijedor===Prijedor regional location.Prijedor is the sixth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "It is an economically prosperous municipality hosting a wide range of industries, services and educational institutions.", "The city's geographical location close to major European capitals has made it an important industrial and commercial hub nationally.It has a developed financial sector, 11 international banks are represented, 5 microcredit organizations and a foundation for development.The city's huge economic potential is in the strategic geographical location being close to Zagreb, Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna.", "Giving it one of the best climates for economic expansion in Bosnia and Herzegovina.The agricultural land around the city, raw minerals in the municipality and growth of high educated population in the city proper gives it a unique combination of both being able to produce sophisticated industrial products, food and service branches.", "; CompaniesZenica host today the Bosnian part of ArcelorMittal Steel Company, former RMK Zenica, which employ about 3000 workers, steel company from Luxembourg with over 320,000 employees in more than 60 countries.", "It also has companies specialized in the chemical industry such as Ferrox a.d., producing iron oxides-pigments.", "BosnaMontaza AD., one of Bosnias most specialized steel manufacturers, manufacturing: steel construction, pipelines, reservoirs, technological equipment, cranes and energy plants.Other companies such as the Croatian food company Kraš has one of its biggest facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Prijedor, producing confectionery products under the brand names MIRA and Kraš.Brand names such as \"Prijedorčanka\" is one of the leading producers of the alcoholic beverage Rakija in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "Prijedor is also a big enterprise producing cellulose and paper for export.In 2022, the sector with the highest number of companies registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Services with 39,707 companies followed by Retail Trade and Wholesale Trade with 12,060 and 11,970 companies respectively.", "; Agricultural sectorLake Saničani fish farmAmong this Prijedor has a fruit growing production, gardening production, crop farming production, mill and bakery industries, stock farming production, processing industries and a milk industry.Lake Saničani, near Prijedor, is one of the biggest commercial fish-farming lakes in the southern Europe.Prijedor municipality takes up 8340.6 hectares (5845.0 private property and 2495.6 state property).Plowed fields and gardens take up 340.26 hectares, orchards 23.86 hectares and vineyards 5 hectares.All cultivated soil takes up 402.06 hectares.", "; Service sectorThe service sector in Prijedor is growing rapidly and this reflects in the growth of hotels, stores, roads, educational facilities and shoppings centers that are being built in the city.", "Making it a growing commercial hub in Bosnia and Hercegovina.===Banja Luka===Banja Luka west transitAlthough the city itself was not directly affected by the Bosnian War in the early 1990s, its economy was.", "For four years, Banja Luka fell behind the world in key areas such as technology, resulting in a rather stagnant economy.", "However, in recent years, the financial services sector has gained in importance in the city.", "In 2002, the trading began on the newly established Banja Luka Stock Exchange.", "The number of companies listed, the trading volume and the number of investors have increased significantly.", "A number of big companies such as Telekom Srpske, Rafinerija ulja Modriča, Banjalučka Pivara and Vitaminka are all listed on the exchange and are traded regularly.", "Investors, apart from those from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, now include a number of investment funds from the European Union, Norway, the United States, Japan and China.A number of financial services regulators, such as the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska Securities Commission and the RS Banking Agency are headquartered in Banja Luka.", "This, along with the fact that some of the major banks in Bosnia, the Deposit Insurance Agency and the Value-added tax (VAT) Authority are all based in the city, has helped Banja Luka establish itself as a major financial centre of the country.In 1981 Banja Luka's GDP per capita was 97% of the Yugoslav average." ], [ "Energy", "The country has been a heavy user of energy compared with the EU, with artificially low prices providing a disincentive to make savings.", "Heavily reliant on lignite coal for power generation, in 2021 Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of very few countries still making plans to expand coal energy generation.", "; Statistics+'''2020 energy statistics'''+Production capacities for electricity(billion kWh)TypeAmountFossil fuel26.27Hydro14.81Wind power0.62Solar0.12Biomass0.04Total41.86 +Electricity(billion kWh)CategoryAmountConsumption11.66Production16.96Import3.27Export7.32 +Natural Gas(billion m3)Consumption0.218Import0.218'''CO2 emissions:'''20.95 million tons===Renewable power===; Wind and SolarThe first wind farm was built in 2018.The 2030 plan envisages 1.5 GW of solar power and 0.5 GW of wind power capacity being built.", "; Hydro powerIn 2021 the country had around 2076 MW of installed hydropower capacity larger than 10 MW, with 180 MW of small hydropower units.===Fossil fuels===; CoalIn 2021 electricity production came from five main lignite coal power plants generating up to 2065 MW.Tuzla Thermal Power Plant was supposed to close unit 4 in 2022 however the government has extended this lignite coal generators life.", "Kakanj Power Station was also supposed to have closed unit 5 in 2022 under the 2006 Energy Community Treaty.Under the 2030 plan a number of coal power stations will close or convert to biomass.", "Breza coal mineGacko coal mineKakanj coal mineKamengrad coal mineKongora coal mineStanari coal mineTušnica coal mineUgljevik coal mineZenica coal mine" ], [ "Tourism", "Stari Most in Mostar, a UNESCO World Heritage SiteThe tourism sector has been recovering and helping the economy altogether in the process, with popular winter skiing destinations as well as summer countryside tourism.Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a top performer in recent years in terms of tourism development; tourist arrivals have grown by an average of 24% annually from 1995 to 2000.The European region's solid growth in arrivals in 2007 was due in significant part to Southern and Mediterranean Europe's strong performance (+7%).In particular, Bosnia and Herzegovina were among the stronger players with a growth of 20%.In 2012, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 747,827 tourists an increase of 9% and 1,645,521 overnight stays which is a 9,4% increase from 2012.58.6% of the tourists came from foreign countries.According to an estimate of the World Tourism Organization, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have the third highest tourism growth rate in the world between 1995 and 2020.Of particular note is the diaspora population which often returns home during the summer months, bringing in an increase in retail sales and food service industry.In 2017, 1,307,319 tourists visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, an increase of 13.7%, and had 2,677,125 overnight hotel stays, a 12.3% increase from the previous year.", "Also, 71.5% of the tourists came from foreign countries." ], [ "Challenges of doing business", "While business regulations are of comparable strictness as in most countries in Central Europe, many problems persist.", "Post-war high percentage of unemployment (16.85%) remains high, and the economical progress is very slow.", "Complicated bureaucracy system, complex procedures and often misconducted audition and regulation by public officers also make for volatile and insecure business environment, which is considered major hindrance to foreign investment into the country's industrial and manufacturing potential.The workforce is comparably cheap, with average net salary being €580, and average gross salary being €891, () and good skilled, especially in sectors present in pre-war economy.", "However, with slow but persistent know-how obsolescence, workforce exodus, high unemployment and long average time outside labor market for the unemployed, need a foreign-owned business investing in industry sectors where the country could be competitive.Bosnia and Herzegovina is also lacking a good e-governance structure, as well as good methods to enforce administrative accountability, both of which are considered necessary for more conductive business climate.", "Today it takes between 3–5 weeks to register a company in the country (and in some business sectors it can still take months to acquire all required permits, mostly due to administrative inefficiency), and many other business related administrative procedures are similarly convoluted and time-consuming.Political corruption is one of the more acute problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and along with size of administration and its inefficiency, the biggest detriment to tax money being spent where it should be spent – on services to the population and the economy.Bosnia and Herzegovina has been preparing for an era of declining international assistance.", "Country's most immediate task remains economic revitalization to create jobs and income.", "After the 2014 riots, both administrations have shyly started the reform, dealing with some of the many pressing issues to local economy, but the overall process is still considered slow and tenuous by the populace and local as well as foreign economic analysts." ], [ "Infrastructure", "Pan-European Corridor Vc between Sarajevo and VisokoThe Bosnian government has issued an international tender for the construction of the 350 km long Pan-European Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will passes along the route Budapest-Osijek-Sarajevo-Ploče.", "The highway along this corridor is the most significant roadway in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the shortest communication route between Central Europe and the Southern Adriatic.", "The routing of the road passes through the central part of the country in the north–south direction from Donji Svilaj to the border of B&H, north from the Croatian port of Ploče, following the rivers Bosna and Neretva.", "More than 50% of the total population and the economic activity of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies within the zone of influence along this route.As of August 2018, 200 km motorway has been completed.Due to annual growth of nearly 10% the Sarajevo International Airport extension of the passenger terminal, together with upgrading and expanding the taxiway and apron is planned to start in Fall 2012.The existing terminal will be expanded with 7.000 square metres.The upgraded airport will also be directly connected to the commercial retail center Sarajevo Airport Centermaking it easy for tourist and travellers to use the time before the flight for some last minute shopping." ], [ "International rankings", "World map representing alt=World map74th in Human Development Index (2021)60th in inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (2021)97th in Democracy Index (2022)48th in Henley Passport Index (2023)81st in Human Capital Index (2020)88th in Quality of Nationality Index (2018)72nd in Legatum Prosperity Index (2023)63rd in Social Progress Index (2022)90th in Ease of Doing Business (2020)39th in Economic Complexity Index (2021)92nd in Global Competitiveness Report (2019)68th in Index of Economic Freedom (2023)61st in Global Peace Index (2023)110th in Corruption Perceptions Index (2022)" ], [ "See also", "Central Bank of Bosnia and HerzegovinaList of banks in Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina convertible markBosnia and Herzegovina2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "Tariffs applied by Bosnia and Herzegovina as provided by ITC's ITC'''Market Access Map''' , an online database of customs tariffs and market requirements." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "Bosnia and Herzegovina has facilities for road, rail and air transport.", "There are five international road routes and 20 state highways, with bus connections to many countries.", "Railways total just over 1,000 km with links to Croatia and Serbia.", "There are 25 airports, seven of them with paved runways.", "The Sava River is navigable, but its use is limited." ], [ "Roadways", "''total'': 21,846 km''paved'': 11,425 km (4,686 km of interurban roads)''unpaved'': 10,421 km (2006)===Roads===Roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina====International====E65E73 (Pan-European corridor Vc), A1 highwayE661E761E762====State highways====* M-1.8* M-2* M-4* M-4.2* M-5* M-6* M-6.1* M-8* M-11* M-14* M-14.1* M-14.2* M-15* M-16* M-16.1* M-16.2* M-16.3* M-16.4* M-17* M-17.2* M-17.3* M-18* M-19* M-19.2* M-19.3* M-20===National and international bus services===Bosnia & Herzegovina is well connected to other countries in Europe.", "The main bus station of Sarajevo has its own website.", "The main provider of international bus connection in Bosnia & Herzegovina is Eurolines.", "There are routes to Croatia, Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, Montenegro, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Serbia.", "Despite Bosnia & Herzegovina's geographical closeness to Serbia, there is only one bus a day, which takes more than 8 hours due to the lack of proper roads." ], [ "Railways", "Total: 1,032 km standard gauge: (2006)===Rail links with adjacent countries=== Same gauge: Croatia - yes Serbia - yes** Montenegro - no" ], [ "Waterways", "Sava River (northern border) open to shipping but use is limited (2008)===Ports and harbours===Gradiška, Brod, Šamac, and Brčko (all inland waterway ports on the Sava none of which are fully operational), Orašje, Bosnia" ], [ "Merchant marine", "none (1999 est.)" ], [ "Airports", "Air transport begin in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when the flag-carrier Aeroput inaugurated a regular flight linking the national capital Belgrade with Podgorica in 1930, with a stop in Sarajevo.", "A year later Aeroput inaugurated another regular flight starting in Belgrade and then stopping in Sarajevo and continuing towards Split, Sušak and Zagreb.", "By mid-1930s Aeroput inaugurated two routes linking Belgrade and Zagreb with Dubrovnik through Sarajevo, and, in 1938, it inaugurated an international route linking Dubrovnik, which was becoming a major holiday destination, through Sarajevo, to Zagreb, Vienna, Brno and Prague.25 (2008)===Airports - with paved runways===''total:''7''2,438 to 3,047 m:''4''1,524 to 2,437 m:''1''under 914 m:''2 (2008)===Airports - with unpaved runways===''total:''18''1,524 to 2,437 m:''1''914 to 1,523 m:''7''under 914 m:''10 (2008)===Heliports===6 (2013)" ], [ "See also", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina''' () is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The BiH armed forces were officially unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak-Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VFBiH) and the Bosnian Serbs' Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 2004, is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina." ], [ "Chain of command", "In accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article 5.5a), Bosnian Law of defense and Bosnian Law of service the supreme civilian commander of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the collective Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The collective Presidency directs the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Armed Forces.", "Former Bosnia and Herzegovina ministers of defence include Nikola Radovanović, Selmo Cikotić, Muhamed Ibrahimović, Zekerijah Osmić, Marina Pendeš and Sifet Podžić.", ", the minister is Zukan Helez.", "Former Chiefs of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina include Lieutenant colonel general Sifet Podžić, Lieutenant colonel general Miladin Milojčić, Lieutenant colonel general Anto Jeleč and Colonel general Senad Mašović.", "The current Chief of Joint Staff is General Gojko Knežević.", "Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective on and from 1 January 2006." ], [ "Defence law", "The Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Law addresses the following areas: the Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Government Institutions, Entity Jurisdictions and Structure, Budget and Financing, Composition of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Declaration, natural disasters, conflict of interests and professionalism, Oath to Bosnia-Herzegovina, flags, anthem and military insignia, and transitional and end orders." ], [ "History", "The AFBiH was formed from three armies of the Bosnian War period: the Bosnian (dominantly Bosniak) Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska, and the Croat Defence Council.The Army of the Republic of Bosnia And Herzegovina was created on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War.", "Before the ARBiH was formally created, there existed Territorial Defence, an official military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and several paramilitary groups such as the Green Berets, Patriotic League, and civil defence groups, as well as many criminal gangs and collections of police and military professionals.", "The army was formed under poor circumstances, with a very low number of tanks, APCs and no military aviation assets.", "The army was divided into Corps, each Corps was stationed in a territory.", "The first commander was Sefer Halilović.The Army of Republika Srpska was created on 12 May 1992.Before the VRS was formally created, there were several paramilitary groups such as the Srpska Dobrovoljačka Garda, Beli Orlovi, as well as some Russian, Greek and other volunteers.", "The army was equipped with ex-JNA inventory.", "It had about 200 tanks, mostly T-55s and 85 M-84s, and 150 APCs with several heavy artillery pieces.", "The Air Defense of VRS has shot down several aircraft, like F-16, Mirage 2000, F-18 and one Croatian Air Force MiG-21.The VRS received support from the Yugoslav Army and FR Yugoslavia.The Croatian Defence Council was the main military formation of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War.", "It was the first organized military force to control the Croat-populated areas, created on 8 April 1992.They ranged from men armed with shotguns assigned to village defence tasks to organized, uniformed, and well-equipped brigade-sized formations that nevertheless employed part-time soldiers.", "As time went on, the HVO forces became increasingly better organized and more \"professional\", but it was not until early 1994, that the HVO began to form the so-called guards brigades, mobile units manned by full-time professional soldiers.In 1995–96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, beginning on December 21, 1995, to implement and monitor the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement.", "IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force or SFOR.", "The number of SFOR troops was reduced first to 12,000 and then to 7,000.SFOR was in turn succeeded by an even smaller, European Union-led European Union Force, EUFOR Althea.", ", EUFOR Althea numbered around 7,000 troops.===The Bosnian Train and Equip Program===The program to train and equip the Bosnian Federation Army after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 was a key element of the U.S. strategy to bring stable peace to Bosnia.", "The Train and Equip Program also calmed the concerns of some Congressmen about committing U.S. troops to peacekeeping duty in Bosnia.", "Creating a stable and functioning Federation Army that could deter Serb aggression had the prospect of allowing NATO and U.S. troops to withdraw from Bosnia within the original 12-month mandate, which the administration assured Congress was all it would take to stabilize the country.+Train and Equip Program Donated Resources to the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as of January 1997.CountryFunds Equipment United Arab Emirates$15 million$120 million worth of equipment• 36 pieces of M101 howitzer• 50 AMX-30 tanks and 31 AML-90 armored vehicles• 8 transport vehiclesUnited States$109 million worth of equipment and services • 45 M60A3 tanks, 80 M113-A2 armored personnel carriers, 240 heavy trucks• 15 UH-1H helicopters• 116 155mm field howitzers and 840 AT4 light antitank weapons• 1,000 M60 machine guns and 46,100 M16 rifles• JANUS and BBS Command and Staff simulation software• 2,342 radios, 4,100 tactical telephones, binocularsSaudi Arabia$50 millionKuwait$50 millionBrunei$27 millionQatar$13 million worth of equipment • 25 armored personnel carriersMalaysia$10 millionEgypt$3.8 million worth of equipment • 16 130mm field guns• 12 122mm howitzers and 18 23mm antiaircraft gunsTurkey$2 million worth of equipment• 10 T-55 tanks '''Total Value: $399.8 million'''The program conducted an “international program review” in April 1998 to demonstrate to U.S. partners that it had been well managed and successful and to solicit additional contributions.", "The event was attended by 20 current and potential donor countries and an air of satisfaction prevailed.The Dayton Peace Agreement left the country with three armies under two commands: the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat armies within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, facing their recent adversaries the Army of the Republika Srpska.", "These three forces together had around 419,000 personnel in regulars and reserves.", "This force size and orientation was totally at odds with the international peacemakers' vision.", "Slow reductions did take place.", "By 2004, the two warring factions had reduced their forces to 12,000 regulars and 240,000 reserves but had made virtually no progress in integrating the two into one new force, though the basis of a state defence ministry had been put in place via the Standing Committee on Military Matters (SCMM).", "Conscription for periods of around four months continued, the costs of which were weighing down both entities.The restructuring of the three armies into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina represents part of a wider process of 'thickening' the central state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "To mitigate some of the potential controversy around restructuring, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) made use of evidence of malpractice in Republika Srpska military institutions.", "Firstly, from 2002 onwards, OHR utilised a scandal around the provision of parts and assistance to Iraq in breach of a UN embargo (the so-called Orao affair) to support the cause for bringing governance of the armies under the level of central institutions.", "Following this, in 2004, the process was accelerated, drawing its justification from new evidence of material and other forms of support flowing from Republika Srpska armed forces to ICTY indictee Ratko Mladić.", "OHR condemned the ‘systematic connivance of high-ranking members of the RS military’ and noted that measures to tackle such systematic deficiencies were under consideration.", "This was quickly followed by the expansion of the mandate for a Defence Reform Commission, which ultimately resulted in the consolidation of three armed forces into one, governed at the level of the central state.As the joint AFBiH began to develop, troops began to be sent abroad.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed a unit of 37 men to destroy munitions and clear mines, in addition to 6 command personnel as part of the Multinational force in Iraq.", "The unit was first deployed to Fallujah, then Talil Air Base, and is now located at Camp Echo.", "In December 2006, the Bosnian government formally extended its mandate through June 2007.Bosnia and Herzegovina planned to send another 49 soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division to Iraq in August 2008, their mission being to protect/guard Camp Victory in Baghdad." ], [ "Structure", "ISAF Bosnian-Herzegovinian troops display their national flag.The Military units are commanded by the '''Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Joint Staff''' in Sarajevo.", "There are two major commands under the Joint Staff: Operational Command and Support Command.There are three regiments that are each formed by soldiers from the three ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs and trace their roots to the armies that were created during the war in BiH.", "These regiments have their distinct ethnic insignias and consist of three active battalions each.", "Headquarters of regiments have no operational authority.", "On the basis of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the regimental headquarters have the following tasks: to manage the regimental museum, monitor financial fund, prepare, investigate and cherish the history of the regiment, the regiment publish newsletters, maintain cultural and historical heritage, give guidance on holding special ceremonies, give guidance on customs, dress and deportment Regiment, conduct officer, NCO and military clubs.", "Each regiments' three battalions are divided evenly between the three active brigades of the Army.===Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina===Name Headquarters Information Chief'''Operational Command'''SarajevoThe main command center of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Gojko Knežević=== Operational Command ===Operational Command organization 2020Members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina's BHAFPC 005, deployed to Bagram AFB.Overall the brigades are multinational with over 50% Bosniaks, 30% Serbs, 15% Croats and about 4% of other ethnic groups.", "* '''Operational Command''', in Sarajevo '''4th Infantry Brigade''', in Čapljina* 1st Infantry Battalion, in Livno (Croat troops)* 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Bileća (Serb troops)* 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Goražde (Bosniak troops)* Artillery Battalion, in Mostar* Reconnaissance Company, in Čapljina* Signals Platoon, in Čapljina* Military Police Platoon, in Čapljina '''5th Infantry Brigade''', in Tuzla* 1st Infantry Battalion, in Zenica (Bosniak troops)* 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Kiseljak (Croat troops)* 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Bijeljina (Serb troops)* Artillery Battalion, in Žepče* Reconnaissance Company, in Tuzla* Signals Platoon, in Tuzla* Military Police Platoon, in Tuzla '''6th Infantry Brigade''', in Banja Luka* 1st Infantry Battalion, in Banja Luka (Serb troops)* 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Bihać (Bosniak troops)* 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Orašje (Croat troops)* Artillery Battalion, in Doboj* Reconnaissance Company, in Banja Luka* Signals Platoon, in Banja Luka* Military Police Platoon, in Banja Luka '''Tactical Support Brigade''', in Sarajevo* Armored Battalion, in Tuzla* Engineer Battalion, in Derventa* Military Intelligence Battalion, in Sarajevo* Military Police Battalion, in Sarajevo* Demining Battalion, in Sarajevo* Signal Battalion, in Pale* CBRN Defense Company, in Tuzla '''Air Force and Air Defense Brigade''', at Sarajevo Air Base and Banja Luka Air Base* 1st Helicopter Squadron, at Banja Luka Airport* 27px 2nd Helicopter Squadron, at Sarajevo Airport* Air Defense Battalion, at Sarajevo Airport* Surveillance and Early Warning Battalion, at Banja Luka Airport* Flight Support Battalion, at Sarajevo Airport and Banja Luka Airport===Brigades under the Support Command control===Name Headquarters Information'''Personnel Command'''Banja Luka '''Training and Doctrine Command''' (Travnik)* Combat Training Center (Manjača)** Armored Mechanized Battalion* Combat Simulation Center (Manjača)* Professional Development Center (Hadžići) Officers School NCO School Military Police School** Foreign Language Center'''Logistics Command'''Travnik Doboj* Center for Movement Control* Center for Material Management* Main Logistics Base (Doboj and Sarajevo)* 1st Logistics Support Battalion* 2nd Logistics Support Battalion* 3rd Logistics Support Battalion* 4th Logistics Support Battalion* 5th Logistics Support BattalionWithin the armed forces, there are a number of services.", "These include a Technical Service, Air Technology service, Military Police service, Communications service, Sanitary service, a Veterans service, Civilian service, Financial service, Information service, Legal service, Religious service, and a Musical service.Bosnian Ground Forces during Combined Resolve XV at Hohenfels Training Area." ], [ "Uniform and insignia", "Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in 2005 and at that time they needed a uniform for the newly founded Armed Forces.", "MARPAT was designated as the future camouflage pattern to be used on combat uniforms of the AFBiH.Insignia is found on military hats or berets, on the right and left shoulder on the uniform of all soldiers of the Armed Forces.", "All, except for generals, wear badges on their hats or berets with either the land force badge or air force badge.", "Generals wear badges with the coat of arms of Bosnia surrounded with branches and two swords.", "All soldiers of the armed forces have on their right shoulder a flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "All members of the three regiments wear their regiment insignia on the left shoulder.", "There are other insignias, brigades or other institution are worn under the regiment insignia.", "The name of the soldiers is worn on the left part of the chest while the name \"Armed Forces of BiH\" is worn on the right part of the chest.The new field uniform of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.In 2023, members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina began to wear a new field uniform of high-quality cloth and original camouflage schemes with the characteristics of the Bosnian environment." ], [ "Equipment", "APR-40 40-round launchers." ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "Dorschner, Jim (18 April 2007), \"Endgame in Bosnia\", ''Jane's Defence Weekly'', pp.", "24–29" ], [ "External links", " Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina* MILITARY INDUSTRY – Bosnia and Herzegovina* European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina – EUFOR * OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina * NATO Headquarters Sarajevo Security Sector Reform information* U.S Donation of Specialized Vehicles To AFBiH* Communication-intelligence Support Norway* Financial Support From Germany* European Union Donations For Demining Activities" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina" ], [ "Introduction", "The implementation of the Dayton Accords of 1995 has focused the efforts of policymakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the international community, on regional stabilization in the countries-successors of the former Yugoslavia.", "Relations with its neighbors of Croatia and Serbia have been fairly stable since the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate12345678910–1112–131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108—109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184" ], [ "Bilateral relations", " CountryNotes* Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Vienna.", "* Austria has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Brazil from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Sarajevo.Bosnia and Herzegovina-Bulgaria relations are foreign relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria.", "Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 January 1992.Since 1996, Bulgaria has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Sofia.", "Both countries are full members of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.", "Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Bosnia as an independent country.Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented through the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Ottawa, while Canada is represented by the embassy of Canada in Budapest.", "Three Canadian organizations operate programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Department of National Defence (DND).", "Canada strongly supports the signing of the Dayton Agreement hoping it can help bring more stability to the region.", "Through the Canadian International Development Agency Canada has given more than CA$ 144 million in development assistance.Exports of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Canada are worth about US$ 5.31 million per year, while exports of Canada to Bosnia and Herzegovina value about US$5.34 million per year.", "* Embassy of Canada to Bosnia and HerzegovinaSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia relationsDiscussions continue with Croatia on several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinder final ratification of the 1999 border agreement.Sections of the Una river and villages at the base of Mount Plješevica are in Croatia, while some are in Bosnia, which causes an excessive number of border crossings on a single route and impedes any serious development in the region.", "The Zagreb-Bihać-Split railway line is still closed for major traffic due to this issue.", "The road Karlovac-Plitvice Lakes-Knin, which is on the European route E71, is becoming increasingly unused because Croatia built a separate highway to the west of it.The border on the Una river between Hrvatska Kostajnica on the northern, Croatian side of the river, and Bosanska Kostajnica on the southern, Bosnian side, is also being discussed.", "A river island between the two towns is under Croatian control, but is claimed by Bosnia.", "A shared border crossing point has been built and has been functioning since 2003, and is used without hindrance by either party.The Herzegovinian municipality of Neum on the Adriatic coast makes the southernmost part of Croatia an exclave and the two countries are negotiating special transit rules through Neum to compensate for that.", "Recently Croatia has opted to build a bridge to the Pelješac peninsula to connect the Croatian mainland with the exclave but Bosnia and Herzegovina has protested that the bridge will close its access to international waters (although Croatian territory and territorial waters surround Bosnian-Herzegovinian territory and waters completely) and has suggested that the bridge must be higher than 55 meters for free passage of all types of ships.", "Negotiations are still being held.Cyprus recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 7 February 2000, both countries established diplomatic relations on the same date.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented in Cyprus through its embassy in Tel Aviv (Israel).", "Cyprus is represented in Bosnia and Herzegovina through its embassy in Budapest (Hungary).", "Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.The Czech Republic recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 8 February 1992.Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1993.Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Prague.", "The Czech Republic has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.See Bosnia and Herzegovina – Denmark relations See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Finland relationsIn 2019, Bosnia's presidency summoned the French ambassador Guillaume Rousson to protest over President Emmanuel Macron’s comment in an interview with British weekly ''The Economist'' that the country is a “time bomb” due to returning Islamist fighters.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia established diplomatic relations in 1998.They share relations at the non-resident ambassadorial level.", "The first high-level visit was that paid by the BiH Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak to Tbilisi in August 2016.In January 2018, Georgia issued a protest note to BiH over the breakaway South Ossetian leader Anatoly Bibilov's visit to the Republika Srpska.", "In a response, the BiH Foreign Ministry stated that Georgia and Bosnia had good relations and Bosnia would not interfere into the question of South Ossetia.", "Crnadak also said Bibilov's visit damaged an international standing of the Republika Srpska.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Germany relationsGermany is one of the most important partners of Bosnia and Herzegovina in foreign affairs.", "Bilateral relations have developed steadily since diplomatic ties were established in mid-1994.Germany was closely involved in efforts to bring about peace before and after the conclusion of the Dayton Agreement.", "There is also a long tradition of economic relations between Germany and Bosnia.", "When the country was still part of the former Yugoslavia, joint ventures and cooperation played a large role here (motor industry, metal processing, textile industry/contract processing work, steel and chemicals).", "After the war, Germany took on a spearheading role in investments in production in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is undergoing a transitional phase from a centrally planned to a market economy.", "These investments are concentrated primarily in vehicle assembly and parts supply, the construction industry/cement, raw materials processing/ aluminum and regional dairy farming.Greece recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence in 1992.Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 November 1995.Since 1998, Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Athens.", "Since 1996, Greece has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean, of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.", "In 2006, Greece provided 80.4% of the funding for the reconstruction of the Greece–Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building.See Holy See–Bosnia and Herzegovina relationsHoly See recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 7 April 1992.Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 August 1992.Hungary recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 9 April 1992.Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 April 1992.Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Budapest.", "Hungary has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–India relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Indonesia relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Iran relations See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Malaysia relationsMalaysia, under Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, had been one of the strongest supporters of the Bosnian cause during the war and the only Asian country that accepted Bosnian refugees.", "Malaysia sent UN Peacekeeping troops to the former Yugoslavia.", "Malaysia maintains a number of investments in Bosnia-Herzegovina, one of the most significant is the Bosmal Group.", "Bosmal is a joint venture set up between Malaysian and Bosnian interests.", "A number of Bosnian students are currently studying at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak.", "Malaysia maintains an embassy in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina maintains an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–North Macedonia relationsThe two countries first shared the same 90s objective of pursuing independence from Yugoslavia, and in the 21st century, the common objective of joining the EU.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Pakistan relationsPakistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoy close and cordial relations.", "Pakistan recognised the independence of Bosnia from Yugoslavia in 1992.Pakistan sent in UN Peacekeeping forces to the former Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars.", "During the war, Pakistan supported Bosnia while providing technical and military support to Bosnia.", "Pakistan and Bosnia have a free trade agreement.", "During the War time, Pakistan had hosted thousands of Bosnians as refugees in Pakistan.", "Pakistan has also provided medium-tech to high Tech weapons to Bosnian Government in the past.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Romania relationsRomania recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 1 March 1996, both countries established diplomatic relations on the same day.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Bucharest.", "Romania has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "Relations were described as \"excellent\" by the foreign ministers in 2006, ahead of the opening of the Bosnian embassy in Bucharest.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Russia relationsBosnia is one of the countries where Russia has contributed troops for the NATO-led stabilization force.", "Others were sent to Kosovo and Serbia.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Saudi Arabia relationsSaudi Arabia has provided enormous financial assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina since its independence in 1992.Saudi interests also funded for the construction of the King Fahd Mosque, which is currently the largest mosque in Sarajevo.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains an embassy in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Sarajevo.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Serbia relationsBosnia and Herzegovina filed a suit against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia and Montenegro) before the International Court of Justice for aggression and genocide during the Bosnian War which was dismissed.", "Serbia was found responsible for failure to prevent genocide in Srebrenica.", "Sections along the Drina River remain in dispute between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Ljubljana.", "* Slovenia has an embassy in Sarajevo.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–South Korea relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 15 December 1995.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Spain relations* Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Madrid.", "* Spain has an embassy in Sarajevo.", "See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Sweden relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Turkey relationsTurkey provided both political and financial support to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war.", "After the war, relations have improved even more, and today Turkey is one of BiH's top foreign investors and business partners.", "See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Ukraine relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–United Kingdom relationsBosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in London.", "The United Kingdom has an embassy in Sarajevo and an embassy office in Banja Luka.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–United States relationsThe 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was ended with the crucial participation of the United States in brokering the 1995 Dayton Accords.", "After leading the diplomatic and military effort to secure the Dayton agreement, the United States has continued to lead the effort to ensure its implementation.", "The United States maintains command of the NATO headquarters in Sarajevo.", "The United States has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help with infrastructure, humanitarian aid, economic development, and military reconstruction in Herzegovina and Bosnia.", "The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Support for Eastern European Democracies (SEED) has played a large role in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, including programs in economic development and reform, democratic reform (media & elections), infrastructure development, and training programs for Bosnian professionals, among others.", "Additionally, there are many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have likewise played significant roles in the reconstruction." ], [ "EU accession", "The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is one of the main political objectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) is the EU's policy framework.", "Countries participating in the SAP have been offered the possibility to become, once they fulfill the necessary conditions, member states of the EU.", "Bosnia and Herzegovina is therefore a potential candidate country for EU accession." ], [ "International organizations", "Bank for International Settlements, Council of Europe, Central European Initiative, EBRD,Energy Community United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, FAO, Group of 77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, International Criminal Court, International Development Association, IFAD, International Finance Corporation, IFRCS, ILO, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Interpol, IOC, International Organization for Migration (observer), ISO, ITU, Non-Aligned Movement (guest), Organization of American States (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)" ], [ "See also", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Monetary Fund* List of diplomatic missions of Bosnia and Herzegovina* Visa requirements for Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens* Foreign relations of Yugoslavia" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Foreign Affairs - policy priorities" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "The Batswana, a term also used to denote all citizens of Botswana, refers to the country's major ethnic group (called the Tswana in Southern Africa).", "Prior to European contact, the Batswana lived as herders and farmers under tribal rule." ], [ "Before European contact", "The Tsodilo Hills site in north-west Botswana has been apparently continuously inhabited since 17 000 BC.", "The forebears of today's Khoe-Kwadi, Kx’a and Tuu-speaking peoples (“Khoisan”) are thought to have lived in the area now corresponding to Botswana for many thousands of years.", "In October 2019, researchers reported that Botswana was likely the region where modern humans first developed about 200,000-300,000 years ago.", "Sometime between 200 and 500 AD, the Bantu-speaking people who were living in the Katanga area (today part of the DRC and Zambia) crossed the Limpopo River, entering the area today known as South Africa as part of the Bantu expansion.There were 2 broad waves of immigration to South Africa; Nguni and Sotho-Tswana.", "The former settled in the eastern coastal regions, while the latter settled primarily in the area known today as the Highveld—the large, relatively high central plateau of South Africa.By 1000 AD the Bantu colonization of the eastern half of South Africa had been completed (but not Western Cape and Northern Cape, which are believed to have been inhabited by “Khoisan” peoples until Dutch colonisation).", "The Bantu-speaking societies were highly decentralized, organized on a basis of enlarged clans (''kraals'') headed by a chief, who owed a hazy allegiance to the nation's head chief." ], [ "Bechuanaland Protectorate", "German map in use in 1905 still showing the undivided Bechuanaland areaA map of 1887 showing the Protectorate and British BechuanalandModern Botswana.", "The country's borders have been stable since independence in 1966In the late 19th century, hostilities broke out between the Shona inhabitants of Botswana and Ndebele tribes who were migrating into the territory from the Kalahari Desert.", "Tensions also escalated with the Boer settlers from the Transvaal.", "To block Boer and German expansionism the British Government on 31 March 1885 put \"Bechuanaland\" under its protection.", "The northern territory remained under direct administration as the Bechuanaland Protectorate and is today's Botswana, while the southern territory became British Bechuanaland which ten years later became part of the Cape Colony and is now part of the northwest province of South Africa; the majority of Setswana-speaking people today live in South Africa.", "The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of the Matabele kingdom, was administered from the Bechuanaland Protectorate after 1893, to which it was formally annexed in 1911.To safeguard the integrity of the Protectorate against the perceived threats from the British South Africa Company and Southern Rhodesia, the three Batswana leaders Khama III, Bathoen I, and Sebele I travelled to London in 1895 to ask Joseph Chamberlain and Queen Victoria for assurances.When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 out of the main British colonies in the region, the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana), Basutoland (now Lesotho), and Swaziland (now Eswatini) (the \"High Commission Territories\") were not included, but provision was made fortheir later incorporation.", "However, a vague undertaking was given to consult their inhabitants, and although successive South African governments sought to have the territories transferred, Britain kept delaying, and it never occurred.", "The election of theNational Party government in 1948, which instituted apartheid, and South Africa's withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1961, ended any prospect of incorporation of the territories into South Africa.An expansion of British central authority and the evolution of tribal government resulted in the 1920 establishment of two advisory councils representing Africans and Europeans.", "Proclamations in 1934 regularized tribal rule and powers.", "A European-African advisory council was formed in 1951, and the 1961 constitution established a consultative legislative council.Following the British entry into World War II, the decision was taken to draw recruits from the High Commission Territories (HTC) of Swaziland, Basutoland and Bechuanaland.", "Black citizens from the HTC were to be recruited into the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps (AAPC) labor unit due to Afrikaner opposition to armed black units.", "Mobilization for the AAPC was launched in late July 1941 and by October 18,000 personnel had arrived in the Middle East.", "The AAPC performed a wide range of manual labor, providing logistical support to the Allied war effort during the North African, Dodecanese and Italian campaigns.", "During the Italian campaign some AAPC relieved British field artillery units of their duty." ], [ "Independent Botswana", "In June 1966, Britain accepted proposals for democratic self-government in Botswana.", "The seat of government was moved from Mafeking, South Africa, to newly established Gaborone in 1965.The 1965 constitution led to the first general elections and to independence on 30 September 1966.Seretse Khama, a leader in the independence movement and the legitimate claimant to the Ngwato chiefship, was elected as the first president, re-elected twice, and died in office in 1980.The presidency passed to the sitting vice president, Ketumile Masire, who was elected in his own right in 1984 and re-elected in 1989 and 1994.Masire retired from office in 1998.The presidency passed to the sitting vice president, Festus Mogae, who was elected in his own right in 1999 and re-elected in 2004.In April 2008, Excellency the former President Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama (Ian Khama), son of Seretse Khama the first president, succeeded to the presidency when Festus Mogae retired.", "On 1 April 2018 Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi was sworn in as the 5th President of Botswana succeeding Ian Khama.", "He represents the Botswana Democratic Party, which has also won a majority in every parliamentary election since independence.", "All the previous presidents have also represented the same party." ], [ "See also", "List of commissioners of BechuanalandHeads of government of BotswanaHistory of AfricaHistory of Southern AfricaHistory of Gaborone Timeline of GaboroneList of presidents of BotswanaPolitics of BotswanaPostage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland Protectorate" ], [ "Footnotes" ], [ "References", " * " ], [ "Further reading", " Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson.", "\"An African success story: Botswana.\"", "(2002).", "online* Cohen, Dennis L. \"The Botswana Political Elite: Evidence from the 1974 General Election,\" ''Journal of Southern African Affairs,'' (1979) 4, 347–370.", "* Colclough, Christopher and Stephen McCarthy.", "''The Political Economy of Botswana: A Study of Growth and Income Distribution'' (Oxford University Press, 1980) * * Edge, Wayne A. and Mogopodi H. Lekorwe eds.", "''Botswana: Politics and Society'' (Pretoria: J.L.", "van Schaik, 1998)* Fawcus, Peter and Alan Tilbury.", "''Botswana: The Road to Independence'' (Pula Press, 2000) * Good, Kenneth.", "\"Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana,\" ''Journal of Modern African Studies'' (1992) 30, 69–95.", "* Good, Kenneth.", "\"Corruption and Mismanagement in Botswana: A Best-Case Example?\"", "''Journal of Modern African Studies,'' (1994) 32, 499–521.", "* Parsons, Neil.", "''King Khama, Emperor Joe and the Great White Queen'' (University of Chicago Press, 1998) * Parsons, Neil, Thomas Tlou and Willie Henderson.", "''Seretse Khama, 1921-1980'' (Bloemfontein: Macmillan, 1995) * Samatar, Abdi Ismail.", "''An African miracle: State and class leadership and colonial legacy in Botswana development'' (Heinemann Educational Books, 1999)* Thomas Tlou & Alec Campbell, ''History of Botswana'' (Gaborone: Macmillan, 2nd edn.", "1997) * Chirenje, J. Mutero, Church, State, and Education in Bechuanaland in the Nineteenth Century, International Journal of African Historical Studies, (1976)* Chirenje, J. Mutero, Chief Kgama and His Times, 1835-1923" ], [ "External links", "* Brief History of Botswana* Bibliography of Botswana History* University of Botswana History Department - various resources" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "Gweta, Botswana'''Botswana''' is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, north of South Africa.", "Botswana occupies an area of , of which are land.", "Botswana has land boundaries of combined length , of which the constituent boundaries are shared with Namibia, for ; South Africa ; Zimbabwe, and Zambia, .", "Much of the population of Botswana is concentrated in the eastern part of the country.Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period.", "The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season." ], [ "Geography", "The land is predominantly flat to gently undulating tableland, although there is some hilly country, where mining is carried out.", "The Kalahari Desert is in the central and the southwest.", "The Okavango Delta, one of the world's largest inland deltas, is in the northwest and the Makgadikgadi Pans, a large salt pan lies in the north-central area.", "The Makgadikgadi has been established as an early habitation area for primitive man; This large seasonal wetland is composed of several large component pans, the largest being Nwetwe Pan, Sua Pan and Nxai Pan.", "Botswana's lowest elevation point is at the junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers, at a height of .", "The highest point is Monalanong Hill, at .The country is divided into four drainage regions, which are sometimes indistinct due to the arid nature of the climate:* the Chobe River on the border with the Caprivi Strip of Namibia together with a small adjacent swampy area is part of the Zambezi basin;* most of the north and central region of the country is part of the Okavango inland drainage basin;* the easternmost part of the country falls into the Limpopo drainage basin;* the southern and southwestern regions, which are the driest of all, are drained by the Molopo river along the South African border and the Nossob river through the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, and are technically part of the basin of the Orange River.", "None of these rivers normally flows as far as the Orange, however.", "(The last recorded confluence was in the 1880s.", ")Except for the Chobe, Okavango, Boteti and Limpopo rivers, most of Botswana's rivers cease to flow during the dry and early rainy seasons." ], [ "Climate", "Botswana is semi-arid, due to the short rain season.", "However, the relatively high altitude of the country and its continental situation gives it a subtropical climate.", "The country is remote from moisture-laden air flows for most of the year.", "The dry season lasts from April to October in the south and to November in the north where, however, rainfall totals are higher.", "The south of the country is most exposed to cold winds during the winter period (early May to late August) when average temperatures are around .", "The whole country has hot summers with average temperatures around .", "Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period.", "The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season.File:Koppen-Geiger Map BWA present.svg\|alt=\|Botswana map of Köppen climate classification zonesFile:Botswana sat.png\|alt=\|Satellite image of BotswanaFile:Botswana Topography.png\|alt=\|Elevation map of Botswana" ], [ "Natural hazards", "Botswana is affected by periodic droughts, and seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust, which can obscure visibility." ], [ "Environment", "Rain clouds over Serowe January 2019Current environmental issues in Botswana are overgrazing, desertification and the existence of only limited fresh water resources.Research from scientists has found that the common practice of overstocking cattle to cope with drought losses actually depletes scarce biomass, making ecosystems more vulnerable.", "The study of the district predicts that by 2050 the cycle of mild drought is likely to become shorter —18 months instead of two years—due to climate change." ], [ "International agreements", "Botswana is a party to the following international agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Organization, Ozone Layer Protection and Wetlands." ], [ "Extreme points", "This is a list of the extreme points of Botswana, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.", "* Northernmost point – the border with Zambia upon the Zambezi River at Chobe District* Easternmost point – the tripoint with South Africa and Zimbabwe, Central District* Southernmost point – Bokspits, Kgalagadi District* Westernmost point – the western section of the border with Namibia*** ''note: Botswana does not have a westernmost point as the western section is formed by the 22nd meridian of longitude east of Greenwich.''" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Botswana include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.FAO, year 2008; Number of inhabitants in thousands.Botswana, like many nations in southern Africa, suffers from a high HIV infection rate, estimated among adults ages 15 to 49 to be 20.7%." ], [ "Population", "A type of house in Botswana===Census results=======Bechuanaland Protectorate====The seven censuses of Botswana before its independence happened irregularly.", "Due to the Anglo-Boer War, the first census of Bechuanaland Protectorate, originally set to occur in 1901, took place on 17 April 1904.The 1931 census was postponed to 1936 because of the Great Depression.", "The early censuses were unreliable and took several years to tabulate; the results were outdated by the time they were calculated.====Post-independence====There have been six censuses after the independence of Botswana, each occurring every ten years in the year ending in 1 (i.e.", "1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2022).", "The 1971 census was the first census in Botswana to use de facto enumeration; this method counts people based on how many people spent census night at a specific location.", "Previously, the citizens were counted based on their usual place of residence.", "The 2001 census was the first census in Botswana to comply with the SADC 2000 Census Project, the guidelines of which unify the demographic statistics in southern Africa.", "The 2011 Census was the fifth census after independence the 2011 Botswana Population and Housing Census, it occurred in August 2011.The most recent sixth and most recent census is the 2022 Population and Housing Census which was carried out in April 2022.===UN estimates===According to the total population was in , compared to only 413,000 in 1950.The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2020 was about 33.4%, 62.1% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4.5% of the population were 65 years or older.Total populationPopulation aged 0–14 (%)Population aged 15–64 (%)Population aged 65+ (%) 1950 413 00040.954.84.4 1955 463 00041.753.94.3 1960 503 00043.652.14.3 1965 560 00046.849.34.0 1970 628 00047.848.33.9 1975 741 00048.048.53.5 1980 898 00048.548.13.4 19851 070 00047.949.03.1 19901 287 00045.051.73.3 19951 469 00042.254.63.3 20001 643 00038.758.13.3 20051 799 00036.560.33.1 20101 987 00035.061.73.3 20152 121 00034.961.23.8 20202 352 00033.462.14.5Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 988 957 1 035 947 2 024 904 100 0–4 119 999 117 315 237 314 11.72 5–9 108 544 106 618 215 162 10.63 10–14 104 419 102 875 207 294 10.24 15–19 104 818 105 928 210 746 10.41 20–24 97 249 103 101 200 350 9.89 25–29 101 194 106 658 207 852 10.26 30–34 84 515 86 027 170 542 8.42 35–39 68 435 66 784 135 219 6.68 40–44 48 767 50 530 99 297 4.90 45–49 37 881 44 380 82 261 4.06 50–54 29 742 36 620 66 362 3.28 55–59 24 368 29 681 54 049 2.67 60–64 17 344 20 240 37 584 1.86 65-69 12 243 15 504 27 747 1.37 70-74 9 464 12 797 22 261 1.10 75-79 6 968 10 924 17 892 0.88 80-84 4 875 8 344 13 219 0.65 85-89 2 825 5 422 8 247 0.41 90-94 1 377 2 544 3 921 0.19 95+ 3 930 3 655 7 585 0.37Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 332 962 326 808 659 770 32.58 15–64 614 313 649 949 1 264 262 62.44 65+ 41 682 59 190 100 872 4.98Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 171 507 1 227 171 2 398 679 100 0–4 142 150 138 970 281 120 11.72 5–9 128 580 126 298 254 879 10.63 10–14 123 694 121 865 245 558 10.24 15–19 124 166 125 481 249 647 10.41 20–24 115 200 122 132 237 332 9.89 25–29 119 873 126 346 246 219 10.26 30–34 100 116 101 907 202 022 8.42 35–39 81 067 79 112 160 179 6.68 40–44 57 769 59 857 117 626 4.90 45–49 44 873 52 572 97 445 4.06 50–54 35 232 43 380 78 612 3.28 55–59 28 866 35 160 64 026 2.67 60–64 20 546 23 976 44 522 1.86 65-69 14 503 18 366 32 869 1.37 70-74 11 211 15 159 26 370 1.10 75-79 8 254 12 940 21 195 0.88 80-84 5 775 9 884 15 659 0.65 85-89 3 346 6 423 9 769 0.41 90-94 1 631 3 014 4 645 0.19 95+ 4 655 4 330 8 985 0.37Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 394 424 387 133 781 557 32.58 15–64 727 708 769 922 1 497 630 62.44 65+ 49 375 70 116 119 491 4.98Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 188 544 1 209 006 2 397 550 100 0–4 137 857 136 911 274 768 11.46 5–9 125 078 124 428 249 506 10.41 10–14 120 559 120 060 240 619 10.04 15–19 123 039 123 624 246 663 10.29 20–24 117 812 120 325 238 137 9.93 25–29 122 117 124 476 246 593 10.29 30–34 99 674 100 398 200 072 8.34 35–39 78 529 77 940 156 469 6.53 40–44 58 190 58 971 117 161 4.89 45–49 49 091 51 794 100 885 4.21 50–54 39 891 42 738 82 629 3.45 55–59 32 428 34 639 67 067 2.80 60–64 22 416 23 621 46 037 1.92 65-69 16 747 18 095 34 842 1.45 70-74 13 562 14 935 28 497 1.19 75-79 11 124 12 749 23 873 1.00 80-84 8 103 9 738 17 841 0.74 85-89 5 264 6 328 11 592 0.48 90-94 2 491 2 970 5 461 0.23 95+ 4 572 4 266 8 838 0.37Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 383 494 381 399 764 893 31.90 15–64 743 187 758 526 1 501 713 62.64 65+ 61 863 69 081 130 944 5.46" ], [ "Vital statistics", "=== United Nations estimates ===Registration of vital events is in Botswana not complete.", "The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.", "Population estimates account for under numeration in population censuses.Mid-year population (thousands)Live births (thousands)Deaths (thousands)Natural change (thousands)Crude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate (TFR)Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)Life expectancy (in years)1950 413 19 8 1045.420.325.06.43138.144.951951 423 19 9 1145.620.325.36.43136.445.251952 433 20 9 1145.919.925.96.44132.845.861953 442 21 9 1246.419.526.86.49129.346.461954 452 21 9 1346.819.227.76.53125.947.061955 462 22 9 1347.218.828.46.56122.647.651956 471 22 9 1447.518.429.16.60119.548.221957 481 23 9 1447.718.129.76.65116.548.741958 491 24 9 1547.617.630.06.65113.449.321959 502 24 9 1547.517.230.36.65110.649.841960 513 24 9 1647.116.830.36.63107.850.371961 524 25 9 1646.616.330.36.60105.050.891962 536 25 9 1646.115.830.36.57102.351.391963 549 25 8 1746.215.430.86.6399.751.881964 562 26 8 1846.215.031.26.6997.252.351965 571 27 8 1845.914.631.36.6994.852.811966 575 27 8 1845.814.331.56.6992.453.261967 579 27 8 1945.714.031.76.6890.053.721968 583 27 8 1945.713.732.06.6787.654.191969 587 27 8 1945.613.432.36.6485.054.681970 592 27 8 2045.713.032.76.6282.355.201971 604 28 8 2045.812.733.16.5979.655.751972 627 29 8 2146.012.233.86.5976.656.301973 657 30 8 2246.111.734.46.5973.656.861974 692 32 8 2446.311.335.06.5970.557.421975 728 34 8 2646.410.935.56.5867.358.001976 766 35 8 2746.410.436.06.5664.158.581977 807 37 8 2946.010.036.06.5061.059.171978 849 39 8 3045.79.636.16.4457.959.691979 894 40 8 3245.19.235.96.3655.060.181980 939 42 8 3344.58.935.66.2552.360.651981 983 43 8 3443.78.535.26.1349.761.131982 1 023 43 8 3542.58.234.35.9347.261.571983 1 061 44 8 3641.57.933.55.7544.962.001984 1 099 45 8 3640.67.732.95.5842.862.361985 1 139 45 8 3739.87.532.35.4340.862.631986 1 179 46 9 3739.07.431.65.2739.162.681987 1 220 46 9 3737.87.330.45.0637.762.521988 1 261 46 10 3636.57.628.94.8537.361.761989 1 302 46 10 3635.37.727.74.6536.561.431990 1 341 46 11 3534.48.026.44.4936.960.531991 1 381 46 12 3533.58.425.14.3438.259.471992 1 421 47 13 3433.28.924.24.2340.258.351993 1 462 48 14 3432.89.323.54.1342.457.721994 1 504 48 15 3332.210.022.24.0144.956.151995 1 544 48 16 3131.010.620.43.8047.855.061996 1 582 47 17 3029.911.018.93.6050.254.361997 1 619 47 19 2829.111.517.63.4652.753.451998 1 656 48 20 2829.012.116.93.4054.752.521999 1 692 49 21 2728.912.616.33.3456.351.692000 1 727 50 23 2729.013.115.83.3157.351.012001 1 762 51 24 2728.913.415.53.2657.150.682002 1 795 51 24 2728.513.514.93.1856.050.632003 1 827 51 24 2728.213.414.83.1154.650.952004 1 859 52 24 2828.113.115.13.0752.551.622005 1 893 54 24 3028.412.615.83.0848.952.612006 1 929 55 23 3228.611.916.83.0946.053.922007 1 967 56 21 3528.610.917.63.0843.455.732008 2 007 57 21 3628.410.318.23.0742.757.122009 2 049 58 20 3828.29.718.53.0541.258.282010 2 092 58 19 4027.98.919.03.0238.660.012011 2 134 59 19 4027.68.718.93.0038.960.532012 2 175 60 19 4127.48.718.72.9838.260.802013 2 217 60 18 4227.18.218.92.9637.462.002014 2 260 61 18 4326.87.918.82.9537.862.612015 2 305 61 17 4426.47.419.02.9437.463.822016 2 352 61 16 4526.16.819.32.9337.165.462017 2 402 62 15 4625.76.319.42.9136.266.752018 2 451 62 17 4525.36.918.42.9035.665.422019 2 500 62 17 4524.97.017.92.8834.965.462020 2 546 62 18 4424.27.017.22.8434.265.652021 2 588 61 24 3723.69.514.12.7933.361.14'''Births and deaths'''YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR1964514 8761971574 09445.313.731.66.51981941 02745 02612 83532 19148.713.934.86.619911 326 79652 35115 22137 13039.311.527.84.219921 358 63952 41615 34437 07238.611.327.34.219931 391 24552 43715 57836 85937.711.226.54.119941 424 63652 59815 82236 77636.911.125.84.119951 458 82852 75915 92636 83333.711.022.74.119961 495 99352 92116 03136 89032.410.921.54.019971 533 39353 08316 13736 94632.310.821.54.019981 571 72853 24516 24437 00132.210.721.54.019991 611 02153 40716 35237 05532.110.621.53.920011 680 86241 08020 82320 25728.912.416.53.320021 667 48720031 691 39041 20624.420041 711 33437 94722.220051 727 37246 94527.220061 739 55644 05019 08824 96229.811.218.63.220071 756 65144 45225.320081 776 28344 96125.320091 798 37246 62425.920101 822 85850 32827.620112 024 90451 87113 30138 57025.76.319.42.8920122 068 52950 04812 27037 77824.25.918.320132 110 05049 83911 96737 87223.65.618.020142 149 25547 47812 17735 30122.15.616.520152 185 90357 48013 03044 45026.36.020.320162 219 73254 26712 82541 44224.45.818.620172 254 02152 35812 38639 97223.25.517.73.120182 288 65154 02312 60941 41423.65.518.12.65620192 323 49454 10013 18540 01523.35.717.62.64820202 358 44658 64612 21946 42724.95.219.72.844Source: Vital Statistics Report 2012.===Life expectancy at birth===Life expectancy from 1950 to 2020 (''UN World Population Prospects''):PeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195544.891955–1960 47.821960–1965 50.421965–1970 52.671970–1975 55.091975–1980 57.921980–1985 60.111985–1990 61.091990–1995 56.431995–2000 52.632000–2005 50.062005–2010 55.862010–2015 64.452015–2020 69.09" ], [ "Ethnic groups", ":Tswana 79%, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa 3%, Other 7% (including Kgalagadi, Indians and Whites)." ], [ "Languages", "Setswana 77.3%, Kalanga 7.4%, Sekgalagadi 3.4%, English 2.8%, Shona 2.0%, Sesarwa 1.7%, Sehambukushu 1.6%, Ndebele 1.0%, Others 2.8%.", "(2011 est.)" ], [ "Religions", ": Christian 79.1%, Badimo 4.1%, Other 1.4% (includes the Baháʼí Faith, Hindu, Islam, Rastafari), None 15.2%, Unspecified 0.3% (2011 est.)" ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.", "One birth every 10 minutes\tOne death every 37 minutes\tOne net migrant every 180 minutes\tNet gain of one person every 12 minutesThe following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.===Population===:2,359,609 (2022):2,350,667 (July 2021 est.", "):2,214,858 (July 2017 est.", ")===Religions===Christian 79.1%, Badimo 4.1%, other 1.4% (includes Baha'i, Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian), none 15.2%, unspecified 0.3% (2011 est.", ")===Age structure===Pyramid population of Botswana in 2020:0-14 years: 30.54% (male 357,065/female 350,550):15-24 years: 18.31% (male 208,824/female 215,462):25-54 years: 39.67% (male 434,258/female 484,922):55-64 years: 5.92% (male 59,399/female 77,886):65 years and over: 5.56% (male 53,708/female 75,159) (2020 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===:2.39 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 74th:The total fertility rate is 2.42 children born/woman (2021 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 74th===Population growth rate===:1.4% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 68th:1.43% (2021 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 67th:1.55% (2017 est.", ")===Birth rate===:20.28 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 70th:20.6 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 71st:22.1 births/1,000 population (2017 est.", ")===Death rate===:9.05 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 59th:9.12 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 61st:9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.", ")===Median age===:Total: 25.7 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 157th:Male: 24.5 years :Female: 26.7 years (2020 est.", "):Total: 24.5 years:Male: 23.5 years:Female: 25.6 years (2017 est.", ")===Net migration rate===:2.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 41st:2.85 migrants/1,000 population (2021 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 38th===Urbanization===:urban population: 72.2% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 2.47% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.", "):Urban population: 70.9% of total population (2020):Rate of urbanization: 2.87% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.", ")===Sex ratio===:At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female:0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female:15-24 years: 0.97 male(s)/female:25-54 years: 0.9 male(s)/female:55-64 years: 0.76 male(s)/female:65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female:Total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2020 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===:total population: 65.64 years:male: 63.6 years:female: 67.74 years (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 200th:Total population: 65.2 years:Male: 63.2 years:Female: 67.3 years (2021 est.", ")===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:67.4% (2017)===Maternal mortality rate===:144 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 59th===HIV/AIDS===:Adult prevalence rate: 22.2% (2019 est.", "):People living with HIV/AIDS: 380,000 (2019 est.", "):Deaths due to AIDS: 5,000 (2019 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 25th===Physicians density===:0.53 physicians/1,000 population (2016)===Hospital bed density===:1.8 beds/1,000 population (2010)===Obesity - adult prevalence rate===:18.9% (2016)===Major infectious diseases===:Degree of risk: high (2020):Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever:Vectorborne disease: malaria===Nationality===:Noun: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural):Adjective: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)===Literacy===:Definition: age 15 and over can read and write:Total population: 88.5%:Male: 88%:Female: 88.9% (2015 est.", ")===Education expenditure===:8.7% of total GDP (2007)===Sanitation facility access===:Improved: :Urban: 92.9% of population:Rural: 60.8% of population:Total: 82.8% of population:Unimproved: :Urban: 7.1% of population:Rural: 39.2% of population:Total: 17.2% of population (2017 est.)" ], [ "Migrants", "According to the United Nations, there were 110,596 international migrants in Botswana in 2019.Their most common countries of origin were as follows:International migrants in Botswana in 2019 Source: United Nations" ], [ "References", "* Botswana Demographics 2001 Central Statistics Office (Botswana), Census and Demographic Statistics for the year 2001." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "Botswana is a parliamentary republic in which the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government.", "The nation's politics are based heavily on British parliamentary politics and on traditional Batswana chiefdom.", "The legislature is made up of the unicameral National Assembly and the advisory body of tribal chiefs, the ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi''.", "The National Assembly chooses the president, but once in office the president has significant authority over the legislature with only limited separation of powers.", "The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) rules as a dominant party; while elections in Botswana are considered free and fair by observers, the BDP has controlled the National Assembly since independence.", "Political opposition in Botswana often exists between factions in the BDP rather than through separate parties, though several opposition parties exist and regularly hold a small number of seats in the National Assembly.Botswana achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.The BDP led by Seretse Khama formed the first government, and continued winning elections every five years.", "Quett Masire became president following Khama's death in 1980, and the BDP was enveloped by factionalism in the 1990s.", "This factionalism persisted through the presidencies of Festus Mogae from 1998 to 2008 and Ian Khama from 2008 to 2018.Khama's successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, became president in 2018 and developed a strong political rivalry with Khama, which came to define politics in Botswana over the following years.Botswana has an above average human rights record, and it is recognised by human rights groups as one of the strongest democracies in Africa.", "Economic policy in Botswana revolves around the nation's lucrative diamond industry, which makes up a significant portion of the economy.", "The country has been praised as an economic success as it pursued free market policies in the 20th century, and it has since shifted to more redistributive economic policy.", "Wealth inequality remains high in Botswana.", "Welfare programs are limited, but public services and infrastructure receive strong funding.", "Foreign policy in Botswana has historically emphasised multilateralism and realpolitik.", "Apartheid-era South Africa was the nation's primary foreign policy concern until 1994 and then instability in Zimbabwe thereafter." ], [ "History", "=== Pre-statehood ===The location of present day Botswana was historically controlled by Bantu peoples, primarily the Tswana people.", "Many legal traditions practiced by the Tswana people, such as respect for traditional authority and protection of property rights, have played a role in the development of post-colonial Botswana politics.", "Centralised political structures developed prior to colonisation have also been retained.", "Politics of the Tswana people prior to statehood was often led by chiefs, who continue to have a role in Botswana politics.", "In the early-19th century, these chiefdoms developed into nation states.", "These nation states incorporated limited government and ethnic pluralism.The United Kingdom began involvement in the region in the 1820s, and the region became part of the British Empire in 1885 as the Bechuanaland Protectorate.", "The Tswana people were made subjects of the Crown and placed under British law.", "The first significant movement for independence was led by the radical Bechuanaland People's Party.", "The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was formed by Seretse Khama in 1962 as part of a negotiated independence process.", "Botswana became self-governing in 1965, and it became an independent republic in 1966.The United Kingdom continued to invest in the country financially and pay some of its expenses through 1971.Institutions and traditions from both precolonial Tswana society and colonial British rule were retained following independence and continue to influence the politics of Botswana.=== Presidency of Seretse Khama ===Upon receiving self-governance, the nation held the 1965 Bechuanaland general election, in which the BDP won a large victory: of the 31 seats in the legislature, the BDP won 28.Three members of the Botswana People's Party made up the opposition, all elected from relatively urbanised constituencies.", "The government under the first president, Seretse Khama, was based heavily on collaborative governance similar to that of the pre-colonial tribal governments.", "Policies were often considered by several ministries and a commission before being adopted.", "Khama also ensured that foreign involvement was welcome, opposed to a nationalism that restricted opportunity.The Botswana National Front (BNF) was founded by Kenneth Koma as a left-wing party, and it became the opposition party in the 1969 general election.", "While Khama was president, his vice president, Quett Masire, held considerable power as well.", "In addition to being the vice president, he was the minister of finance, and he was the secretary general of the BDP.", "He oversaw a series of National Development Plans that dispensed much of the government's policies.", "Regional instability prompted the creation of the Botswana Defence Force in 1977.Prior to this, the Botswana Police Service handled all of the nation's security responsibilities.=== Presidency of Quett Masire ===Khama served as president until his death in 1980, at which point Vice President Masire became president.", "The opposition gained support in the 1980s and 1990s as the country urbanised and the BDP's rural political base shrank.", "HIV/AIDS in Botswana became a major political issue as its severity became apparent in the 1990s, and the government took an active role in combatting it.", "The Kgabo Commission, part of a corruption controversy involving Vice President Peter Mmusi and BDP Secretary General Daniel Kwelagobe, dominated the politics of Botswana in 1991 and brought about an era of factionalism in the BDP.", "Mmusi's resignation led to Festus Mogae being chosen as the next vice president.", "The incident firmly established a growing factional conflict within the BDP: Mmusi and Kwelagobe formed the Big Two while Mompati Merafhe and his supporters—namely David Magang, Bahiti Temane, Roy Blackbeard, and Chapson Butale—were identified by them as the Big Five whom they opposed.", "Merafhe later took on Jacob Nkate as his closest ally, and they dubbed themselves the A-Team.", "Although an appeal to the courts backfired against the Big Two and saw them suspended from parliament, their supporters gained power after the 1994 general election.", "Amid this inter-party conflict, the BNF became a significantly stronger opposition, winning thirteen seats.", "Kwelagobe aligned with Ponatshego Kedikilwe following Mmusi's death, and they renamed themselves the Barata-Phathi.After the BDP's poor performance in the 1994 election, South African academic Lawrence Schlemmer was brought in by the party to provide a political strategy.", "He recommended replacing the long-standing members of the BDP with newer, non-factional members, with a particular focus on the presidency.", "Multiple constitutional reforms were enacted in Botswana following a referendum in 1997: the vice president was designated the automatic successor of the president, the voting age was lowered to eighteen, and an independent electoral commission was established.", "These reforms were championed by Masire, as automatic succession allowed him to anoint a successor.=== 1998–present ===Masire stepped down as president in 1998, and Vice President Mogae became president.", "He chose Ian Khama as vice president, and while the two were nominally non-factional, they effectively supported the A-Team faction of Merafhe and Nkate.", "This caused the factional differences in the party to further escalate.", "A schism also formed in the oppositional BNF, which led to the creation of the Botswana Congress Party in 1998.Enough assemblymen defected that this new party became the primary opposition, but they were replaced by BNF candidates in the 1999 general election.Mogae's tenure as president ended in 2008, and Ian Khama, the son of President Seretse Khama, became president.", "The BDP underwent its first split in 2010 when Khama encouraged the Barata-Phathi faction to leave the party, and they formed the Botswana Movement for Democracy, led by Gomolemo Motswaledi.", "Freedom House lowered Botswana's rating in the 2010s as a crackdown took place against journalists.Khama stepped down in 2018, and Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi became president.", "He immediately reversed Khama's policies and replaced top officials who had been appointed by Khama.", "The two former allies quickly became political rivals, and Khama defected from the Botswana Democratic Party.", "He instead aligned with the newly formed Botswana Patriotic Front in addition to supporting the Umbrella for Democratic Change.", "This made the 2019 general election the first competitive election in the nation's history, but the BDP remained in power with 52.7% of the total vote, winning 38 of the 57 seats in the assembly.", "The rivalry significantly escalated when Masisi's pursued criminal charges against Khama for illegal ownership of firearms in 2022, causing Khama to seek asylum in South Africa." ], [ "National government", "Botswana is a parliamentary republic governed by the Constitution of Botswana.", "The constitution has been in effect since Botswana became independent from the United Kingdom on 30 September 1966.This makes it the longest uninterrupted democracy in Africa.", "Botswana operates under a blend of Roman-Dutch law, customary law, and common law.", "Its seat of government is in Gaborone.=== Legislative branch ===National Assembly of BotswanaThe legislature of Botswana is derived from the Westminster system of the United Kingdom, though it has several aspects that distinguish it from this system.", "Unlike in the United Kingdom, the leader of the legislature has no executive powers, and it is subject to the Constitution of Botswana.", "Its official function under the constitution is to \"make laws for the peace, order and good government of Botswana\".", "The legislature is responsible for serving as a check on the power of the executive.", "The legislature has little power to limit the actions of the executive branch, leading to concerns that it is unable to check executive power.The legislative body of Botswana is the National Assembly, a unicameral body consisting of 63 members.", "57 of these members are directly elected by their constituents and six of these members are chosen by the National Assembly.", "The President of Botswana and the Speaker of the National Assembly are ''ex officio'' members.", "For a bill to become a law, it must be approved by the National Assembly and by the president.", "The assembly uses a question time procedure to obtain information.", "The ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi'' is an advisory body established by the constitution.", "Its members include eight chiefs of the Tswana people, five members appointed by the president, and 22 members chosen by the eight chiefs.", "Any bill that affects the constitution or traditional tribal laws must be referred to the ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi'', where it reads the bill and passes a resolution stating its position on the bill.", "It has no legislative powers of its own.=== Executive branch ===The executive branch of Botswana is headed by the President of Botswana, who serves as both the head of state and head of government.", "The president is indirectly elected by members of parliament, and the position has historically been associated with a major tribe.", "The executive is the strongest branch of government in Botswana, and the president wields significant power, effectively heading the legislative branch of government as well.", "The judiciary is the only ''de facto'' check on the president's power.", "The president has the power to veto legislation by refusing to sign it, which returns the legislation to the National Assembly.", "The president is also the commander-in-chief of the nation's military.", "The Vice-President of Botswana and the Cabinet of Botswana operate underneath the President of Botswana.", "The president chooses the vice president and the members of the cabinet from the members of parliament.=== Judicial branch ===The highest court of Botswana is the Court of Appeal, which is constituted under section 99 of these Constitution and consists of a President and such number of Justices of Appeal as may be prescribed by Parliament.", "There are currently eight judges of the Court of Appeal, who are all expatriates drawn from different parts of the Commonwealth.", "To date, no Motswana has ever been appointed to the Court of Appeal.The High Court is a superior court of record with unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any criminal and civil cases under any law.", "The High Court is constituted under section 95 of the Constitution, and consists of a Chief Justice and such number of other judges of the High Court as may be prescribed by Parliament.", "There are currently sixteen permanent judges of the High Court.", "Until 1992, the judges of the High Court were expatriate judges who were appointed on short-term contracts of two to three years.", "In 1992 the first citizen judges were appointed to the bench.", "There are three High Court divisions in Lobatse, Gaborone and Francistown.Most cases are settled by customary courts, which are presided over by tribal chiefs.", "These courts are often preferred by the community due to their relative simplicity.", "There are also Magistrates' Courts in Botswana.", "These courts are subordinate to the High Court and hear a range of civil, criminal and family law matters.", "There are nineteen Magistrates' Courts in the country, with fifty magistrates of whom seventeen are expatriate." ], [ "Local and tribal government", "Botswana's government is centralised, and the powers of local government are determined by national law.", "Local government is authorised under the Local Government (District Councils) Act, 1965.The smallest division of government in Botswana is the local council.", "Cities in Botswana are under the jurisdiction of a mayor and a city council, which is led by a council chairperson.", "Smaller towns also have town councils, while rural areas are collected under district councils.", "These councils are primarily responsible for education, health, roads, water, local development, and general welfare.", "Local governmental bodies do not collect significant funds, and nearly all local spending is funded by the national government.Tribes are led by tribal chiefs, who often have significant influence over the affairs of local government.", "Chiefs are responsible for chairing ''kgotlas'', traditional tribal meetings of the community, and for presiding over customary courts.", "''Kgotlas'' predate Botswana's independence and represent the traditional mode of government in which a chief ruled as the first among equals.", "Tswana chiefs were historically more accountable to the people than in other African societies, as the region's main industry, cattle farming, allowed farmers more mobility and independence than would be provided by growing crops.", "Tribal land is held and allocated by Land Boards.", "These Land Boards are made up of members chosen by the tribal community and members appointed by the Minister of Lands.Botswana is divided into 28 districts.", "Each district is under the jurisdiction of a district administration, led by a district commissioner." ], [ "Political parties", "Botswana is a dominant-party state led by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).", "This party was formed by Seretse Khama in 1962 during the nation's movement toward independence, and it has ruled with a majority in every government since.", "A multi-party system allows several opposition parties to stand for election and seek representation in the legislature.", "Despite never holding a majority, opposition parties in Botswana wield more power than those of most other African countries, as there are no legal barriers to restrict the creation or growth of an opposition party.Historically, the Botswana National Front has been the strongest opposition party, advocating left-wing politics.", "The opposition in the Botswana legislature has often been fragmented, with several parties competing with one another in addition to challenging the BDP.", "The opposition has mainly been supported by urbanites, tribes outside of the majority Tswana population, and certain tribal chiefs.", "Increasing urbanisation has given more strength to opposition parties.Factionalism is common in Botswana political parties, and several parties have split from the Botswana National Front, including the Botswana Congress Party that became another significant opposition party after its creation in 1998.Some attempts have been made to create alliances between opposition parties, though none have ever prevented the BDP from achieving a majority in the legislature.", "In 2019, the Botswana National Front, the Botswana Congress Party, the Botswana Movement for Democracy, and the Botswana People's Party joined together as the Umbrella for Democratic Change." ], [ "Elections", "Botswana has held regular elections since its independence at five year intervals, all of which have been won by the Botswana Democratic Party.", "Elections are overseen by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).", "Elections in Botswana use first-past-the-post voting in which the winner is the candidate that receives a majority or plurality of votes.", "Botswana is rare among African countries in that its elections have never been associated with widespread political violence.The independence of Botswana's elections have been the subject of scrutiny.", "While elections are free and opposition parties are unrestrained, the incumbent party has access to other advantages.", "Prior to the creation of the IEC, the ruling party controlled elections through the Office of the Supervisor of Elections.", "The creation of the IEC has mitigated this to some extent, though its power to regulate elections is questioned." ], [ "Human rights", "Freedom House considers Botswana to be free with a score of 72/100 in its 2022 Freedom in the World report.", "It scored high in political rights, though Freedom House expressed concerns regarding the representation of women and minorities and the lack of freedom of information laws.", "It also scored high in civil rights, though Freedom House expressed concerns regarding freedom of the press and the right to strike.", "Transparency International has regularly recognised Botswana as the least corrupt country in Africa, and it is often described as comparable to the liberal democracies of Western Europe.", "One potential issues for human rights in Botswana is the lack of strong checks and balances in the government, which allows the president to exercise wide latitude over policy and arbitrarily curtail free speech.", "Early focus on public works projects after Botswana's independence rather than militarisation is credited for early legitimacy of the government, permitting stability in the nation's politics.Conceptions of human rights in Botswana are shaped by collectivist traditions such as ''botho'' rather than individualist traditions.", "Confrontational approaches to human rights such as protest, strike action, and public condemnation are often seen as uncivil foreign inventions.", "Activism in Botswana instead focuses mainly on providing goods and services to those in need.", "Human rights non-governmental organizations are relatively uncommon in Botswana.", "Among the most active is the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS, which emphasises response to HIV but also addresses other areas such as the rights of women, children, and LGBT people." ], [ "Policy issues", "=== Economic policy ===Botswana is an upper middle income country with a mixed economy, and it has one of the strongest economies in Africa.", "The foundation of Botswana's economic policy was set by the first post-independence government in the 1960s, incorporating a self-sustaining budget system through a series of national development plans.", "There is significant income inequality in Botswana, particularly between the relatively developed urban areas and the poorer rural areas.", "The unemployment rate in Botswana was 20% as of 2015.Botswana's dependence on the diamond industry has led to diversification of the economy becoming one of the nation's major economic policy goals throughout its history.", "Government programs such as the National Development Bank, the Botswana Development Corporation, the Financial Assistance Policy, and the Economic Diversification Drive have been implemented to spur economic growth in other industries, but they have not significantly decreased the nation's dependence on its diamond industry.The economy of colonial Bechuanaland focused on cattle farming, and this was the primary industry for the first decade of Botswana's independence.", "As most of the nation was involved with this field in some form, there was little cause for class conflict in the predominantly rural population.", "While land distribution was sometimes an issue, there was enough unclaimed land that cattle farmers could operate as nomads, further reducing disagreement over economic issues.", "In 1967, diamond deposits were found in Botswana.", "This incentivised the government to pursue a commodity economy from mining, supplemented with smaller industries such as beef farming, manufacturing, and tourism.", "The country's economic success is attributed to neoliberal policies of free markets and private property protections, significantly increasing the population's post-independence living standards.", "Botswana was one of the only sub-Saharan governments that did not engage in significant regulatory or redistributive policy following decolonisation.", "This, as well as its fiscally responsible management of the diamond industry, led to some of the world's largest economic growth over the following decades.", "More recent development has emphasised welfare statehood through redistributive economic policy.=== Foreign policy ===The president is responsible for the foreign policy of Botswana, overseeing the Minister of Foreign Affairs.", "Botswana's political and economic success relative to other countries in Africa has led it to play a larger role in regional and global affairs.", "By the end of the 20th century, Botswana had begun sending financial and military support to neighbouring countries and international organisations.", "Botswana has emphasised multilateralism in its foreign policy.", "Its landlocked territory and export-driven economy have incentivised it to maintain strong diplomatic ties with other countries, and it's low population and proximity to unstable governments have caused Botswana to work closely with international organisations for security and resources.From 1966 to 1994, the countries bordering Botswana were unstable or otherwise hostile to Botswana.", "It did not establish relations with its largest neighbour, South Africa, during the latter's discriminatory apartheid rule.", "In its first years, Botswana had no military.", "The Botswana Defence Force was eventually created in response to regional instability.", "As South Africa liberalised, Botswana's primary foreign policy concern became the instability in neighbouring Zimbabwe.For much of its history as an independent country, Botswana practiced realpolitik foreign policy.", "During the presidency of Ian Khama, it shifted to an idealist foreign policy, in which it routinely criticised governments for human rights violations.", "During this period, it was often the only member of the African Union to support the International Criminal Court or to condemn human rights violations in autocratic nations.=== Social policy ===Botswana's relative wealth compared to other countries in the region has allowed for high spending in public services such as education, health, and infrastructure.", "As of 2014, the Ministry of Education and Skills Development had the largest budget of any government initiative.", "Approximately 10,000 kilometres of road were paved in the first fifty years of the country's independence, compared to the 50 kilometres that existed before independence.Welfare programs in Botswana are relatively limited and subject to means testing, and there is no national level social security.", "The country's predominantly arid environment results in droughts becoming a frequent public welfare concern.", "HIV/AIDS is the most serious healthcare issue in the country, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana is one of the most severe outbreaks in the world.", "Botswana received less foreign aid when combating the epidemic in the 1990s, allowing it to spread." ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* " ], [ "External links", " Judgments of the Botswana Court of Appeal* Judgments of the Botswana High Court* Republic of Botswana - Government portal" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Botswana''' is currently one of the world's fastest growing economies, averaging about 5% per annum over the past decade.", "Growth in private sector employment averaged about 10% per annum during the first 30 years of the country's independence.", "After a period of stagnation at the turn of the 21st century, Botswana's economy registered strong levels of growth, with GDP growth exceeding 6–7% targets.", "Botswana has been praised by the African Development Bank for sustaining one of the world's longest economic booms.", "Economic growth since the late 1960s has been on par with some of Asia's largest economies.", "The government has consistently maintained budget surpluses and has extensive foreign-exchange reserves.Botswana's impressive economic record compared to some of its neighbors has been built on a foundation of diamond mining, prudent fiscal policies, and a cautious foreign policy.", "Botswana's economy is mostly dependent on diamond mining.", "Diamond mining contributes to 50% of the government revenue mainly through its 50:50 joint venture with De Beers in the Debswana Diamond Company.", "It is rated as the least corrupt country in Africa in the Corruption Perceptions Index by international corruption watchdog Transparency International.", "It has the fourth highest gross national income per capita in purchasing power in Africa and above the world average.Trade unions represent a minority of workers in the Botswana economy.", "In general they are loosely organised \"in-house\" unions, although the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) is consolidating its role as the sole national trade union centre in the country.Although Botswana's economy is considered a model for countries in the region, its overreliance on mining and its high rate of HIV/AIDS infection (one in every three adults is seropositive) and unemployment may threaten its future success." ], [ "History", "Man on donkey herding goats in a dry river bedGDP per capita (current), compared to neighbouring countries (world average = 100)Agriculture still provides a livelihood for 70% of the rural population but supplies only about 50% of food needs and accounted for only 1.8% of GDP as of 2016.Subsistence farming and cattle raising predominate.", "The sector is plagued by erratic rainfall and poor soils.", "Diamond mining and tourism are also important to the economy.", "Substantial mineral deposits were found in the 1970s and the mining sector grew from 25% of GDP in 1980 to 38% in 1998.Unemployment officially stood at 21% as of 2000 but unofficial estimates placed it closer to 40%.Economic growth slowed in 2005–2008 and turned negative in 2009 as a result of the Great Recession, contracting by 5.2%.", "This was exacerbated by a major global downturn in the industrial sector, which shrank by 30%, Botswana's steep economic downturn contrasted with most other African nations which experienced continued growth through this period.Some of Botswana's budget deficits can be traced to relatively high military expenditures (about 4% of GDP in 2004, according to the ''CIA World Factbook'').", "Some critics have criticized this level of military spending, given the low likelihood of international conflict, though these troops are also used for multilateral operations and assistance efforts." ], [ "Trade", "Botswana is part of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) with South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Namibia.", "The World Bank reports that in 2001 (the most recent year for which World Bank data is available), the SACU had a weighted average common external tariff rate of 3.6%.", "According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, \"there are very few tariff or non-tariff barriers to trade with Botswana, apart from restrictions on licensing for some business operations, which are reserved for Botswana companies.\"", "Based on the revised trade factor methodology, Botswana's trade policy score is unchanged.The main export of Botswana is diamonds.", "As of 2017 it is the world's second largest producer of diamonds after Russia.", "Due to Botswana's heavy reliance on diamonds, strong global demand is vital to the health of the economy.", "Diamond exports provide Botswana's economy with strong supplies of foreign exchange and have offered a basis for industrial development and stimulated improvements in Botswana's infrastructure.", "However, despite their preeminent role in Botswana's economy, there are concerns that diamond mines are not labour-intensive enough to provide sufficient employment for Botswana's workforce, and this mismatch has been cited as a factor in the country's structurally high unemployment rate." ], [ "Mining", "Two large mining companies, Debswana (formed by the government and South Africa's De Beers in equal partnership) and Bamangwato Concessions, Ltd. (BCL, also with substantial government equity participation) operate in the country.", "BCL was placed in provisional liquidation in late 2016, following years of loss-making operations, and was placed into final liquidation by the High Court in June 2017.The Jwaneng diamond mine is the richest in the world today.Since early 1980s, the country has been one of the world's largest producers of gem diamonds.", "Four large diamond mines have opened since independence.", "De Beers prospectors discovered diamonds in northern Botswana in the early 1970s.", "The first mine began production at Orapa in 1972, followed by a smaller mine at Letlhakane.", "What has become the single richest diamond mine in the world opened in Jwaneng in 1982.The mine was discovered when termites looking for water brought grains of diamond to the surface.", "Botswana produced a total of 21.3 million carats of diamonds from the three Debswana mines in 1999, and is the highest producer of diamonds by value in the world.", "The Orapa 2000 Expansion of the existing Orapa mine was opened in 2000.According to Debswana, the Orapa 2000 Expansion project increase the Orapa's mine annual output from 6 million carats to 12 million carats and raised total production to 26 million carats.", "In 2003, Debswana opened the Damtshaa diamond mine about 220 kilometers (140 mi) west of the city of Francistown.", "The mine was placed into care and maintenance in December 2015 due to weak global demand but was scheduled to reopen in January 2018.In 2008, Australia's Kimberley Diamond Company opened a mine in Lerala, Botswana's fifth mine and the first not operated by Debswana.", "However, Kimberley shut down the mine in May 2017, citing weak market conditions.Most (70%) of Botswana's electricity is imported from South Africa's Eskom.", "80% of domestic production is concentrated in one plant, Morupule Power Station near Palapye, operated by the Botswana Power Corporation.", "Debswana operates the nearby Morupule Colliery to supply coal to it.", "The Morupule mine exports coal to Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.", "In early 2008, the entire southern African region was hit hard by massive shortages of power, since the region works to share its power resources through the Southern African Power Pool, with most of its capacity coming from South Africa.", "Botswana has in turn put in place plans to become a net exporter of power to the regional pool, through governmental expansion of the Morupule power station, as well as encouraging private investment in the form of a 4 gigawatt power station by the Canadian greenfield company CIC Energy.", "In 2012, CIC Energy was acquired by India's Jindal Steel and Power.", "Jindal Africa currently aims to operate three surface mines in the coalfields of Mmamabula, as well as a power plant.", "According to the company, \"the mine’s development will meet the demands of 600MW power stations and export region coal markets, with the potential to employ more than 2,000 people.", "\"Botswana also produces soda ash through Botash, a joint venture between the government and South Africa's Chlor-Alkali Holdings (CAH) Group.", "Botash has been operating in the Sua Pan in northeastern Botswana since April 1991.Production of soda ash is estimated at around 300,000 tonnes per annum and is exported to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo." ], [ "Tourism", "A giraffe in the Kalahari Tourism is an increasingly important industry in Botswana, accounting for almost 12% of GDP.", "One of the world's unique ecosystems, the Okavango Delta, is located in Botswana.", "The country offers excellent game viewing and birding both in the Delta and in the Chobe National Park—home to one of the largest herds of free-ranging elephants in the world.", "Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve also offers good game viewing and some of the remotest and most unspoiled wilderness in southern Africa.A number of national parks and game reserves, with their abundant wildlife and wetlands, are major tourist attractions.The main safari destinations for tourism are Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta, and Chobe National Park.", "Botswana is also participating in community-based natural resource management projects by trying to involve villagers in tourism.", "One example is the village of Khwai and its Khwai Development Trust.Botswana was the setting for the 1980 movie ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'', although the movie was mostly filmed in South Africa.The seventh season of ''The Amazing Race'' visited Botswana.", "Tourism has been stimulated by the series of detective novels by Alexander McCall Smith and the American dramatisation that followed them." ], [ "Agriculture", "More than half of Botswana's population lives in rural areas and depends on subsistence crops and livestock farming.", "Agriculture meets only a small portion of food needs and contributes just 2.6% to GDP as of 2002—primarily through beef exports—but it remains a social and cultural touchstone.", "Cattle raising dominated Botswana's social and economic life before independence.", "The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has a monopoly on beef production.", "The national herd was about 2.5 million in the mid-1990s, though the 1995 government-ordered slaughter of the entire herd in Botswana's north-west Ngamiland District, to prevent the spread of \"cattle lung disease\" to other parts of the country, reduced the number by at least 200,000.Botswana produced, in 2018:* 102 thousand tons of root and tubers;* 46 thousand tons of vegetables;* 17 thousand tons of sorghum;* 13 thousand tons of maize;* 8 thousand tons of cabbage;* 6 thousand tons of onion;* 5 thousand tons of tomato;In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products." ], [ "Manufacturing", "Manufacturing industries in Botswana include food processing, predominantly beef processing, diamond processing, textile and garment manufacturing, beverage making, jewellery making, metals and metal products, soap making, construction materials manufacturing, and glass production." ], [ "Science and technology", "There is a growing science sector in Botswana.", "The number of publications by Botswanan scientists catalogued in international databases increased from 133 in 2009 to 210 in 2014.In 2018, Botswana produced 281 scientific and technical journal articles.", "The country has one of the highest levels of scientific productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa.", "The country also has a high-tech industry, being home to a number of information technology companies.", "In 2020, Botswana's high-tech exports were worth about $16.2 million." ], [ "Private sector development and foreign investment", "Botswana seeks to diversify its economy away from minerals, the earnings from which have levelled off.", "In 1998–99, non-mineral sectors of the economy grew at 8.9%, partially offsetting a slight 4.4% decline in the minerals sector.", "Foreign investment and management have been welcomed in Botswana.External investment in Botswana has grown fitfully.", "In the early 1990s, two American companies, Owens Corning and H.J.", "Heinz, made major investments in production facilities in Botswana.", "In 1997, the St. Paul Group purchased Botswana Insurance, one of the country's leading short-term insurance providers.", "An American Business Council (ABC), with over 30 member companies, was inaugurated in 1995.Hyundai operated a car assembly plant in Botswana from 1994 to 2000.Tourist resort at KasaneBotswana seeks to further diversify its economy away from minerals, which account for a quarter of GDP, down from nearly half of GDP in the early 1990s.", "Foreign investment and management are welcomed in Botswana and, as a result, the financial and services sectors have increased at an exponential rate in the 2000s to replace mining as the leading industry.", "Botswana abolished foreign exchange controls in 1999, has a low corporate tax rate (15%), no prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies, and as of 2001 had a moderate inflation rate (6.6%).The government considers private-sector participation as being critical to the success of the country's ''Tenth National Development Plan'' (2009–2016) and enhancing the role of research and development as being the most effective way to nurture entrepreneurship and private-sector growth.", "The government is considering additional policies to enhance competitiveness, including a new Foreign Direct Investment Strategy, Competition Policy, Privatisation Master Plan and National Export Development Strategy.Botswana is known to have vast coal deposits making it possibly one of the most coal-rich countries in the world.", "Large coal mines, massive coal-fired power plants, as well as a coals to liquid plant (through the Fischer–Tropsch process) to produce synthetic automotive fuel have been planned.With its proven record of good economic governance, Botswana was ranked as Africa's least corrupt country in the Corruption Perceptions Index in 2020, ahead of many European and Asian countries.", "The World Economic Forum rated Botswana as the third most economically competitive nation in Africa as of 2002.In 2001 Botswana was once again assigned \"A\" grade credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's.", "This ranks Botswana as by far the best credit risk in Africa and puts it on par with or above many countries in central Europe, East Asia, and Latin America.U.S.", "investment in Botswana remains at relatively low levels but continues to grow.", "Major U.S. corporations, such as Coca-Cola and H.J.", "Heinz, are present through direct investments, while others, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, are present via franchise.", "The sovereign credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's clearly indicate that, despite continued challenges such as small market size, landlocked location, and cumbersome bureaucratic processes, Botswana remains one of the best investment opportunities in the developing world.Due to its history and geography, Botswana has long and deep ties to the economy of South Africa.", "The Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), presently comprising Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and South Africa, dates from 1910.Under this arrangement, South Africa has collected levies from customs, sales, and excise duties for all five members, sharing out proceeds based on each country's portion of imports.", "The exact formula for sharing revenues and the decision-making authority over duties—held exclusively by the Government of South Africa—became increasingly controversial, and the members renegotiated the arrangement in 2001.The new structure has now been formally ratified and a SACU Secretariat has been established in Windhoek, Namibia.", "Following South Africa's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Botswana also joined; many of the SACU duties are thus declining, making products from outside the area more competitive in Botswana.", "Currently, the SACU countries and the U.S. are negotiating a free trade agreement.", "Botswana is currently also negotiating a free trade agreement with Mercosur and an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union as part of SADC.Aerial view over Okavango DeltaGaborone is host to the headquarters of the fourteen-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), a successor to the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC, established in 1980), which focused its efforts on freeing regional economic development from dependence on apartheid South Africa.", "SADC embraced the newly democratic South Africa as a member in 1994 and has a broad mandate to encourage growth, development, and economic integration in Southern Africa.", "SADC's Trade Protocol, which was launched on 1 September 2000, calls for the elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade by 2012 among the 11 signatory countries.", "If successful, it will give Botswana companies free access to the far larger regional market.", "SADC's failure to distance itself from the Mugabe government in Zimbabwe has diminished the number of opportunities for cooperation between the U.S. and SADC.Botswana has successfully carried an Action Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, which was adopted in the period 2006–2007.Free the Children delisted Botswana as a nation harbouring child-labour facilities in 2008." ], [ "Financial sector", "Botswana has a growing financial sector, and the country's national stock market, the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), based in Gaborone, is given the responsibility to operate and regulate the equities and fixed interest securities market.", "Formally established in 1989, the BSE continues to be pivotal to Botswana's financial system, and in particular the capital market, as an avenue on which government, quasi-government and the private sector can raise debt and equity capital.", "Although the BSE has just under 40 companies listed, it plays host to the most pre-eminent companies doing business in Botswana.", "These companies represent a spectrum of industries and commerce, from Banking and financial services to Wholesaling and Retailing, Tourism and Information Technology.To date, the BSE is one of Africa's best performing stock exchanges, averaging 24% aggregate return in the past decade.", "This has allowed the BSE to be the third largest stock exchange, in terms of market capitalisation, in Southern Africa.Given Botswana's lack of exchange controls, stable currency and exceptionally performing stock market, the financial sector has attracted a host of global investors seeking better returns.Botswana's currency, the pula, is fully convertible and is valued against a basket of currencies heavily weighted toward the South African Rand.", "Profits and direct investment can be repatriated without restriction from Botswana.", "The Botswana Government eliminated all exchange controls in 1999.The Central Bank devalued the Pula by 7.5% in February 2004 in a bid to maintain export competitiveness against the real appreciation of the Pula.", "There was a further 12% devaluation in May 2005 and the policy of a \"Crawling peg\" was adopted.The recently established Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) is responsible for the oversight of all non-banking financial services entities in the country.", "As of 2005, about 54% of Botswana's population had access to formal or informal financial services, and 43% is banked (with access to at least one formal banking product).", "The overall access ratio is still low, especially in rural areas, where there are 3.8 branches and 73 ATMs per 100,000 people.", "Mobile banking services have just started to be offered.", "In recent years the government and Central Bank have undertaken serious steps to modernize the country's payment system infrastructure.", "These efforts included the establishment of a code-line clearing system for the exchange of cheques and electronic funds as well as a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, including SWIFT connection.", "The stock exchange implemented a Central Securities Depository in 2007.Remittance Flows for Botswana amounted to US$117 million in 2007, a figure that is higher than the total net value of official development assistance.Gaborone is host to the headquarters of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC).", "A successor to the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), which focused its efforts on freeing regional economic development from dependence on apartheid in South Africa, SADC embraced the newly democratic South Africa as a member in 1994 and has a broad mandate to encourage growth, development, and economic integration in Southern Africa.", "SADC's Trade Protocol, which was launched on 1 September 2000, calls for the elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade by 2012 among the 11 signatory countries.", "If successful, it will give Botswana companies free access to the far larger regional market.", "The Regional Centre for Southern Africa (RCSA), which implements the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Initiative for Southern Africa (ISA), is headquartered in Gaborone as well." ], [ "Main indicators", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.Year GDP (in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita (in US$ PPP)GDP(in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Government debt(Percentage of GDP) 1980 1.80 1,8321.17 12.0% ... 1985 3.69 3,1971.12 7.7% ... 1990 7.55 5,4603.80 8.8% ... 1995 9.97 6,2884.81 7.0% ... 2000 13.96 7,9425.68 2.0% 8% 2005 18.73 9,9899.83 7.4% 7% 2006 20.92 11,0099.92 6.2% 6% 2007 23.26 12,06910.57 8.3% 8% 2008 25.20 12,89110.73 6.2% 8% 2009 23.45 11,83310.12 −7.7% 18% 2010 25.77 12,83912.64 8.6% 20% 2011 27.89 13,73415.11 6.0% 19% 2012 29.67 14,43913.91 4.5% 19% 2013 33.57 16,14514.27 11.3% 17% 2014 35.59 16,91615.47 4.1% 17% 2015 35.36 16,61313.53 −1.7% 16% 2016 37.36 17,34515.08 4.3% 15% 2017 38.86 17,82816.11 2.2% 16%" ], [ "See also", "* Botswana* Education in Botswana* List of Botswana companies* Science and technology in Botswana* United Nations Economic Commission for Africa" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * Botswana latest trade data on ITC Trade Map* MBendi Botswana overview" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "Telecommunications in Botswana include newspapers, radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.In addition to the government-owned newspaper and national radio network, there is an active, independent press (six weekly newspapers).", "Foreign publications are sold without restriction in Botswana.", "Two privately owned radio stations began operations in 1999.Botswana's first national television station, the government-owned Botswana Television (BTV), was launched in July 2000.It began broadcasting with three hours of programming on weekdays and five on weekends, offering news in Setswana and English, entertainment, and sports, with plans to produce 60% of its programming locally.", "The cellular phone providers Orange and MTN cover most of the country." ], [ "Radio stations", "* 2 state-owned national radio stations; 3 privately owned radio stations broadcast locally (2007); * AM 8, FM 13, shortwave 4 (2001)." ], [ "Television stations", "One state-owned and one privately owned; privately owned satellite TV subscription service is available (2007).", "'''Television sets in use:''' * 101,713 (2001);* 98,568 (2003).", "173,327 (2006)297,233 (2008)297,971 (2011)365,650 (2014)." ], [ "Telephones", "'''Main lines in use:'''* 160,500 lines, 134th in the world (2012); * 136,900 (2006).", "'''Mobile cellular in use:'''* 3.1 million lines, 129th in the world (2012); '''Telephone system'''* ''general assessment'': Botswana is participating in regional development efforts; expanding fully digital system with fiber-optic cables linking the major population centers in the east as well as a system of open-wire lines, microwave radio relays links, and radiotelephone communication stations (2011);* ''domestic'': fixed-line teledensity has declined in recent years and now stands at roughly 7 telephones per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity now pushing 140 telephones per 100 persons (2011);* ''international'': country code - 267; international calls are made via satellite, using international direct dialing; 2 international exchanges; digital microwave radio relay links to Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2011)." ], [ "ISDB-T", "'''Features:'''* Supports ISDB-T broadcast (13 segments).", "* MPEG-2/ MPEG-4 AVC/ H.264 HD/ SD video.", "* DiVX Compatible with 480i / 480p / 720p / 1080i/ 1080p video formats.", "Auto and manually scan all available TV and radio channels.", "* Aspect ratio 16:9 and 4:3.", "* 1000 channels memory.", "* Parental control.", "* Teletext / Bit map subtitle.", "* Compliant with ETSI.", "* Supported 7 days EPG function.", "* VBI Teletext support 6 MHz software setting Auto / Manual program search.", "* Multi language supported." ], [ "Internet", "'''Internet top-level domain:''' .bw'''Internet users:'''* 241,272 users, 148th in the world; 11.5% of the population, 166th in the world (2012);* 120,000 users, 154th in the world (2009);* 80,000 users (2007).", "'''Internet broadband''':* 16,407 fixed broadband subscriptions, 134th in the world; 0.8% of the population, 143rd in the world;* 348,124 wireless broadband subscriptions, 102nd in the world; 16.6% of the population, 76th in the world.", "'''Internet hosts:'''* 1,806 hosts (2012);* 6,374 hosts (2008).", "'''Internet IPv4 addresses''': 100,096 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 47.7 addresses per 1000 people (2012).", "'''Internet Service Providers:'''* 11 ISPs (2001);* 2 ISPs (1999).ADSL has been introduced in the following areas:Gaborone, Tlkokweng, Mogoditsane, Phakalane, Francistown, Lobatse, Palapye, Maun, Kasane, Selibe-Phikwe, Letlhakane, Jwaneng, and Orapa." ], [ "See also", "* Botswana* Botswana Television* Media of Botswana* Internet in Botswana* Botswana Internet Exchange* Telephone numbers in BotswanaBotswana Communications Regulatory Authority" ], [ "References", "" ], [ "External links", "* Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA)." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "Flag of Botswana'''Transportation in Botswana''' is provided by an extensive network of railways, highways, ferry services and air routes that criss-cross the country.", "The transport sector in Botswana played an important role in economic growth following its independence in 1966.The country discovered natural resources which allowed it to finance the development of infrastructure, and policy ensured that the transport sector grew at an affordable pace commensurate with demands for services." ], [ "Rail transport", "Rail services are provided by Botswana Railways, with most routes radiating from Gaborone.", "Botswana has the 93rd longest railway network in the world at 888 km, it is one of the busiest railways in Africa.", "The track gauge is 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) (cape gauge).", "Botswana is an associate member of the International Union of Railways (UIC).The new chairs of BR Express=== Regional trains (BR Express) ===Botswana Railways run 2 nightly passenger trains, one from Lobatse to Francistown, and the other from Francistown to Lobatse, with stops in Gaborone, Mahalapye, Palapye, and Serule.", "The passenger train is termed the \"BR Express\" (Botswana Railways).", "Passenger services were suspended from 2009 to 2016, with the exception of an international link to Zimbabwe from Francistown.thumb=== Commuter/suburban trains ===In Botswana, the (Botswana Railways) \"BR Express\" has a commuter train between Lobatse and Gaborone.", "The train departs to Lobatse at 0530hrs and arrives at Gaborone at 0649hrs.", "This train returns to Lobatse in the evening, departing in Gaborone at 1800hrs.", "Arrival time at Lobatse is 1934hrs.", "The train stops at Otse, Ramotswa, and Commerce Park Halt.", "=== BR Express Sleeping & Dining Department ===BR Express Dining DepartmentFrom the beginning, the BR decided to operate its own sleeping cars, thus building bigger-sized berths and more comfortable surroundings.", "Providing and operating their cars allowed better control of the services and revenue.", "While the food was served to passengers, the profits were never result of serving the food.", "Those who could afford to travel great distances expected better facilities, and favorable opinions from the overall experience would attract others to Botswana and the BR's trains.", "=== Stations ====== Freight trains ===Freight Train of BotswanaOver half of BRs freight traffic is in coal, grain and intermodal freight, and it also ships automotive parts and assembled automobiles, sulphur, fertilizers, other chemicals, soda ash, forest products and other types of the commodities.=== Locomotives ===BR Express Train from Gaborone to Francistownthumb'''Diesel locomotives'''As of March 2009:* 8 General Electric UM 22C diesel-electric locomotive, 1982.", "* 20 General Motors Model GT22LC-2 diesel-electric locomotive, 1986.", "* 10 General Electric UI5C diesel-electric locomotive, 1990.", "* 8 new gt142aces were delivered in the end of 2017.=== Network ===Botswana rail networktotal: 888 km (since 2015)number of stations: 13standard gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) cape gauge.=== Railway links with adjacent countries ==='''Existing''' South Africa (same gauge)* Zimbabwe (same gauge)==== Currently under construction ====* Zambia - being built at Kazungula Bridge in Kazungula.==== Proposed ====* Namibia * Mozambique" ], [ "Road transport", "=== Vehicle population ===* Botswana had 584,000 locally registered vehicles at the end of June 2019 - more than double the number compared to 10 years prior.", "This equates to around 250 vehicles per 1,000 people in the country.", "* 30,583 vehicles were registered in the first 6 months of 2019.", "* Secondhand imports from Asia and the UK are a significant source of vehicles in Botswana.Bus on the A1lCargo Trucking o the A3=== A-roads ===A-roads are highways and other major roads.", "'''Road''''''Connections'''A1Zimbabwe (A7) - Ramokgwebane (B315) - Tshesebe (B311) - Francistown (A3, B162) - Dikabeya (B151) - Serule (A15) - Palapye (A14, B140) - Mahalapye (B145, B147) - Pilane (B130) - Gaborone (A10, A12) - Ramotswa (A11, B111) - Otse (B105) - Lobatse (A2) - Ramatlabama (B202) - South Africa (R503)A2Namibia (B6) - Charleshill (B214) - A3 (south of Ghanzi) - Morwamosu (B102) - Sekoma (A20) - Kanye (A10, B105, B202) - Lobatse (A1) - South Africa (N4)A3A2 - Ghanzi - Sehithwa (A35) - Maun (B334) - Matopi (B300) - Nata (A33) - Dukwe (A32) - Sebina (A31) - Francistown (A30, A1)A10Gaborone (A1, A12) - Thamaga (B111) - Mosopa - Kanye (A2, B105, B202)A11A1 - RamotswaA12Molepolole (B102, B111, B112) - Metsimotlhaba (B122) - Gaborone (A1) - South Africa (R49)A14Orapa (A30, B300) - Serowe (B145) - Palapye (A1, B140)A15Serule (A1) - Selebi Phikwe (B157, B150)A20Sekoma (A2) - Khakhea (B205) - Tshabong (B210, B211)A30Orapa (A14, B300) - Francistown (A3)A31Tutume - Sebina (A3)A32Sowa - Dukwe (A3)A33Namibia (B6) - Muchenje - Kasane - Pandamatenga (B333) - Nata (A3)A35Namibia - Shakawe - Sehithwa (A3)=== B-roads ===B-roads are smaller distributor roads.", "'''Road''''''Connections'''B102Morwamosu (A2) - Molepolole (A12, B111, B112)B105Kanye (A2, A10, B202) - Otse (A1)B111Molepolole (A12, B102, B112) - Thamaga (A10) - Ramotswa (A1, A11)B112Shoshong (B145) - Molepolole (A12, B102, B111)B122Lentsweletau (B123) - Metsimotlhaba (A12)B123Lentsweletau (B122) - eastB130Pilane (A1) - Mochudi - Sikwane (B135) - South AfricaB135Malolwane - Sikwane (B130)B140Palapye (A1, A14) - Sherwood (B141) - South Africa (Grobler's Bridge, N11)B141Machaneng (B147, B148) - Sherwood (B140)B145Serowe (A14) - Shoshong (B112) - Mahalapye (A1, B147)B147Mahalapye (A1, B145) - Machaneng (B141, B148)B148B140 - Machaneng (B141, B147)B150Selebi Phikwe (A15) - Sefophe (B150) - TsetsebjweB151Dikabeya (A1) - Sefophe (B151) - Bobonong (B155) - KobojangoB155Bobonong (B150) - MolalatauB157Mmadinare - Selebi Phikwe (A15)B162Francistown (A1, A3) - MatsilojeB202Kanye (A2, A10, B105) - Ramatlabama (A1)B205A2 - Khakhea (A20) - southB210Tshabong (A20, B211) - South Africa (R380)B211South Africa - Bokspits - Tshabong (A20, B210)B214Charleshill (A2) - NcojaneB300Matopi (A3) - Rakops - Orapa (A14, A30)B311Masunga (B316) - Tshesebe (A1)B315Zwenshambe (B316) - Moroka - Ramokgwebane (A1)B316Zwenshambe (B315) - Masunga (B311)B333A33 - Pandamatenga - ZimbabweB334Shorobe - Maun (A3)=== Motorways ===Motorways in Botswana have a set of restrictions, which prohibit certain traffic from using the road.", "The following classes of traffic are not allowed on Botswana motorways:* Learner drivers* Slow vehicles (i.e., not capable of reaching 60 km/h on a level road)* Invalid carriages (lightweight three-wheeled vehicles)* Pedestrians* Pedal-cycles (bicycles, etc.", ")* Vehicles under 50cc (e.g.", "mopeds)* Tractors* AnimalsRules for driving on motorways include the following:* The keep-left rule applies unless overtaking* No stopping at any time* No reversing * No hitchhiking* Only vehicles that travel faster than 80 km/h may use the outside lane* No driving on the hard-shoulderThe general motorway speed limit is 120 km/h.=== Road signs ===Botswana's old \"caution curves\" signNew signTraditionally, road signs in Botswana used blue backgrounds rather than the yellow, white, or orange that the rest of the world uses on traffic warning signs.", "In the early 2010s, officials announced plans to begin phasing out the distinctive blue signs in favour of more typical signs in order to be more in line with the neighbouring Southern African Development Community member states.=== Interchanges ======= Existing ====* '''Kenneth Nkhwa Interchange''' at the junction of A1 / Blue Jacket Street and A3 in Francistown.", "* '''Boatle Interchange''' in '''Boatle'''.==== Under construction ====The Government of Botswana is building three interchanges along '''K.T Motsete Drive (''Western Bypass'')''' in Gaborone.", "This project started in August 2019, and deadline date is set 2022.=== Longest bridges ===The Kazungula Bridge in Kazungula and the Okavango River Bridge (constructed 2022) in Mohembo are the two longest bridges.=== Roadway links with adjacent countries ======= Existing ====* Namibia by Trans-Kalahari Corridor.", "* South Africa by A1 highway (Botswana), A2 highway (Botswana), A11 road (Botswana) and '''A12 highway (Botswana)'''.", "* Zambia by A33 road (Botswana).", "* Zimbabwe by A1 highway (Botswana)." ], [ "Mass transit by road", "=== Taxicabs ===In most parts of Botswana, there are many taxicabs of various colours and styles.", "Botswana has no limitation in taxicab design, so each taxicab company adopts its own design.=== Minibus taxis ===Combi (Minibus taxi)Minibus taxis, also known as C''ombi'', are the predominant form of transport for people in urban areas of Botswana.", "Most of them are found within cities, towns, major villages, and even the least populated areas.They also have their own minibus station within a particular area; only transporting people within that specific area using different and unique routes.", "This is due to their availability and affordability to the public.Most minibus taxis do not have a specific departure time that is allocated by the state and most of them have 15-seaters.", "The minibuses are owned and operated by many individual minibus owners.=== Coach bus ===Coach buses are used for longer-distance services within and outside Botswana.", "These are normally operated by private companies and are the only buses that have departure times allocated by the Ministry of Transport.", "Coach buses have multiple departures, routes, and stations all over Botswana." ], [ "Water transport", "Border crossing (ferry) from Botswana to Zambia=== Ferries ===The Kazungula Ferry was a pontoon ferry that crossed the Zambezi River between Botswana and Zambia.=== Tour boats ===" ], [ "Aviation", "Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, BotswanaIn 2004 there were an estimated 85 airports, 10 of which (as of 2005), were paved.", "The country's main international airport is Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone.", "The government-owned Air Botswana operates scheduled flights to Francistown, Gaborone, Maun, and Selebi-Phikwe.", "There is international service to Johannesburg, South Africa; Mbabane, Eswatini; and Harare, Zimbabwe.", "A new international airport near Gaborone was opened in 1984.Air passengers arriving to and departing from Botswana during 2003 totalled about 183,000.Maun International Airport=== International airports ===Botswana has 4 international airports.", "* Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone.", "* Francistown Airport in Francistown.thumb* Kasane Airport in Kasane.", "* Maun Airport in Maun.==== Proposed airports ====* \"Mophane International Airport\" is planned in Palapye Sub-District near Moremi village." ], [ "Pedestrian elevated walkways", "Gaborone's Pedestrian Elevated WalkwayBotswana has many pedestrian elevated walkways at different places." ], [ "Water pipelines", "Botswana NSC and extension=== Under construction ======= North-South Carrier ====NSC is a pipeline in Botswana that carries raw water, south for a distance of to the capital city of Gaborone.", "It was done in phases.", "However, phase 1 was completed in 2000.Phase 2 of the NSC, still under construction, will duplicate the pipeline to carry water from the Dikgatlhong Dam, which was completed in 2012.A proposed extension to deliver water from the Zambezi would add another to the total pipeline length.==== Lesotho-Botswana Water Transport ====The Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer is an ongoing project which is expected to provide two hundred million cubic meters per year to transfer water to the south-eastern parts of Botswana.The scheme involves the supply of water to Gaborone from Lesotho via a pipeline.The project commenced on the 1 August 2018 and is set for completion in June 2020.=== Proposed ======= Sea water desalination project ====The Government of Botswana intends to sign the Sea Water Desalination Project from Namibia.", "The project is at a tendering stage." ], [ "Border posts", "Pandamatenga Border Post Sign* Bokspits Border Post* Kazungula Border Post* Ramatlabama Border Post* Ramokgwebana Border Post* Mamuno Border Post* Pandamatenga Border PostBW Tour boats" ], [ "See also", "* Botswana* Sprint Couriers" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* UN Map of Botswana* Air Botswana UK - The national airline of Botswana" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Botswana" ], [ "Introduction", "Botswana has put a premium on economic and political integration in southern Africa.", "It has sought to make the Southern African Development Community (SADC) a working vehicle for economic development, and it has promoted efforts to make the region self-policing in terms of preventive diplomacy, conflict resolution, and good governance." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Botswana maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930— (suspended)313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118—119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138——1391401411421431446 December 202314514614714814913 February 2024150Unknown151Unknown152Unknown153Unknown154Unknown" ], [ "Bilateral relations", " Country Formal relations beganNotes1973* Australia is accredited to Botswana from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Botswana has a high commission in Canberra and a consulate in Kendall26 September 1985Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 September 1985* Botswana has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Gaborone.6 January 1975Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 January 1975See Botswana–China relations* Botswana has an embassy in Beijing.", "* China has an embassy in Gaborone.10 April 1978Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 April 1978* Botswana is accredited to Greece from its Permanent Representation to the United Nation Office in Geneva, Switzerland.", "* Greece is accredited to Botswana from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.28 October 1975* Both countries have established diplomatic relations on 28 October 1975.", "* Guyana is accredited to Botswana from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.", "* Both countries are full members of Commonwealth of Nations.17 January 1972See Botswana–India relations* Botswana has a high commission in New Delhi.", "* India has a high commission in Gaborone.28 March 2012Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 March 2012Botswana is accredited to Indonesia from its high commission in Canberra, Australia.", " Indonesia is accredited to Botswana from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "See Botswana–Israel relations* Botswana is accredited to Israel from its high commission London, United Kingdom.", "* Israel is accredited to Botswana from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.30 October 1967See Botswana–Kenya relations* Botswana has a high commission in Nairobi.", "* Kenya has a high commission in Gaborone.5 December 1975Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 December 1975* Botswana is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Botswana from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.11 September 1990See Botswana–Namibia relationsBotswana–Namibia relations are friendly, with the two neighbouring countries cooperating on economic development.", "Botswana gained independence from Britain in September 1966.Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence.", "* Botswana has a high commission in Windhoek.", "* Namibia has a high commission in Gaborone.27 December 1974, but severs 19 February 2014See Botswana–North Korea relations6 March 1970See Botswana–Russia relationsBotswana and the Soviet Union initiated diplomatic relations on 6 March 1970.Despite its pro-Western orientation, Botswana participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics.", "The present-day relations between the two countries are described as friendly and long standing.", "In March, the two countries also celebrated the 35th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.", "According to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Russia was one of the first countries to establish full diplomatic relations with Botswana.Trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Botswana are stipulated by the Trade Agreement of 1987 and the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation of 1988.The Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Botswana signed the Agreement on Cultural, Scientific and Educational Cooperation in September 1999.Russia and Botswana have had fruitful cooperation in a variety of fields, particularly in human resource development.", "And Russia is still offering more scholarship in key sectors such as health, which is currently experiencing a critical shortage of manpower.", "Botswana also is one of the countries where Russian citizens do not require a visa.", "Russia has an embassy in Gaborone, while Botswana covers Russia from its embassy in Stockholm (Sweden) and an honorary consulate in Moscow.22 June 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 June 1994See Botswana–South Africa relations* Botswana has a high commission in Pretoria and consulates-general in Cape Town and Johannesburg.", "* South Africa has a high commission in Gaborone18 April 1968The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Botswana began on 18 April 1968.In 2011 the number of South Koreans living in Botswana amounted to 163.Since 2014, the government of Botswana recognized ROK as the sole legitimate government of Korea.20 January 1981 Permanent Representation of Botswana in the UN Geneva Office is also accredited to Turkey.", "Turkey has an embassy in GaboroneTrade volume between the two countries was US$2.9 million in 2019.See Botswana–United Kingdom relationsBotswana established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 30 September 1966.", "Botswana maintains a High Commission in London.", "* The United Kingdom maintains a High Commission in Gaborone.The UK ruled Botswana from 1885, until Botswana achieved independence on 30 September 1966.Both countries share common membership of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the SACUM-UK Continuity Trade Agreement.30 September 1966See Botswana–United States relationsEmbassy of Botswana in Washington, D.C.The United States considers Botswana an advocate of and a model for stability in Africa and has been a major partner in Botswana's development since its independence.", "The U.S. Peace Corps returned to Botswana in August 2002 with a focus on HIV/AIDS-related programs after concluding 30 years of more broadly targeted assistance in 1997.Similarly, the USAID phased out a long-standing bilateral partnership with Botswana in 1996, after successful programs emphasizing education, training, entrepreneurship, environmental management, and reproductive health.", "Botswana, however, continues to benefit along with its neighbours in the region from USAID's Initiative for Southern Africa, now based in Pretoria, and USAID's Southern Africa Global Competitiveness Hub, headquartered in Gaborone.", "The United States International Board of Broadcasters (IBB) operates a major Voice of America (VOA) relay station in Botswana serving most of the African continent.In 1995, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) started the BOTUSA Project in collaboration with the Botswana Ministry of Health in order to generate information to improve tuberculosis control efforts in Botswana and elsewhere in the face of the TB and HIV/AIDS co-epidemics.", "Under the 1999 U.S. Government's Leadership and Investment in Fighting an Epidemic (LIFE) Initiative, CDC through the BOTUSA Project has undertaken many projects and has assisted many organizations in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana.", "Botswana is one of the 15 focus countries for PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, and has received more than $230 million since the program began in January 2004 through September 2007.PEPFAR assistance to Botswana, which totalled $76.2 million in FY 2007, is contributing to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care interventions.The Governments of Botswana and the United States entered into an agreement in July 2000 to establish an International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone.", "The academy, jointly financed, managed and staffed by the two nations, provides training to police and government officials from across the Sub-Saharan region.", "The academy's permanent campus, in Otse outside of Gaborone, opened March 2003.Over 3,000 law enforcement professionals from Sub-Saharan Africa have received training from ILEA since it began offering classes in 2001.", "* Botswana has an embassy in Washington, D.C.* United States has an embassy in Gaborone.31 May 1983See Botswana–Zimbabwe relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 31 May 1983Botswana still struggles to seal its border from thousands of Zimbabweans who flee economic collapse and political persecution.", "In 2015, 22,000 Zimbabweans were arrested and deported.", "This has increased to nearly 29,000 deportations in 2018.", "* Botswana has an embassy in Harare.", "* Zimbabwe has an embassy in Gaborone." ], [ "Botswana and the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]", "Botswana has been a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations since independence in 1966." ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Botswana* List of diplomatic missions of Botswana" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Embassy of the Russian Federation in Gaborone" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "The country of Brazil occupies roughly half of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean.", "Brazil covers a total area of which includes of land and of water.", "The highest point in Brazil is Pico da Neblina at .", "Brazil is bordered by the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, and France (overseas department of France, French Guiana).Much of the climate is tropical, with the south being relatively temperate.", "The largest river in Brazil, and the second longest in the world, is the Amazon." ], [ "Size and geographical location", "Brazil occupies most of the eastern part of the South American continent and its geographic heartland, as well as various islands in the Atlantic Ocean.", "The only countries in the world that are larger are Russia, Canada, China and the United States.", "The national territory extends from north to south (5°16'10\" N to 33°45'03\" S latitude), and from east to west (34°47'35\" W to 73°58'59\" W longitude).", "It spans four time zones, the westernmost of which is equivalent to Eastern Standard Time in the United States.", "The time zone of the capital (Brasília) and of the most populated part of Brazil along the east coast (UTC-3) is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.", "The Atlantic islands are in the easternmost time zone.Brazil possesses the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, located northeast of its \"horn\", and several small islands and atolls in the Atlantic - Abrolhos, Atol das Rocas, Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo, Trindade, and Martim Vaz.", "In the early 1970s, Brazil claimed a territorial sea extending from the country's shores, including those of the islands.On Brazil's east coast, the Atlantic coastline extends .", "In the west, in clockwise order from the south, Brazil has of borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (overseas department of France).", "The only South American countries with which Brazil does not share borders are Chile and Ecuador.", "A few short sections are in question, but there are no true major boundary controversies with any of the neighboring countries.", "Brazil has the 10th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of .Brazil has six major ecosystems: the Amazon Basin, a tropical rainforest system; the Pantanal bordering Paraguay and Bolivia, a tropical wetland system; the Cerrado, a savanna system that covers much of the center of the country; the Caatinga or thorny scrubland habitat of the Northeast; the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica) that extends along the entire coast from the Northeast to the South; and the Pampas or fertile lowland plains of the far South." ], [ "Geology, geomorphology and drainage", "In contrast to the Andes, which rose to elevations of nearly in a relatively recent epoch and inverted the Amazon's direction of flow from westward to eastward, Brazil's geological formation is very old.", "Precambrian crystalline shields cover 36% of the territory, especially its central area.", "The dramatic granite sugarloaf mountains in the city of Rio de Janeiro are an example of the terrain of the Brazilian shield regions, where continental basement rock has been sculpted into towering domes and columns by tens of millions of years of erosion, untouched by mountain-building events.The principal mountain ranges average elevations just under .", "The Serra do Mar Range hugs the Atlantic coast, and the Serra do Espinhaço Range, the largest in area, extends through the south-central part of the country.", "The highest mountains are in the Tumucumaque, Pacaraima, and Imeri ranges, among others, which traverse the northern border with the Guianas and Venezuela.In addition to mountain ranges (about 0.5% of the country is above ), Brazil's Central Highlands include a vast central plateau (Planalto Central).", "The plateau's uneven terrain has an average elevation of .", "The rest of the territory is made up primarily of sedimentary basins, the largest of which is drained by the Amazon and its tributaries.", "Of the total territory, 41% averages less than in elevation.", "The coastal zone is noted for thousands of kilometers of tropical beaches interspersed with mangroves, lagoons, and dunes, as well as numerous coral reefs.", "A recent global remote sensing analysis also suggested that there were 5,389 km2 of tidal flats in Brazil, making it the 7th ranked country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.The Parcel de Manuel Luís Marine State Park off the coast of Maranhão protects the largest coral reef in South America.Topographic map of BrazilBrazil has one of the world's most extensive river systems, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean.", "Two of these basins—the Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia account for more than half the total drainage area.", "The largest river system in Brazil is the Amazon, which originates in the Andes and receives tributaries from a basin that covers 45.7% of the country, principally the north and west.", "The main Amazon river system is the Amazonas-Solimões-Ucayali axis (the -long Ucayali is a Peruvian tributary), flowing from west to east.", "Through the Amazon Basin flows one-fifth of the world's fresh water.", "A total of of the Amazon are in Brazilian territory.", "Over this distance, the waters decline only about .", "The major tributaries on the southern side are, from west to east, the Javari, Juruá, Purus (all three of which flow into the western section of the Amazon called the Solimões), Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins.", "On the northern side, the largest tributaries are the Branco, Japurá, Jari, and Rio Negro.", "The above-mentioned tributaries carry more water than the Mississippi (its discharge is less than one-tenth that of the Amazon).", "The Amazon and some of its tributaries, called \"white\" rivers, bear rich sediments and hydrobiological elements.", "The black-white and clear rivers—such as the Negro, Tapajós, and Xingu—have clear (greenish) or dark water with few nutrients and little sediment.The major river system in the Northeast is the Rio São Francisco, which flows northeast from the south-central region.", "Its basin covers 7.6% of the national territory.", "Only of the lower river are navigable for oceangoing ships.", "The Paraná system covers 14.5% of the country.", "The Paraná flows south among the Río de la Plata Basin, reaching the Atlantic between Argentina and Uruguay.", "The headwaters of the Paraguai, the Paraná's major eastern tributary, constitute the Pantanal, the largest contiguous wetlands in the world, covering as much as .Below their descent from the highlands, many of the tributaries of the Amazon are navigable.", "Upstream, they generally have rapids or waterfalls, and boats and barges also must face sandbars, trees, and other obstacles.", "Nevertheless, the Amazon is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru.", "The Amazon river system was the principal means of access until new roads became more important.", "Hydroelectric projects are Itaipu, in Paraná, with 12,600 MW; Tucuruí, in Pará, with 7,746 MW; and Paulo Afonso, in Bahia, with 3,986 MW.=== Natural resources ===Natural resources include: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, clay, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower and timber." ], [ "Rivers and lakes", "Main Hydrographic Regions of BrazilAccording to organs of the Brazilian government there are 12 major hydrographic regions in Brazil.", "Seven of these are river basins named after their main rivers; the other five are groupings of various river basins in areas which have no dominant river.", "7 hydrographic regions named after their dominant rivers:* Amazonas Paraguai Paraná Parnaíba São Francisco Tocantins Uruguay5 coastal Hydrographic Regions based on regional groupings of minor river basins (listed from north to south):* Atlântico Nordeste Ocidental (Western North-east Atlantic) Atlântico Nordeste Oriental (Eastern North-east Atlantic) Atlântico Leste (Eastern Atlantic) Atlântico Sudeste (South-east Atlantic) Atlântico Sul (South Atlantic)The Amazon River is the widest and second longest river (behind the Nile) in the world.", "This huge river drains the greater part of the world's rainforests.", "Another major river, the Paraná, has its source in Brazil.", "It forms the border of Paraguay and Argentina, then winds its way through Argentina and into the Atlantic Ocean, along the southern coast of Uruguay." ], [ "Soil and vegetation", "The Amazon RainforestBrazil's tropical soils produce almost 210 million tons of grain crops per year, from about 70 million hectares of crops.", "The country also has the 5th largest arable land area in the world.", "Burning also is used traditionally to remove tall, dry, and nutrient-poor grass from pasture at the end of the dry season.", "Until mechanization and the use of chemical and genetic inputs increased during the agricultural intensification period of the 1970s and 1980s, coffee planting and farming, in general, moved constantly onward to new lands in the west and north.", "This pattern of horizontal or extensive expansion maintained low levels of technology and productivity and placed emphasis on quantity rather than the quality of agricultural production.The largest areas of fertile soils, called terra roxa (red earth), are found in the states of Paraná and São Paulo.", "The least fertile areas are in the Amazon, where the dense rainforest is.", "Soils in the Northeast are often fertile, but they lack water, unless they are irrigated artificially.In the 1980s, investments made possible the use of irrigation, especially in the Northeast Region and in Rio Grande do Sul State, which had shifted from grazing to soy and rice production in the 1970s.", "Savanna soils also were made usable for soybean farming through acidity correction, fertilization, plant breeding, and in some cases spray irrigation.", "As agriculture underwent modernization in the 1970s and 1980s, soil fertility became less important for agricultural production than factors related to capital investment, such as infrastructure, mechanization, use of chemical inputs, breeding, and proximity to markets.", "Consequently, the vigor of frontier expansion weakened.The variety of climates, soils, and drainage conditions in Brazil is reflected in the range of its vegetation types.", "The Amazon Basin and the areas of heavy rainfall along the Atlantic coast have tropical rain forest composed of broadleaf evergreen trees.", "The rain forest may contain as many as 3,000 species of flora and fauna within a area.", "The Atlantic Forest is reputed to have even greater biological diversity than the Amazon rain forest, which, despite apparent homogeneity, contains many types of vegetation, from high canopy forest to bamboo groves.In the semiarid Northeast, caatinga, a dry, thick, thorny vegetation, predominates.", "Most of central Brazil is covered with a woodland savanna, known as the cerrado (sparse scrub trees and drought-resistant grasses), which became an area of agricultural development after the mid-1970s.", "In the South (Sul), needle-leaved pinewoods (Paraná pine or araucaria) cover the highlands; grassland similar to the Argentine pampa covers the sea-level plains.", "The Mato Grosso swamplands (Pantanal Mato-grossense) is a Florida-sized plain in the western portion of the Center-West (Centro-Oeste).", "It is covered with tall grasses, bushes, and widely dispersed trees similar to those of the cerrado and is partly submerged during the rainy season.Natural vegetation map of Brazil, 1977.The \"Paraná pine\" (''Araucaria angustifolia'') is a conifer but not a pine, pines are not native to the Southern Hemisphere.Brazil, which is named after reddish dyewood (pau brasil), has long been famous for the wealth of its tropical forests.", "These are not, however, as important to world markets as those of Asia and Africa, which started to reach depletion only in the 1980s.", "By 1996 more than 90% of the original Atlantic forest had been cleared, primarily for agriculture, with little use made of the wood, except for araucaria pine in Paraná.The inverse situation existed with regard to clearing for wood in the Amazon rain forest, of which about 15% had been cleared by 1994, and part of the remainder had been disturbed by selective logging.", "Because the Amazon forest is highly heterogeneous, with hundreds of woody species per hectare, there is considerable distance between individual trees of economic value, such as mahogany and Pereira.", "Therefore, this type of forest is not normally cleared for timber extraction but logged through high-grading or selection of the most valuable trees.", "Because of vines, felling, and transportation, their removal causes destruction of many other trees, and the litter and new growth create a risk of forest fires, which are otherwise rare in rainforests.", "In favorable locations, such as Paragominas, in the northeastern part of Pará State, a new pattern of timber extraction has emerged: diversification and the production of plywood have led to the economic use of more than 100 tree species.Starting in the late 1980s, rapid deforestation and extensive burning in Brazil received considerable international and national attention.", "Satellite images have helped document and quantify deforestation as well as fires, but their use also has generated considerable controversy because of problems of defining original vegetation, cloud cover, and dealing with secondary growth and because fires, as mentioned above, may occur in old pasture rather than signifying new clearing.", "Public policies intended to promote sustainable management of timber extraction, as well as sustainable use of nontimber forest products (such as rubber, Brazil nuts, fruits, seeds, oils, and vines), were being discussed intensely in the mid-1990s.", "However, implementing the principles of sustainable development, without irreversible damage to the environment, proved to be more challenging than establishing international agreements about them." ], [ "Climate", "Brazil map of Köppen climate classification zonesAlthough 90% of the country is within the tropical zone, the climate of Brazil varies considerably from the mostly tropical North (the equator traverses the mouth of the Amazon) to temperate zones below the Tropic of Capricorn (23°27' S latitude), which crosses the country at the latitude of the city of São Paulo.", "Brazil has five climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, and subtropical.Temperatures along the equator are high, averaging above , but not reaching the summer extremes of up to in the temperate zones.", "There is little seasonal variation near the equator, although at times it can get cool enough for wearing a jacket, especially in the rain.", "At the country's other extreme, there are frosts south of the Tropic of Capricorn during the winter (June–August), and there is snow in the mountainous areas, such as Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.", "Temperatures in the cities of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Brasília are moderate (usually between ), despite their relatively low latitude, because of their elevation of approximately .", "Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Salvador on the coast have warm climates, with average temperatures ranging from , but enjoy constant trade winds.", "The southern cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba have a subtropical climate similar to that in parts of the United States and Europe, and temperatures can fall below freezing in winter.Precipitation levels vary widely.", "Most of Brazil has moderate rainfall of between a year, with most of the rain falling in the winter (between December and April) south of the Equator.", "The Amazon region is notoriously humid, with rainfall generally more than per year and reaching as high as in parts of the western Amazon and near Belém.", "It is less widely known that, despite high annual precipitation, the Amazon rain forest has a three- to five-month dry season, the timing of which varies according to location north or south of the equator.High and relatively regular levels of precipitation in the Amazon contrast sharply with the dryness of the semiarid Northeast, where rainfall is scarce and there are severe droughts in cycles averaging seven years.", "The Northeast is the driest part of the country.", "The region also constitutes the hottest part of Brazil, where during the dry season between May and November, temperatures of more than have been recorded.", "However, the sertão, a region of semidesert vegetation used primarily for low-density ranching, turns green when there is rain.", "Most of the Center-West has of rain per year, with a pronounced dry season in the middle of the year, while the South and most of the year without a distinct dry season." ], [ "Geographic regions", "Brazil's 26 states and the Federal District (Distrito Federal) are divided conventionally into five regions: North (Norte), Northeast (Nordeste), Southeast (Sudeste), South (Sul), and Center-West (Centro-Oeste).", "In 2015 there were 5,570 municipalities (municípios), which have municipal governments.", "Many municipalities, which are comparable to United States counties, are in turn divided into districts (distritos), which do not have political or administrative autonomy.", "In 2015 there were 10,424 districts.", "All municipal and district seats, regardless of size, are considered officially to be urban.", "For purely statistical purposes, the municipalities were grouped in 1990 into 558 micro-regions, which in turn constituted 137 meso-regions.", "This grouping modified the previous micro-regional division established in 1968, a division that was used to present census data for 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985.Each of the five major regions has a distinct ecosystem.", "Administrative boundaries do not necessarily coincide with ecological boundaries, however.", "In addition to differences in physical environment, patterns of economic activity and population settlement vary widely among the regions.", "The principal ecological characteristics of each of the five major regions, as well as their principal socioeconomic and demographic features, are summarized below.=== Center-West ===Pantanal wetlandThe Center-West consists of the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul (separated from Mato Grosso in 1979) and the Federal District, where Brasília is located, the national capital.", "Until 1988 Goiás State included the area that then became the state of Tocantins in the North.The Center-West has and covers 18.9% of the national territory.", "Its main biome is the cerrado, the tropical savanna in which natural grassland is partly covered with twisted shrubs and small trees.", "The cerrado was used for low-density cattle-raising in the past but is now also used for soybean production.", "There are gallery forests along the rivers and streams and some larger areas of forest, most of which have been cleared for farming and livestock.", "In the north, the cerrado blends into tropical forest.", "It also includes the Pantanal wetlands in the west, known for their wildlife, especially aquatic birds and caimans.", "In the early 1980s, 33.6% of the region had been altered by anthropic activities, with a low of 9.3% in Mato Grosso and a high of 72.9% in Goiás (not including Tocantins).", "In 1996 the Center-West region had 10.2 million inhabitants, or 6% of Brazil's total population.", "The average density is low, with concentrations in and around the cities of Brasília, Goiânia, Campo Grande, and Cuiabá.", "Living standards are below the national average.", "In 1994 they were highest in the Federal District, with per capita income of US$7,089 (the highest in the nation), and lowest in Mato Grosso, with US$2,268.=== Northeast ===Chapada Diamantina region in BahiaThe nine states that make up the Northeast are Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe.", "The Fernando de Noronha archipelago (formerly the federal territory of Fernando de Noronha, now part of Pernambuco state) is also included in the Northeast.The Northeast, with , covers 18.3% of the national terrest concentration of rural population, and its living standards are the lowest in Brazil.", "In 1994 Piauí had the lowest per capita income in the region and the country, only US$835, while Sergipe had the highest average income in the region, with US$1,958.=== North ===An area of the Amazon rainforestThe equatorial North, also known as the Amazon or Amazônia, includes, from west to east, the states of Rondônia, Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Pará, Amapá, and, as of 1988, Tocantins (created from the northern part of Goiás State, which is situated in the Center-West).", "Rondônia, previously a federal territory, became a state in 1986.The former federal territories of Roraima and Amapá were raised to statehood in 1988.With , the North is the country's largest region, covering 45.3% of the national territory.", "The region's principal biome is the humid tropical forest, also known as the rain forest, home to some of the planet's richest biological diversity.", "The North has served as a source of forest products ranging from \"backlands drugs\" (such as sarsaparilla, cocoa, cinnamon, and turtle butter) in the colonial period to rubber and Brazil nuts in more recent times.", "In the mid-twentieth century, non-forest products from mining, farming, and livestock-raising became more important, and in the 1980s the lumber industry boomed.", "In 1990, 6.6% of the region's territory was considered altered by anthropic (man-made) action, with state levels varying from 0.9% in Amapá to 14.0% in Rondônia.In 1996 the North had 11.1 million inhabitants, only 7% of the national total.", "However, its share of Brazil's total had grown rapidly in the 1970s and early 1980s as a result of interregional migration, as well as high rates of natural increase.", "The largest population concentrations are in eastern Pará State and in Rondônia.", "The major cities are Belém and Santarém in Pará, and Manaus in Amazonas.", "Living standards are below the national average.", "The highest per capita income, US$2,888, in the region in 1994, was in Amazonas, while the lowest, US$901, was in Tocantins.=== Southeast ===View of Rio de JaneiroThe Southeast consists of the four states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo.", "Its total area of corresponds to 10.9% of the national territory.", "The region has the largest share of the country's population, 63 million in 1991, or 39% of the national total, primarily as a result of internal migration since the mid-19th century until the 1980s.", "In addition to a dense urban network, it contains the megacities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which in 1991 had 18.7 million and 11.7 million inhabitants in their metropolitan areas, respectively.", "The region combines the highest living standards in Brazil with pockets of urban poverty.", "In 1994 São Paulo boasted an average income of US$4,666, while Minas Gerais reported only US$2,833.Originally, the principal biome in the Southeast was the Atlantic Forest, but by 1990 less than 10% of the original forest cover remained as a result of clearing for farming, ranching, and charcoal making.", "Anthropic activity had altered 79.7% of the region, ranging from 75% in Minas Gerais to 91.1% in Espírito Santo.", "The region has most of Brazil's industrial production.", "The state of São Paulo alone accounts for half of the country's industries.", "Agriculture, also very strong, has diversified and now uses modern technology.=== South ===Snow in mountains near Florianópolis, Santa CatarinaThe three states in the temperate South: Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina—cover , or 6.8% of the national territory.", "The population of the South in 1991 was 23.1 million, or 14% of the country's total.", "The region is almost as densely settled as the Southeast, but the population is more concentrated along the coast.", "The major cities are Curitiba and Porto Alegre.", "The inhabitants of the South enjoy relatively high living standards.", "Because of its industry and agriculture, Paraná had the highest average income in 1994, US$3,674, while Santa Catarina, a land of small farmers and small industries, had slightly less, US$3,405.In addition to the Atlantic Forest and Araucaria moist forests, much of which were cleared in the post-World War II period, the southernmost portion of Brazil contains the Uruguayan savanna, which extends into Argentina and Uruguay.", "In 1982, 83.5% of the region had been altered by anthropic activity, with the highest level (89.7%) in Rio Grande do Sul, and the lowest (66.7%) in Santa Catarina.", "Agriculture—much of which, such as rice production, is carried out by small farmers—has high levels of productivity.", "There are also some important industries." ], [ "Data", "In contrast to the Andes, which rose to elevations of nearly in a relatively recent epoch and inverted the Amazon's direction of flow from westward to eastward, Brazil's geological formation is very old.", "Precambrian crystalline shields cover 36% of the territory, especially its central area.", "The dramatic granite sugarloaf mountains in the city of Rio de Janeiro are an example of the terrain of the Brazilian shield regions, where continental basement rock has been sculpted into towering domes and columns by tens of millions of years of erosion, untouched by mountain-building events.The principal mountain ranges average elevations just under .", "The Serra do Mar Range hugs the Atlantic coast, and the Serra do Espinhaço Range, the largest in area, extends through the south-central part of the country.", "The highest mountains are in the Tumucumaque, Pacaraima, and Imeri ranges, among others, which traverse the northern border with the Guianas and Venezuela.In addition to mountain ranges (about 0.5% of the country is above ), Brazil's Central Highlands include a vast central plateau (Planalto Central).", "The plateau's uneven terrain has an average elevation of .", "The rest of the territory is made up primarily of sedimentary basins, the largest of which is drained by the Amazon and its tributaries.", "Of the total territory, 41% averages less than in elevation.", "The coastal zone is noted for thousands of kilometers of tropical beaches interspersed with mangroves, lagoons, and dunes, as well as numerous coral reefs.The Parcel de Manuel Luís Marine State Park off the coast of Maranhão protects the largest coral reef in South America.Topographic map of BrazilBrazil has one of the world's most extensive river systems, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean.", "Two of these basins—the Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia account for more than half the total drainage area.", "The largest river system in Brazil is the Amazon, which originates in the Andes and receives tributaries from a basin that covers 45.7% of the country, principally the north and west.", "The main Amazon river system is the Amazonas-Solimões-Ucayali axis (the -long Ucayali is a Peruvian tributary), flowing from west to east.", "Through the Amazon Basin flows one-fifth of the world's fresh water.", "A total of of the Amazon are in Brazilian territory.", "Over this distance, the waters decline only about .", "The major tributaries on the southern side are, from west to east, the Javari, Juruá, Purus (all three of which flow into the western section of the Amazon called the Solimões), Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins.", "On the northern side, the largest tributaries are the Branco, Japurá, Jari, and Rio Negro.", "The above-mentioned tributaries carry more water than the Mississippi (its discharge is less than one-tenth that of the Amazon).", "The Amazon and some of its tributaries, called \"white\" rivers, bear rich sediments and hydrobiological elements.", "The black-white and clear rivers—such as the Negro, Tapajós, and Xingu—have clear (greenish) or dark water with few nutrients and little sediment.The major river system in the Northeast is the Rio São Francisco, which flows northeast from the south-central region.", "Its basin covers 7.6% of the national territory.", "Only of the lower river are navigable for oceangoing ships.", "The Paraná system covers 14.5% of the country.", "The Paraná flows south among the Río de la Plata Basin, reaching the Atlantic between Argentina and Uruguay.", "The headwaters of the Paraguai, the Paraná's major eastern tributary, constitute the Pantanal, the largest contiguous wetlands in the world, covering as much as .Below their descent from the highlands, many of the tributaries of the Amazon are navigable.", "Upstream, they generally have rapids or waterfalls, and boats and barges also must face sandbars, trees, and other obstacles.", "Nevertheless, the Amazon is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru.", "The Amazon river system was the principal means of access until new roads became more important.", "Hydroelectric projects are Itaipu, in Paraná, with 12,600 MW; Tucuruí, in Pará, with 7,746 MW; and Paulo Afonso, in Bahia, with 3,986 MW." ], [ "Locations", "Brazil occupies most of the eastern part of the South American continent and its geographic heartland, as well as various islands in the Atlantic Ocean.", "The only countries in the world that are larger are Russia, Canada, China, and the United States.", "The national territory extends from north to south (5°16'20\" N to 33°44'32\" S latitude), and from east to west (34°47'30\" W to 73°59'32\" W longitude).", "It spans four time zones, the westernmost of which is equivalent to Eastern Standard Time in the United States.", "The time zone of the capital (Brasília) and of the most populated part of Brazil along the east coast (UTC-3) is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.", "The Atlantic islands are in the easternmost time zone.Brazil possesses the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, located northeast of its \"horn\", and several small islands and atolls in the Atlantic - Abrolhos, Atol das Rocas, Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo, Trindade, and Martim Vaz.", "In the early 1970s, Brazil claimed a territorial sea extending from the country's shores, including those of the islands.On Brazil's east coast, the Atlantic coastline extends .", "In the west, in clockwise order from the south, Brazil has of borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (overseas department of France).", "The only South American countries with which Brazil does not share borders are Chile and Ecuador.", "A few short sections are in question, but there are no true major boundary controversies with any of the neighboring countries.", "Brazil has the 10th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of ." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Brazil''' take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.", "The political and administrative organization of Brazil comprises the federal government, the 26 states and a federal district, and the municipalities.The federal government exercises control over the central government and is divided into three independent branches: executive, legislative and judicial.", "Executive power is exercised by the President, advised by a cabinet.", "Legislative power is vested upon the National Congress, a two-chamber legislature comprising the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.", "Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Federal Court, the Superior Court of Justice and other Superior Courts, the National Justice Council and the Regional Federal Courts.The states are autonomous sub-national entities with their own governments that, together with the other federal units, form the Federative Republic of Brazil.", "Currently, Brazil is divided politically and administratively into 27 federal units, being 26 states and one federal district.", "The executive power is exercised by a governor elected to a four-year term.", "The judiciary is exercised by courts of first and second instance addressing the common justice.", "Each state has a unicameral legislature with deputies who vote on state laws.", "The Constitution of Brazil knows also two elements of direct democracy, stated in Article 14.The legislative assemblies supervise the activities of the Executive power of the states and municipalities.The municipalities are minor federal units of the Federative Republic of Brazil.", "Each municipality has an autonomous local government, comprising a mayor, directly elected by the people to a four-year term, and a legislative body, also directly elected by the people.Brazil has an unrestricted multiparty system with a large number of political parties.", "Some parties lack ideological consistency and it is common for congressmen to switch parties, weakening electoral coalitions.", "At same time, the high number of political parties makes the Executive need to gather alliances of different political parties must piece together diverse and often ideologically incoherent coalitions to pass legislation (this is known as coalition presidentialism).", "The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index rated Brazil as a \"flawed democracy\" in 2022.Brazil was 2023 the 13th most electoral democratic country in Latin America and the Caribbean according to the V-Dem Democracy indices." ], [ "Constitution", "Supreme Federal CourtBrazil has had seven constitutions:* Constitution of 1824 – the first Brazilian constitution, enacted by Emperor Pedro I.", "It was monarchic, hereditary, and highly centralized, permitting suffrage only to property-holders.", "* Constitution of 1891 – the republic was proclaimed in 1889, but a new constitution was not promulgated until 1891.This federalist, democratic constitution was heavily influenced by the U.S. model.", "However, women and illiterates were not permitted to vote.", "* Constitution of 1934 – when Getúlio Vargas came to power in 1930, he canceled the 1891 constitution and did not permit a new one until 1934.The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 forced Vargas to enact a new democratic constitution that permitted women's suffrage.", "Getúlio Vargas was indirectly elected president by the Constitutional Assembly to a four-year term, beginning in 1933.", "* Constitution of 1937 – Getúlio Vargas suppressed a Communist uprising in 1935 and two years later (November 10, 1937) used it as a pretext to establish autocratic rule.", "He instituted a corporatist constitution nicknamed ''the Polish,'' (because it was said to have been inspired by a Polish constitution), written by Francisco Campos.", "* Constitution of 1946 – in October, 1945, with World War II over, a civil-military coup ousted dictatorial Getúlio Vargas, an Assembly wrote a democratic constitution.", "* Constitution of 1967 – after the 1964 coup d'État against João Goulart, the military dictatorship passed the ''Institutional Acts'', a supraconstitutional law.", "This strongly undemocratic constitution simply incorporated these Acts.", "* Constitution of 1988 – the current constitution, drafted in the process of redemocratization.", "It is marked by a reaction to the military dictatorship, guaranteeing individual rights, it is also more expansive than a typical constitution – many statutory acts in other countries are written into this constitution, like Social Security and taxes." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "National Congress of Brazil, the national legislature and the only in bicameral formatPalácio do Planalto, the seat of the executive powerAccording to sociologist Marcelo Ridenti, Brazilian politics is divided between internationalist liberals and statist nationalists.", "The first group consists of politicians arguing that internationalization of the economy is essential for the development of the country, while the latter rely on interventionism, and protection of state enterprises.", "According to Ridenti, who cites the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration as an example of the first group and the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration as an example of the second, \"we have it cyclically\".Lula's Workers' Party tended to the statist nationalist side, although there are privatizing forces within his party and government, while Cardoso's Social Democratic Party tended to favor the international private market side by taking neoliberal policies.", "Lula compares himself with Getúlio Vargas, Juscelino Kubitschek and João Goulart, presidents seen as statist nationalists.As of May 2017, 16,668,589 Brazilians were affiliated with a political party.", "The largest parties are MDB (which accounts for 14.4% of affiliated voters), the PT (9.5% of affiliated voters), and PSDB (8.7% of affiliated voters).In 2020, the scenario is that the country has more than 30 active political parties, and only one of them defines itself as a right-wing party (PL), with a clear political imbalance.", "The country has several far-left parties like PSOL, PCO, PSTU, PCB, UP, PCdoB, left parties like PT, PSB, PDT, PV, Rede and Solidariedade and center-left like PSDB, PMN and Cidadania.", "Ten parties declare themselves as the center: MDB, PSD, Agir, DC, PROS, Avante, Patriota, Podemos and PMB.", "Five parties declare themselves as center-right: Brazil Union, PTB, Progressistas, PSC, PRTB and Republicanos.", "The only party that claims to be purely liberal, without further consideration, is Novo.", "When asked about their ideological spectrum, Brazilian parties tend to give obtuse and non-conclusive answers on the subject." ], [ "Government", "===Federal government===Chamber of Deputies, the lower houseFederal Senate, the upper houseBrazil is a federal presidential constitutional republic, based on representative democracy.", "The federal government has three independent branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.", "Executive power is exercised by the executive branch, headed by the President, advised by a Cabinet.", "The President is both the head of state and the head of government.", "Legislative power is vested upon the National Congress, a two-chamber legislature comprising the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.", "Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Federal Court, the Superior Court of Justice and other Superior Courts, the National Justice Council and the Regional Federal Courts.===States===The Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro holds the legislature of Rio de Janeiro state.Palácio Tiradentes holds the executive power of Minas Gerais state.The 26 Brazilian ''states'' are semi-autonomous self-governing entities organized with complete administration branches, relative financial independence and their own set of symbols, similar to those owned by the country itself.", "Despite their relative autonomy they all have the same model of administration, as set by the Federal Constitution.States hold elections every four years and exercise a considerable amount of power.", "The 1988 constitution allows states to keep their own taxes, set up State Houses, and mandates regular allocation of a share of the taxes collected locally by the federal government.The Executive role is held by the ''Governador'' (Governor) and his appointed ''Secretários'' (Secretaries); the Legislative role is held by the ''Assembléia Legislativa'' (Legislative Assembly); and the Judiciary role, by the ''Tribunal de Justiça'' (Justice Tribunal).", "The governors and the members of the assemblies are elected, but the members of the Judiciary are appointed by the governor from a list provided by the current members of the State Law Court containing only judges (these are chosen by merit in exams open to anyone with a law degree).", "The name chosen by the governor must be approved by the Assembly before inauguration.", "The 1988 Constitution has granted the states the greatest amount of autonomy since the Old Republic.Each of the 26 state governors must achieve more than 50% of the vote, including a second round run-off between the top two candidates if necessary.", "In contrast to the federal level, state legislatures are unicameral, although the deputies are elected through similar means, involving an open-list system in which the state serves as one constituency.", "State level elections occur at the same time as those for the presidency and Congress.", "In 2002, candidates from eight different parties won the gubernatorial contest while 28 parties are represented in the country's state legislatures.", "The last set of elections took place in 2006.===Municipalities===The Municipal Chamber of São Paulo, the municipal legislature of São Paulo cityPalácio do Anhangabaú holds the municipal executive power of São Paulo.Brazil has no clear distinction between ''towns'' and ''cities'' (in effect, the Portuguese word ''cidade'' means both).", "The only possible difference is regarding the municipalities that have a court of first instance and those that do not.", "The former are called ''Sedes de Comarca'' (seats of a ''comarca'', which is the territory under the rule of that court).", "Other than that, only size and importance differs one from another.The municipality (''município'') is a territory comprising one urban area, the ''sede'' (seat), from which it takes the name, and several other minor urban or rural areas, the ''distritos'' (districts).", "The seat of a municipality must be the most populous urban area within it; when another urban area grows too much it usually splits from the original municipality to form another one.A municipality is relatively autonomous: it enacts its own \"constitution\", which is called ''organic law'' (''Lei Orgânica''), and it is allowed to collect taxes and fees, to maintain a municipal police force (albeit with very restricted powers), to pass laws on any matter that do not contradict either the state or the national constitutions, and to create symbols for itself (like a flag, an anthem and a coat-of-arms).", "However, not all municipalities exercise all of this autonomy.", "For instance, only a few municipalities keep local police forces, some of them do not collect some taxes (to attract investors or residents) and many of them do not have a flag (although they are all required to have a coat-of-arms).Municipalities are governed by an elected ''prefeito'' (Mayor) and a unicameral ''Câmara de Vereadores'' (Councillors' Chamber).", "In municipalities with more than 200,000 voters, the Mayor must be elected by more than 50% of the valid vote.", "The executive power is called ''Prefeitura''.Brazilian municipalities can vary widely in area and population.", "The municipality of Altamira, in the State of Pará, with 161,445.9 square kilometres of area, is larger than many countries in the world.", "Several Brazilian municipalities have over 1,000,000 inhabitants, with São Paulo, at more than 9,000,000, being the most populous.Until 1974 Brazil had one state-level municipality, the State of Guanabara, now merged with the State of Rio de Janeiro, which comprised the city of Rio de Janeiro solely.===Federal District===Legislative Chamber of the Federal DistrictThe Federal District is an anomalous unit of the federation, as it is not organized in the same manner as a municipality, does not possess the same autonomy as a state (though usually ranked among them), and is closely related to the central power.It is considered a single and indivisible entity, constituted by the seat, Brasília and some of the satellite cities.", "Brasília and the satellite cities are governed by the Regional Administrators individually and as a whole are governed by the Governor of the Federal District." ], [ "History", "Throughout its modern history, Brazil has struggled to build a democratic and egalitarian society because of its origins as a plantation colony and the strong influence of slavery.===Empire===In 1822 the Prince Pedro de Alcântara, son of King John VI of Portugal, proclaimed independence.", "He was the first Emperor (Pedro I) until his abdication in 1831 in favor of his elder son.", "Due to the son's age (five years) a regency was established and the country had its first elections, though voting was restricted to a minority of the population.=== Old Republic (1889–1930) ===In 1889, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca declared the republic, by a coup d'état.When the republic succeeded the empire, Auguste Comte's motto \"Order and Progress\" appeared on the flag of the Republic and the 1891 Constitution was inspired by Auguste Comte's ''Course of Positive Philosophy'' and System of Positive Politics.", "The Republic's beginnings were marked by \"coronelism\", an equivalent of the caudillism of the Spanish-speaking countries.", "The \"old republic\" (1889-1930) is also known as the \"oligarchic republic\".Until 1930, the Brazilian republic was formally a democracy, although the power was concentrated in the hands of powerful land owners.=== Vargas years (1930–1945) ===In 1930, a bloodless coup led Getúlio Vargas to power.", "For about 15 years, he controlled the country's politics, with a brief three-year constitutional interregnum from 1934 to 1937.A longer, heavier regime, the ''Estado Novo'' had loose ties with European fascism and spanned the years 1938 to 1945.=== Populist years (1946–1964) ===Like most of Latin America, Brazil experienced times of political instability after the Second World War.", "When Vargas was ousted from the presidency in another bloodless coup d'état, in 1945, a new and modern constitution was passed and the country had its first experience with an effective and widespread democracy.", "But the mounting tension between populist politicians (like Vargas himself and, later, Jânio Quadros) and the right led to a crisis that ultimately brought up the military coup d'état in 1964, now known, through declassified documents, to have been supported by the American Central Intelligence Agency.===Military dictatorship (1964–1985)===In 1964 a military-led coup d'état deposed the democratically elected president of Brazil, João Goulart.", "Between 1964 and 1985, Brazil was governed by the military, with a two-party system that comprised a pro-government National Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA) and an opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB).", "Thousands of politicians (including former president Juscelino Kubitschek) had their political rights suspended, and military-sanctioned indirect elections were held for most elected positions until political liberalization during the government of João Figueiredo.===New Republic (1985–1990)===In 1985, the military were defeated in an election according to the scheme they had set up as a consequence of the loss of political support among the elites.", "The opposition candidate, Tancredo Neves, was elected president, but died of natural causes before he was able to take office.", "Fearing a political vacuum that might stifle the democratic effort, Neves' supporters urged vice-president, José Sarney to take the oath and govern the country.", "Tancredo Neves had said that his election and the demise of military régime would create a \"New Republic\" and Sarney's term of government is often referred to by this name.Sarney's government was disastrous in almost every field.", "The ongoing recession and the soaring external debt drained the country's assets while ravaging inflation (which later turned into hyperinflation) demonetized the currency and prevented any stability.", "In an attempt to revolutionize the economy and defeat inflation, Sarney carried on an ambitious \"heterodox\" economic plan (Cruzado) in 1986, which included price controls, default on the external debts and reduction of salaries.", "The plan seemed successful for some months, but it soon caused wholesale shortages of consumer goods (especially of easily exportable goods like meat, milk, automobiles, grains, sugar and alcohol) and the appearance of a black market in which such goods were sold for higher prices.", "Buoyed by the ensuing popularity from the apparent success of the plan, Sarney secured the largest electoral win in Brazilian history; the party he had just joined, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), won in 26 out of 27 states and in more than 3,000 municipalities.", "Just after the elections, Sarney's \"corrections\" to the economy failed to control inflation and the public perception that he had used an artificial control of inflation to win the elections proved to be his undoing.", "His popularity never recovered and he was plagued by vehement criticism from most sectors of society until the end of his term.", "Despite popular rejection, Sarney managed to extend his term from four to five years, and exerted pressure on the Constitutional Assembly that was drafting the new constitution to abort the adoption of Parliamentarism.===Collor government (1990–1992)===In 1989 Fernando Collor de Mello was elected president for the term from 1990 to 1994.The elections were marked by unanimous condemnation of José Sarney, with all candidates trying to keep distance from him.Collor made some very bold statements, like saying that the Brazilian industry (of which the Brazilians used to be very proud) was mostly obsolete and polluting or that defaulting the debt was equal to not paying the rent.", "He also took quite revolutionary measures, like reducing the number of ministries to only 12 and naming Zélia Cardoso de Mello Minister of Economy or removing existing barriers to importing of goods.His inflation control plan was based on an attempt to control prices and a complicated currency conversion process that prevented people from cashing their bank accounts for 18 months.All of this made him quite unpopular and denied him support in the parliament that he needed since his own party held few seats.", "At the beginning of his third year in office, he resigned as a result of in a huge corruption scandal.", "The charges against him would later be dropped, some on mere technicalities, some for actually being irrelevant or false.Collor desperately tried to resist impeachment by rallying the support of the youth and of the lower classes, but his call for help was answered by massive popular demonstrations, led mostly by students, demanding his resignation.===Itamar government (1992–1994)===In 1992, the vice-president, Itamar Franco, took office as president and managed to evade the most feared consequences of Collor's downfall.", "He had to face a country with hyper-inflation, high levels of misery and unemployment.", "Far-left organizations were trying to turn the anti-Collor campaign into a wider revolutionary fight to overthrow the regime.", "Itamar finally granted full powers to his Minister of Economy, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, so the minister could launch the Plano Real, a new economic plan that seemed to be just the same as the many unsuccessful plans launched by Sarney, Collor and their military predecessor.", "But the Real was a success because of Rubens Ricupero and essentially because of Ciro Gomes, according to Itamar Franco himself, and terminated inflation in a few months.===FHC government (1995–2003)===In 1994, Cardoso with Ricupero, Ciro Gomes and others launched their Plano Real, a successful economic reform that managed to permanently rid the country of the excessive inflation that had plagued it for more than forty years.", "The plan consisted of replacing the discredited old currency (cruzeiro and cruzeiro real) and pegging its value temporarily to the United States dollar.", "Inflation – which had become a fact of Brazilian life – was cut dramatically, a change that the Brazilians took years to get used to.", "Because of the success of Plano Real, Cardoso was chosen by his party to run for president and, with the strong support of Franco, eventually won, beating Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who had emerged as the favorite only one year earlier.Cardoso's term was marked by other major changes in Brazilian politics and economy.", "Public services and state-owned companies were privatized (some for values supposedly too cheap according to his adversaries), the strong real made it easy to import goods, forcing Brazilian industry to modernize and compete (which had the side effect of causing many of them to be bought by foreign companies).", "During his first term, a constitutional amendment was passed to enable a sitting Executive chief to run for re-election, after which he again beat Lula in 1998.===Lula government (2003–2011)===Meeting of the Cabinet of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the Oval Room, Palácio do Planalto, 2007The deforestation rate in Brazil declined significantly during Lula's first time in office, a decline that reversed in the time of Bolsonaro.In 2002, at his fourth attempt, Lula was elected president.", "In part his victory was derived from the significant unpopularity of Cardoso's second term, which failed to address economic inequality, and to an extent from a softening of his and the party's radical stance, including a vice-presidential candidate from the Liberal Party, acceptance of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement from the previous government administration, and a line of discourse friendly to the financial markets.Despite some achievements in solving part of the country's biggest problems, his term was plagued by multiple corruption scandals that rocked his cabinet, forcing some members to resign their posts.In 2006 Lula regained part of his popularity and ran for re-election.", "After almost winning on the first round, he won the run-off against Geraldo Alckmin from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), by a margin of 20 million votes.In 2010, Lula's handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, was elected to the Presidency.=== Rousseff government (2011–2016) ===In 2011, Rousseff became the first woman to be elected president of Brazil.In 2015 and 2016, many demonstrations were held against Rousseff demanding for her to be impeached because of corruption scandals.", "According to studies by the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (Ibope), 70-80% of demonstrators questioned supported harsher sentences for criminal offences, and a reduction of the age of criminal responsibility to 16.Between 2010 and 2016, support for the death penalty increased from 31% to 49%, and the number of people declaring themselves conservative from 49% to 59%.The decline in poverty and the development of the middle class during the Lula years also allowed right-wing parties to address broader segments of the electorate on economic issues.", "\"The new lower middle class dream of being entrepreneurs and consumers\" according to the Perseu Abramo Foundation.", "\"They are very sensitive to the meritocracy rhetoric of the right and the evangelical churches, and less affected by the PT message, which is still aimed at the poor\".=== Michel Temer government (2016–2018) ====== Jair Bolsonaro government (2019–2022) ====== Second Lula government (2023–present) ===The second presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva started on 1 January 2023, when he was inaugurated as the 39th President of Brazil.", "he was elected for a third term as President of Brazil on 30 October 2022, by obtaining 50.9% of the valid votes in the 2022 Brazilian general election.==== 2023 Brazilian Congress attack ====" ], [ "Political corruption", "=== Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) ===This was a set of investigations carried out by the Federal Police of Brazil, aimed at investigating a money laundering scheme that involved billions of reals in bribes.", "It resulted in more than a thousand search and seizure warrants, temporary arrests, preventive detentions and bench warrants.", "The operation started on March 17, 2014 and had 71 operational phases authorized, among others, by the then judge Sérgio Moro, during which more than one hundred people were arrested and convicted.", "It investigated crimes of active and passive corruption, fraudulent management, money laundering, criminal organization, obstruction of justice, fraudulent exchange operation and receipt of undue advantage.", "According to investigations and awarded claims, administrative members of the state-owned oil company Petrobras, politicians from the largest parties in Brazil, including presidents of the Republic, presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and state governors, as well as businessmen from large Brazilian companies, were involved.", "The Federal Police considers it the largest corruption investigation in the country's history." ], [ "Political conflicts", "Brazil is one of the most dangerous countries for militant farmworkers, with sixty-five murders of farmworkers engaged in conflicts over the right to land in 2017 alone.", "Between 1985 and 2017, 1,722 activists of the Landless Movement were murdered.In 2016, at least 49 people were murdered in Brazil defending the environment against companies or landowners." ], [ "International organization participation", "African Development BankCustoms Cooperation CouncilUnited Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the CaribbeanFood and Agriculture OrganizationGroup of 11Group of 15Group of 19Group of 24Group of 77Inter-American Development BankInternational Atomic Energy AgencyInternational Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)International Civil Aviation OrganizationInternational Chamber of CommerceInternational Criminal CourtInternational Red Cross and Red Crescent MovementInternational Development AssociationInternational Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentInternational Finance CorporationInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesInternational Hydrographic OrganizationInternational Labour OrganizationInternational Monetary FundInternational Maritime OrganizationInmarsatInternational Telecommunications Satellite OrganizationInterpolInternational Olympic CommitteeInternational Organization for Migration (observer)International Organization for StandardizationInternational Telecommunication UnionInternational Trade Union ConfederationLatin American Economic SystemAsociación Latinoamericana de IntegraciónMercosur, Non-Aligned Movement (observer)Nuclear Suppliers GroupOrganization of American StatesAgency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the CaribbeanOrganisation for the Prohibition of Chemical WeaponsPermanent Court of ArbitrationRio GroupUnited NationsUnited Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentUnited Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural OrganizationUnion of South American NationsUnited Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesUnited Nations Industrial Development OrganizationUnited Nations Mission of Observers in PrevlakaUnited Nations Transitional Administration in East TimorUnited Nations UniversityUniversal Postal UnionWorld Federation of Trade UnionsWorld Health OrganizationWorld Intellectual Property OrganizationWorld Meteorological OrganizationWorld Tourism OrganizationWorld Trade Organization" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " Global Integrity Report: Brazil Reports on anti-corruption efforts.", "* Reports on political culture and political news, with a focus on transparency and good government.", "* Essays on Brazilian politics and policies by leading intellectuals and public figures.", "* Reports on the politics and issues surrounding Brazilian soccer and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil." ], [ "Further reading", "* Goertzel, Ted and Paulo Roberto Almeida, '' The Drama of Brazilian Politics from Dom João to Marina Silva'' Amazon Digital Services.", "." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Brazil''' is historically the largest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere in nominal terms.", "The Brazilian economy is the second largest in the Americas.", "It is an upper-middle income developing mixed economy.", "In 2023, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazil has the 9th largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world and has the 8th largest purchasing power parity in the world.In 2023, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazilian nominal GDP was US$2.126 trillion, the country has a long history of being among the largest economies in the world and the GDP per capita was US$$10,412 per inhabitant.The country is rich in natural resources.", "From 2000 to 2012, Brazil was one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, with an average annual GDP growth rate of over 5%.", "Its GDP surpassed that of the United Kingdom in 2012, temporarily making Brazil the world's sixth-largest economy.", "However, Brazil's economic growth decelerated in 2013 and the country entered a recession in 2014.The economy started to recover in 2017, with a 1% growth in the first quarter, followed by a 0.3% growth in second quarter compared to the same period of the previous year.", "It officially exited the recession.According to the World Economic Forum, Brazil was the top country in upward evolution of competitiveness in 2009, gaining eight positions among other countries, overcoming Russia for the first time, and partially closing the competitiveness gap with India and China among the BRICS economies.", "Important steps taken since the 1990s toward fiscal sustainability, as well as measures taken to liberalize and open the economy, have significantly boosted the country's competitiveness fundamentals, providing a better environment for private-sector development.In 2023, Brazil was the 9th largest country in the world by number of billionaires.", "Brazil is a member of diverse economic organizations, such as Mercosur, Prosur, G8+5, G20, WTO, Paris Club, Cairns Group, and is advanced to be a permanent member of the OECD.From a colony focused on primary sector goods (sugar, gold and cotton), Brazil managed to create a diversified industrial base during the 20th century.", "The steel industry is a prime example of that, with Brazil being the 9th largest steel producer in 2018, and the 5th largest steel net exporter in 2018.Gerdau is the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, and Vale is the largest producer of iron ore in the world.", "Petrobras, the Brazilian oil and gas company, is the most valuable company in Latin America." ], [ "History", "When the Portuguese explorers arrived in the 16th century, the native tribes of current-day Brazil totaled about 2.5 million people and had lived virtually unchanged since the Stone Age.", "From Portugal's colonization of Brazil (1500–1822) until the late 1930s, the Brazilian economy relied on the production of primary products for exports.In the Portuguese Empire, Brazil was a colony subjected to an imperial mercantile policy, which had three main large-scale economic production cycles – sugar, gold and from the early 19th century on, coffee.", "The economy of Brazil was heavily dependent on African slave labor until the late 19th century (about 3 million imported African slaves in total).", "In that period Brazil was also the colony with the largest number of European settlers, most of them Portuguese (including Azoreans and Madeirans) but also some Dutch (see Dutch Brazil), Spaniards, English, French, Germans, Flemish, Danish, Scottish and Sephardic Jews.Subsequently, Brazil experienced a period of strong economic and demographic growth accompanied by mass immigration from Europe, mainly from Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Switzerland, Austria and Russia.", "Smaller numbers of immigrants also came from the Netherlands, France, Finland, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries, Lithuania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Malta, North Macedonia and Luxembourg, the Middle East (mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Armenia), Japan, the United States and South Africa, until the 1930s.In fact, international mass immigration to Brazil during the 19th century had positive effects on the country's human capital development.", "Immigrants usually exhibited better formal and informal training than native Brazilians and tended to have more entrepreneurial spirit.", "Their arrival was beneficial for the region, not only because of the skills and knowledge they brought to the country themselves, but also because of spillover effects of their human capital to the native Brazilian population.", "Human capital spillover effects were strongest in regions with the highest numbers of immigrants, and the positive effects are still observable today, in some regions.In 2007, with a population of over 190 million and abundant natural resources, Brazil is one of the ten largest markets in the world, producing tens of millions of tons of steel, 26 million tons of cement, 3.5 million television sets, and 3 million refrigerators.", "In addition, about 70 million cubic meters of petroleum were being processed annually into fuels, lubricants, propane gas, and a wide range of hundreds of petrochemicals.Brazil has at least 161,500 kilometers of paved roads, more than 150 gigawatts of installed electric power capacity and its real per capita GDP surpassed US$9,800 in 2017.Its industrial sector accounts for three-fifths of the South American economy's industrial production.", "The country's scientific and technological development is argued to be attractive to foreign direct investment, in 2019, Brazil occupied the 4th largest destination for foreign investments, behind only the United States, China and Singapore.The agricultural sector, locally called the ''agronegócio'' (agro-business), has also been dynamic: for two decades this sector has kept Brazil among the most highly productive countries in areas related to the rural sector.", "The agricultural sector and the mining sector also supported trade surpluses which allowed for massive currency gains (rebound) and external debt paydown.", "Due to a downturn in Western economies, Brazil found itself in 2010 trying to halt the appreciation of the real.Data from the Asian Development Bank and the Tax Justice Network show the untaxed \"shadow\" economy of Brazil is 39% of GDP.One of the most important corruption cases in Brazil concerns the company Odebrecht.", "Since the 1980s, Odebrecht has spent several billion dollars in the form of bribes to bribe parliamentarians to vote in favour of the group.", "At the municipal level, Odebrecht's corruption was aimed at \"stimulating privatisations\", particularly in water and sewer management." ], [ "Data", "Brazilian bonds had an Inverted yield curve in August 2014 when the 1 year bond got above the 10 year bondBrazil Inflation 1981-1995Brazil inflation 1996-2022Bovespa, the Stock Exchange in São Paulo.Airplane produced in Brazil by Embraer.Waterfalls in Foz do Iguaçu.Shopping Mall in Curitiba.Tourism in Gramado.The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with FMI estimates for 2022–2027).", "Inflation below 5% is in green.YearGDP(in Bil.", "US$PPP)GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in Bil.", "US$nominal)GDP per capita(in US$ nominal)GDP growth(real)Inflation rate(in Percent)Unemployment(in Percent)Government debt(in % of GDP)1980570.54,811.9145.81,229.99.2%90.2%n/an/a1981597.04,925.3167.61,382.5−4.4%101.7%n/an/a1982637.75,147.3179.21,446.20.6%100.6%n/an/a1983640.15,057.3143.71,134.9−3.4%135.0%n/an/a1984698.45,402.7143.01,105.95.3%192.1%n/an/a1985777.45,890.6226.91,719.57.9%226.0%n/an/a1986852.96,334.2263.31,955.17.5%147.1%n/an/a1987905.56,596.4286.52,087.43.6%228.3%n/an/a1988939.96,722.2320.12,289.40.3%629.1%n/an/a19891,008.07,083.3439.43,087.93.2%1430.7%n/an/a19901,002.16,836.1455.33,106.1−4.2%2947.7%n/an/a19911,046.77,020.5399.22,677.81.0%432.8%10.1%n/a19921,065.67,031.3382.52,523.7−0.5%952.0%11.6%n/a19931,141.77,414.4429.22,787.24.7%1927.4%11.0%n/a19941,228.37,852.0546.83,495.25.3%2075.8%10.5%n/a19951,309.48,242.0770.94,852.04.4%66.0%9.9%n/a19961,362.98,333.7851.15,204.62.2%15.8%11.2%n/a19971,433.48,629.7883.95,321.13.4%6.9%11.6%n/a19981,454.58,622.0864.35,123.50.3%3.2%14.7%n/a19991,481.98,652.9599.63,501.40.5%4.9%14.7%n/a20001,581.99,103.8655.53,772.14.4%7.0%13.9%65.6%20011,640.19,307.5560.03,177.91.4%6.8%12.5%70.1%20021,716.59,616.2509.82,856.03.1%8.5%13.0%78.8%20031,770.39,796.6558.23,089.11.1%14.7%13.7%73.8%20041,922.610,513.5669.33,660.05.8%6.6%12.9%70.1%20052,046.311,061.8891.64,819.93.2%6.9%11.4%68.6%20062,193.111,723.71,107.65,921.24.0%4.2%11.5%65.8%20072,389.012,637.91,397.17,390.76.1%3.6%10.9%64.1%20082,558.913,396.61,695.98,878.45.1%5.7%9.4%62.3%20092,572.113,328.01,669.28,649.6−0.1%4.9%9.7%65.5%20102,798.914,361.52,208.711,333.07.5%5.0%8.5%63.0%20112,970.615,109.72,614.013,295.94.0%6.6%7.8%61.2%20122,998.515,120.12,464.112,424.91.9%5.4%7.4%62.2%20133,133.915,669.22,471.712,358.33.0%6.2%7.2%60.2%20143,187.215,800.12,456.112,175.70.5%6.3%6.9%62.3%20153,014.814,816.31,800.08,846.5−3.5%9.0%8.6%72.6%20162,939.114,326.11,796.68,757.3−3.3%8.7%11.7%78.3%20173,018.714,596.92,063.59,978.11.3%3.4%12.9%83.6%20183,145.915,088.81,916.99,194.11.8%3.7%12.4%85.6%20193,241.315,424.11,873.38,914.21.2%3.7%12.0%87.9%20203,153.114,890.51,448.66,840.7−3.9%3.2%13.8%98.7%20213,435.916,160.51,608.17,563.64.6%8.3%13.2%93.0%20223,782.817,983.81,894.78,857.52.8%9.4%9.8%88.2%20234,020.019,796.02,089.49,671.83.1%3.7%9.5%88.9%20244,170.120,784.72,153.910,602.12.2%3.4%9.5%90.6%20254,378.521,773.12,240.511,485.22.1%3.3%9.1%92.2%20264,995.622,426.22,781.713,415.02.4%3.0%9.0%93.2%20275,171.823,823.92,954.214,203.53.4%2.9%9.0%93.3%" ], [ "Components", "The service sector is the largest component of the gross domestic product (GDP) at 67.0 percent, followed by the industrial sector at 27.5 percent.", "Agriculture represents 5.5 percent of GDP (2011).", "The Brazilian labor force is estimated at 100.77 million of which 10 percent is occupied in agriculture, 19 percent in the industry sector and 71 percent in the service sector.=== Agricultural Sector ===Agriculture production 200px ''Combine harvester on a plantation'' Main products coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef Labor force 15.7% of total labor forceGDP of sector 5.9% of total GDPEconomic activity in Brazil (1977).Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, soy, coffee, orange, guaraná, açaí and Brazil nut; is one of the top 5 producers of maize, papaya, tobacco, pineapple, banana, cotton, beans, coconut, watermelon and lemon; is one of the top 10 world producers of cocoa, cashew, avocado, tangerine, persimmon, mango, guava, rice, sorghum and tomato; and is one of the top 15 world producers of grape, apple, melon, peanut, fig, peach, onion, palm oil and natural rubber.In the production of animal proteins, Brazil is today one of the largest countries in the world.", "In 2019, the country was the world's largest exporter of chicken meat.", "It was also the second largest producer of beef, the world's third largest producer of milk, the world's fourth largest producer of pork and the seventh largest producer of eggs in the world.Agribusiness contributes to Brazil's trade balance, in spite of trade barriers and subsidizing policies adopted by the developed countries.In the space of fifty five years (1950 to 2005), the population of Brazil grew from 51 million to approximately 187 million inhabitants, an increase of over 2 percent per year.", "Brazil created and expanded a complex agribusiness sector.", "However, some of this is at the expense of the environment, including the Amazon.The importance given to the rural producer takes place in the shape of the agricultural and cattle-raising plan and through another specific subsidy program geared towards family agriculture Programa de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar (Pronaf), which guarantees financing for equipment and cultivation and encourages the use of new technology.", "With regards to family agriculture, over 800 thousand rural inhabitants are assisted by credit, research and extension programs.", "A special line of credit is available for women and young farmers.Brazil is the world's largest exporter of chicken meat.", "Farm in Southern Brazil.With The Land Reform Program, on the other hand, the country's objective is to provide suitable living and working conditions for families who live in areas allotted by the State, an initiative capable of generating jobs.", "Through partnerships, public policies and international partnerships, the government is working towards guaranteeing infrastructure for the settlements, following the examples of schools and health outlets.", "The idea is that access to land represents just the first step towards the implementation of a quality land reform program.Over 600,000 km2 of land are divided into approximately five thousand areas of rural property; an agricultural area currently with three borders: the Central-western region (savannah), the northern region (area of transition) and parts of the northeastern region (semi-arid).", "At the forefront of grain crops, which produce over 110 million tonnes/year, is the soybean, yielding 50 million tonnes.In the cattle-raising sector, the \"green ox,\" which is raised in pastures, on a diet of hay and mineral salts, conquered markets in Asia, Europe and the Americas, particularly after the \"mad cow disease\" scare period.", "Brazil has the largest cattle herd in the world, with 198 million heads, responsible for exports of more than US$1 billion/year.A pioneer and leader in the manufacture of short-fiber timber cellulose, Brazil has also achieved positive results within the packaging sector, in which it is the fifth largest world producer.", "In the foreign markets, it answers for 25 percent of global exports of raw cane and refined sugar; it is the world leader in soybean exports and is responsible for 80 percent of the planet's orange juice, and since 2003, has had the highest sales figures for beef and chicken.===Mining===Gold production in the area of Pantanal.In the mining sector, Brazil stands out in the extraction of iron ore (where it is the second world exporter), copper, gold, bauxite (one of the 5 largest producers in the world), manganese (one of the 5 largest producers in the world), tin (one of the largest producers in the world), niobium (concentrates 98% of reserves known to the world) and nickel.", "In terms of gemstones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst, topaz, agate and one of the main producers of tourmaline, emerald, aquamarine, garnet and opal.In 2019, Brazil's figures were as follows: it was the world's largest producer of niobium (88.9 thousand tons); the 2nd largest world producer of tantalum (430 tons); the 2nd largest world producer of iron ore (405 million tons); the 4th largest world producer of manganese (1.74 million tons); the 4th largest world producer of bauxite (34 million tons); the 4th largest world producer of vanadium (5.94 thousand tons); the 5th largest world producer of lithium (2.4 thousand tons); the 6th largest world producer of tin (14 thousand tons); the 8th largest world producer of nickel (60.6 thousand tons); the 8th largest world producer of phosphate (4.7 million tons); the 12th largest world producer of gold (90 tons); the 14th largest world producer of copper (360 thousand tons); the 14th largest world producer of titanium (25 thousand tons); the 13th largest world producer of gypsum (3 million tons); the 3rd largest world producer of graphite (96 thousand tons); the 21st largest world producer of sulfur (500 thousand tons); the 9th largest world producer of salt (7.4 million tons); besides having had a chromium production of 200 thousand tons.=== Industry ===Industrial production 200px ''Embraer Legacy 600 jet manufactured by Embraer'' Main industries textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipmentIndustrial growth rate 1.1% (2018)Labor force 13.3% of total labor forceGDP of sector 22.2% of total GDPBrazil has the second-largest manufacturing sector in the Americas.", "Accounting for 28.5 percent of GDP, Brazil's industries range from automobiles, steel and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft, and consumer durables.", "With increased economic stability provided by the Plano Real, Brazilian and multinational businesses have invested heavily in new equipment and technology, a large proportion of which has been purchased from U.S. firms.The World Bank lists the main producing countries each year, based on the total production value.", "According to the 2019 list, Brazil has the 13th most valuable industry in the world (US$173.6 billion).", "In the Americas, it is second only to the United States (2nd place) and Mexico (12th place).", "In the food industry, in 2019, Brazil was the second largest exporter of processed foods in the world.", "In 2016, the country was the 2nd largest producer of pulp in the world and the 8th producer of paper.", "In the footwear industry, in 2019, Brazil ranked 4th among world producers.", "In 2019, the country was the 8th producer of vehicles and the 9th producer of steel in the world.", "In 2018, the chemical industry of Brazil was the 8th in the world.", "In textile industry, Brazil, although it was among the 5 largest world producers in 2013, is very little integrated in world trade.", "In the aviation sector, Brazil has Embraer, the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, behind Boeing and Airbus.Brazil has a diverse and sophisticated services industry as well.", "During the early 1990s, the banking sector accounted for as much as 16 percent of the GDP.", "Although undergoing a major overhaul, Brazil's financial services industry provides local businesses with a wide range of products and is attracting numerous new entrants, including U.S. financial firms.", "On 8 May 2008, the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) and the São Paulo-based Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange (BM&F) merged, creating BM&F Bovespa, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world.", "Also, the previously monopolistic reinsurance sector is being opened up to third-party companies.", "31 December 2007, there were an estimated 21,304,000 broadband lines in Brazil.", "Over 75 percent of the broadband lines were via DSL and 10 percent via cable modems.Proven mineral resources are extensive.", "Large iron and manganese reserves are important sources of industrial raw materials and export earnings.", "Deposits of nickel, tin, chromite, uranium, bauxite, beryllium, copper, lead, tungsten, zinc, gold, and other minerals are exploited.", "High-quality coking-grade coal required in the steel industry is in short supply.=== Creative Industries ===The first study into the impact of the Creative Industries on the Brazilian economy was published by FIRJAN.", "The creative economy in Latin America was termed the \"Orange Economy\" in a publication released by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).", "This 2013 study valued Brazil's Orange Economy at US$66.87 billion providing 5,280,000 jobs and responsible for US$9.414 million in exports, with the value of creative exports being higher than the US$8.016 million value of coffee exports over the same period.Beaches in Maceió.A 2021 study into the Intellectual Property Intensive Sectors in the Brazilian Economy was undertaken as part of the National Strategy on Intellectual Property 2021–2030.The study found that 450 of the 673 economic classes could be classified as IP-intensive sectors that collectively employed 19.3 million people.", "The share of GDP between 2014 and 2016 across these economic classes amounted to R$2.1 trillion ''reais'' or 44.2% of GDP over this time.=== Tourism ===In the list of world tourist destinations, in 2018, Brazil was the 48th most visited country, with 6.6 million tourists (and revenues of 5.9 billion dollars).", "Tourism in South America as a whole is still underdeveloped: in Europe, for example, countries obtain annual tourism figures like $73.7 billion (Spain), receiving 82.7 million tourists or 67.3 billion (France), receiving 89.4 million tourists.", "While Europe received 710 million tourists in 2018, Asia 347 million and North America 142.2 million, South America received only 37 million, Central America 10.8 million and the Caribbean 25.7 million.=== Largest companies ===Brasília, the Brazilian capital, has the third largest GDP of the country, after only São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.", "All state capitals in the States of Brazil, have flights to Brasília International Airport.Curitiba has the fifth largest GDP of Brazil and the first in Southern Brazil.", "The city is second only to São Paulo in terms of the number of automotive industries.", "In 2017, 20 Brazilian companies were listed in the Forbes Global 2000 list – an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine based on a combination of sales, assets, profit, and market value.", "The 20 companies listed were:World Rank Company Industry Revenue (billion $) Profits (billion $) Assets (billion $) Market Value (billion $) Headquarters38 Banco Itaú Unibanco Banking 61.3 6.7 419.9 79.2 São Paulo62 Banco Bradesco Banking 70.2 4.3 362.4 53.5 Osasco, SP132 Banco do Brasil Banking 57.3 2.3 430.6 29 Brasília156 Vale Mining 27.1 3.8 99.1 45.4 Rio de Janeiro399 Petrobras Oil & Gas 81.1 −4.3 247.3 61.3 Rio de Janeiro610 Eletrobras Utilities 17.4 0.983 52.4 7.2 Rio de Janeiro791 Itaúsa Conglomerate 1.3 2.4 18.1 23 São Paulo895 JBS Food Processing 48.9 0.108 31.6 8.2 São Paulo981 Ultrapar Conglomerate 22.2 0.448 7.4 12.5 São Paulo1103 Cielo Financial services 3.5 1.1 9.4 20.9 Barueri, SP1233 Braskem Chemicals 13.8 −0.136 15.9 7.9 São Paulo1325 BRF Food processing 9.7 −0.107 13.8 9.3 Itajaí, SC1436 Sabesp Waste Management 4 0.846 11.6 7.4 São Paulo1503 Oi Telecommunications 7.5 −2 25.2 0.952 Rio de Janeiro1515 Gerdau Iron & Steel 10.8 −0.395 16.8 1.4 Porto Alegre, RS1545 CBD Retail 12 0.139 13.9 5.9 São Paulo1572 CCR Transportation 2.9 0.429 7.5 11.5 São Paulo1597 Bovespa Stock Exchange 0.666 0.415 9.7 12.8 São Paulo1735 CPFL Energia Electricity 5.4 0.258 13 8.4 Campinas, SP1895 Kroton Educacional Higher Education 1.5 0.535 5.4 7.1 Belo Horizonte, MG=== Energy ===Oil platform P-51 of Petrobras.Itaipu Dam in Paraná.Wind power in Parnaíba.Angra Nuclear Power Plant in Angra dos Reis, Rio de JaneiroPirapora Solar Complex, the largest in Brazil and Latin America, with a capacity of 321 MW.The Brazilian government has undertaken an ambitious program to reduce dependence on imported petroleum.", "Imports previously accounted for more than 70% of the country's oil needs but Brazil became self-sufficient in oil in 2006–2007.Brazil was the 10th largest oil producer in the world in 2019, with 2.8 million barrels / day.", "Production manages to supply the country's demand.", "In the beginning of 2020, in the production of oil and natural gas, the country exceeded 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, for the first time.", "In January this year, 3.168 million barrels of oil per day and 138.753 million cubic meters of natural gas were extracted.Brazil is one of the main world producers of hydroelectric power.", "In 2019, Brazil had 217 hydroelectric plants in operation, with an installed capacity of 98,581 MW, 60.16% of the country's energy generation.", "In the total generation of electricity, in 2019 Brazil reached 170,000 megawatts of installed capacity, more than 75% from renewable sources (the majority, hydroelectric).In 2013, the Southeast Region used about 50% of the load of the National Integrated System (SIN), being the main energy consuming region in the country.", "The region's installed electricity generation capacity totaled almost 42,500 MW, which represented about a third of Brazil's generation capacity.", "The hydroelectric generation represented 58% of the region's installed capacity, with the remaining 42% corresponding basically to the thermoelectric generation.", "São Paulo accounted for 40% of this capacity; Minas Gerais by about 25%; Rio de Janeiro by 13.3%; and Espírito Santo accounted for the rest.", "The South Region owns the Itaipu Dam, which was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world for several years, until the inauguration of Three Gorges Dam in China.", "It remains the second largest operating hydroelectric in the world.", "Brazil is the co-owner of the Itaipu Plant with Paraguay: the dam is located on the Paraná River, located on the border between countries.", "It has an installed generation capacity of 14 GW for 20 generating units of 700 MW each.", "North Region has large hydroelectric plants, such as Belo Monte Dam and Tucuruí Dam, which produce much of the national energy.", "Brazil's hydroelectric potential has not yet been fully exploited, so the country still has the capacity to build several renewable energy plants in its territory.", "according to ONS, total installed capacity of wind power was 22 GW, with average capacity factor of 58%.", "While the world average wind production capacity factors is 24.7%, there are areas in Northern Brazil, specially in Bahia State, where some wind farms record with average capacity factors over 60%; the average capacity factor in the Northeast Region is 45% in the coast and 49% in the interior.", "In 2019, wind energy represented 9% of the energy generated in the country.", "In 2019, it was estimated that the country had an estimated wind power generation potential of around 522 GW (this, only onshore), enough energy to meet three times the country's current demand.", "In 2021 Brazil was the 7th country in the world in terms of installed wind power (21 GW), and the 4th largest producer of wind energy in the world (72 TWh), behind only China, USA and Germany.Nuclear energy accounts for about 4% of Brazil's electricity.", "The nuclear power generation monopoly is owned by Eletronuclear (Eletrobrás Eletronuclear S/A), a wholly owned subsidiary of Eletrobrás.", "Nuclear energy is produced by two reactors at Angra.", "It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) on the Praia de Itaorna in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro.", "It consists of two pressurized water reactors, Angra I, with capacity of 657 MW, connected to the power grid in 1982, and Angra II, with capacity of 1,350 MW, connected in 2000.A third reactor, Angra III, with a projected output of 1,350 MW, is planned to be finished.", "according to ONS, total installed capacity of photovoltaic solar was 21 GW, with average capacity factor of 23%.", "Some of the most irradiated Brazilian States are MG (\"Minas Gerais\"), BA (\"Bahia\") and GO (Goiás), which have indeed world irradiation level records.", "In 2019, solar power represented 1,27% of the energy generated in the country.", "In 2021, Brazil was the 14th country in the world in terms of installed solar power (13 GW), and the 11th largest producer of solar energy in the world (16.8 TWh).In 2020, Brazil was also the 2nd largest country in the world in the production of energy through biomass (energy production from solid biofuels and renewable waste), with 15,2 GW installed.=== Transport ===Rio–Niterói Bridge.São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport with the São Paulo Metro, the airport metro station that connects with the city of São Paulo.Port of Santos.Transport in Brazil is basically carried out using the road mode, the most developed in the region.", "There is also a considerable infrastructure of ports and airports.", "The railway and fluvial sector, although it has potential, is usually treated in a secondary way.Brazil has more than 1.7 million km of roads, of which 215,000 km are paved, and about 17,000 km are divided highways.", "The two most important highways in the country are BR-101 and BR-116.Due to the Andes Mountains, Amazon River and Amazon Forest, there have always been difficulties in implementing transcontinental or bioceanic highways.", "Practically the only route that existed was the one that connected Brazil to Buenos Aires, in Argentina and later to Santiago, in Chile.", "However, in recent years, with the combined effort of South American countries, new routes have started to emerge, such as Brazil-Peru (Interoceanic Highway), and a new highway between Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina and northern Chile (Bioceanic Corridor).There are more than 2,000 airports in Brazil.", "The country has the second largest number of airports in the world, behind only the United States.", "São Paulo International Airport, located in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, is the largest and busiest in the country – the airport connects São Paulo to practically all major cities around the world.", "Brazil has 44 international airports, such as those in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Cuiabá, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Belém and Manaus, among others.", "The 10 busiest airports in South America in 2017 were: São Paulo-Guarulhos (Brazil), Bogotá (Colombia), São Paulo-Congonhas (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Lima (Peru), Brasília (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires-Aeroparque (Argentina), Buenos Aires-Ezeiza (Argentina), and Minas Gerais (Brazil).About ports, Brazil has some of the busiest ports in South America, such as Port of Santos, Port of Rio de Janeiro, Port of Paranaguá, Port of Itajaí, Port of Rio Grande, Port of São Francisco do Sul and Suape Port.", "The 15 busiest ports in South America are: Port of Santos (Brazil), Port of Bahia de Cartagena (Colombia), Callao (Peru), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Buenos Aires (Argentina), San Antonio (Chile), Buenaventura (Colombia), Itajaí (Brazil), Valparaíso (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay), Paranaguá (Brazil), Rio Grande (Brazil), São Francisco do Sul (Brazil), Manaus (Brazil) and Coronel (Chile).The Brazilian railway network has an extension of about 30,000 kilometers.", "It is basically used for transporting ores.Among the main Brazilian waterways, two stand out: Hidrovia Tietê-Paraná (which has a length of 2,400 km, 1,600 on the Paraná River and 800 km on the Tietê River, draining agricultural production from the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and part of Rondônia, Tocantins and Minas General) and Hidrovia do Solimões-Amazonas (it has two sections: Solimões, which extends from Tabatinga to Manaus, with approximately 1600 km, and Amazonas, which extends from Manaus to Belém, with 1650 km.Almost entirely passenger transport from the Amazon basin is done by this waterway, in addition to practically all cargo transportation that is directed to the major regional centers of Belém and Manaus).", "In Brazil, this transport is still underutilized: the most important waterway stretches, from an economic point of view, are found in the Southeast and South of the country.", "Its full use still depends on the construction of locks, major dredging works and, mainly, of ports that allow intermodal integration." ], [ "Exports and imports", "Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of soybeans in the world.", "Farm in Southern Brazil.Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world.", "Brazilian coffee farmer producing.Port of Rio de Janeiro.Recife with its skyscrapers.=== Products ===Brazil was the 25th largest exporter in the world in 2020, with 1.1% of the global total.In 2021, Brazil exported US$280.4 billion and imported US$219.4 billion, with a surplus of US$61 billion.The country's top ten export products were:* Iron ore: US$42.2 billion* Soy: US$37.3 billion* Crude petroleum oils: US$27.4 billion* Sugar: US$8.5 billion* Beef: US$7.4 billion* Soybean meal: US$7.2 billion* Petroleum fuel oils: US$6.6 billion* Manufacturing Industry: US$6.4 billion* Chicken meat: US$6.3 billion* Cellulose: US$6.1 billionThe country also exports maize, coffee, cotton, tobacco, orange juice, footwear, airplanes, helicopters, cars, vehicle parts, gold, ethanol, semi-finished iron, among others.=== Exports ===The main countries to which Brazil exports in 2021 were:* 20px China: US$87.6 billion (31.28%)* 20px United States: US$31.1 billion (11.09%)* 20px Argentina: US$11.8 billion (4.24%)* 20px Netherlands: US$9.3 billion (3.32%)* 20px Chile: US$6.9 billion (2.50%)* 20px Singapore: US$5.8 billion (2.10%)* 20px Mexico: US$5.5 billion (1.98%)* 20px Germany: US$5.5 billion (1.97%)* 20px Japan: US$5.5 billion (1.97%)* 20px Spain: US$5.4 billion (1.94%)The country's export model, until today, is excessively based on exports of basic or semi-manufactured products, generating criticism, since such model generates little monetary value, which prevents further growth in the country in the long run.", "There are several factors that cause this problem, the main ones being: the excessive collection of taxes on production (due to the country's economic and legislative model being based on State Capitalism and not on Free-Market Capitalism), the lack or deficiency of infrastructure (means of transport such as roads, railways and ports that are insufficient or weak for the country's needs, bad logistics and excessive bureaucracy) for export, high production costs (expensive energy, expensive fuel, expensive maintenance of trucks, expensive loan rates and bank financing for production, expensive export rates), the lack of an industrial policy, the lack of focus on adding value, the lack of aggressiveness in international negotiations, in addition to abusive tariff barriers imposed by other countries on the country's exports.", "Because of this, Brazil has never been very prominent in international trade.Due to its size and potential, it would be able to be among the 10 largest exporters in the world, however, its participation in global commercial transactions usually oscillates between 0.5 and 2% only.", "In 2019, among the ten products that Brazil exports the most and that generate the most value, eight come from the agribusiness.", "Although still modest, the country's exports have evolved, and today they are more diversified than they were in the past.", "At the beginning of the 20th century, 70% of Brazilian exports were restricted to coffee.", "Overall, however, global trade still concentrates its few exports on low-tech products (mainly agricultural and mineral commodities) and, therefore, with low added value.=== Imports ===The main countries from which Brazil imports in 2021 were:* China: US$47.6 billion (21.72%)* United States: US$39.3 billion (17.95%)* Argentina: US$11.9 billion (5.45%)* Germany: US$11.3 billion (5.17%)* India: US$6.7 billion (3.07%)* Russia: US$5.7 billion (2.60%)* Italy: US$5.4 billion (2.50%)* Japan: US$5.1 billion (2.35%)* South Korea: US$5.1 billion (2.33%)* France: US$4.8 billion (2.19%)" ], [ "Economic status", "Statistical TableInflation (IPCA)2002 12.53%2003 9.30%20047.60%2005 5.69%2006 3.14%2007 4.46%2008 5.91%2009 4.31%2010 5.90%2011 6.50%2012 5.84%2013 5.91%2014 6.41%2015 10.67%2016 6.29%2017 2.95%2018 3.75%2019 4.31%2020 4.52%2021 10.06% 2022 5,79%Source:Average GDP growth rate 1950–20171950–59 7.1%1960–69 6.1%1970–79 8.9%1980–89 3.0%1990–99 1.7%2000–09 3.3%2010–17 1.4%Source:=== Sustainable growth ===Portuguese explorers arrived in 1500, but it was only in 1808 that Brazil obtained a permit from the Portuguese colonial government to set up its first factories and manufacturers.", "In the 21st century, Brazil became the eighth largest economy in the world.", "Originally, its exports were basic raw and primary goods, such as sugar, rubber and gold.", "Today, 84% of exports are of manufactured and semi-manufactured products.The period of great economic transformation and growth occurred between 1875 and 1975.In the last decade, domestic production increased by 32.3%.", "Agribusiness (agriculture and cattle-raising), which grew by 47% or 3.6% per year, was the most dynamic sector – even after having weathered international crises that demanded constant adjustments to the Brazilian economy.", "The Brazilian government also launched a program for economic development acceleration called Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento, aiming to spur growth.Brazil's transparency rank in the international world is 75th according to Transparency International.=== Control and reform ===Among measures recently adopted to balance the economy, Brazil carried out reforms to its social security (state and retirement pensions) and tax systems.", "These changes brought with them a noteworthy addition: a Law of Fiscal Responsibility which controls public expenditure by the executive branches at federal, state and municipal levels.", "At the same time, investments were made towards administration efficiency and policies were created to encourage exports, industry and trade, thus creating \"windows of opportunity\" for local and international investors and producers.With these alterations in place, Brazil has reduced its vulnerability: it does not import the oil it consumes; it has halved its domestic debt through exchange rate-linked certificates and has seen exports grow, on average, by 20% a year.", "The exchange rate does not put pressure on the industrial sector or inflation (at 4% a year), and does away with the possibility of a liquidity crisis.", "As a result, the country, after 12 years, has achieved a positive balance in the accounts which measure exports/imports, plus interest payments, services and overseas payment.", "Thus, respected economists say that the country will not be deeply affected by the current world economic crisis.In 2017, President Michel Temer refused to make public the list of companies accused of \"modern slavery\".", "The list, made public yearly since the presidency of Lula Da Silva in 2003, was intended to persuade companies to settle their fines and conform to labor regulations, in a country where corruption of the political class risked compromising respect for the law.", "The relations of the president-in-office with the \"landowner lobby\" were denounced by dismissed President Dilma Rousseff on this occasion.Central business district of Rio de Janeiro.=== Consistent policies ===Support for the productive sector has been simplified at all levels; active and independent, Congress and the Judiciary Branch carry out the evaluation of rules and regulations.", "Among the main measures taken to stimulate the economy are the reduction of up to 30 percent on manufactured products tax (IPI), and the investment of $8 billion on road cargo transportation fleets, thus improving distribution logistics.", "Further resources guarantee the propagation of business and information telecenters.The policy for industry, technology and foreign trade, at the forefront of this sector, for its part, invests $19.5 billion in specific sectors, following the example of the software and semiconductor, pharmaceutical and medicine product, and capital goods sectors.=== Mergers and acquisitions ===Between 1985 and 2017, 11,563 mergers & acquisitions with a total known value of US$1,185 billion with the involvement of Brazilian firms were announced.", "The year 2010 was a new record in terms of value with $115 billion of transactions.", "It is worth noticing, that in the top 100 deals by value there are only four cases of Brazilian companies acquiring a foreign company.", "This reflects the strong interest in the country from a direct investment perspective.Here is a list of the largest deals where Brazilian companies took on either the role of the acquiror or the target:'''Date Announced''''''Acquiror Name''''''Acquiror Mid Industry''''''Acquiror Nation''''''Target Name''''''Target Mid Industry''''''Target Nation''''''Value of Transaction ($mil)'''9 January 2010PetrobrasOil & GasBrazilBrazil-Oil & Gas BlocksOil & GasBrazil42,877.0320 February 2017Vale SAMetals & MiningBrazilValepar SAMetals & MiningBrazil20,956.668 November 2006Cia Vale do Rio Doce SAMetals & MiningBrazilInco LtdMetals & MiningCanada17,150.3020 February 2008BM&FBrokerageBrazilBovespa Holding SABrokerageBrazil10,309.0913 January 2000Telefónica SATelecommunications ServicesSpainTelecommunicacoes de São PauloTelecommunications ServicesBrazil10,213.3131 July 2014Telefónica Brasil SATelecommunications ServicesBrazilGVT Participacoes SATelecommunications ServicesBrazil9,823.315 October 2010Telefónica SATelecommunications ServicesSpainBrasilcel NVTelecommunications ServicesBrazil9,742.7911 March 2008Banco Itaú Holding FinanceiraBanksBrazilUnibanco Holdings SAOther FinancialsBrazil8,464.773 March 2004AmbevFood and BeverageBrazilJohn Labatt LtdFood and BeverageCanada7,758.0110 January 2010China Petrochemical CorporationOil & GasChinaRepsol YPF Brasil SAOil & GasBrazil7,111.002 July 2012Banestado ParticipacoesOther FinancialsBrazilRedecard SAComputers & PeripheralsBrazil6,821.71=== Entrepreneurship ===Embraer, a Brazilian company, is the third-largest commercial jet maker in the world, just behind Airbus and Boeing.According to a search of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in 2011 Brazil had 27 million adults aged between 18 and 64 either starting or owning a business, meaning that more than one in four Brazilian adults were entrepreneurs.", "In comparison to the other 54 countries studied, Brazil was the third-highest in total number of entrepreneurs.", "The Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), a government agency, found that 37 million jobs in Brazil were associated with businesses with less than 10 employees.Even though Brazil ranks internationally as one of the hardest countries in the region to do business due to its complicated bureaucracy, there is a healthy number of entrepreneurs, thanks to the huge internal consumer market and various government programs.The most recent research of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor revealed in 2013 that 50.4% of Brazilian new entrepreneurs are men, 33.8% are in the 35–44 age group, 36.9% completed high school and 47.9% earn 3–6 times the Brazilian minimum wage.", "In contrast, 49.6% of entrepreneurs are female, only 7% are in the 55–64 age group, 1% have postgraduate education and 1.7% earn more than 9 times the minimum wage.=== Credit rating ===Brazil's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's (S&P) to BBB in March 2014, just one notch above junk.", "It was further downgraded in January 2018 by S&P to BB−, which is 2 notches below investment grade.=== Climate change ===" ], [ "See also", "* Economic history of Brazil* List of economic crises in Brazil* Brazilian packaging market* Brazil and the World Bank* Economy of São Paulo* List of Brazilian federative units by gross domestic product* List of Brazilian states by poverty rate* 2015–2017 Brazilian economic crisis* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP growth* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP (nominal)* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP (PPP)" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Furtado, Celso.", "''Formação econômica do Brasil'' * Prado Junior, Caio.", "''História econômica do Brasil''" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Finance (Brazil)* IBGE : Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics* World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Brazil* Brazil profile at the CIA World Factbook* Brazil profile at The World Bank" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Brazil''' has both modern technologies in the center-south portion, counting with LTE, 3G HSPA, DSL ISDB based Digital TV.", "Other areas of the country, particularly the North and Northeast regions, lack even basic analog PSTN telephone lines.", "This is a problem that the government is trying to solve by linking the liberation of new technologies such as WiMax and FTTH) only tied with compromises on extension of the service to less populated regions." ], [ "Telephone system", "=== Landline===The Brazilian landline sector is fully open to competition and continues to attract operators.", "The bulk of the market is divided between three operators: Telefónica, América Móvil, and Oi (controlled by Brazilian investors and Pharol SGPS).", "Telefónica operates through Telefónica Brasil, which has integrated its landline and mobile services under the brand name Vivo.", "The América Móvil group in Brazil comprises long distance incumbent Embratel, mobile operator Claro, and cable TV provider Net Serviços.", "The group has started to integrate its landline and mobile services under the brand name Claro, previously used only for mobile services.", "Oi offers landline and mobile services under the Oi brand name.", "GVT was the country's most successful alternative network provider, offering landline services only, until it was acquired by Telefónica in 2015 and integrated into Vivo.", "''National:''extensive microwave radio relay system and a national satellite system with 64 earth stations.", "''International:''country code - 55; landing point for a number of submarine cables, including Atlantis 2, that provide direct links to South and Central America, the Caribbean, the US, Africa, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to Mercosur Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station (2007)'''Statistics'''Served locations: 37,355Installed terminals: 43,626,836In service: 33,800,370Public terminals: 1,128,350Density: 22,798 Phones/100 Hab===Mobile===The history of mobile telephony in Brazil began on 30 December 1990, when the Cellular Mobile System began operating in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with a capacity for 10,000 terminals.", "At that time, according to Anatel (the national telecommunications agency), there were 667 devices in the country.", "The number of devices rose to 6,700 in the next year, to 30,000 in 1992.In November 2007 3G services were launched, and increased rapidly to almost 90% of the population in 2012 and the agreements signed as part of the auction specify a 3G coverage obligation of 100% of population by 2019.After the auction that took place in June 2012, LTE tests were undertaken in several cities, tourist locations and international conference venues.", "The first LTE-compatible devices became available in the local market and LTE services was commercially launched in 2013.Under the 4G licence terms, operators were required to have commercial networks in all twelve state capitals which are acting as host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.5G services were commercially launched in 2020, initially only in a few cities and in DSS mode.", "In 2021, the regulatory agency Anatel carried out the auction of the 3.5 GHz spectrum, which allowed the operation of 5G in standalone mode (SA).", "In July 2022, Brasília was the first city to have 5G NR SA made available, with all state capitals being served by the three major carriers by the end of 2022.By July 2023, 753 cities had 5G coverage, which accounts for 46% of the country's population.The mobile market is ruled by 3 companies:'''Vivo''', controlled by the Spanish Telefónica, is the leading mobile and landline carrier in Brazil.", "In 1Q2023, Vivo served 98 million mobile subscribers.", "'''Claro''', controlled by the Mexican América Móvil (owned by Carlos Slim), ranks second in Brazilian mobile market.", "In 1Q2023, Claro served 82.8 million mobile subscribers.", "'''TIM''', controlled by the Italian Telecom Italia is the third largest mobile carrier in Brazil.", "In 1Q2023, TIM served 61.7 million mobile subscribers.", "'''Oi''', which was once Brazil's fourth-largest mobile carrier, filed for judicial reorganization in 2016, selling its mobile division (Oi Móvel) in 2020 to a consortium formed by the three largest operators.", "In 2022, the sale was approved by the regulatory agency Anatel and Oi's 36.5 million mobile customers were transferred to TIM (40%), Claro (32%) and Vivo (28%).", " '''Algar Telecom''' is the largest regional mobile carrier, operating in 4 states.", "The company's customers have national coverage through roaming agreements with the three major telcos.", "In 1Q2023, Algar Telecom served 4.5 million mobile subscribers.", "'''Statistics'''Number of devices: 251.203.715Percentage of prepaid lines: 43.62%Density: 98.7 phones/100 hab'''Technology distribution''' Technology 2022 (Dec) 2023 (May) Phone NumberMonth growthAnnual growth AMPS 11,546 6,240 0.00% -75 -45.96% TDMA 1,153,580 541,802 0.33% -39,020 -53.03% CDMA 12,732,287 9,527,796 5.88% -425,018 -25.17% GSM 133,925,736 145,840,175 90.07% 2,497,642 8.90% WCDMA 1,692,436 2,010,740 1.24% 107,710 - CDMA 2000 452,816 218,166 0.13% -9,994 - Data Terminals 673,002 3,777,456 2.28% 177,623 - '''Total''' '''150,641,403''' '''161,922,375''' '''100.00%''' '''2,308,868''' '''10.00%'''" ], [ "International backbones", "===Submarine cables===Several submarine cables link Brazil to the world:'''Americas II''' cable entered operations in September 2000, connecting Brazil (Fortaleza) to United States.", "'''ATLANTIS-2''', with around 12 thousand kilometers in extension, operating since 2000, it connects Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Natal) to Europe, Africa and South America.", "This is the only cable that connects South America to Africa and Europe.", "'''EMERGIA – SAM 1''' cable connects all three Americas, surrounding it with a total extension of more than 25 thousand kilometers.", "'''GLOBAL CROSSING - SAC''' Connects all Americas, surrounding them with a total extension of more than 15 thousand kilometers.", "'''GLOBENET/360 NETWORK''' Another link from North America to South America.", "'''UNISUR''' Interconnects Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.All these cables have a bandwidth from 20 Gbit/s to 80 Gbit/s, and some have a projected final capacity of more than 1 Tbit/s.===Satellite connections===List of business and satellites they operate (Brazilian Geostationary Satellites)Satellite operatorSatelliteBandsOrbital positionsOperationalHispamar Amazonas 1C e Ku61.0° WYesAmazonas 2Loral SkynetEstrela do Sul 1Ku63.0° WYesEstrela do Sul 2Ku63.0° WNoStar OneBrasilsat B1C and X70.0° WYesBrasilsat B2C and X65.0° WYesBrasilsat B3C84.0° WYesBrasilsat B4C92.0° WYesStar One C1C and Ku65.0° WYesStar One C2C and Ku70.0° WYesStar One C3C and Ku75.0° WNoStar One C4C, L, S75.0° WNoStar One C5C and Ku68.0° WNo" ], [ "Television and radio", "Under the Brazilian constitution, television and radio are not treated as forms of telecommunication, in order to avoid creating problems with a series of regulations that reduce and control how international businesses and individuals can participate.", "Brazil has the second largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue, Grupo Globo." ], [ "Internet", "The Internet has become quite popular in Brazil, with steadily growing numbers of users as well as increased availability.", "Brazil holds the 6th spot in number of users worldwide.", "Many technologies are used to bring broadband Internet to consumers, with DSL and cable being the most common (respectively, about 13 million and 9 million connections), and 3G technologies.", "4G technologies were introduced in April 2013 and presently are available in over 90% of the country." ], [ "See also", " List of telecommunications companies in Brazil" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency* Brazilian Ministry of Communications* Brazil, SubmarineCableMap.com" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "Rio–Niterói BridgePort of Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil'''Transport infrastructure''' in Brazil is characterized by strong regional differences and lack of development of the national rail network.", "Brazil's fast-growing economy, and especially the growth in exports, will place increasing demands on the transport networks.", "However, sizeable new investments that are expected to address some of the issues are either planned or in progress.", "It is common to travel domestically by air because the price is low.", "Brazil has the second highest number of airports in the world, after the USA." ], [ "Railways", "Norte Brasil RailwayMap of Brazilian rail network, 2016The Brazilian railway network has an extension of about .", "It is basically used for transporting ores.", "Usually, the railway sector was treated in a secondary way in Brazil, due to logistical, economic or political difficulties to install more railways.The Brazilian railroad system had a great expansion between 1875 and 1920.The heyday of the railway modal was interrupted during the Getúlio Vargas government, which prioritized the road modal.", "In the 1940s, the railway network was already facing several problems, from low-powered locomotives to uneconomical layouts.", "In 1957, a state-owned company was created, the National Railroad Network (RFFSA), which started to manage 18 railroads in the Union.", "Several deficit railways were closed under the promise of state investment in new projects, which did not happen.", "The actions were centralized in the government until the opening of the market in 1990.So, the National Privatization Plan was instituted, with dozens of concessions being made.", "However, they ended up concentrating the railways, mainly, in three large business groups, América Latina Logística (ALL), Vale S.A. and MRS Logística.", "The refurbishment generated an increase in productivity (cargoes transported increased by 30% with the same railway line).", "However, the main problem was that the reform not only gave away the railway line, but also geographical exclusivity.", "This resulted in the non-creation of competitive incentives for the expansion and renewal of the existing network.", "With the State maintaining the opening of new railways a difficult, slow and bureaucratic process, as it maintains the total monopoly of power over this sector, the railways did not expand any further in the country, and the sector was very outdated.In 2021, a New Framework for Railways was created, allowing the construction of railways by authorization, as occurs in the exploration of infrastructure in sectors such as telecommunications, electricity and ports.", "It's also possible to authorize the exploration of stretches not implemented, idle, or in the process of being returned or deactivated.", "With the change of rules in the sector, in December 2021, there were already requests to open of new tracks, in 64 requests for implementation of new railways.", "Nine new railroads had already been authorized by the Federal Government, in of new tracks.", "'''Total actual network:''' 29,888 km of railroad and 1,411 km of subway and light rail:Broad gauge: 4,932 km gauge (939 km electrified):Narrow gauge: 23,341 km gauge (24 km electrified):Dual gauge: 396 km 1000 mm and 1600 mm gauges (three rails):Standard gauge: 194 km gauge (2014) Estrada de Ferro do Amapá in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest also used standard gauge.", "* A 12 km section of the former gauge Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas is retained as a heritage railway.===Metros and light rail transit (combined)===Rio de Janeiro Metro* Teresina (13.5 km)Juazeiro do Norte (13.6 km)Sobral (13.9 km)*Belo Horizonte (28.1 km)João Pessoa (30 km)Maceió (32.1 km)Salvador (33 km)* Federal District (42.4 km)Porto Alegre (43.4 km)Fortaleza (43.6 km)Natal (56.2 km) Recife (71 km) Rio de Janeiro (100 km) São Paulo (112.2 km)===Railway links with adjacent countries===International rail links exist between Brazil and Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay.===Tramways===Brazil had a hundred tramway systems.", "Currently, there are vintage tramways operating in Belém, Campinas, Campos do Jordão, Itatinga, Rio de Janeiro and Santos." ], [ "Highways", "Rodovia dos ImigrantesRodovia dos BandeirantesBR-050BR-060BR-376BR-277''''Brazil has more than of roads, of which are paved (12,4%), and about are divided highways, only in the State of São Paulo.", "Currently it is possible to travel from Rio Grande, in the extreme south of the country, to Brasília () or Casimiro de Abreu, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (), only on divided highways.", "The total of paved roads increased from 35,496 km (22,056 mi) in 1967 to 215,000 km (133,595 mi) in 2018.The two most important highways in the country are BR-101 and BR-116.Although Brazil has the largest duplicated road network in Latin America, it's considered insufficient for the country's needs: in 2021, it was calculated that the ideal amount of duplicated roads would be something around from to .", "The main road axes also have problems because they often have inadequate geometry and constructive characteristics that don't allow quality long-distance flow (non-interference from local traffic and high speed).", "The Brazilian Federal Government has never implemented a National Highway Plan at the same level as developed countries such as the USA, Japan or European countries, which specifically aimed at inter-regional travel, and which should preferably be served by highways (which would differ from the common duplicated highways by geometric pattern, access control without access to neighboring lots, zero level crossings and returns, prohibition of circulation of non-motorized vehicles such as cyclists, animal traction or human propulsion, as per the Vienna Convention).", "The Brazilian State, despite some planning efforts, has been guided by a reactive action to the increase in demand (only duplicating some roads with old and inadequate layout) and not by a purposeful vision, directing occupation and economic density in the territory.", "Another problem is the lack of directing the Union Budget towards infrastructure works: in Brazil there is no law that guarantees funds from the Federal Budget for works on highways and other modes of transport (unlike what happens in sectors such as Education and Health), depending exclusively on the goodwill of the rulers.", "In the US, for example, the gasoline tax can only be used for transport infrastructure works.", "Brazil even invested 1.5% of the country's budget in infrastructure in the 1970s, being the time when the most investment was made in highways; but in the 1990s, only 0.1% of the budget was invested in this sector, maintaining an average of 0.5% in the 2000s and 2010, insufficient amounts for the construction of an adequate road network.", "For comparative purposes, the average investment of the USA and the European Union was 1% between 1995 and 2013, even though they already have a much more advanced road infrastructure than Brazil.The country has a medium rate of car ownership of 471 per 1000 people, however in comparison to the other developing economies of the BRIC group Brazil exceeds India and China.The country still has several states where paved access to 100% of the state's municipalities has not yet been reached.", "Some states have 100% of cities with asphalt access, such as Santa Catarina, which reached this goal in 2014; Paraíba, which reached this goal in 2017, and Alagoas, which reached this goal in 2021 In states like Rio Grande do Sul, in 2020, there were still 54 cities without asphalt access.", "In Paraná, in 2021, there were still 4 cities without asphalt access.", "In Minas Gerais, in 2016, there were still 5 cities without asphalt access." ], [ "Waterways", "Tietê-Paraná Waterway50,000 km navigable (most in areas remote from industry or population) (2012)Among the main Brazilian waterways, two stand out: Hidrovia Tietê-Paraná (which has a length of 2,400 km, 1,600 on the Paraná River and 800 km on the Tietê River, draining agricultural production from the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and part of Rondônia, Tocantins and Minas Gerais) and Hidrovia do Solimões-Amazonas (it has two sections: Solimões, which extends from Tabatinga to Manaus, with approximately 1600 km, and Amazonas, which extends from Manaus to Belém, with 1650 km.", "Almost entirely passenger transport from the Amazon plain is done by this waterway, in addition to practically all cargo transportation that is directed to the major regional centers of Belém and Manaus).", "In Brazil, this transport is still underutilized: the most important waterway stretches, from an economic point of view, are found in the Southeast and South of the country.", "Its full use still depends on the construction of locks, major dredging works and, mainly, of ports that allow intermodal integration." ], [ "Pipelines", " condensate/gas 62 km* natural gas 11,696 km (1,165 km distribution, 4,794 km transport)* liquid petroleum gas 353 km (37 km distribution, 40 km transport)* crude oil 4,517 km (1,985 km distribution)* refined products 5,959 km (1,165 km distribution, 4,794 km transport)" ], [ "Seaports and harbors", "Port of SantosPort of Manaus on the Rio Negro, the largest river port in the country.Main ports in BrazilThe busiest port in the country, and the 2nd busiest in all of Latin America, losing only to the Port of Colón, is the Port of Santos.", "Other high-movement ports are the Port of Rio de Janeiro, Port of Paranaguá, Port of Itajaí, Port of Rio Grande, Port of São Francisco do Sul and Suape Port.=== Atlantic Ocean ===* Santos* Paranaguá* Rio Grande* Itajaí* Tubarão* Porto Alegre* Suape* Rio de Janeiro* Pecém* Ponta da Madeira* Itaqui* Antonina* São Francisco do Sul* São Sebastião* Açu* Salvador* Natal* Itaguaí===Amazon river===* Belém* Manaus* Santarém===Paraguay River (international water way)===* Corumbá" ], [ "Merchant marine", "770 ships ( (or over) totaling /''ships by type:'' (1999, 2019 and 2021 est.", ")* bulk carriers 11* cargo ships 42* chemical tankers 7* container ships 19* gas carrying tankers 12* multi-functional large load carrier 1* passenger/cargo ships 1* petroleum tanker 45* roll-on/roll-off 1" ], [ "Airports", "São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport.Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport.The country has the second largest number of airports in the world, behind only the United States.", "São Paulo/Guarulhos, is the largest and busiest in the country.", "Brazil has 37 international airports, such as those in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Cuiabá, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Belém and Manaus, among others.Most international flights must go to São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport or Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport.", "Belo Horizonte is the main international airport outside Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.", "A few go to Brasília, Recife, Natal, and just recently Fortaleza has accepted international flights.As of 2020, Brazil had the eighth largest passenger air market in the world.=== Airports - with paved runways ===''total:'' 698''over 3,047 m:'' 7''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 27''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 179''914 to 1,523 m:'' 436 (2017)''under 914 m:'' 39 (2017)=== Airports - with unpaved runways ===''total:'' 3,395''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 92''914 to 1,523 m:'' 1,619''under 914 m:'' 1,684 (2013)" ], [ "Main airlines", "Passenger flow between the main airports in Brazil (2001).", "Azul Brazilian AirlinesGol Linhas Aéreas InteligentesLATAM BrasilVoepass Linhas Aéreas" ], [ "Heliports", "16 (2007)13 (2010)13 (2013)" ], [ "See also", " National Association of Cargo Transportation and Logistics (Brazil)* Rail transport by country* List of countries by road network size" ], [ "References", "* CIA - The World Factbook - Brazil - Transportation" ], [ "External links", "* Infrastructure Ministry of Brazil* Brazilian National Aquatic Transport Agency (ANTAQ)* Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC)* Brazilian National Terrestrial Transportation Agency (ANTT)* Brazilian National Transport Confederation (CNT)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Brazilian Armed Forces" ], [ "Introduction", " The '''Brazilian Armed Forces''' (, ) are the unified military forces of the Federative Republic of Brazil.", "Consisting of three service branches, it comprises the Brazilian Army (including the Brazilian Army Aviation), the Brazilian Navy (including the Brazilian Marine Corps and Brazilian Naval Aviation) and the Brazilian Air Force (including the Aerospace Operations Command).Brazil's armed forces are the second largest in the Americas, after the United States, and the largest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere by the level of military equipment, with 334,500 active-duty troops and officers.", "Brazilian soldiers were in Haiti from 2004 until 2017, leading the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH)." ], [ "Organization", "The Armed Forces of Brazil are divided into 3 branches:* Brazilian Army*Brazilian Army Aviation Command Brazilian NavyBrazilian Marine CorpsBrazilian Naval Aviation* Brazilian Air Force*Aerospace Operations CommandThe Military Police (state police) alongside the Military Firefighters Corps are described as an auxiliary and reserve force of the Army.", "All military branches are part of the Ministry of Defence.The Brazilian Navy which is the oldest of the Brazilian Armed Forces, includes the Brazilian Marine Corps and the Brazilian Naval Aviation.===Service obligation and manpower===18–45 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation – 10 to 12 months; 17–45 years of age for voluntary service.", "An increasing percentage of the ranks are \"long-service\" volunteer professionals; women were allowed to serve in the armed forces beginning in the early 1980s when the Brazilian Army became the first army in South America to accept women into career ranks; women serve in Navy and Air Force only in Women's Reserve Corps.===Mission and challenges===South America is a relatively peaceful continent in which wars are a rare event; as a result, Brazil hasn't had its territory invaded since 1865 during the Paraguayan War.", "Additionally, Brazil has no contested territorial disputes with any of its neighbours and neither does it have rivalries, like Chile and Bolivia have with each other.", "However, Brazil is the only country besides China and Russia that has land borders with 10 or more nations.", "Moreover, Brazil has of land borders and of coastline to be patrolled and defended.", "Overall, the Armed Forces have to defend 8.5 million km2 (around 3.2 million sq.", "mi.)", "of land and patrol 4.4 million km2 (around 1.7 million sq.", "mi.)", "of territorial waters – or ''Blue Amazon'', as the Brazilian Navy calls them.", "To achieve this mission, significant manpower and funding is required." ], [ "Military history of Brazil", "Since 1648 the Brazilian Armed Forces have been relied upon to fight in defense of Brazilian sovereignty and to suppress civil rebellions.", "The Brazilian military also has three times intervened militarily to overthrow the Brazilian government.The Brazilian Armed Forces were subordinated to the Emperor, its Commander-in-Chief.", "He was aided by the Ministers of War and Navy in regard to matters concerning the Army and the Armada, respectively.", "Traditionally, the Ministers of War and Navy were civilians but there were some exceptions.", "The model chosen was the British parliamentary or Anglo-American system, in which \"the country's Armed Forces observed unrestricted obedience to the civilian government while maintaining distance from political decisions and decisions referring to borders' security\".The military personnel were allowed to run and serve in political offices while staying on active duty.", "However, they did not represent the Army or the Armada but instead the population of the city or province where elected.", "Dom Pedro I chose nine military personnel as Senators and five (out of 14) to the State Council.", "During the Regency, two were chosen to the Senate and none to the State Council as there was no Council at the time.", "Dom Pedro II chose four military personnel to become Senators during the 1840s, two in the 1850s and three until the end of his reign.", "He also chose seven military personnel to be State Counselors during the 1840s and 1850s and three after that.It has built a tradition of participating in UN peacekeeping missions such as in Haiti and East Timor.", "Below a list of some of the historical events in which the Brazilian Armed Forces took part:===Armed conflicts involving Brazil==='''' First Battle of Guararapes (1648): Decisive Portuguese victory that helped end Dutch occupation.", "Due to this battle, the year 1648 is considered as the year of the foundation of the Brazilian Army.", "* Invasion of Cayenne (1809) (1809) : Was a combined military operation by an Anglo-Portuguese expeditionary force against Cayenne, capital of the French South American colony of French Guiana in 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars.", "* Luso-Brazilian invasion (1816–1820) : Was an armed conflict between the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves and the partisans of José Artigas over the Banda Oriental (Eastern Bank), present-day Uruguay.", "* Brazilian War of Independence (1822–1824): Series of military campaigns that had as objective to cement Brazilian sovereignty and end Portuguese resistance.", "* Confederation of the Equator (1824) : Was a short-lived rebellion that occurred in the northeastern region of Brazil during that nation's struggle for independence from Portugal.", "* Cisplatine War (1825–1828) : Armed conflict over an area known as Banda Oriental or \"Eastern Shore\" between the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and Empire of Brazil in the aftermath of the United Provinces' emancipation from Spain.", "* Ragamuffin War (1835–1845) : Was a Republican uprising that began in southern Brazil, in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina in 1835.The rebels, led by Generals Bento Gonçalves da Silva and Antônio de Sousa Neto with the support of the Italian fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi, surrendered to imperial forces in 1845.", "* Platine War (1851–1852): The Brazilian Empire and its allies went to war against the dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas of the Argentine Confederation.", "* Uruguayan War (1864–1865): Brazilian intervention in Uruguay.", "With support from Argentina, imperial forces deposed President Atanasio Aguirre from office and instated general Venancio Flores in his place.", "* Paraguayan War (1864–1870): Over 200,000 Brazilians fought on this conflict, which is considered as the most serious in Brazilian history.", "* Brazilian Naval Revolt (1893–1894) : Were armed mutinies promoted mainly by Admirals Custodio de Mello and Saldanha da Gama and their fleet of Brazilian Navy ships against unconstitutional staying in power of the central government in Rio de Janeiro.", "* War of Canudos (1893–1897): The deadliest rebellion of Brazil, the insurrectionists defeated the first 3 military forces sent to quell the rebellion.", "* Contestado War (1912–1916) : Was a guerrilla war for land between settlers and landowners, the latter supported by the Brazilian state's police and military forces.", "The war lasted from October 1912 to August 1916.", "* Brazil during World War I: Brazil entered into World War I in 1917 alongside the Triple Entente.", "Brazil's effort in World War I occurred mainly in the Atlantic campaign, with a smaller participation in the land warfare.", "* Constitutionalist Revolution (1932) : Was the armed movement occurred in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, between July and October 1932, which aimed at the overthrow of the Provisional Government of Getúlio Vargas and the promulgation of a new constitution for Brazil.", "* Brazil in World War II (1942–1945): Brazil declared war on Nazi Germany in August 1942 and in 1944 sent an Expeditionary Force of 25,334 soldiers to fight in Italy.", "Brazil also supplied vital raw materials for the war effort and ceded important airbases at Natal and Fernando de Noronha Archipel that made possible the North African invasion, i.e.", "Operation Torch, and had a key role in patrolling the South Atlantic sea lanes.Brazilian Expeditionary Force, initially composed of an infantry division, eventually covered all Brazilian military forces who participated in the conflict, including the Brazilian Air Force who did a remarkable job in the last nine months of war with 445 missions executed.", "Offensive: 2546, Defensive: 4.===Brazilian military coups d'état===Although no military coups occurred during the 67 years of the Brazilian Empire, the Republican period experienced 4 military coups d'état in the 75 years between 1889 and 1964.", "* Proclamation of the Republic (1889): End of the Brazilian Empire, this was the first coup d'état performed by the Brazilian military.", "* Revolution of 1930: Second military overthrow of government, in which President Washington Luís was replaced by Getúlio Vargas, who became the Provisional President.", "* End of ''Estado Novo'' (1945): Then Dictator Getúlio Vargas is deposed by generals and later General Eurico Dutra was elected president.", "* 1964 Brazilian coup d'état: President João Goulart is removed from office, leading to a military dictatorship which lasted until 1985." ], [ "Ministry of Defence", "José Múcio, the current defence minister.Ministry of Defense of BrazilOn 10 July 1999, the Ministry of Defence was created, with the abolition of the EMFA and the merger of all three ministries of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) into a singular ministry of the Cabinet.===Joint Staff of the Armed Forces===Army High Command HQ in BrasíliaJoint Staff of the Armed Forces is an agency of the Ministry of Defense of Brazil, which centralizes the coordination of command of the armed forces: Army, Navy and Air Force.", "It was created by Complementary Law No.", "136 of 25 August 2010, and has in Ordinance No.", "1429 its operating guidelines.Advising the Minister of Defense in the upper direction of the armed forces, aiming the organization, preparation and employment, in order to fulfill its constitutional mission and its subsidiaries assignments, with the goals strategic planning and the joint use of the military services.It is up to JSAF plan together and integrated employment of staff of the Navy, Army and Air Force, optimizing the use of the military and logistical support in the defense of the country and in peacekeeping, humanitarian and rescue operations; border security; and civil defense actions.The body has its powers and duties according to the Regimental Structure approved by Decree 7.9744, April 1, 2013.Since its inception, the JSAF has worked with the Central Administration of the Ministry of Defence, on the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia (DF).The head of the JSAF is private of a general officer of the last post, active or reserve, designated by the Ministry of Defence and appointed by the president.", "Their hierarchical level is the same of the military commanders of the Navy, Army and Air Force.", "Under the coordination of the Joint Armed Forces also operates the Committee of Chiefs of Staffs of the military services.The current head of JSAF is the Army General Renato Rodrigues de Aguiar Freire.===Current military leaders===The following are the current commanders of the three defence branches and the Joint Staff chief as of January 2023." ], [ "Brazilian Army", "The Army High Command of Brazil is formed by the Army Commander and other army generals in active service.", "The country current have sixteen active 4-star generals, several of them in command posts.", "The mission of ACE include the selection of a list of candidates to the post of commander, the prospection of regional and global political situations, among others roles.", "All Brazilian generals are graduates of the Brazilian Superior War School.===FORPRON===The ''Brazilian Army Readiness Forces'' (''Forças de Prontidão do Exército Brasileiro'' in Portuguese), is a division of the Army created to be ready for real combat 365 days per year.", "This division composed of 15,000 infantry troops, paratroopers and armored cavalry brigades is able to operate in real missions of conventional combat, law and order guarantee and interagency operations within the Brazilian territory or as divisional forces abroad led by officers from the ''General Staff of the Readiness Forces'' subordinate to the Army High Command.File:Infantryy.jpg\|Brazilian Army InfantryFile:MTC-300.jpg\|Rocket artillery ASTROS firing a AV-TM 300 cruise missile\tFile:Blindados em Rosário do Sul - RS (9919079464).jpg\|Leopard 1A5 main battle tankFile:Centauro II MGS 120mm - Brazilian Army.jpg\|Brazilian Centauro II MGS tank destroyerFile:Cavalaria (29242886961).jpg\|Brazilian VBTP-MR Guarani IFVsFile:Cavalaria (28698748214).jpg\|EE-9 Cascavel armored reconnaissanceFile:Brazilian Army Iveco LMV.jpg\|Iveco LMV infantry mobility vehicleFile:Cavalaria (29242889921).jpg\|Leopard 1A5 in night shooting exerciseFile:19 04 2022- Dia do Exército Brasileiro (52017080500).jpg\|Brazilian Army EC725File:Ministro Jaques Wagner assiste exercício de artilharia antiaérea do Exército (20161936520).jpg\|Brazilian Flakpanzer GepardFile:Exército Brasileiro (4968751470).jpg\|Electronic Warfare trucksFile:Junglee.jpg\|Jungle Warfare infantryFile:Aviation Command.jpg\|Airmobile infantry with a AS565 Panther of the Aviation CommandFile:Paratroopers.jpg\|Brazilian Army ParatroopersFile:Makunfron.jpg\|Border Battalion SoldierFile:Specialforces.jpg\|Army Special ForcesFile:Brazilian military helicopter underway, 2012.jpg\|Brazilian UH-60 Black Hawk in the Amazon regionFile:Combatente da Caatinga (26700198395).jpg\|Brazilian Caatinga soldiers" ], [ "Brazilian Navy", "The navy () has eight bases throughout Brazil.File:Operação \"Poseidon 2021\" (51474511477).jpg\|Helicopter carrier ''Atlântico''File:Operação Poseidon (51443464716).jpg\|EC725 helicopter aboard ''Atlântico''File:GLAM MB Piloto Caça Untitled-1 (36124829324).jpg\|Brazilian Navy A-4 SkyhawkFile:Aspirantex 2020 (49488413213).jpg\|Frigate ''Constituição'' underwayFile:US Navy 110422-N-ZI300-115 The Brazilian navy frigate Bosisio (F 48) fires at an unmanned aerial vehicle during a drone exercise (DRONEX) with ship.jpg\|Brazilian frigates in shooting exerciseFile:GLAM MB IMG 4068 (28933649305).jpg\|Corvette ''Barroso'' firing missile ExocetFile:Brazilian Navy Riachuelo S40.png\|Submarine ''Riachuelo'' underwayFile:Lançamento de Armas 2021 Exocet 11 (51279148576).png\|EC725 firing an Exocet missileFile:ABC 3561 (26818408105).jpg\|Task Force with ''Bahia'' leadingFile:Aeronaves UH 15 - Super Cougar (52098235541).jpg\|Brazilian Navy squadron of EC725s in flightFile:Operação Formosa 2014 (15481886779).jpg\|Brazilian Marines ASTROS systemFile:Operação Ágata Norte 2022 - Operação Demonstrativa em Belém (PA) (52130022414).jpg\|Brazilian Navy SOF (GRUMEC)File:Operação Formosa 2016 (30388031181).jpg\|Brazilian Marines SOF (COMANF)File:Aeronave ScanEagle em um lançador (52200554203).jpg\|Brazilian ScanEagle UAVFile:Fuzileiros Navais (32669765020).jpg\|Brazilian Marines MOWAG Piranha" ], [ "Brazilian Air Force", "The Brazilian Air Force (, , also known as ''FAB'', or ) is the second-largest air force in the Americas (behind only the United States) and has around 70,000 active personnel.", "The FAB is subdivided into four operational commands.File:Brazilian Saab Gripen E (cropped).jpg\|F-39E Gripen during an exerciseFile:22 10 2021 Solenidade Militar alusiva ao Dia do Aviador e ao Dia da Força Aérea Brasileira (51619395824).jpg\|KC-390 in formation with F-5M and F-39EFile:Aeronave A-29 Super Tucano em voo sobre a Floresta Amazônica.jpg\|A-29 Super Tucano patrolling the Amazon rainforestFile:Brazilian Air Force AMX air-to-air refuelling.jpg\|AMX attack aircraftFile:Brazilian Gripen F-39E (cropped).jpg\|F-39E Gripen multirole fighterFile:FAB2901 KC30 Brazilian Air Force.jpg\|KC-30 with a pair of F-5MFile:Sábado Aéreo 2014 (15101174380).jpg\|UH-60L helicopterFile:R99 - RIAT 2007 (2370466415).jpg\|Brazilian Air Force E-99 AEW&CFile:CRUZEX 2013 (10798689103).jpg\|Two F-5M taking off in aerial alertFile:Operação Atlântico 2018 (31993852168).jpg\|Brazilian Air Force EC725File:P3am-orion.jpg\|P-3AM Orion patrol aircraftFile:Revo02.jpg\|Air Force KC-130 refuels H-36 Caracal over Rio de JaneiroFile:Vant Hermes 450 da FAB no aeroporto de Cáceres (MT) (8101398607).jpg\|RQ-450 UAVFile:Infantaria.jpg\|Brazilian Air Force InfantryFile:Parasar.jpg\|Air Force SOF (Para-SAR)" ], [ "Brazilian aerospace command", "Coat of arms of Aerospace Operations CommandThe Aerospace Operations Command is a Brazilian air and space command created in 2017 and is part of the Brazilian Air Force.", "It is responsible for planning, coordinating, executing and controlling the country's air and space operations.", "The Brazilian Navy and Brazilian Army also are part of the organization." ], [ "Troop relocation", "Leopard 1A5BRBrazil has the need to patrol its of land borders.", "Since the 1990s Brazil has been relocating its forces in accordance to this national security requirement.Between 1992 and 2008, the ''1st, 2nd'' and ''16th Jungle Infantry Brigades'', the ''3rd Infantry Battalion'', the ''19th Logistics Battalion'', and the ''22nd Army Police Platoon'' were transferred by the Army from the states of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul to the Amazon region in accordance with the friendship policy with Argentina.", "After those redeployments the number of Army troops in that region rose to 25,000.Also relocated from the state of Rio de Janeiro were the ''1st'' and ''3rd Combat Cars Regiment'', now stationed in the city of Santa Maria, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.However, despite those efforts, the presence of the Armed Forces on the border regions of the Brazilian Amazon continues to be sparse and disperse, given the fact that the Army has just 28 border detachments in that area, a total of 1,600 soldiers, or 1 man for every of borders.", "More redeployments are expected since the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo still concentrate over 49,000 soldiers.", "In May 2008, the Navy announced new plans to reposition its forces throughout Brazil." ], [ "Communications and territorial surveillance", "The Brazilian territory corresponds to 47.3% of the South American continent, and its land border is over 16.000 km and 4,5 million km2 of sea territory.", "With the objective of ensuring Brazil's sovereignty, strategic monitoring and communications projects have been launched in recent years.===SGDC===Inauguration of the ''Space Operations Center'' in Brasília, June 2020.The ''Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellites'' or ''SGDC'', are geostationary communication satellites developed by the Brazilian Air Force and the Brazilian Space Agency, created with the objective of operating strategic military, government and civil communications, also offering broadband internet throughout the national territory.", "The first satellite called SGDC-1, was launched in 2017 and the SGDC-2 has planned to launch in 2022.The ''Space Operations Center'' (COPE) was inaugurated in 2020, subordinated to the Aerospace Operations Command, with the objective of operating the satellites.===SISFRON===Ponta Porã radar stationThe ''Integrated Border Monitoring System'' (SISFRON) is a border system developed by the Brazilian Army for supporting operational employment decisions, operating in an integrated manner with all defense systems in the country, whose purpose is to strengthen the presence and capacity for monitoring and action in the national land border strip.", "Was conceived at the initiative of the Army Command, as a result of the approval of the ''National Defense Strategy'' in 2008, which guides the organization of the Armed Forces.", "The ''SISFRON'' are deployed along the 16,886 kilometers of the border line, favoring the employment of organizations subordinate to the North, West, Southern and the Amazon military commands.===SisGAAz===The ''Blue Amazon Management System'', is a surveillance system developed by the Brazilian Navy, in order to oversee the Blue Amazon, the country's exclusive economic zone and a resource-rich area covering about off the Brazilian coast.", "This area is home to a huge diversity of marine species, valuable metallic minerals and other mineral resources, petroleum, and the world's second largest rare-earth reserve.", "The SisGAAz integrates equipment and systems composed of radars incorporated on land and vessels, as well as high resolution cameras and features such as the fusion of information received from collaborative systems.===Link-BR2===The ''Link-BR2'' is a datalink developed by the Air Force and the Brazilian defence company AEL Sistemas, this technology allow the exchange of data such radar information, videos and images with other units of the three branches anytime and anywhere, using an advanced encrypted protocol with a high degree of security." ], [ "See also", "* Joint Staff of the Armed Forces* Brazilian Naval Aviation* Brazilian Navy* Brazilian Army* Brazilian Army Aviation* Brazilian Air Force* National Force of Public Safety* National Defense Council (Brazil)* Brazil and weapons of mass destruction* Policing in Brazil* Military Police of Brazilian States* Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar: Military Police of the State of São Paulo.", "* BOPE: Special Police Operations Battalion of the Military Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.", "* Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State* List of Wars involving Brazil* Military of the Empire of Brazil" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* " ], [ "External links", " Brazilian Ministry of Defence* Brazil military profile from the ''CIA World Factbook''* Brazil military guide from GlobalSecurity.org" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Brazil" ], [ "Introduction", "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for managing the '''foreign relations of Brazil'''.", "Brazil is a significant political and economic power in Latin America and a key player on the world stage.", "Brazil's foreign policy reflects its role as a regional power and a potential world power and is designed to help protect the country's national interests, national security, ideological goals, and economic prosperity.Between World War II and 1990, both democratic and military governments sought to expand Brazil's influence in the world by pursuing a state-led industrial policy and an independent foreign policy.", "Brazilian foreign policy has recently aimed to strengthen ties with other South American countries, engage in multilateral diplomacy through the United Nations and the Organization of American States, and act at times as a countervailing force to U.S. political and economic influence in Latin America." ], [ "Overview", "The President has ultimate authority over foreign policy, while Congress is tasked with reviewing and considering all diplomatic nominations and international treaties, as well as legislation relating to Brazilian foreign policy.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also known as Itamaraty, is the government department responsible for advising the President and conducting Brazil's foreign relations with other countries and international bodies.", "Itamaraty's scope includes political, commercial, economic, financial, cultural and consular relations, areas in which it performs the classical tasks of diplomacy: represent, inform and administer.", "Foreign policy priorities are established by the President." ], [ "Foreign policy", "Brazil's foreign policy is a by-product of the country's unique position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power.", "Brazilian foreign policy has generally been based on the principles of multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and non-intervention in the affairs of other countries.", "Brazil engages in multilateral diplomacy through the Organization of American States and the United Nations, and has increased ties with developing countries in Africa and Asia.", "Brazil is currently commanding a multinational U.N. stabilization force in Haiti, the MINUSTAH.", "Instead of pursuing unilateral prerogatives, Brazilian foreign policy has tended to emphasize regional integration, first through the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosul) and now the Union of South American Nations.", "Brazil is also committed to cooperation with other Portuguese-speaking nations through joint-collaborations with the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world, in several domains which include military cooperation, financial aid, and cultural exchange.", "This is done in the framework of CPLP, for instance.", "Lula da Silva visit to Africa in 2003 included State visits to three Portuguese-speaking African nations (Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Mozambique).", "Finally, Brazil is also strongly committed in the development and restoration of peace in East Timor, where it has a very powerful influence.Brazil's political, business, and military ventures are complemented by the country's trade policy.", "In Brazil, the Ministry of Foreign Relations continues to dominate trade policy, causing the country's commercial interests to be (at times) subsumed by a larger foreign policy goal, namely, enhancing Brazil's influence in Latin America and the world.", "For example, while concluding meaningful trade agreements with developed countries (such as the United States and the European Union) would probably be beneficial to Brazil's long-term economic self-interest, the Brazilian government has instead prioritized its leadership role within Mercosul and expanded trade ties with countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.Brazil's soft power diplomacy involves institutional strategies such as the formation of diplomatic coalitions to constrain the power of the established great powers.", "In recent years, it has given high priority in establishing political dialogue with other strategic actors such as India, Russia, China and South Africa through participation in international groupings such as BASIC, IBSA and BRICS.", "The BRICS states have been amongst the most powerful drivers of incremental change in world diplomacy and they benefit most from the connected global power shifts.===Workers Party administration: 2003-2018===The Brazilian foreign policy under the Lula da Silva administration (2003-2010) focused on the following directives: to contribute toward the search for greater equilibrium and attenuate unilateralism; to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations in order to increase the country's weight in political and economic negotiations on an international level; to deepen relations so as to benefit from greater economical, financial, technological and cultural interchange; to avoid agreements that could jeopardize development in the long term.These directives implied precise emphasis on: the search for political coordination with emerging and developing countries, namely India, South Africa, Russia and China; creation of the Union of South American Nations and its derivative bodies, such as the South American Security Council; strengthening of Mercosul; projection at the Doha Round and WTO; maintenance of relations with developed countries, including the United States; undertaking and narrowing of relations with African countries; campaign for the reform of the United Nations Security Council and for a permanent seat for Brazil; and defense of social objectives allowing for a greater equilibrium between the States and populations.The foreign policy of the Rousseff administration (2011-2016) sought to deepen Brazil's regional commercial dominance and diplomacy, expand Brazil's presence in Africa, and play a major role in the G20 on global warming and in other multilateral settings.", "At the United Nations, Brazil continues to oppose Economic sanctions and foreign military intervention, while seeking to garner support for a permanent seat at the Security Council.", "Cooperation with other emerging powers remain a top priority in Brazil's global diplomatic strategy.", "On the recent airstrike resolution supporting military action in Libya, Brazil joined fellow BRICS in the Council and abstained.", "On the draft resolution condemning violence in Syria, Brazil worked with India and South Africa to try to bridge the Western powers' divide with Russia and China.===Bolsonaro administration, 2019-2022===After Rousseff's impeachment, Brazil started reconnecting with its western allies.", "In 2019 Jair Bolsonaro succeeded Michel Temer.", "The new foreign policy focused on a reapprochement with major governments especially the United States and Colombia in the Americas; Israel, Japan and South Korea in Asia; United Kingdom, Italy and Greece in Europe.", "The Brazil–Portugal relations were also strengthened, and despite disagreements over the crisis in Venezuela, Brazil remained close to the BRICS countries.Bolsonaro with United States President Donald Trump at the White House, 19 March 2019Bolsonaro with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 20 September 2021During the 2018 presidential campaign, Bolsonaro said he would make considerable changes to Brazil's foreign relations, saying that the \"''Itamaraty'' needs to be in service of the values that were always associated with the Brazilian people\".", "He also said that the country should stop \"praising dictators\" and attacking democracies, such as the United States, Israel and Italy.", "In early 2018, he affirmed that his \"trip to the five democratic countries the United States, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan showed who we will be and we would like to join good people\".", "Bolsonaro has shown distrust towards China throughout the presidential campaign claiming they \"want to buy Brazil\", although Brazil recorded a US$20 billion trade surplus with China in 2018, and China is only the 13th largest source of foreign direct investment into Brazil.", "Bolsonaro said he wishes to continue to have business with the Chinese but he also said that Brazil should \"make better economic deals\" with other countries, with no \"ideological agenda\" behind it.", "His stance towards China has also been interpreted as an attempt to curry favor from the Trump administration to garner concessions from the US.", "However, Bolsonaro has mostly changed his position on China after he took office, saying that the two countries were \"born to walk together\" during his visit to Beijing in October 2019.He has also said that Brazil will stay out of the ongoing China-U.S. trade war.Bolsonaro said that his first international trip as president would be to Israel.", "Bolsonaro also said that the State of Palestine \"is not a country, so there should be no embassy here\", adding that \"you don't negotiate with terrorists.\"", "The announcement was warmly received by the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed Bolsonaro to Israel in March 2019 during the final weeks of a re-election campaign, but was met with condemnation from the Arab League, which warned Bolsonaro it could damage diplomatic ties.", "\"I love Israel,\" Bolsonaro said in Hebrew at a welcoming ceremony, with Netanyahu at his side, at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport.Bolsonaro with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2019Bolsonaro also praised U.S. President Donald Trump and his foreign policy, and has been called \"the tropical Trump\".", "His son Eduardo has indicated that Brazil should distance itself from Iran, sever ties with Nicolás Maduro's government in Venezuela and relocate Brazil's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.", "Bolsonaro is widely considered the most pro-American candidate in Brazil since the 1980s.", "PSL members said that if elected, he would dramatically improve relations between the United States and Brazil.", "During an October 2017 campaign rally in Miami, he saluted the American flag and led chants of \"USA!", "USA!\"", "to a large crowd.", "U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton praised Bolsonaro as a \"like-minded\" partner and said his victory was a \"positive sign\" for Latin America.At the regional level, Bolsonaro praised Argentine President Mauricio Macri for ending the 12-year rule of Néstor and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, which he saw as similar to Lula and Rousseff.", "Although he does not have plans to leave the Mercosur, he criticized it for prioritizing ideological issues over economic ones.", "A staunch anti-communist, Bolsonaro has condemned Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro and the current regime in that island.Bolsonaro praised British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, saying that he had learned from Churchill: \"Patriotism, love for your fatherland, respect for your flag – something that has been lost over the last few years here in Brazil... and governing through example, especially at that difficult moment of the Second World War.\"", "Bolsonaro said he's open to the possibility of hosting a U.S. military base in Brazil to counter Russian influence in the region.", "With the intention to persuade Trump to make Brazil a NATO member in March 2019, Bolsonaro said: \"the discussions with the United States will begin in the coming months\".Bolsonaro with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2019With formal U.S. support for Brazil's entry to OECD in May 2019, Bolsonaro said, \"currently, all 36 members of the organization support the entry of the country, fruit of confidence in the new Brazil being built, more free, open and fair\".", "In October 2019, on a state visit to China, he announced the end of the need for visas for Chinese and Indian entry into Brazil.", "Brazil had already removed the need for visas for people from the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Australia." ], [ "Regional policy", "Mercosur, a regional trade bloc between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.Over the first decade of the 21st century, Brazil has firmly established itself as a regional power.", "It has traditionally, if controversially, been a leader in the inter-American community and played an important role in collective security efforts, as well as in economic cooperation in the Western Hemisphere.", "Brazilian foreign policy supports economic and political integration efforts in order to reinforce long-standing relationships with its neighbors.", "It is a founding member of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty).", "It has given high priority to expanding relations with its South American neighbors and strengthening regional bodies such as the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and Mercosur.", "Although integration is the primary purpose of these organizations, they also serve as forums in which Brazil can exercise its leadership and develop consensus around its positions on regional and global issues.", "Most scholars agree that by promoting integration through organizations like Mercosur and UNASUR, Brazil has been able to solidify its role as a regional power.", "In addition to consolidating its power within South America, Brazil has sought to expand its influence in the broader region by increasing its engagement in the Caribbean and Central America., although some think this is still a fragile, ongoing process, that can be thwarted by secondary regional powers in South America.In April 2019 Brazil left Union of South American Nations (Unasur) to become a member of Forum for the Progress and Development of South America (Prosur).", "In January 2020, Brazil suspended its participation in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, (Celac).Brazil regularly extends export credits and university scholarships to its Latin American neighbors.", "In recent years, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has provided US$5 billion worth of loans to countries in the region.", "Brazil has also increasingly provided Latin American nations with financial aid and technical assistance.", "Between 2005 and 2009, Cuba, Haiti, and Honduras were the top three recipients of Brazilian assistance, receiving over $50 million annually.In November 2019, Brazil made a historic move to break with the rest of Latin America on the U.S. embargo of Cuba, becoming the first Latin American country in twenty-six years to vote against condemning the U.S.-led embargo of Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly." ], [ "United Nations politics", "Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations and participates in all of its specialized agencies.", "It has participated in 33 United Nations peacekeeping missions and contributed with over 27,000 soldiers.", "Brazil has been a member of the United Nations Security Council ten times, most recently 2010–2011.Along with Japan, Brazil has been elected more times to the Security Council than any other U.N. member state.Brazil is currently seeking a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.", "It is a member of the G4, an alliance among Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan for the purpose of supporting each other's bids for permanent seats on the Security Council.", "They propose the Security Council be expanded beyond the current 15 members to include 25 members.", "The G4 countries argue that a reform would render the body \"more representative, legitimate, effective and responsive\" to the realities of the international community in the 21st century." ], [ "Outstanding international issues", "* Two short sections of the border with Uruguay are in dispute - the Arroio Invernada area of the Quaraí River, and the Brazilian Island at the confluence of the Quaraí River and the Uruguay River.", "* Brazil declared in 1986 the sector between 28°W to 53°W ''Brazilian Antarctica'' (''Antártica Brasileira'') as its Zone of Interest.", "It overlaps Argentine and British claims* In 2004, the country submitted its claims to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to extend its maritime continental margin." ], [ "Foreign aid", "Overseas aid has become an increasingly important tool for Brazil's foreign policy.", "Brazil provides aid through the '''Brazilian Agency of Cooperation''' (Abbreviation: '''ABC'''; ), in addition to offering scientific, economical, and technical support.", "More than half of Brazilian aid is provided to Africa, whereas Latin America receives around 20% of Brazilian aid.", "The share of aid allocated to the Asian continent is small.", "Within Africa, more than 80% of Brazilian aid is received by Portuguese-speaking countries.", "Brazil concentrates its aid for Portuguese-speaking countries in the education sector, specially in secondary and post-secondary education, but it is more committed to agricultural development in other countries.", "Estimated to be around $1 billion annually, Brazil is on par with China and India and ahead of many more traditional donor countries.", "The aid tends to consist of technical aid and expertise, alongside a quiet non-confrontational diplomacy to development results.", "Brazil's aid demonstrates a developing pattern of South-South aid, which has been heralded as a 'global model in waiting'.", "Concomitantly, South-South relations have become a major subfield of specialisation among Brazilian foreign policy experts.", "Some studies have suggested that, by giving aid, Brazil could be trying to get access to mineral and energy resources." ], [ "Participation in international organizations", "ACS • ACTO • AfDB • ALECSO • BIS • CAF-BDLAC • Cairns Group • CAN • CDB • CPLP • FAO • G4 • BASIC countries • G8+5 • G15 • G20 • G20+ • G24 • G77 • IADB • IDB • IAEA • IBRD • IBSA •ICAO • ICC • ICRM • IDA • IFAD • IFC • IFRCS • IHO • ILO • IMF • IMO • Inmarsat •INSARAG • Intelsat • Interpol • IOC • IOM • ISO • ITU • LAES • LAIA • Mercosul • MINUSTAH • NAM • NSG • OAS • OEI • OPANAL • OPCW • PCA • Rio Group • Rio Treaty • UN • UNASUR • UNCTAD • UNESCO • UNHCR • UNIDO • UNITAR • UNMIL • UNMIS • UNMOVIC • UNOCI • UNTAET • UNWTO • UPU • WCO • WHO • WIPO • WMO • WTO • ZPCAS" ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "Brazil has a large global network of diplomatic missions, and maintains diplomatic relations with As of 2019, Brazil's diplomatic network consisted of 194 overseas posts.Relations with non-UN members or observers: * - Brazil does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state and has announced it has no plans to do so without an agreement with Serbia.", "However, Brazil accepts the Kosovan passport.", "* - Brazil does not recognize the Republic of China as it has recognized the People's Republic of China, although it has non-diplomatic relations and maintains a special office in Taiwan.", "Brazil also accepts the Taiwan passport.=== List ===Diplomatic missions of Brazil List of countries which Brazil maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate1234567891011—121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556—575859606162636465666768''''''69707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191—192——" ], [ "Bilateral relations", "===Africa=== Country Formal relations beganNotes28 November 1962See Algeria–Brazil relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 28 November 1962* Algeria has an embassy in Brasilia.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Algiers.12 November 1975See Angola–Brazil relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 12 November 1975* Angola has an embassy in Brasilia and consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Luanda.1975See Brazil–Cape Verde relations* Brazil has an embassy in Praia.", "* Cape Verde has an embassy in Brasilia.21 June 1968See Brazil–Democratic Republic of the Congo relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 21 June 1968* Brazil has an embassy in Kinshasa.", "* DR Congo has an embassy in Brasília.31 October 1968Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 October 1968* Brazil has an embassy in Abidjan.", "* Côte d'Ivoire has an embassy in Brasília.27 February 1924See Brazil–Egypt relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 27 February 1924* Brazil has an embassy in Cairo.", "* Egypt has an embassy in Brasília.9 January 1951See Brazil–Ethiopia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 9 January 1951 when was accredited first Minister of Ethiopia to Brazil Mr. Blatta Dawit Ogbazgy* Brazil has an embassy in Addis Ababa.", "* Ethiopia has an embassy in Brasília.11 January 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 January 1974* Brazil has an embassy in Libreville.", "* Gabon has an embassy in Brasília.1960* Ghana and Brazil share a historically close relationship.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Accra.", "* Ghana has an embassy in Brasília.4 September 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 September 1974* Brazil has an embassy in Conakry.", "* Guinea has an embassy in Brasília.22 November 1974See Brazil–Guinea-Bissau relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 22 November 1974.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Bissau.", "* Guinea-Bissau has an embassy in Brasília..4 July 1967See Brazil–Kenya relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 4 July 1967* Brazil has an embassy in Nairobi.", "* Kenya has an embassy in Brasília.9 April 1967See Brazil–Libya relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 9 April 1967* Libya has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil is accredited to Libya from its embassy in Tunis, Tunisia.7 October 1996Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 October 1996* Brazil is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Brazil from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.23 August 1990Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 August 1990* Brazil has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Brasília.15 November 1975See Brazil–Mozambique relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 15 November 1975* Brazil has an embassy in Maputo.", "* Mozambique has an embassy in Brasília.Mozambique is the country that receives the highest amount of Brazilian aid in Africa.", "Almost 50% of Brazilian aid allocated to the African continent between 1998 and 2010 was allocated to Mozambique.21 March 1990See Brazil–Namibia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 21 March 1990* Brazil has an embassy in Windhoek.", "* Namibia has an embassy in Brasília.16 August 1961See Brazil–Nigeria relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 16 August 1961Bilateral relations between Nigeria and Brazil focus primarily upon trade and culture.", "The largest country in Latin America by size, and the largest country in Africa by population are remotely bordered across from one another by the Atlantic Ocean.", "Brazil and Nigeria for centuries, have enjoyed a warmly, friendly, and strong relationship on the basis of culture (many Afro-Brazilians trace their ancestry to Nigeria) and commercial trade.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Abuja and a consulate-general in Lagos.", "* Nigeria has an embassy in Brasília.1975See Brazil–São Tomé and Príncipe relations* Brazil has an embassy in São Tomé.", "* São Tomé and Príncipe is accredited to Brazil from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City, United States.26 April 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 April 1961* Brazil has an embassy in Dakar.", "* Senegal has an embassy in Brasília.31 January 1948See Brazil–South Africa relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 31 January 1948Brazil-South Africa relations have traditionally been close.", "Brazil has provided military assistance to South Africa in the form of warfare training and logistics.", "Bilateral relations between the countries have recently increased, as a result of Brazil's new ''South-South'' foreign policy aimed to strengthen integration between the major powers of the developing world.", "South Africa is part of the IBSA Dialogue Forum, alongside Brazil and India.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Pretoria and a consulate-general in Cape Town.", "* South Africa has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.10 October 1968Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 October 1968* Brazil has an embassy in Khartoum.", "* Sudan has an embassy in Brasília.===Americas=== Country Formal relations beganNotes5 August 1823See Argentina–Brazil relations Argentina is the first country to recognize Brazil's independence and to establish diplomatic relations with the empire.", "The Argentine envoy Valentín Gómez presents the Brazilian Foreign Minister with a credential letter signed by Bernardino Rivadavia, with the recognition of Brazil's independence (August 5), and is received by Dom Pedro I (August 11)After democratization, a strong integration and partnership began between the two countries.", "In 1985 they signed the basis for the MERCOSUL, a Regional Trade Agreement.", "In the field of science, the two regional giants had been rivals since the 1950s when both governments launched parallel nuclear and space programs, however, several agreements were signed since then such as the creation of the Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) to verify both countries' pledges to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.", "National spaces agencies CONAE and the AEB had also begun working together since the 1990s.", "Brazil's decision to prevent a Royal Navy ship docking in Rio de Janeiro was seen as backing Argentina over the Falklands dispute.Also on the military side there has been greater rapprochement.", "In accordance with the friendship policy, both armies dissolved or moved major units previously located at their common border (for example, Argentine's 7th Jungle and 3rd Motorized Infantry Brigades).", "Brazilian soldiers are embedded in the Argentine peacekeeping contingent at UNFICYP in Cyprus and they are working together at MINUSTAH in Haiti and, as another example of collaboration, Argentine Navy aircraft routinely operate from the Brazilian Navy carrier NAe São Paulo.", "* Argentina has an embassy in Brasília and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Buenos Aires and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* In May 2023, Argentina and Brazil announced plans to continue working on the development of a mechanism allowing them to avoid using the US dollar in bilateral trade.See Bolivia–Brazil relations* Bolivia has an embassy in Brasilia and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* Brazil has an embassy in La Paz and maintains several consulates throughout the country.See Brazil–Canada relationsBrazil-Canada relations have been cordial but relatively limited, although the relationship between the two countries has been gradually evolving over time.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Ottawa and consulates-general in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.", "* Canada has an embassy in Brasília, and consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.22 April 1836See Brazil–Chile relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 22 April 1836Chile and Brazil have acted numerous times as mediators in international conflicts, such as in the 1914 diplomatic impasse between the United States and Mexico, avoiding a possible state of war between those two countries.", "More recently, since the 2004 Haiti rebellion, Chile and Brazil have actively participated in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which is led by the Brazilian Army.", "They are also two of the three most important economies in South America along with Argentina.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Santiago.", "* Chile has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo.See Brazil–Colombia relations* Brazil has an embassy in Bogotá and a vice-consulate in Leticia.", "* Colombia has an embassy in Brasilia and maintains several consulates throughout the country.See Brazil–Costa Rica relations* Brazil has an embassy in San José.", "* Costa Rica has an embassy in Brasilia.See Brazil–Cuba relationsBrazilian-Cuban relations were classified as \"excellent\" in May 2008 following a meeting of foreign ministers.", "During a January 2008 state visit to Cuba by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, the Brazilian leader expressed desire for his country to be Cuba's \"number one partner\".Bilateral trade increased by 58% between April 2007 and April 2008.Brazilian-Cuban relations have deteriorated greatly during the presidency of Brazilian rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro since 2019 .He stopped Mais Médicos (More Doctors) programme and thousands of Cuban doctors left Brazil.", "In November 2019, Brazil voted for the first time against an annual United Nations resolution condemning and calling for an end to Washington's economic embargo on Cuba.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Havana.", "* Cuba has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.9 February 1981Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 February 1981 * Brazil is accredited to Dominica from its embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.", "* Dominica is accredited to Brazil from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.18 November 1968See Brazil–Guyana relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 18 November 1968Brazil–Guyana relations have traditionally been close.", "Brazil has provided military assistance to Guyana in the form of warfare training and logistics.", "Bilateral relations between the countries have recently increased, as a result of Brazil's new ''South-South'' foreign policy aimed to strengthen South American integration.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Georgetown.", "* Guyana has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in Boa Vista.1928See Brazil–Haiti relations* Brazil has an embassy in Port-au-Prince.", "* Haiti has an embassy in Brasília.14 October 1962See Brazil–Jamaica relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 14 October 1962Both countries are full members of the Group of 15.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Kingston.", "* Jamaica has an embassy in Brasília.7 August 1824See Brazil–Mexico relationsBrazil and Mexico have the two largest emerging economies in Latin-America and the global stage.", "Both nations are considered to be regional powers and highly influential within the American continent.", "Both nations have historically been friendly and they have both participated in and are members of several multilateral organizations such as the G20, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, Rio Group and the United Nations.", "Several high-level diplomatic meeting have been held by presidents of both nations to enhance bilateral relations.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Brasilia and consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.See Brazil–Paraguay relationsParaguay–Brazil relations have improved greatly after Brazilian President Lula's decision in 2009 to triple its payments to Paraguay for energy from a massive hydro-electric dam on their border, ending a long-running dispute.", "Under the accord, Brazil will pay Paraguay $360m a year for energy from the jointly-operated Itaipu plant.", "Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called it a \"historic agreement\" and the deal slated as a political victory for Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.", "In February 2019, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro praised the late military strongman of Paraguay, Alfredo Stroessner, calling him \"a man of vision.\"", "Bolsonaro made the comments during a ceremony at the Itaipu hydroelectric dam on the countries' shared border.", "At his side was his close ally, Paraguayan right-wing President Mario Abdo Benitez.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Asunción and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* Paraguay has an embassy in Brasília and maintains several consulates throughout the country.See Brazil–Peru relations* Brazil has an embassy in Lima and a consulate in Iquitos.", "* Peru has an embassy in Brasilía and maintains several consulates throughout the country.25 November 1975See Brazil–Suriname relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 25 November 1975* Brazil has an embassy in Paramaribo.", "* Suriname has an embassy in Brasilia, and a consulate-general in Belém.27 July 1965See Brazil-Trinidad and Tobago relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 27 July 1965* Brazil has an embassy in Port of Spain.", "* Trinidad and Tobago has an embassy in Brasilia.26 May 1824See Brazil–United States relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 26 May 1824Brazil-United States relations has a long history, characterized by some moments of remarkable convergence of interests but also by sporadic and critical divergences on sensitive international issues.", "The United States has increasingly regarded Brazil as a significant power, especially in its role as a stabilizing force and skillful interlocutor in Latin America.", "As a significant political and economic power, Brazil has traditionally preferred to cooperate with the United States on specific issues rather than seeking to develop an all-encompassing, privileged relationship with the United States.In October 2020, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said that the Brazil-US relations have elevated to \"its best moment ever.", "\"* Brazil has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* United States has an embassy in Brasília and maintains several consulates throughout the country.1828See Brazil–Uruguay relationsBrazil and Uruguay are neighboring countries that share close historical, cultural and geographical ties.", "The singularity of the bilateral relationship between the two countries originates from the strong historical connection - marked by important events, such as the establishment of the Colônia do Sacramento in 1680, the annexation by Brazil and the subsequent creation of the Província Cisplatina in 1815, and Uruguay's independence from Brazil in 1828.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Montevideo and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* Uruguay has an embassy in Brasília and maintains several consulates throughout the country.See Brazil–Venezuela relationsDuring the Brazilian government of President Jair Bolsonaro since 2019, Brazil has cut off the relations with the current Venezuelan leftwing and disputed government of president Nicolás Maduro.", "Brazil downgraded its diplomatic relations with the ruling Venezuelan government.", "Brazil has recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate President of Venezuela.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Caracas and maintains several consulates throughout the country.", "* Venezuela has an embassy in Brasilia and maintains several consulates throughout the country.===Asia=== Country Formal relations beganNotes17 February 1992See Armenia–Brazil relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 17 February 1992* Armenia has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Yerevan.", "* Brazil has recognized the Armenian genocide in 2015.21 October 1993See Azerbaijan–Brazil relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 21 October 1993Azerbaijan has an embassy in Brasília.", "Brazil has an embassy in Baku.8 July 1974See Bangladesh-Brazil relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 8 July 1974 Relations have been good.", "In 2013, Bangladesh has sought Brazil's support for its candidature at the Human Rights Council in 2015 and non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for 2016–17 term.", "In 2014, Brazil assured its support to Bangladesh for the posts of United Nations Human Rights Commission and CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women).", "Bangladesh also supported Brazil's candidature for the post of Director General of World Trade Organization.", "* Bangladesh has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Dhaka.15 August 1974See Brazil–China relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 15 August 1974* Brazil has an embassy in Beijing and consulates-general in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai.", "* China has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.See Brazil–East Timor relations* Brazil has an embassy in Dili.", "* East Timor has an embassy in Brasilia.28 April 1993See Brazil–Georgia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 28 April 1993* Brazil has an embassy in Tbilisi.", "* Georgia has an embassy in Brasília.6 April 1948See Brazil–India relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 6 April 1948The two countries share similar perceptions on issues of interest to developing countries and have cooperated in the multilateral level on issues such as reform to the UN and the UNSC expansion.", "* Brazil has an embassy in New Delhi and a consulate-general in Mumbai.", "* India has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.March 1953See Brazil–Indonesia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations in March 1953Both are large tropical country endowed with rich natural resources, Brazil and Indonesia possess the largest tropical rain forest of the world that contains the world's richest biodiversity, which gave them a vital role in global environment issues, such as ensuring tropical forests protection.", "Both countries leading the list of Megadiverse countries with Indonesia second only to Brazil.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Jakarta.", "* Indonesia has an embassy in Brasília.See Brazil–Iran relations* Brazil has an embassy in Tehran.", "* Iran has an embassy in Brasília.1 December 1967See Brazil–Iraq relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 1 December 1967* Brazil maintains an embassy in Baghdad.", "* Iraq maintains an embassy in Brasília.", "Both countries are full members of the Group of 77.Brazil was the first Latin American country to reopen its embassy in Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War.1949-2-7See Brazil–Israel relationsBrazil played a large role in the establishment of the State of Israel.", "Brazil held the Presidency office of the UN General Assembly in 1947, which proclaimed the Partition Plan for Palestine.", "The Brazilian delegation to the U.N., supported and heavily lobbied for the partition of Palestine toward the creation of the State of Israel.", "Brazil was also one of the first countries to recognize the State of Israel, on 7 February 1949, less than one year after Israeli Declaration of Independence.Nowadays, Brazil and Israel maintains close political, economic and military ties.", "Brazil is a full member state of Israel Allies Caucus, a political advocacy organization that mobilizes pro-Israel parliamentarians in governments worldwide.", "The two nations enjoy a degree of arms cooperation as Brazil is a key buyer of Israeli weapons and military technology.", "Also, Brazil is Israel's largest trading partner in Latin America.", "Brazil has the 9th largest Jewish community in the world, about 107,329 by 2010, according to the IBGE census.", "The Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) estimates to more than 120,000.Brazil-Israel relations have improved significantly during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro since 2019.Brazilian president Bolsonaro has expressed his love for Israel several times.", "He has even said to have turned Brazil into Israel's new best friend.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Tel Aviv.", "* Israel has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.1895See Brazil–Japan relations* Brazil has an embassy in Tokyo and consulates-general in Hamamatsu and Nagoya.", "* Japan has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Belém, Curitiba, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and consular offices in Recife and Porto Alegre.6 April 1959Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 April 1959 at Legation level* Brazil has an embassy in Amman.", "* Jordan has an embassy in Brasília.22 September 1993See Brazil–Kazakhstan relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 22 September 1993* Brazil has an embassy in Nur-Sultan.", "* Kazakhstan has an embassy in Brasília.20 January 1968Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 January 1968* Brazil has an embassy in Kuwait City.", "* Kuwait has an embassy in Brasília.13 November 1945See Brazil–Lebanon relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 13 November 1945* Brazil has an embassy in Beirut.", "* Lebanon has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.11 August 1959See Brazil–Malaysia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 11 August 1959* Brazil has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Brasília.9 March 2001See Brazil–North Korea relations* Brazil has an embassy in Pyongyang.", "* North Korea has an embassy in Brasília.January 1951See Brazil–Pakistan relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations in January 1951Brazil-Pakistan relations are characterized as friendly and cooperative.", "In 2008, Brazil approved the sale of 100 MAR-1 anti-radiation missiles to Pakistan despite India's pressure on Brazil to avoid doing so.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Islamabad.", "* Pakistan has an embassy in Brasília.See Brazil–Palestine relations* Brazil has a representative office in Ramallah.", "* Palestine has an embassy in Brasília.See Brazil–Philippines relationsIn June 2009, Brazil and the Philippines made their pledges as they signed mutual cooperation agreements in the fields of bio-energy and agriculture.", "The two countries committed themselves to take the necessary steps to implement the signed Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Agriculture and the Memorandum of Understanding on Bioenergy Cooperation.", "The Philippines and Brazil signed six memoranda of understanding and agreements on the development and production of renewable energy, and agriculture cooperation.", "It intends to \"facilitate technical cooperation... on the production and use of biofuels, particularly ethanol, and promote the expansion of bilateral trade and investment in biofuel,\"* Brazil has an embassy in Manila.", "* Philippines has an embassy in Brasília.20 May 1974See Brazil–Qatar relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 20 May 1974* Brazil has an embassy in Doha.", "* Qatar has an embassy in Brasília.2 November 1967Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 November 1967* Brazil has an embassy in Singapore.", "* Singapore has an embassy in Brasília.31 October 1959See Brazil–South Korea relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 October 1959* South Korea has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Seoul.", "13 November 1945Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 November 1945* Brazil has an embassy in Damascus.", "* Syria has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.See Brazil–Taiwan relations* Brazil has a Commercial Office in Taipei.", "* Taiwan has an Economic and Cultural Office in Brasília and in São Paulo.17 April 1959Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 April 1959* Brazil has an embassy in Bangkok.", "* Thailand has an embassy in Brasília.Brazil is the main trading partner of Thailand in Latin America.1927See Brazil–Turkey relationsBrazil has an embassy in Ankara, a Consulate General in Istanbul.", "Turkey has an embassy in Brasília and a Consulate General in São Paulo.", "Both countries are members of G20 and WTO.", "There are direct flights from Istanbul to São Paulo 7 times per week.", "Trade volume between the two countries was US$3.1 billion in 2019 (Brazilian exports/imports: 2.6/0.48 billion USD.8 May 1989Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 May 1989The Brazilian Embassy in Hanoi was opened in 1994, being the first Latin American country to open an embassy in Hanoi.", "Vietnamese Presidents Lê Đức Anh and Trần Đức Lương have visited Brazil in October 1995 and November 2004, respectively.", " Brazil has an embassy in Hanoi.", "* Vietnam has an embassy in Brasília.===Europe=== Country Formal relations beganNotes4 April 1961See Albania–Brazil relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 4 April 1961* Albania has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Tirana.", "9 July 1996Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 July 1996* Andorra does not have an accreditation to Brazil.", "* Brazil is accredited to Andorra from its embassy in Madrid, Spain and maintains an honorary consulate in Andorra la Vella.See Austria–Brazil relations* Austria has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Vienna.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Sofia.", "* Bulgaria has an embassy in Brasília.1918See Brazil–Czech Republic relations* Brazil has an embassy in Prague.", "* Czech Republic has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.See Brazil–Denmark relations* Brazil has an embassy in Copenhagen.", "* Denmark has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.16 December 1991Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 December 1991* Brazil has an embassy in Tallinn.", "* Estonia is accredited to Brazil from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn.8 April 1929 See Brazil–Finland relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1929Brazil recognised the independence of Finland on December 26, 1919.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Helsinki.", "* Finland has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate in São Paulo.25 October 1825See Brazil–France relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 25 October 1825 when France recognized independent of BrazilFrance has recognized Brazil as its special partner in South America and as a global player in international affairs.", "The two countries are committed to strengthening their bilateral cooperation in the areas for which working groups have been created: nuclear power, renewable energies, defence technologies, technological innovation, joint cooperation in African countries and space technologies, medicines and the environment.Recently, France announced its support to the Brazilian bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Paris and consulates-general in Marseille and in Cayenne and Saint-Georges (both in French Guiana).", "* France has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and a consulate in Recife.See Brazil–Germany relations* Brazil has an embassy in Berlin and consulates-general in Frankfurt and Munich.", "* Germany has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.See Brazil–Greece relationsThe countries have enjoyed \"Bilateral relations that have always been good and are progressing smoothly,\" according to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Athens.", "* Greece has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate general in São Paulo.See Brazil–Holy See relations* Brazil has an embassy to the Holy See based in Rome.", "* Holy See has an Apostolic nunciature in Brasília.1927See Brazil–Hungary relations* Brazil has an embassy in Budapest.", "* Hungary has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.", "* The two countries signed the ''Brazil-Hungary Cultural Agreement'' in 1992.1952* Brazil is accredited to Iceland from its embassy in Oslo, Norway and maintains an honorary consulate in Reykjavík.", "* Iceland is accredited to Brazil from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Reykjavík and maintains honorary consulates in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.1 September 1975See Brazil–Ireland relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 1 September 1975* Brazil has an embassy in Dublin.", "* Ireland has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.1834See Brazil–Italy relations* Brazil has an embassy in Rome, a consulate-general in Milan, and honorary consulates in Bari, Catanzaro, Florence, Naples, Palermo, Genoa, Trieste, Turin and Venice.", "* Italy has an embassy in Brasília, consulates-general in Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and consulates in Belo Horizonte and in Recife.7 November 1991Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 November 1991* Brazil is accredited to Latvia from its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.", "* Latvia is accredited to Brazil from its embassy in Lisbon, Portugal.5 November 1991See Brazil–Lithuania relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 5 November 1991* Brazil is accredited to Lithuania from its embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark and maintains an honorary consulate in Vilnius.", "* Lithuania has a consulate-general in São Paulo.", "* Brazil has an embassy in The Hague a consulate-general in Rotterdam and a consulate in Curaçao.", "* Netherlands has an embassy in Brasilia and two consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.11 May 1908See Brazil–Norway relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 11 May 1908* Brazil has an embassy in Oslo.", "* Norway has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in Rio de Janeiro.27 May 1920See Brazil–Poland relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 27 May 1920* Poland has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in Curitiba.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Warsaw.29 August 1825See Brazil–Portugal relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 29 August 1825Portugal and Brazil have countless bilateral agreements in areas such as culture, language, R&D, immigration, defence, tourism, economy, environment, among others.", "Portugal and Brazil hold regular Summits to discuss bilateral and multilateral agreements and current topics (last one in Bahia in 2008, before that one in Porto in 2005).", "One rather controversial topic was the spelling reform that aims at homogenising spelling in lusophone countries.", "Both countries share a common heritage and are committed in its preservation, be it through bilateral agreements or involving other nations, such as in the framework of CPLP.", "Both countries lobby within the UN to upgrade Portuguese to a working language in that Organisation.", "Portugal has also lobbied for Brazil to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.", "Finally, Portugal hosted the 1st EU-Brazil summit, in 2007.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Lisbon and consulates-general in Faro and Porto.", "* Portugal has an embassy in Brasília, consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo and consulates in Belém, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife and Santos.", "1928See Brazil–Romania relations* Brazil has an embassy in Bucharest.", "* Romania has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in Rio de Janeiro.", "October 3, 1828See Brazil–Russia relationsBrazil–Russia relations have seen a significant improvement in recent years, characterized by an increasing commercial trade and cooperation in military and technology segments.", "Today, Brazil shares an important alliance with the Russian Federation, with partnerships in areas such as space and military technologies, and telecommunications.1 April 2002Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 April 200215 June 1938See Brazil–Serbia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 15 June 1938* Brazil has an embassy in Belgrade.", "* Serbia has an embassy in Brasília.1834See Brazil–Spain relations* Brazil has an embassy in Madrid and a consulate-general in Barcelona.", "* Spain has an embassy in Brasilia and consulates-general in Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and in São Paulo.1826See Brazil–Sweden relations* Brazil has an embassy in Stockholm.", "* Sweden has an embassy in Brasília.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Bern and consulates-general in Geneva and Zürich.", "* Switzerland has an embassy in Brasília.11 February 1992See Brazil–Ukraine relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 11 February 1992* Brazil has an embassy in Kyiv.", "* Ukraine has an embassy in Brasilia, a consulate-general in Rio de Janeiro and a consulate in Curitiba.18 October 1825See Brazil–United Kingdom relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 18 October 1825 when United Kingdom recognized independent of Brazil* Brazil has an embassy in London and a consulate-general in Edinburgh.", "* United Kingdom has an embassy in Brasilia and consulates-general in Belo Horizonte, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo..===Oceania=== Country Formal relations beganNotesSee Australia–Brazil relations* Australia has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Canberra and a consulate-general in Sydney.", "16 February 2006Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 February 2006* Brazil is accredited to Fiji from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.", "* Fiji does not have an accreditation to Brazil.4 March 1964See Brazil–New Zealand relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 4 March 1964* Brazil has an embassy in Wellington.", "* New Zealand has an embassy in Brasilia and a consulate-general in São Paulo." ], [ "See also", "* Brazil and the European Union* Brazil and the United Nations* Brazil and weapons of mass destruction* Brazilian Antarctica* List of diplomatic missions in Brazil* List of diplomatic missions of Brazil* Mercosul* Ministry of Foreign Relations of Brazil* Union of South American Nations* Visa requirements for Brazilian citizens" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* * Almeida, Paulo Roberto de.", "\"Never before seen in Brazil: Luis Inácio Lula da Silva's grand diplomacy.\"", "''Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional'' 53 (2010): 160–177.online* Buarque, Daniel.", "\"Brazil is not (perceived as) a serious country: exposing gaps between the external images and the international ambitions of the nation.\"", "''Brasiliana: Journal for Brazilian Studies'' 8.1-2 (2019): 285-314 online.", "* Burges, Sean W. ''Brazil in the world: The international relations of a South American giant'' (2016) excerpt; wide-ranging survey.", "* Burges, Sean W. ''Brazilian Foreign Policy after the Cold War'' (UP of Florida, 2009)* Burges, Sean W., and Fabrício H. Chagas Bastos.", "\"The importance of presidential leadership for Brazilian foreign policy.\"", "''Policy Studies'' 38.3 (2017): 277–290.online* Burges, Sean W. \"Without Sticks or Carrots: Brazilian Leadership in South America during the Cardoso Era, 1992–2003.\"", "''Bulletin of Latin American Research'' 25#1 (2006): 23–42.", "* Burges, Sean W. 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Tavares de Almeida.", "''Foreign Policy Responses to the Rise of Brazil: Balancing Power in Emerging States'' (Palgrave, 2017).", "How other states responded.", "excerpt* Long, Tom.", "\"The US, Brazil and Latin America: the dynamics of asymmetrical regionalism.\"", "''Contemporary Politics'' 24.1 (2018): 113–129.online* Lopes, Dawisson Belém.", "\"De-westernization, democratization, disconnection: the emergence of Brazil's post-diplomatic foreign policy.\"", "''Global Affairs'' 6.2 (2020): 167–184.online* Magalhães, Diego Trindade D'Ávila, and Laís Forti Thomaz.", "\"The Conspiracy-Myth Diplomacy: anti-globalism vs pragmatism in Bolsonaro's foreign policy for South American integration.\"", "''OIKOS'' 20.3 (2022).", "online* Mares, David R., and Harold A. Trinkunas, eds.", "''Aspirational power: Brazil on the long road to global influence'' (Brookings Institution Press, 2016).", "* Pitts, Bryan.", "\"The Empire Strikes Back: US-Brazil Relations from Obama to Trump\" in ''The Future of US Empire in the Americas'' (Routledge, 2020) pp. 165–187.", "* Rossone de Paula, Francine.", "''The Emergence of Brazil to the Global Stage: Ascending and Falling in the International Order of Competition'' (2018) preview; also online review* Rossone de Paula, Francine.", "\"Brazil's non-indifference: a case for a feminist diplomatic agenda or geopolitics as usual?.\"", "''International Feminist Journal of Politics'' 21.1 (2019): 47–66.", "* Saraiva, Miriam Gomes.", "\"The democratic regime and the changes in Brazilian foreign policy towards South America.\"", "''Brazilian Political Science Review'' 14 (2020).", "online* Smith, Joseph.", "''Brazil and the United States: Convergence and Divergence'' (U of Georgia Press; 2010), 256 pages* Visentini, Paulo.", "\"The Brazil of Lula: a global and affirmative diplomacy (2003-2010)\" ''Austral: Brazilian Journal of Strategy & International Relations'' 1.1 (2012): 23–35.online* Vigevani, Tullo, and Gabriel Cepaluni, eds.", "''Brazilian Foreign Policy in Changing Times: The Quest for Autonomy from Sarney to Lula'' (Lexington Books, 2009).", "* Weiffen, Brigitte.", "\"Foreign Policy and International Relations: Taking Stock after Two Years of the Bolsonaro Administration.\"", "in ''Brazil under Bolsonaro.", "How endangered is democracy?''", "(2022): 55–66.online===Historical===* Bethell, Leslie.", "''The Abolition of the Brazilian Slave Trade: Britain, Brazil and the Slave Trade Question'' (2009) excerpt* Fritsch, Winston.", "''External Restraints on Economic Policy in Brazil, 1889-1930'' (1988), emphasis on role of Great Britain.", "* Garcia, Eugenio V. \"Antirevolutionary diplomacy in oligarchic Brazil, 1919–30.\"", "''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 36.4 (2004): 771–796.online* Graham, Richard.", "''Britain and the Onset of Modernization in Brazil 1850–1914'' (1972) excerpt* Harmer, Tanya.", "\"Brazil's Cold War in the Southern Cone, 1970–1975' ''Cold War History'' (2012) 12#4 pp 659-681.", "* Hilton, Stanley E. \"The Argentine factor in twentieth-century Brazilian foreign policy strategy.\"", "''Political Science Quarterly'' 100.1 (1985): 27–51.online* Mota, Isadora Moura.", "\"On the Verge of War: Black Insurgency, the 'Christie Affair', and British Antislavery in Brazil.\"", "''Slavery & Abolition'' 43.1 (2022): 120–139.London threatened war in 1862–1863 in the \"Christie Affair.", "\"* Rivere, Peter.", "''Absent Minded Imperialism: Britain and the Expansion of Empire in 19th-Century Brazil'' (1995)* Rodrigues, Jose Honorio.", "\"The Foundations of Brazil's Foreign Policy.\"", "''International Affairs'' 38.3 (1962): 324–338; covers 1822 to 1889.online* Roett, Riordan.", "\"Brazil ascendant: international relations and geopolitics in the late 20th century.\"", "''Journal of international affairs'' (1975): 139–154.online* Skidmore, Thomas E. \"The Historiography of Brazil, 1889-1964,\" ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' (1976) 56#1 pp 81–109; emphasis is on economics and foreign policy.", "DOI: 10.2307/2513726* Smith, Joseph.", "''Unequal Giants: Diplomatic Relations between the United States & Brazil, 1889-1930'' 1991).", "* Topik, Steven C. ''Trade & Gunboats: The United States & Brazil in the Age of Empire'' (1997), covers 1870 to 1899." ], [ "External links", "* The Sino-Brazilian Principles in a Latin American and BRICS Context: The Case for Comparative Public Budgeting Legal Research ''Wisconsin International Law Journal'', 13 May 2015* Ministério das Relações Exteriores - Official website of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations * Ministério das Relações Exteriores - Official website of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations* Brazilian Mission to the United Nations - Official website * Agência Brasileira de Cooperação - Official website of the Brazilian Agency of Cooperation * IBSA News and Media - IBSA Dialogue Forum \| India, Brazil and South Africa \| News, Opinion and Analysis" ] ]	wikipedia

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