Split (1)

train · 64.6k rows

id stringlengths 2 8	url stringlengths 31 139	title stringlengths 1 87	text stringlengths 10 247k	embedding list
17544	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing%20by%20ear	Playing by ear	Playing or learning by ear is the ability of a performing musician to reproduce a piece of music they have heard, without having seen it notated in any form of sheet music. It is considered to be a desirable skill among musical performers, especially for those that play in a musical tradition where notating music is not the norm. It is a misconception that musicians who play by ear do not have or do not require musical education, or have no theoretical understanding of the music they are playing. Playing by ear is often also used to refer more generally to making music without using musical notation, perhaps using (elements of) improvisation and instant composition. Blues, pop, jazz, and many forms of non-western music are fundamentally rooted in the concept of playing by ear, where musical compositions are passed down from generation to generation. In this respect, playing by ear can also be seen as a music-specific example of oral tradition. The concept of playing by ear has led to the development of the idiom to play by ear or "play it by ear." Method One learns a piece of music by ear by repeatedly listening to it performed, memorizing it, and then trying to recreate what one has heard. This requires the use of several related skills such as ear training, musical perception, tonal memory, audiation, music theory, and knowledge of the traditions of the music one is trying to learn. As such, learning to play by ear involves training those skills as well. To practice playing music by ear, music teachers often have a student listen to short musical examples which the student will have to write out in musical notation, play back on an instrument, sing, or describe using note names or a solfège system. Musicians will also train their playing by ear skills by taking recordings of full songs and pieces, figuring out the notes by ear, and either transcribing or memorizing them. Audiation is a vital skill for playing music by ear. Edwin Gordon, originator of the term, describes audiation as: "the foundation of musicianship. It takes place when we hear and comprehend music for which the sound is no longer or may never have been present." It is often described as the ability to hear music in your head. In this sense, audiation is to music what thought is to language. Learning to play by ear, in the sense of making music without notation, is often compared to learning to speak a language. When sufficiently mastered, playing music by ear should be as comfortable and easy as having a conversation. We speak and react to what we hear, without having to think to deeply about every word we use. The same would be true when playing by ear. A musician can produce a sound at the same time they think of it, without having to consider every separate note they play. Existence in musical traditions In most instances, traditions in which music is primarily learned by ear do not use musical notation in any form. Some examples are early Blues guitarists and pianists, Romani fiddlers, and folk music guitarists. One particularly prominent example is Indian classical music: the teaching methods of its two major strands (Hindustani and Carnatic) are almost exclusively oral. In the West Historically, the Western classical music tradition has been based on the process of learning new pieces from musical notation, and hence playing by ear has a lower importance in musical training. However, many teaching methods in this tradition incorporate playing by ear in some form. For instance, "ear training" courses are a standard part of conservatory or college music programs (including use of Solfège), and the Suzuki method, which incorporates a highly developed focus on playing by ear from a very young age. In the West, learning by ear is also used heavily in the genres of folk music, blues, rock, pop, funk, reggae, and jazz. While most professional musicians currently active in these genres are capable of reading musical notation, playing by ear is still widely practiced for a number of reasons. Among those are ease and speed of learning songs, flexibility while improvising and playing variations, and working around the limitations of western musical notation. Since western musical notation was developed for classical music, musicians sometimes run into issues when musical expressions are commonly used in the genre they are performing but not in classical music. Examples of this are percussion instruments in Afro-Cuban music, where different strokes and techniques are used to produce different tones and timbres, or improvised music like jazz and classical Indian music, where large parts of the composition consists of guidelines for improvisation. Western musical notation can be ill-suited for these situations, and although supplements to musical notation can be invented to try to accommodate this, playing by ear and oral learning are often preferred because of readability, ease, and tradition. See also Fiddle Tonal memory Ear training Musical aptitude Music education for young children Absolute pitch References and notes External links Description of Audiation from the Gordon Institute for Music Learning Basic introduction to playing by ear by Allan Jeong Professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technology Music education American English idioms	[ 0.4890739321708679, -0.028033824637532234, -0.33387964963912964, -0.028659392148256302, 0.274335652589798, -0.05935007706284523, 0.02904851734638214, 0.45861393213272095, -0.006330933887511492, -0.6507896184921265, -0.3137092888355255, 0.949120044708252, 0.3109493553638458, -0.024995626881...
17546	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre	Louvre	The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and a historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or ward). At any given point in time, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are being exhibited over an area of 72,735 square meters (782,910 square feet). Attendance in 2021 was 2.8 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum was closed for 150 days in 2020, and attendance plunged by 72 percent to 2.7 million. Nonetheless, the Louvre still topped the list of most-visited art museums in the world in 2020. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French Kings. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed Musée Napoléon, but after Napoleon's abdication, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic. The collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings. The Musée du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than dedicated to the permanent collection. The Louvre exhibits sculptures, objets d'art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. Location and visit The Louvre museum is located inside the Louvre Palace, in the center of Paris, adjacent to the Tuileries Gardens. The two nearest Métro stations are Louvre-Rivoli and Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, the latter having a direct underground access to the Carrousel du Louvre commercial mall. Before the Grand Louvre overhaul of the late 1980s and 1990s, the Louvre had several street-level entrances, most of which are now permanently closed. Since 1993, the museum's main entrance has been the underground space under the Louvre Pyramid, or Hall Napoléon, which can be accessed from the Pyramid itself, from the underground Carrousel du Louvre, or (for authorized visitors) from the connecting to the nearby rue de Rivoli. A secondary entrance at the , near the western end of the Denon Wing, was created in 1999 but is not permanently open. The museum's entrance conditions have varied over time. Initially, artists and foreign visitors had privileged access, a feature that only disappeared in the 1850s. At the time of initial opening in 1793, the French Republican calendar had imposed ten-days "weeks" (), the first six days of which were reserved for visits by artists and foreigners and the last three for visits by the general public. In the early 1800s, after the seven-day week had been reinstated, the general public had only four hours of museum access per weeks, between 2pm and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. In 1824, a new regulation allowed public access only on Sundays and holidays; the other days the museum was open only to artists and foreigners, except for closure on Mondays. That changed in 1855 when the museum became open to the public all days except Mondays. It was free until 1922, when an entrance fee was introduced except on Sundays. Since its post-World War II reopening in 1946, the Louvre has been closed on Tuesdays, and habitually open to the public the rest of the week except for some holidays. The use of cameras and video recorders is permitted inside, but flash photography is forbidden. History Before the Museum The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, was begun by King Philip II in the late 12th century to protect the city from the attack from the West, as the Kingdom of England still held Normandy at the time. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre are still visible in the crypt. Whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, and it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. The origins of the name "Louvre" are somewhat disputed. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den (via Latin: lupus, lower Empire: lupara). In the 7th century, Burgundofara (also known as Saint Fare), abbess in Meaux, is said to have gifted part of her "Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris" to a monastery, even though it is doubtful that this land corresponded exactly to the present site of the Louvre. The Louvre Palace changed a lot over the centuries. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building from its military role into a residence. In 1546, Francis I started its rebuilding in French Renaissance style. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, construction works slowed to a halt. The royal move away from Paris resulted in the Louvre being used as a residence for artists, under Royal patronage. For example, four generations of craftsmen-artists from the Boulle family were granted Royal patronage and resided in the Louvre. Meanwhile, the collections of the Louvre originated in the acquisitions of paintings and other artworks by the monarchs of the House of France. Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvre's holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. At the Palace of Fontainebleau, Francis collected art that would later be part of the Louvre's art collections, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The Cabinet du Roi consisted of seven rooms west of the Galerie d'Apollon on the upper floor of the remodeled Petite Galerie. Many of the king's paintings were placed in these rooms in 1673, when it became an art gallery, accessible to certain art lovers as a kind of museum. In 1681, after the court moved to Versailles, 26 of the paintings were transferred there, somewhat diminishing the collection, but it is mentioned in Paris guide books from 1684 on, and was shown to ambassadors from Siam in 1686. By the mid-18th century there were an increasing number of proposals to create a public gallery in the Louvre. Art critic Étienne La Font de Saint-Yenne in 1747 published a call for a display of the royal collection. On 14 October 1750, Louis XV decided on a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. A hall was opened by Le Normant de Tournehem and the Marquis de Marigny for public viewing of the "king's paintings" (Tableaux du Roy) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Luxembourg gallery included Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael; Titian; Veronese; Rembrandt; Poussin or Van Dyck. It closed in 1780 as a result of the royal gift of the Luxembourg palace to the Count of Provence (the future king, Louis XVIII) by the king in 1778. Under Louis XVI, the idea of a royal museum in the Louvre came closer to fruition. The comte d'Angiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed to convert the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which at that time contained the plans-reliefs or 3D models of key fortified sites in and around France – into the "French Museum". Many design proposals were offered for the Louvre's renovation into a museum, without a final decision being made on them. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution. Revolutionary opening The Louvre finally became a public museum during the French Revolution. In May 1791, the National Constituent Assembly declared that the Louvre would be "a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts". On 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property. Because of fear of vandalism or theft, on 19 August, the National Assembly pronounced the museum's preparation as urgent. In October, a committee to "preserve the national memory" began assembling the collection for display. The museum opened on 10 August 1793, the first anniversary of the monarchy's demise, as Muséum central des arts de la République. The public was given free accessibility on three days per week, which was "perceived as a major accomplishment and was generally appreciated". The collection showcased 537 paintings and 184 objects of art. Three quarters were derived from the royal collections, the remainder from confiscated émigrés and Church property (biens nationaux). To expand and organize the collection, the Republic dedicated 100,000 livres per year. In 1794, France's revolutionary armies began bringing pieces from Northern Europe, augmented after the Treaty of Tolentino (1797) by works from the Vatican, such as the Laocoön and Apollo Belvedere, to establish the Louvre as a museum and as a "sign of popular sovereignty". The early days were hectic. Privileged artists continued to live in residence, and the unlabeled paintings hung "frame to frame from floor to ceiling". The structure itself closed in May 1796 due to structural deficiencies. It reopened on 14 July 1801, arranged chronologically and with new lighting and columns. On 15 August 1797, the Galerie d'Apollon was opened with an exhibition of drawings. Meanwhile, the Louvre's gallery of Antiquity sculpture (musée des Antiques), with artefacts brought from Florence and the Vatican, had opened in November 1800 in Anne of Austria's former summer apartment, located on the ground floor just below the Galerie d'Apollon. Napoleonic era On 19 November 1802, Napoleon appointed Dominique Vivant Denon, a scholar and polymath who had participated in the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, as the museum's first director, in preference to alternative contenders such as antiquarian Ennio Quirino Visconti, painter Jacques-Louis David, sculptor Antonio Canova and architects or Pierre Fontaine. On Denon's suggestion in July 1803, the museum itself was renamed Musée Napoléon. The collection grew through successful military campaigns. Acquisitions were made of Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Italian works, either as the result of war looting or formalized by treaties such as the Treaty of Tolentino. At the end of Napoleon's First Italian Campaign in 1797, the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed with Count Philipp von Cobenzl of the Austrian Monarchy. This treaty marked the completion of Napoleon's conquest of Italy and the end of the first phase of the French Revolutionary Wars. It compelled Italian cities to contribute pieces of art and heritage to Napoleon's "parades of spoils" through Paris before being put into the Louvre Museum. The Horses of Saint Mark, which had adorned the basilica of San Marco in Venice after the sack of Constantinople in 1204, were brought to Paris where they were placed atop Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in 1797. Under the Treaty of Tolentino, the two statues of the Nile and Tiber were taken to Paris from the Vatican in 1797, and were both kept in the Louvre until 1815. (The Nile was later returned to Rome, whereas the Tiber has remained in the Louvre to this day.) The despoilment of Italian churches and palaces outraged the Italians and their artistic and cultural sensibilities. After the French defeat at Waterloo, the looted works' former owners sought their return. The Louvre's administrator Denon was loath to comply in absence of a treaty of restitution. In response, foreign states sent emissaries to London to seek help, and many pieces were returned, though far from all. In 1815 Louis XVIII finally concluded agreements with the Austrian government for the keeping of works such as Veronese's Wedding at Cana which was exchanged for a large Le Brun or the repurchase of the Albani collection. From 1815 to 1852 For most of the 19th century, from Napoleon's time to the Second Empire, the Louvre and other national museums were managed under the monarch's civil list and thus depended much on the ruler's personal involvement. Whereas the most iconic collection remained that of paintings in the Grande Galerie, a number of other initiatives mushroomed in the vast building, named as if they were separate museums even though they were generally managed under the same administrative umbrella. Correspondingly, the museum complex was often referred to in the plural ("") rather than singular. During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830), Louis XVIII and Charles X added to the collections. The Greek and Roman sculpture gallery on the ground floor of the southwestern side of the Cour Carrée was completed on designs by Percier and Fontaine. In 1819 an exhibition of manufactured products was opened in the first floor of the Cour Carrée's southern wing and would stay there until the mid-1820s. Charles X in 1826 created the and in 1827 included it in his broader , a new section of the museum complex located in a suite of lavishly decorated rooms on the first floor of the South Wing of the Cour Carrée. The Egyptian collection, initially curated by Jean-François Champollion, formed the basis for what is now the Louvre's Department of Egyptian Antiquities. It was formed from the purchased collections of Edmé-Antoine Durand, Henry Salt and the second collection of Bernardino Drovetti (the first one having been purchased by Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia to form the core of the present Museo Egizio in Turin). The Restoration period also saw the opening in 1824 of the , a section of largely French sculptures on the ground floor of the Northwestern side of the Cour Carrée, many of whose artefacts came from the Palace of Versailles and from Alexandre Lenoir's Musée des Monuments Français following its closure in 1816. Meanwhile, the French Navy created an exhibition of ship models in the Louvre in December 1827, initially named in honor of Dauphin Louis Antoine, building on an 18th-century initiative of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau. This collection, renamed in 1833 and later to develop into the Musée national de la Marine, was initially located on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's North Wing, and in 1838 moved up one level to the 2nd-floor attic, where it remained for more than a century. Following the July Revolution, King Louis Philippe focused his interest on the repurposing of the Palace of Versailles into a Museum of French History conceived as a project of national reconciliation, and the Louvre was kept in comparative neglect. Louis-Philippe did, however, sponsor the creation of the to host the monumental Assyrian sculpture works brought to Paris by Paul-Émile Botta, in the ground-floor gallery north of the eastern entrance of the Cour Carrée. The Assyrian Museum opened on 1 May 1847. Separately, Louis-Philippe had his Spanish gallery displayed in the Louvre from 7 January 1838, in five rooms on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's East (Colonnade) Wing, but the collection remained his personal property. As a consequence, the works were removed after Louis-Philippe was deposed in 1848, and were eventually auctioned away in 1853. The short-lived Second Republic had more ambitions for the Louvre. It initiated repair work, the completion of the Galerie d'Apollon and of the , and the overhaul of the (former site of the iconic yearly Salon) and of the Grande Galerie. In 1848, the Naval Museum in the Cour Carrée's attic was brought under the common Louvre Museum management, a change which was again reversed in 1920. In 1850 under the leadership of curator Adrien de Longpérier, the musée mexicain opened within the Louvre as the first European museum dedicated to pre-Columbian art. Second Empire The rule of Napoleon III was transformational for the Louvre, both the building and the museum. In 1852, he created the Musée des Souverains in the Colonnade Wing, an ideological project aimed at buttressing his personal legitimacy. In 1861, he bought 11,835 artworks including 641 paintings, Greek gold and other antiquities of the Campana collection. For its display, he created another new section within the Louvre named , occupying a number of rooms in various parts of the building. Between 1852 and 1870, the museum added 20,000 new artefacts to its collections. The main change of that period was to the building itself. In the 1850s architects Louis Visconti and Hector Lefuel created massive new spaces around what is now called the Cour Napoléon, some of which (in the South Wing, now Aile Denon) went to the museum. In the 1860s, Lefuel also led the creation of the with a new closer to Napoleon III's residence in the Tuileries Palace, with the effect of shortening the Grande Galerie by about a third of its previous length. A smaller but significant Second Empire project was the decoration of the below the Salon carré. From 1870 to 1981 The Louvre narrowly escaped serious damage during the suppression of the Paris Commune. On 23 May 1871, as the French Army advanced into Paris, a force of Communards led by set fire to the adjoining Tuileries Palace. The fire burned for forty-eight hours, entirely destroying the interior of the Tuileries and spreading to the north west wing of the museum next to it. The emperor's Louvre library (Bibliothèque du Louvre) and some of the adjoining halls, in what is now the Richelieu Wing, were separately destroyed. But the museum was saved by the efforts of Paris firemen and museum employees led by curator . Following the end of the monarchy, several spaces in the Louvre's South Wing went to the museum. The Salle du Manège was transferred to the museum in 1879, and in 1928 became its main entrance lobby. The large Salle des Etats that had been created by Lefuel between the Grande Galerie and Pavillon Denon was redecorated in 1886 by , Lefuel's successor as architect of the Louvre, and opened as a spacious exhibition room. Edomond Guillaume also decorated the first-floor room at the northwest corner of the Cour Carrée, on the ceiling of which he placed in 1890 a monumental painting by Carolus-Duran, The Triumph of Marie de' Medici originally created in 1879 for the Luxembourg Palace. Meanwhile, during the Third Republic (1870–1940) the Louvre acquired new artefacts mainly via donations, gifts, and sharing arrangements on excavations abroad. The 583-item , donated in 1869 by Louis La Caze, included works by Chardin; Fragonard, Rembrandt and Watteau. In 1883, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which had been found in the Aegean Sea in 1863, was prominently displayed as the focal point of the Escalier Daru. Major artifacts excavated at Susa in Iran, including the massive Apadana capital and glazed brick decoration from the Palace of Darius there, accrued to the Oriental (Near Eastern) Antiquities Department in the 1880s. The Société des amis du Louvre was established in 1897 and donated prominent works, such as the Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The expansion of the museum and its collections slowed after World War I, however, despite some prominent acquisitions such as Georges de La Tour's Saint Thomas and Baron Edmond de Rothschild's 1935 donation of 4,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 500 illustrated books. From the late 19th century, the Louvre gradually veered away from its mid-century ambition of universality to become a more focused museum of French, Western and Near Eastern art, covering a space ranging from Iran to the Atlantic. The collections of the Louvre's musée mexicain were transferred to the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro in 1887. As the was increasingly constrained to display its core naval-themed collections in the limited space it had in the second-floor attic of the northern half of the Cour Carrée, many of its significant holdings of non-Western artefacts were transferred in 1905 to the Trocadéro ethnography museum, the National Antiquities Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the Chinese Museum in the Palace of Fontainebleau. The Musée de Marine itself was relocated to the Palais de Chaillot in 1943. The Louvre's extensive collections of Asian art were moved to the Guimet Museum in 1945. Nevertheless, the Louvre's first gallery of Islamic art opened in 1922. In the late 1920s, Louvre Director devised a master plan for the rationalization of the museum's exhibitions, which was partly implemented in the following decade. In 1932–1934, Louvre architects and Albert Ferran redesigned the Escalier Daru to its current appearance. The in the South Wing was covered by a glass roof in 1934. Decorative arts exhibits were expanded in the first floor of the North Wing of the Cour Carrée, including some of France's first period room displays. In the late 1930s, The La Caze donation was moved to a remodeled above the , with reduced height to create more rooms on the second floor and a sober interior design by Albert Ferran. During World War II, the Louvre conducted an elaborate plan of evacuation of its art collection. When Germany occupied the Sudetenland, many important artworks such as the Mona Lisa were temporarily moved to the Château de Chambord. When war was formally declared a year later, most of the museum's paintings were sent there as well. Select sculptures such as Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo were sent to the Château de Valençay. On 27 August 1939, after two days of packing, truck convoys began to leave Paris. By 28 December, the museum was cleared of most works, except those that were too heavy and "unimportant paintings [that] were left in the basement". In early 1945, after the liberation of France, art began returning to the Louvre. New arrangements after the war revealed the further evolution of taste away from the lavish decorative practices of the late 19th century. In 1947, Edmond Guillaume's ceiling ornaments were removed from the , where the Mona Lisa was first displayed in 1966. Around 1950, Louvre architect streamlined the interior decoration of the Grande Galerie. In 1953, a new ceiling by Georges Braque was inaugurated in the , next to the . In the late 1960s, seats designed by Pierre Paulin were installed in the Grande Galerie. In 1972, the 's museography was remade with lighting from a hung tubular case, designed by Louvre architect with assistance from designers , Joseph-André Motte and Paulin. In 1961, the Finance Ministry accepted to leave the Pavillon de Flore at the southwestern end of the Louvre building, as Verne had recommended in his 1920s plan. New exhibition spaces of sculptures (ground floor) and paintings (first floor) opened there later in the 1960s, on a design by government architect Olivier Lahalle. Grand Louvre In 1981, French President François Mitterrand proposed, as one of his Grands Projets, the Grand Louvre plan to relocate the Finance Ministry, until then housed in the North Wing of the Louvre, and thus devote almost the entire Louvre building (except its northwestern tip, which houses the separate Musée des Arts Décoratifs) to the museum which would be correspondingly restructured. In 1984 I. M. Pei, the architect personally selected by Mitterrand, proposed a master plan including an underground entrance space accessed through a glass pyramid in the Louvre's central Cour Napoléon. The open spaces surrounding the pyramid were inaugurated on 15 October 1988, and its underground lobby was opened on 30 March 1989. New galleries of early modern French paintings on the 2nd floor of the Cour Carrée, for which the planning had started before the Grand Louvre, also opened in 1989. Further rooms in the same sequence, designed by Italo Rota, opened on 15 December 1992. On 18 November 1993, Mitterrand inaugurated the next major phase of the Grand Louvre plan: the renovated North (Richelieu) Wing in the former Finance Ministry site, the museum's largest single expansion in its entire history, designed by Pei, his French associate Michel Macary, and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Further underground spaces known as the Carrousel du Louvre, centered on the Inverted Pyramid and designed by Pei and Macary, had opened in October 1993. Other refurbished galleries, of Italian sculptures and Egyptian antiquities, opened in 1994. The third and last main phase of the plan unfolded mainly in 1997, with new renovated rooms in the Sully and Denon wings. A new entrance at the porte des Lions opened in 1998, leading on the first floor to new rooms of Spanish paintings. As of 2002, the Louvre's visitor count had doubled from its pre-Grand-Louvre levels. 21st century President Jacques Chirac, who had succeeded Mitterrand in 1995, insisted on the return of non-Western art to the Louvre, upon a recommendation from his friend the art collector and dealer . On his initiative, a selection of highlights from the collections of what would become the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac was installed on the ground floor of the and opened in 2000, six years ahead of the Musée du Quai Branly itself. The main other initiative in the aftermath of the Grand Louvre project was Chirac's decision to create a new department of Islamic Art, by executive order of 1 August 2003, and to move the corresponding collections from their prior underground location in the Richelieu Wing to a more prominent site in the Denon Wing. That new section opened on 22 September 2012, together with collections from the Roman-era Eastern Mediterranean, with financial support from the Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation and on a design by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti. In 2010, American painter Cy Twombly completed a new ceiling for the (the former ), a counterpoint to that of Braque installed in 1953 in the adjacent . The room's floor and walls were redesigned in 2021 by Louvre architect Michel Goutal to revert the changes made by his predecessor Albert Ferran in the late 1930s, triggering protests from the Cy Twombly Foundation on grounds that the then-deceased painter's work had been created to fit with the room's prior decoration. On 6 June 2014, the Decorative Arts section on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's northern wing opened after comprehensive refurbishment. The Louvre, like many other museums and galleries, felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage. It was closed for six months during French coronavirus lockdowns and saw visitor numbers plunge to 2.7 million in 2020, from 9.6 million in 2019 and 10.2 million in 2018, which was a record year. Collections The Musée du Louvre owns 615,797 objects of which 482,943 are accessible online since 24 March 2021 and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments. Egyptian antiquities The department, comprising over 50,000 pieces, includes artifacts from the Nile civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th century AD. The collection, among the world's largest, overviews Egyptian life spanning Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, Coptic art, and the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods. The department's origins lie in the royal collection, but it was augmented by Napoleon's 1798 expeditionary trip with Dominique Vivant, the future director of the Louvre. After Jean-François Champollion translated the Rosetta Stone, Charles X decreed that an Egyptian Antiquities department be created. Champollion advised the purchase of three collections, formed by Edmé-Antoine Durand, Henry Salt, and Bernardino Drovet; these additions added 7,000 works. Growth continued via acquisitions by Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Mariette, after excavations at Memphis, sent back crates of archaeological finds including The Seated Scribe. Guarded by the Great Sphinx of Tanis, the collection is housed in more than 20 rooms. Holdings include art, papyrus scrolls, mummies, tools, clothing, jewelry, games, musical instruments, and weapons. Pieces from the ancient period include the Gebel el-Arak Knife from 3400 BC, The Seated Scribe, and the Head of King Djedefre. Middle Kingdom art, "known for its gold work and statues", moved from realism to idealization; this is exemplified by the schist statue of Amenemhatankh and the wooden Offering Bearer. The New Kingdom and Coptic Egyptian sections are deep, but the statue of the goddess Nephthys and the limestone depiction of the goddess Hathor demonstrate New Kingdom sentiment and wealth. Near Eastern antiquities Near Eastern antiquities, the second newest department, dates from 1881 and presents an overview of early Near Eastern civilization and "first settlements", before the arrival of Islam. The department is divided into three geographic areas: the Levant, Mesopotamia (Iraq), and Persia (Iran). The collection's development corresponds to archaeological work such as Paul-Émile Botta's 1843 expedition to Khorsabad and the discovery of Sargon II's palace. These finds formed the basis of the Assyrian museum, the precursor to today's department. The museum contains exhibits from Sumer and the city of Akkad, with monuments such as the Prince of Lagash's Stele of the Vultures from 2450 BC and the stele erected by Naram-Sin, King of Akkad, to celebrate a victory over barbarians in the Zagros Mountains. The Code of Hammurabi, discovered in 1901, displays Babylonian Laws prominently, so that no man could plead their ignorance. The 18th-century BC mural of the Investiture of Zimrilim and the 25th-century BC Statue of Ebih-Il found in the ancient city-state of Mari are also on display at the museum. The Persian portion of Louvre contains work from the archaic period, like the Funerary Head and the Persian Archers of Darius I. This section also contains rare objects from Persepolis which were also lent to the British Museum for its Ancient Persia exhibition in 2005. Greek, Etruscan, and Roman The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department displays pieces from the Mediterranean Basin dating from the Neolithic to the 6th century. The collection spans from the Cycladic period to the decline of the Roman Empire. This department is one of the museum's oldest; it began with appropriated royal art, some of which was acquired under Francis I. Initially, the collection focused on marble sculptures, such as the Venus de Milo'''. Works such as the Apollo Belvedere arrived during the Napoleonic Wars, but these pieces were returned after Napoleon I's fall in 1815. In the 19th century, the Louvre acquired works including vases from the Durand collection, bronzes such as the Borghese Vase from the Bibliothèque nationale. The archaic is demonstrated by jewellery and pieces such as the limestone Lady of Auxerre, from 640 BC; and the cylindrical Hera of Samos, c. 570–560 BC.Hannan, p. 252 After the 4th century BC, focus on the human form increased, exemplified by the Borghese Gladiator. The Louvre holds masterpieces from the Hellenistic era, including The Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BC) and the Venus de Milo, symbolic of classical art. The long Galerie Campana displays an outstanding collection of more than one thousand Greek potteries. In the galleries paralleling the Seine, much of the museum's Roman sculpture is displayed. The Roman portraiture is representative of that genre; examples include the portraits of Agrippa and Annius Verus; among the bronzes is the Greek Apollo of Piombino. Islamic art The Islamic art collection, the museum's newest, spans "thirteen centuries and three continents". These exhibits, of ceramics, glass, metalware, wood, ivory, carpet, textiles, and miniatures, include more than 5,000 works and 1,000 shards. Originally part of the decorative arts department, the holdings became separate in 2003. Among the works are the Pyxide d'al-Mughira, a 10th century ivory box from Andalusia; the Baptistery of Saint-Louis, an engraved brass basin from the 13th or 14th century Mamluk period; and the 10th century Shroud of Saint-Josse from Iran. The collection contains three pages of the Shahnameh, an epic book of poems by Ferdowsi in Persian, and a Syrian metalwork named the Barberini Vase. In September 2019, a new and improved Islamic art department was opened by Princess Lamia bint Majed Al Saud. The new department exhibits 3,000 pieces were collected from Spain to India via the Arabian peninsula dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries. Sculptures The sculpture department consists of works created before 1850 not belonging in the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman department. The Louvre has been a repository of sculpted material since its time as a palace; however, only ancient architecture was displayed until 1824, except for Michelangelo's Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave. Initially the collection included only 100 pieces, the rest of the royal sculpture collection being at Versailles. It remained small until 1847, when Léon Laborde was given control of the department. Laborde developed the medieval section and purchased the first such statues and sculptures in the collection, King Childebert and stanga door, respectively. The collection was part of the Department of Antiquities but was given autonomy in 1871 under Louis Courajod, a director who organized a wider representation of French works. In 1986, all post-1850 works were relocated to the new Musée d'Orsay. The Grand Louvre project separated the department into two exhibition spaces; the French collection is displayed in the Richelieu Wing, and foreign works in the Denon Wing. The collection's overview of French sculpture contains Romanesque works such as the 11th-century Daniel in the Lions' Den and the 12th-century Virgin of Auvergne. In the 16th century, Renaissance influence caused French sculpture to become more restrained, as seen in Jean Goujon's bas-reliefs, and Germain Pilon's Descent from the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. The 17th and 18th centuries are represented by Gian Lorenzo Bernini's 1640–1 Bust of Cardinal Richelieu, Étienne Maurice Falconet's Woman Bathing and Amour menaçant, and François Anguier's obelisks. Neoclassical works includes Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (1787). The 18th and 19th centuries are represented by the French sculptors like Alfred Barye and Émile Guillemin. Decorative arts The Objets d'art collection spans the time from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The department began as a subset of the sculpture department, based on royal property and the transfer of work from the Basilique Saint-Denis, the burial ground of French monarchs that held the Coronation Sword of the Kings of France. Among the budding collection's most prized works were pietre dure vases and bronzes. The Durand collection's 1825 acquisition added "ceramics, enamels, and stained glass", and 800 pieces were given by Pierre Révoil. The onset of Romanticism rekindled interest in Renaissance and Medieval artwork, and the Sauvageot donation expanded the department with 1,500 middle-age and faïence works. In 1862, the Campana collection added gold jewelry and maiolicas, mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries. The works are displayed on the Richelieu Wing's first floor and in the Apollo Gallery, named by the painter Charles Le Brun, who was commissioned by Louis XIV (the Sun King) to decorate the space in a solar theme. The medieval collection contains the coronation crown of Louis XIV, Charles V's sceptre, and the 12th century porphyry vase. The Renaissance art holdings include Giambologna's bronze Nessus and Deianira and the tapestry Maximillian's Hunt. From later periods, highlights include Madame de Pompadour's Sèvres vase collection and Napoleon III's apartments. In September 2000, the Louvre Museum dedicated the Gilbert Chagoury and Rose-Marie Chagoury Gallery to display tapestries donated by the Chagourys, including a 16th-century six-part tapestry suite, sewn with gold and silver threads representing sea divinities, which was commissioned in Paris for Colbert de Seignelay, Secretary of State for the Navy. Painting The painting collection has more than 7,500 works from the 13th century to 1848 and is managed by 12 curators who oversee the collection's display. Nearly two-thirds are by French artists, and more than 1,200 are Northern European. The Italian paintings compose most of the remnants of Francis I and Louis XIV's collections, others are unreturned artwork from the Napoleon era, and some were bought. The collection began with Francis, who acquired works from Italian masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo and brought Leonardo da Vinci to his court. After the French Revolution, the Royal Collection formed the nucleus of the Louvre. When the d'Orsay train station was converted into the Musée d'Orsay in 1986, the collection was split, and pieces completed after the 1848 Revolution were moved to the new museum. French and Northern European works are in the Richelieu Wing and Cour Carrée; Spanish and Italian paintings are on the first floor of the Denon Wing. Exemplifying the French School are the early Avignon Pietà of Enguerrand Quarton; the anonymous painting of King Jean le Bon (c. 1360), possibly the oldest independent portrait in Western painting to survive from the postclassical era; Hyacinthe Rigaud's Louis XIV; Jacques-Louis David's The Coronation of Napoleon; Théodore Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa; and Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. Nicolas Poussin, the Le Nain brothers, Philippe de Champaigne, Le Brun, La Tour, Watteau, Fragonard, Ingres, Corot, and Delacroix are well represented. Northern European works include Johannes Vermeer's The Lacemaker and The Astronomer; Caspar David Friedrich's The Tree of Crows; Rembrandt's The Supper at Emmaus, Bathsheba at Her Bath, and The Slaughtered Ox. The Italian holdings are notable, particularly the Renaissance collection. The works include Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini's Calvarys, which reflect realism and detail "meant to depict the significant events of a greater spiritual world". The High Renaissance collection includes Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Virgin and Child with St. Anne, St. John the Baptist, and Madonna of the Rocks. The Baroque collection includes Giambattista Pittoni's The Continence of Scipio, Susanna and the Elders, Bacchus and Ariadne, Mars and Venus, and others Caravaggio is represented by The Fortune Teller and Death of the Virgin. From 16th century Venice, the Louvre displays Titian's Le Concert Champetre, The Entombment, and The Crowning with Thorns. The La Caze Collection, a bequest to the Musée du Louvre in 1869 by Louis La Caze, was the largest contribution of a person in the history of the Louvre. La Caze gave 584 paintings of his personal collection to the museum. The bequest included Antoine Watteau's Commedia dell'arte player of Pierrot ("Gilles"). In 2007, this bequest was the topic of the exhibition "1869: Watteau, Chardin... entrent au Louvre. La collection La Caze". Some of the best known paintings of the museum have been digitized by the French Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France. Prints and drawings The prints and drawings department encompasses works on paper. The origins of the collection were the 8,600 works in the Royal Collection (Cabinet du Roi), which were increased via state appropriation, purchases such as the 1,200 works from Fillipo Baldinucci's collection in 1806, and donations. The department opened on 5 August 1797, with 415 pieces displayed in the Galerie d'Apollon. The collection is organized into three sections: the core Cabinet du Roi, 14,000 royal copper printing-plates, and the donations of Edmond de Rothschild, which include 40,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 5,000 illustrated books. The holdings are displayed in the Pavillon de Flore; due to the fragility of the paper medium, only a portion are displayed at one time. Management, administration, partnerships The Louvre is owned by the French government. Since the 1990s, its management and governnace have been made more independent. Since 2003, the museum has been required to generate funds for projects. By 2006, government funds had dipped from 75 percent of the total budget to 62 percent. Every year, the Louvre now raises as much as it gets from the state, about €122 million. The government pays for operating costs (salaries, safety, and maintenance), while the rest – new wings, refurbishments, acquisitions – is up to the museum to finance. A further €3 million to €5 million a year is raised by the Louvre from exhibitions that it curates for other museums, while the host museum keeps the ticket money. As the Louvre became a point of interest in the book The Da Vinci Code and the 2006 film based on the book, the museum earned $2.5 million by allowing filming in its galleries.Lunn, p. 137 In 2008, the French government provided $180 million of the Louvre's yearly $350 million budget; the remainder came from private contributions and ticket sales. The Louvre employs a staff of 2,000 led by Director Jean-Luc Martinez, who reports to the French Ministry of Culture and Communications. Martinez replaced Henri Loyrette in April 2013. Under Loyrette, who replaced Pierre Rosenberg in 2001, the Louvre has undergone policy changes that allow it to lend and borrow more works than before. In 2006, it loaned 1,300 works, which enabled it to borrow more foreign works. From 2006 to 2009, the Louvre lent artwork to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, and received a $6.9 million payment to be used for renovations. In 2009, Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand approved a plan that would have created a storage facility northwest of Paris to hold objects from the Louvre and two other national museums in Paris's flood zone, the Musée du Quai Branly and the Musée d'Orsay; the plan was later scrapped. In 2013, his successor Aurélie Filippetti announced that the Louvre would move more than 250,000 works of art held in a basement storage area in Liévin; the cost of the project, estimated at €60 million, will be split between the region (49%) and the Louvre (51%). The Louvre will be the sole owner and manager of the store. In July 2015, a team led by British firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners was selected to design the complex, which will have light-filled work spaces under one vast, green roof. In 2012, the Louvre and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco announced a five-year collaboration on exhibitions, publications, art conservation and educational programming. The €98.5 million expansion of the Islamic Art galleries in 2012 received state funding of €31 million, as well as €17 million from the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation founded by the eponymous Saudi prince. The republic of Azerbaijan, the Emir of Kuwait, the Sultan of Oman and King Mohammed VI of Morocco donated in total €26 million. In addition, the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is supposed to provide €400 million over the course of 30 years for its use of the museum's brand. Loyrette has tried to improve weak parts of the collection through income generated from loans of art and by guaranteeing that "20% of admissions receipts will be taken annually for acquisitions". He has more administrative independence for the museum and achieved 90 percent of galleries to be open daily, as opposed to 80 percent previously. He oversaw the creation of extended hours and free admission on Friday nights and an increase in the acquisition budget to $36 million from $4.5 million. In March 2018 an exhibition of dozens of artworks and relics belonging to France's Louvre Museum was opened to visitors in Tehran, as a result of an agreement between Iranian and French presidents in 2016. In the Louvre, two departments were allocated to the antiquities of the Iranian civilization, and the managers of the two departments visited Tehran. Relics belonging to Ancient Egypt, Rome and Mesopotamia as well as French royal items were showcased at the Tehran exhibition."Louvre lends art to Tehran for 'unprecedented' show". France24, 5 March 2018. Iran's National Museum building was designed and constructed by French architect André Godard. Following its time in Tehran, the exhibition is set to be held in the Khorasan Grand Museum in Mashhad, northeastern Iran in June 2018. On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, the Louvre held the largest ever single exhibit of his work, from 24 October 2019 to 24 February 2020. The event included over a hundred items: paintings, drawings and notebooks. A full 11 of the fewer than 20 paintings that Da Vinci completed in his lifetime were displayed. Five of them are owned by the Louvre, but the Mona Lisa was not included because it is in such great demand among visitors to the Louvre museum; the work remained on display in its gallery. Salvator Mundi was also not included since the Saudi owner did not agree to move the work from its hiding place. Vitruvian Man, however, was on display, after a successful legal battle with its owner, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice. In 2021, a Renaissance era ceremonial helmet and breastplate stolen from the museum in 1983 were recovered. The museum noted that the 1983 theft had "deeply troubled all the staff at the time." There are few publicly accessible details on the theft itself. In May 2021, it was announced that Laurence des Cars has been picked by French president Emmanuel Macron as the next leader of the Louvre. For the first time in its 228-year history, the Louvre will be directed by a woman. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Louvre has launched a platform where most of its works, including those that are not on display, can be seen. The new platform, collections.louvre.fr, already has more than 482,000 illustrated records – representing 75% of its rich and varied collections. Excavations The Louvre's ancient art collections are to a significant extent the product of excavations, some of which the museum sponsored under various legal regimes over time, often as a companion to France's diplomacy and/or colonial enterprises. In the , a carved marble panel lists a number of such campaigns, led by: Louis-François-Sébastien Fauvel in Greece (1818) Jean-François Champollion in Egypt (1828-1829) Guillaume-Abel Blouet and Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois with the Morea expedition in Greece (1829) in Algeria (1842-1845) Paul-Émile Botta in the Nineveh Plains (1845) in Cyrenaica (1850) Auguste Mariette in Egypt (1850-1854) Victor Langlois in Cilicia (1852) Ernest Renan with the French expedition to Lebanon and Syria following the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus (1860-1861) Léon Heuzey and Honoré Daumet in Macedonia (1861) Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé and Edmond Duthoit in Cyprus (1863-1866) Charles Champoiseau in Samothrace (1863) in Thessaloniki and Thasos (1864-1865) Olivier Rayet and Albert-Félix-Théophile Thomas in Ionia (1872-1873) Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau in Palestine (1873) in Algeria and Tunisia (1874) Ernest de Sarzec in Tello / ancient Girsu, Mesopotamia (1877-1900) Paul Girard in Greece (1881) Edmond Pottier, Salomon Reinach and Alphonse Veyries in Myrina (Aeolis) (1872-1873) Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy and Jane Dieulafoy in Susa, Persia (1884-1886) Charles Huber in Tayma, Arabia (1885) Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher in India and present-day Pakistan (1895-1897) Arthur Engel and in Spain (1897) Jacques de Morgan in Susa (1897) Gaston Cros in Tello / ancient Girsu (1902) Paul Pelliot in Chinese Turkestan (1907-1909) Maurice Pézard in Northern Palestine (1923) Georges Aaron Bénédite in Egypt (1926) François Thureau-Dangin in Northern Syria (1929) Henri de Genouillac in Mesopotamia (1912, 1929) the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale in Cairo, created in 1880 The rest of the plaque combines donors of archaeological items, many of whom were archaeologists themselves, and other archaeologists whose excavations contributed to the Louvre's collections: in France (1899) Édouard Piette in France (1902) in France (1899-1906) Henri and Jacques de Morgan in Susa (1909-1910) (1906-1920) and his daughter Germaine in France (1976) in France (1929) and his wife Suzanne in France (1935) Fernand Bisson de la Roque in Egypt (1922-1950) Bernard Bruyère in Egypt (1920-1951) Raymond Weill in Egypt (1952) Pierre Montet in Egypt (1921-1956) in the Indus Valley and Afghanistan (1950-1973) in France (1973) André Parrot in Mari, Syria (1931-1974) Claude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer in Ugarit, Syria (1929-1970) Roman Ghirshman in Iraq and Iran (1931-1972) Satellites and offshoots Several museums in and outside France have been or are placed under the Louvre's administrative authority or linked to it through exclusive partnerships, while not being located in the Louvre Palace. Since 2019, the Louvre has also maintained a large art storage and research facility in the Northern French town of Liévin, the , which is not open to the public. Musée de Cluny (1926-1977) In February 1926 the Musée de Cluny, whose creation dates back to the 19th century, was brought under the aegis of the Louvre's department of decorative arts (). That affiliation was terminated in 1977. Musée du Jeu de Paume (1947-1986) The building in the Tuileries Garden, initially intended as a sports venue, was repurposed from 1909 as an art gallery. In 1947, it became the exhibition space for the Louvre's collections of late 19th and early 20th paintings, most prominently Impressionism, as the Louvre Palace was lacking space to display them, and was consequently brought under direct management by the Louvre's . In 1986, these collections were transferred to the newly created Musée d'Orsay. Gypsothèque du Louvre (since 2001) The (plaster cast gallery) of the Louvre is a collection of plaster casts that was formed in 1970 by the reunion of the corresponding inventories of the Louvre, the Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Art and Archaeology Institute of the Sorbonne University, the latter two following depredations during the May 68 student unrest. Initially called the from 1970 to 1978, the project was subsequently left unfinished and only came to fruition after being brought under the Louvre's management by ministerial decision in 2001. It is located in the , a dependency of Versailles Palace, and has been open to the public since 2012. Musée Delacroix (since 2004) The small museum located in Eugène Delacroix's former workshop in central Paris, created in the 1930s, has been placed under management by the Louvre since 2004. Louvre-Lens (since 2012) The Louvre-Lens follows a May 2003 initiative by then culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon to promote cultural projects outside of Paris that would make the riches of major Parisian institutions available to a broader French public, including a satellite () of the Louvre. After several rounds of competition, a former mining site in the town of Lens was selected for its location and announced by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on . Japanese architects SANAA and landscape architect Catherine Mosbach were respectively selected in September 2005 to design the museum building and garden. Inaugurated by President François Hollande on , the Louvre-Lens is run by the Hauts-de-France region under a contract () with the Louvre for art loans and brand use. Its main attraction is an exhibition of roughly 200 artworks from the Louvre on a rotating basis, presented chronologically in a single large room (the or "gallery of time") that transcends the geographical and object-type divisions along which the Parisian Louvre's displays are organized. The Louvre-Lens has been successful at attracting around 500,000 visitors per year until the COVID-19 pandemic. Louvre Abu Dhabi (since 2017) The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a separate entity from the Louvre, but the two entities have a multifaceted contractual relationship that allows the Emirati museum to use the Louvre name until 2037, and to exhibit artworks from the Louvre until 2027. It was inaugurated on and opened to the public three days later. A 30-year agreement, signed in early 2007 by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, establishes that Abu Dhabi shall pay €832,000,000 (US$1.3 billion) in exchange for the Louvre name use, managerial advice, art loans, and special exhibitions. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is located on Saadiyat Island and was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and engineering firm of Buro Happold. It occupies and is covered by an iconic metallic dome designed to cast rays of light mimicking sunlight passing through date palm fronds in an oasis. The French art loans, expected to total between 200 and 300 artworks during a 10-year period, come from multiple museums, including the Louvre, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Musée d'Orsay, Versailles, the Guimet Museum, the Musée Rodin, and the Musée du quai Branly. Controversy The Louvre is involved in controversies that surround cultural property seized under Napoleon I, as well as during World War II by the Nazis. During Nazi occupation, thousands of artworks were stolen. But after the war, 61,233 articles on more than 150,000 seized artworks returned to France and were assigned to the Office des Biens Privés. In 1949, it entrusted 2,130 unclaimed pieces (including 1,001 paintings) to the Direction des Musées de France in order to keep them under appropriate conditions of conservation until their restitution and meanwhile classified them as MNRs (Musées Nationaux Recuperation or, in English, the National Museums of Recovered Artwork). Some 10% to 35% of the pieces are believed to come from Jewish spoliations and until the identification of their rightful owners, which declined at the end of the 1960s, they are registered indefinitely on separate inventories from the museum's collections. They were exhibited in 1946 and shown all together to the public during four years (1950–1954) in order to allow rightful claimants to identify their properties, then stored or displayed, according to their interest, in several French museums including the Louvre. From 1951 to 1965, about 37 pieces were restituted. Since November 1996, the partly illustrated catalogue of 1947–1949 has been accessible online and completed. In 1997, Prime Minister Alain Juppé initiated the Mattéoli Commission, headed by Jean Mattéoli, to investigate the matter and according to the government, the Louvre is in charge of 678 pieces of artwork still unclaimed by their rightful owners. During the late 1990s, the comparison of the American war archives, which had not been done before, with the French and German ones as well as two court cases which finally settled some of the heirs' rights (Gentili di Giuseppe and Rosenberg families) allowed more accurate investigations. Since 1996, the restitutions, according sometimes to less formal criteria, concerned 47 more pieces (26 paintings, with 6 from the Louvre including a then displayed Tiepolo), until the last claims of French owners and their heirs ended again in 2006. According to Serge Klarsfeld, since the now complete and constant publicity which the artworks got in 1996, the majority of the French Jewish community is nevertheless in favour of the return to the normal French civil rule of prescription acquisitive of any unclaimed good after another long period of time and consequently to their ultimate integration into the common French heritage instead of their transfer to foreign institutions like during World War II. Napoleon's campaigns acquired Italian pieces by treaties, as war reparations, and Northern European pieces as spoils as well as some antiquities excavated in Egypt, though the vast majority of the latter were seized as war reparations by the British army and are now part of collections of the British Museum. On the other hand, the Dendera zodiac is, like the Rosetta Stone, claimed by Egypt even though it was acquired in 1821, before the Egyptian Anti-export legislation of 1835. The Louvre administration has thus argued in favor of retaining this item despite requests by Egypt for its return. The museum participates too in arbitration sessions held via UNESCO's Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin. The museum consequently returned in 2009 five Egyptian fragments of frescoes (30 cm x 15 cm each) whose existence of the tomb of origin had only been brought to the authorities attention in 2008, eight to five years after their good-faith acquisition by the museum from two private collections and after the necessary respect of the procedure of déclassement from French public collections before the Commission scientifique nationale des collections des musées de France. In 2011, over 130 international artists urged a boycott of the new Guggenheim museum as well as Louvre Abu Dhabi, citing reports, since 2009, of abuses of foreign construction workers on Saadiyat Island, including the arbitrary withholding of wages, unsafe working conditions, and failure of companies to pay or reimburse the steep recruitment fees being charged to laborers. According to Architectural Record, Abu Dhabi has comprehensive labor laws to protect the workers, but they are not conscientiously implemented or enforced.<ref name=Fixsen>Fixsen, Anna. :What Is Frank Gehry Doing About Labor Conditions in Abu Dhabi?", Architectural Record", September 25, 2014</ref> In 2010, the Guggenheim Foundation placed on its website a joint statement with TDIC recognizing the following workers' rights issues, among others: health and safety of the workers; their access to their passports and other documents that the employers have been retaining to guaranty that they stay on the job; using a general contractor that agrees to obey the labor laws; maintaining an independent site monitor; and ending the system that has been generally used in the Persian Gulf region of requiring workers to reimburse recruitment fees. In 2013, The Observer reported that conditions for the workers at the Louvre and New York University construction sites on Saadiyat amounted to "modern-day slavery". In 2014, the Guggenheim's Director, Richard Armstrong, said that he believed that living conditions for the workers at the Louvre project were now good and that "many fewer" of them were having their passports confiscated. He stated that the main issue then remaining was the recruitment fees charged to workers by agents who recruit them. Later in 2014, the Guggenheim's architect, Gehry, commented that working with the Abu Dhabi officials to implement the law to improve the labor conditions at the museum's site is "a moral responsibility." He encouraged the TDIC to build additional worker housing and proposed that the contractor cover the cost of the recruitment fees. In 2012, TDIC engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers as an independent monitor required to issue reports every quarter. Labor lawyer Scott Horton told Architectural Record that he hoped the Guggenheim project will influence the treatment of workers on other Saadiyat sites and will "serve as a model for doing things right." See also Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France List of museums in Paris Musée de la mode et du textile References Notes Works cited External links Digital Collection Louvre's 360x180 degree panorama virtual tour 1793 establishments in France Archaeological museums in France Art museums and galleries in Paris Art museums established in 1793 Egyptological collections in France History museums in France Institut de France Louvre Palace Museums in Paris Museums of ancient Greece in France Museums of Ancient Near East Museums of ancient Rome in France National museums of France Order of Arts and Letters of Spain recipients	[ 0.42978641390800476, -0.21890206634998322, -0.03476836532354355, -0.0580737330019474, 0.4085277020931244, 0.11870264261960983, 0.5919010639190674, 0.5621574521064758, -1.0840448141098022, -0.40802741050720215, -0.6076290011405945, 0.2352171093225479, -0.2184521108865738, 0.7378426790237427...
17547	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love	Love	Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of a strong attraction and emotional attachment. Love is considered to be both positive and negative, with its virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection, as "the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another" and its vice representing human moral flaw, akin to vanity, selfishness, amour-propre, and egotism, as potentially leading people into a type of mania, obsessiveness or codependency. It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self, or animals. In its various forms, love acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts. Love has been postulated to be a function that keeps human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species. Ancient Greek philosophers identified six forms of love: essentially, familial love (in Greek, ), friendly love or platonic love (), romantic love (), self-love (), guest love (), and divine love (). Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of love: unrequited love, empty love, companionate love, consummate love, infatuated love, self-love, and courtly love. Numerous cultures have also distinguished , , , , , , , , , , , (and other variants or symbioses of these states), as culturally unique words, definitions, or expressions of love in regards to a specified "moments" currently lacking in the English language. Scientific research on emotion has increased significantly over the past two decades. The color wheel theory of love defines three primary, three secondary and nine tertiary love styles, describing them in terms of the traditional color wheel. The triangular theory of love suggests "intimacy, passion and commitment" are core components of love. Love has additional religious or spiritual meaning. This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states. Definitions The word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Many other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that in English are denoted as "love"; one example is the plurality of Greek concepts for "love" (agape, eros, philia, storge) . Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus doubly impede the establishment of a universal definition. Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't love (antonyms of "love"). Love as a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like) is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy). As a less-sexual and more-emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust. As an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships or platonic love. (Further possible ambiguities come with usages "girlfriend", "boyfriend", "just good friends"). Abstractly discussed, love usually refers to an experience one person feels for another. Love often involves caring for, or identifying with, a person or thing (cf. vulnerability and care theory of love), including oneself (cf. narcissism). In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages, although the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry. The complex and abstract nature of love often reduces discourse of love to a thought-terminating cliché. Several common proverbs regard love, from Virgil's "Love conquers all" to The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, defines love as "to will the good of another." Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value," as opposed to relative value. Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another." Meher Baba stated that in love there is a "feeling of unity" and an "active appreciation of the intrinsic worth of the object of love." Biologist Jeremy Griffith defines love as "unconditional selflessness". Impersonal People can be said to love an object, principle, or goal to which they are deeply committed and greatly value. For example, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers' "love" of their cause may sometimes be born not of interpersonal love but impersonal love, altruism, and strong spiritual or political convictions. People can also "love" material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with those things. If sexual passion is also involved, then this feeling is called paraphilia. Interpersonal Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a much more potent sentiment than a simple liking for a person. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love that are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with Interpersonal relationships. Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as erotomania. Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the 20th century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the concept of love. Biological basis Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist and human behavior researcher, divides the experience of love into three partly overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust is the feeling of sexual desire; romantic attraction determines what partners mates find attractive and pursue, conserving time and energy by choosing; and attachment involves sharing a home, parental duties, mutual defense, and in humans involves feelings of safety and security. Three distinct neural circuitries, including neurotransmitters, and three behavioral patterns, are associated with these three romantic styles. Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including the neurotransmitter hormones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, the same compounds released by amphetamine, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side effects such as increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years. Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships. Attachment is the bonding that promotes relationships lasting for many years and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or mutual friendship based on things like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and vasopressin to a greater degree than short-term relationships have. Enzo Emanuele and coworkers reported the protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these return to previous levels after one year. Psychological basis Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences and various details of their personal lives, and is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is permanent. The last form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romantic love. All forms of love are viewed as varying combinations of these three components. Non-love does not include any of these components. Liking only includes intimacy. Infatuated love only includes passion. Empty love only includes commitment. Romantic love includes both intimacy and passion. Companionate love includes intimacy and commitment. Fatuous love includes passion and commitment. Lastly, consummate love includes all three components. American psychologist Zick Rubin sought to define love by psychometrics in the 1970s. His work states that three factors constitute love: attachment, caring, and intimacy. Following developments in electrical theories such as Coulomb's law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as "opposites attract". Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality—people tend to like people similar to themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g., with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby that has the best of both worlds. In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed, described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities. Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented in the works of Scott Peck, whose work in the field of applied psychology explored the definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another," and simple narcissism. In combination, love is an activity, not simply a feeling. Psychologist Erich Fromm maintained in his book The Art of Loving that love is not merely a feeling but is also actions, and that in fact, the "feeling" of love is superficial in comparison to one's commitment to love via a series of loving actions over time. In this sense, Fromm held that love is ultimately not a feeling at all, but rather is a commitment to, and adherence to, loving actions towards another, oneself, or many others, over a sustained duration. Fromm also described love as a conscious choice that in its early stages might originate as an involuntary feeling, but which then later no longer depends on those feelings, but rather depends only on conscious commitment. Evolutionary basis Evolutionary psychology has attempted to provide various reasons for love as a survival tool. Humans are dependent on parental help for a large portion of their lifespans compared to other mammals. Love has therefore been seen as a mechanism to promote parental support of children for this extended time period. Furthermore, researchers as early as Charles Darwin himself identified unique features of human love compared to other mammals and credit love as a major factor for creating social support systems that enabled the development and expansion of the human species. Another factor may be that sexually transmitted diseases can cause, among other effects, permanently reduced fertility, injury to the fetus, and increase complications during childbirth. This would favor monogamous relationships over polygamy. Adaptive benefit Interpersonal love between a male and a female is considered to provide an evolutionary adaptive benefit since it facilitates mating and sexual reproduction. However, some organisms can reproduce asexually without mating. Thus understanding the adaptive benefit of interpersonal love depends on understanding the adaptive benefit of sexual reproduction as opposed to asexual reproduction. Michod has reviewed evidence that love, and consequently sexual reproduction, provides two major adaptive advantages. First, love leading to sexual reproduction facilitates repair of damages in the DNA that is passed from parent to progeny (during meiosis, a key stage of the sexual process). Second, a gene in either parent may contain a harmful mutation, but in the progeny produced by sex reproduction, expression of a harmful mutation introduced by one parent is likely to be masked by expression of the unaffected homologous gene from the other parent. Comparison of scientific models Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst. Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. Certainly, love is influenced by hormones (such as oxytocin), neurotrophins (such as NGF), and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love: sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate); companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal. Cultural views Ancient Greek Greek distinguishes several different senses in which the word "love" is used. Ancient Greeks identified four forms of love: kinship or familiarity (in Greek, storge), friendship and/or platonic desire (philia), sexual and/or romantic desire (eros), and self-emptying or divine love (agape). Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love. However, with Greek (as with many other languages), it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time, the Ancient Greek text of the Bible has examples of the verb agapo having the same meaning as phileo. Agape ( agápē) means love in modern-day Greek. The term s'agapo means I love you in Greek. The word agapo is the verb I love. It generally refers to a "pure," ideal type of love, rather than the physical attraction suggested by eros. However, there are some examples of agape used to mean the same as eros. It has also been translated as "love of the soul." Eros ( érōs) (from the Greek deity Eros) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word erota means in love. Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by eros. Some translations list it as "love of the body". Philia ( philía), a dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept addressed and developed by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics Book VIII. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. Philia is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. It can also mean "love of the mind." Storge ( storgē) is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring. Xenia (ξενία xenía), hospitality, was an extremely important practice in ancient Greece. It was an almost ritualized friendship formed between a host and his guest, who could previously have been strangers. The host fed and provided quarters for the guest, who was expected to repay only with gratitude. The importance of this can be seen throughout Greek mythology—in particular, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Ancient Roman (Latin) The Latin language has several different verbs corresponding to the English word "love." amō is the basic verb meaning I love, with the infinitive amare ("to love") as it still is in Italian today. The Romans used it both in an affectionate sense as well as in a romantic or sexual sense. From this verb come amans—a lover, amator, "professional lover," often with the accessory notion of lechery—and amica, "girlfriend" in the English sense, often being applied euphemistically to a prostitute. The corresponding noun is amor (the significance of this term for the Romans is well illustrated in the fact, that the name of the city, Rome—in Latin: Roma—can be viewed as an anagram for amor, which was used as the secret name of the City in wide circles in ancient times), which is also used in the plural form to indicate love affairs or sexual adventures. This same root also produces amicus—"friend"—and amicitia, "friendship" (often based to mutual advantage, and corresponding sometimes more closely to "indebtedness" or "influence"). Cicero wrote a treatise called On Friendship (de Amicitia), which discusses the notion at some length. Ovid wrote a guide to dating called Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love), which addresses, in depth, everything from extramarital affairs to overprotective parents. Latin sometimes uses amāre where English would simply say to like. This notion, however, is much more generally expressed in Latin by the terms placere or delectāre, which are used more colloquially, the latter used frequently in the love poetry of Catullus. Diligere often has the notion "to be affectionate for," "to esteem," and rarely if ever is used for romantic love. This word would be appropriate to describe the friendship of two men. The corresponding noun diligentia, however, has the meaning of "diligence" or "carefulness," and has little semantic overlap with the verb. Observare is a synonym for diligere; despite the cognate with English, this verb and its corresponding noun, observantia, often denote "esteem" or "affection." Caritas is used in Latin translations of the Christian Bible to mean "charitable love"; this meaning, however, is not found in Classical pagan Roman literature. As it arises from a conflation with a Greek word, there is no corresponding verb. Chinese and other Sinic Two philosophical underpinnings of love exist in the Chinese tradition, one from Confucianism which emphasized actions and duty while the other came from Mohism which championed a universal love. A core concept to Confucianism is (Ren, "benevolent love"), which focuses on duty, action, and attitude in a relationship rather than love itself. In Confucianism, one displays benevolent love by performing actions such as filial piety from children, kindness from parents, loyalty to the king and so forth. The concept of (Mandarin: ài) was developed by the Chinese philosopher Mozi in the 4th century BC in reaction to Confucianism's benevolent love. Mozi tried to replace what he considered to be the long-entrenched Chinese over-attachment to family and clan structures with the concept of "universal love" (, jiān'ài). In this, he argued directly against Confucians who believed that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, believed people in principle should care for all people equally. Mohism stressed that rather than adopting different attitudes towards different people, love should be unconditional and offered to everyone without regard to reciprocation; not just to friends, family and other Confucian relations. Later in Chinese Buddhism, the term Ai () was adopted to refer to a passionate, caring love and was considered a fundamental desire. In Buddhism, Ai was seen as capable of being either selfish or selfless, the latter being a key element towards enlightenment. In Mandarin Chinese, (ài) is often used as the equivalent of the Western concept of love. (ài) is used as both a verb (e.g. , Wǒ ài nǐ, or "I love you") and a noun (such as àiqíng, or "romantic love"). However, due to the influence of Confucian (rén), the phrase (Wǒ ài nǐ, I love you) carries with it a very specific sense of responsibility, commitment and loyalty. Instead of frequently saying "I love you" as in some Western societies, the Chinese are more likely to express feelings of affection in a more casual way. Consequently, "I like you" (, Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ) is a more common way of expressing affection in Mandarin; it is more playful and less serious. This is also true in Japanese (suki da, ). Japanese The Japanese language uses three words to convey the English equivalent of "love". Because "love" covers a wide range of emotions and behavioral phenomena, there are nuances distinguishing the three terms. The term , which is often associated with maternal love or selfless love, originally referred to beauty and was often used in a religious context. Following the Meiji Restoration 1868, the term became associated with "love" in order to translate Western literature. Prior to Western influence, the term generally represented romantic love, and was often the subject of the popular Man'yōshū Japanese poetry collection. Koi describes a longing for a member of the opposite sex and is typically interpreted as selfish and wanting. The term's origins come from the concept of lonely solitude as a result of separation from a loved one. Though modern usage of koi focuses on sexual love and infatuation, the Manyō used the term to cover a wider range of situations, including tenderness, benevolence, and material desire. The third term, , is a more modern construction that combines the kanji characters for both ai and koi, though its usage more closely resembles that of koi in the form of romantic love. Indian In contemporary literature, the Sanskrit words for love is "sneha". Other terms such as Priya refers to innocent love, Prema refers to spiritual love, and Kama refers usually to sexual desire. However, the term also refers to any sensory enjoyment, emotional attraction and aesthetic pleasure such as from arts, dance, music, painting, sculpture and nature. The concept of kama is found in some of the earliest known verses in Vedas. For example, Book 10 of Rig Veda describes the creation of the universe from nothing by the great heat. There in hymn 129, it states: Persian Rumi, Hafiz,and Sa'di are icons of the passion and love that the Persian culture and language present. The Persian word for love is Ishq, which is derived from Arabic language; however, it is considered by most to be too stalwart a term for interpersonal love and is more commonly substituted for "doost dashtan" ("liking"). In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life. Religious views Abrahamic Judaism In Hebrew, (ahava) is the most commonly used term for both interpersonal love and love between God and God's creations. Chesed, often translated as loving-kindness, is used to describe many forms of love between human beings. The commandment to love other people is given in the Torah, which states, "Love your neighbor like yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). The Torah's commandment to love God "with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5) is taken by the Mishnah (a central text of the Jewish oral law) to refer to good deeds, willingness to sacrifice one's life rather than commit certain serious transgressions, willingness to sacrifice all of one's possessions, and being grateful to the Lord despite adversity (tractate Berachoth 9:5). Rabbinic literature differs as to how this love can be developed, e.g., by contemplating divine deeds or witnessing the marvels of nature. As for love between marital partners, this is deemed an essential ingredient to life: "See life with the wife you love" (Ecclesiastes 9:9). Rabbi David Wolpe writes that "...love is not only about the feelings of the lover...It is when one person believes in another person and shows it." He further states that "...love...is a feeling that expresses itself in action. What we really feel is reflected in what we do." The biblical book Song of Solomon is considered a romantically phrased metaphor of love between God and his people, but in its plain reading, reads like a love song. The 20th-century rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler is frequently quoted as defining love from the Jewish point of view as "giving without expecting to take" (from his Michtav me-Eliyahu, Vol. 1). Christianity The Christian understanding is that love comes from God, who is himself Love (1 Jn 4:8). The love of man and woman—eros in Greek—and the unselfish love of others (agape), are often contrasted as "descending" and "ascending" love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing. There are several Greek words for "love" that are regularly referred to in Christian circles. Agape: In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love, seen as creating goodness in the world; it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another. Phileo: Also used in the New Testament, phileo is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as "brotherly love." Two other words for love in the Greek language, eros (sexual love) and storge (child-to-parent love), were never used in the New Testament. Christians believe that to Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important things in life (the greatest commandment of the Jewish Torah, according to Jesus; cf. Gospel of Mark chapter 12, verses 28–34). Saint Augustine summarized this when he wrote "Love God, and do as thou wilt." The Apostle Paul glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poetic interpretation in 1 Corinthians, he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." (1 Cor. 13:4–7, NIV) The Apostle John wrote, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16–17, NIV) John also wrote, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7–8, NIV) Saint Augustine wrote that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an overindulgence, but to love and be loved is what he has sought for his entire life. He even says, "I was in love with love." Finally, he does fall in love and is loved back, by God. Saint Augustine says the only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as "jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention." According to Saint Augustine, to love God is "to attain the peace which is yours." (Saint Augustine's Confessions) Augustine regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith and the interpretation of the Bible. After the review of Christian doctrine, Augustine treats the problem of love in terms of use and enjoyment until the end of Book I of De Doctrina Christiana (1.22.21–1.40.44;). Christian theologians see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian C. S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves. Benedict XVI named his first encyclical God is love. He said that a human being, created in the image of God, who is love, is able to practice love; to give himself to God and others (agape) and by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation (eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and Mary, the mother of Jesus and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them. Pope Francis taught that "True love is both loving and letting oneself be loved...what is important in love is not our loving, but allowing ourselves to be loved by God." And so, in the analysis of a Catholic theologian, for Pope Francis, "the key to love...is not our activity. It is the activity of the greatest, and the source, of all the powers in the universe: God's." In Christianity the practical definition of love is summarised by Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as "to will the good of another," or to desire for another to succeed. This is an explanation of the Christian need to love others, including their enemies. As Thomas Aquinas explains, Christian love is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people. Regarding love for enemies, Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew chapter five: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." – Matthew 5: 43–48. Do not forget to love with forgiveness, Christ saved an adulterous woman from those who would stone her. A world of wronged hypocrites needs forgiving love. Mosaic Law would hold Deuteronomy 22:22-24 "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you." Tertullian wrote regarding love for enemies: "Our individual, extraordinary, and perfect goodness consists in loving our enemies. To love one's friends is common practice, to love one's enemies only among Christians." Islam Love encompasses the Islamic view of life as universal brotherhood that applies to all who hold faith. Amongst the 99 names of God (Allah), there is the name Al-Wadud, or "the Loving One," which is found in Surah as well as Surah . God is also referenced at the beginning of every chapter in the Qur'an as Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, or the "Most Compassionate" and the "Most Merciful", indicating that nobody is more loving, compassionate and benevolent than God. The Qur'an refers to God as being "full of loving kindness." The Qur'an exhorts Muslim believers to treat all people, those who have not persecuted them, with birr or "deep kindness" as stated in Surah . Birr is also used by the Qur'an in describing the love and kindness that children must show to their parents.Ishq, or divine love, is the emphasis of Sufism in the Islamic tradition. Practitioners of Sufism believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God "looks" at himself within the dynamics of nature. Since everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices seeing the beauty inside the apparently ugly. Sufism is often referred to as the religion of love. God in Sufism is referred to in three main terms, which are the Lover, Loved, and Beloved, with the last of these terms being often seen in Sufi poetry. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through love, humankind can get back to its inherent purity and grace. The saints of Sufism are infamous for being "drunk" due to their love of God; hence, the constant reference to wine in Sufi poetry and music. Bahá'í Faith In his Paris Talks, `Abdu'l-Bahá described four types of love: the love that flows from God to human beings; the love that flows from human beings to God; the love of God towards the Self or Identity of God; and the love of human beings for human beings. Indian Buddhism In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment, since it is selfish. Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom and is necessary for enlightenment. Adveṣa and mettā are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex and which rarely occurs without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others' welfare. The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself in order to take on the burden of a suffering world. Hinduism In Hinduism, kāma is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools, it is the third end (Kama) in life. Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugar cane and an arrow of flowers; he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Rati and his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season. Stone images of Kamadeva and Rati can be seen on the door of the Chennakeshava temple at Belur, in Karnataka, India. Maara is another name for kāma. In contrast to kāma, premaor premrefers to elevated love. Karuna is compassion and mercy, which impels one to help reduce the suffering of others. Bhakti is a Sanskrit term, meaning "loving devotion to the supreme God." A person who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. Hindu writers, theologians, and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti, which can be found in the Bhagavata Purana and works by Tulsidas. The philosophical work Narada Bhakti Sutras, written by an unknown author (presumed to be Narada), distinguishes eleven forms of love. In certain Vaishnava sects within Hinduism, attaining unadulterated, unconditional and incessant love for Godhead is considered the foremost goal of life. Gaudiya Vaishnavas who worship Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the cause of all causes consider Love for Godhead (Prema) to act in two ways: sambhoga and vipralambha (union and separation)—two opposites. In the condition of separation, there is an acute yearning for being with the beloved and in the condition of union, there is supreme happiness and nectarean. Gaudiya Vaishnavas consider that Krishna-prema (Love for Godhead) is not fire but that it still burns away one's material desires. They consider that Kṛṣṇa-prema is not a weapon, but it still pierces the heart. It is not water, but it washes away everything—one's pride, religious rules, and one's shyness. Krishna-prema is considered to make one drown in the ocean of transcendental ecstasy and pleasure. The love of Radha, a cowherd girl, for Krishna is often cited as the supreme example of love for Godhead by Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Radha is considered to be the internal potency of Krishna, and is the supreme lover of Godhead. Her example of love is considered to be beyond the understanding of material realm as it surpasses any form of selfish love or lust that is visible in the material world. The reciprocal love between Radha (the supreme lover) and Krishna (God as the Supremely Loved) is the subject of many poetic compositions in India such as the Gita Govinda and Hari Bhakti Shuddhodhaya.In the Bhakti tradition within Hinduism, it is believed that execution of devotional service to God leads to the development of Love for God (taiche bhakti-phale krsne prema upajaya), and as love for God increases in the heart, the more one becomes free from material contamination (krishna-prema asvada haile, bhava nasa paya). Being perfectly in love with God or Krishna makes one perfectly free from material contamination. and this is the ultimate way of salvation or liberation. In this tradition, salvation or liberation is considered inferior to love, and just an incidental by-product. Being absorbed in Love for God is considered to be the perfection of life. Political views Free love The term "free love" has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It claimed that such issues were the concern of the people involved, and no one else. Many people in the early 19th century believed that marriage was an important aspect of life to "fulfill earthly human happiness." Middle-class Americans wanted the home to be a place of stability in an uncertain world. This mentality created a vision of strongly defined gender roles, which provoked the advancement of the free love movement as a contrast. The term "sex radical" has been used interchangeably with the term "free lover". By whatever name, advocates had two strong beliefs: opposition to the idea of forceful sexual activity in a relationship and advocacy for a woman to use her body in any way that she pleases. These are also beliefs of Feminism. Philosophical views The philosophy of love is a field of social philosophy and ethics that attempts to explain the nature of love. The philosophical investigation of love includes the tasks of distinguishing between the various kinds of personal love, asking if and how love is or can be justified, asking what the value of love is, and what impact love has on the autonomy of both the lover and the beloved. See also Color wheel theory of love Human bonding Love at first sight Pair bond Polyamory Romance (love) Self-love Social connection Traditional forms, Agape, Philia, Philautia, Storge, Eros: Greek terms for love Relationship Science References Sources Further reading External links History of Love, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' Emotions Ethical principles Fruit of the Holy Spirit Personal life Virtue	[ 0.1718124896287918, 0.405779629945755, 0.21490249037742615, 0.25554943084716797, 0.2575656473636627, 0.030256139114499092, 0.4476393759250641, 0.1849607229232788, 0.22696438431739807, -0.42941415309906006, -0.5890609622001648, 0.4896496534347534, -0.072709821164608, 0.5447319746017456, -...
17549	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever%20Changes	Forever Changes	Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, Bryan Maclean left the group acrimoniously and the other members were dismissed by leader Arthur Lee. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-oriented sound and orchestration, while primary songwriter Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his creeping disillusionment with the 1960s counterculture. Forever Changes had only moderate success in the album charts when it was first released in 1967; it peaked at No. 154 in the US, with a stronger showing in Great Britain, where it reached No. 24 on the UK album chart. In subsequent years, it became recognized as an influential document of 1960s psychedelia and was named among the greatest albums of all time by a variety of publications. Background In 1966, Love had released two albums in relatively rapid succession, including their second LP Da Capo, which spawned their only Top 40 hit, "7 and 7 Is". However, the group's opportunity for major national success dwindled as a consequence of frontman Arthur Lee's unwillingness to tour; this was due to Lee's deteriorating relationship with Love's other songwriter Bryan MacLean, and the overshadowing presence of label-mates the Doors. In a 1992 interview, MacLean spoke of him and Lee "competing a bit like Lennon and McCartney to see who would come up with the better song. It was part of our charm. Everybody had different behaviour patterns. Eventually, the others couldn't cut it". Throughout this period the band – reduced to a quintet with the departures of Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer and Tjay Cantrelli – were known to retreat to a dilapidated mansion in Hollywood, nicknamed "The Castle", where the group became further stagnated by their use of heroin. The house was a dilapidated mansion that the band was allowed to live in if they did the maintenance and paid the taxes. According to the book "Forever Changes" by John Einerson, the rumor of it being formerly lived in by Bela Lugosi is a myth. Inspiration Rather than base his writings on Los Angeles's burgeoning hippie scene, Lee's material for Forever Changes was drawn from his lifestyle and environment. The songs reflected upon grim but blissful themes and Lee's skepticism of the flower power movement. Writer Andrew Hultkrans explained Lee's frame of mind at the time: "Arthur Lee was one member of the '60s counterculture who didn't buy flower-power wholesale, who intuitively understood that letting the sunshine in wouldn't instantly vaporize the world's (or his own) dark stuff". Love's third studio album also brought about a sense of urgency for Lee. With his band in disarray and growing concerns over his own mortality, Lee envisioned Forever Changes as a lament to his memory. Having already produced the group's first two albums, Bruce Botnick was enlisted in overseeing the production of the third album along with Lee. Botnick, who had just finished working on Buffalo Springfield's Buffalo Springfield Again, invited Neil Young to co-produce the upcoming Love album, but Young, after initially agreeing, excused himself from the project. As Botnick recalled "Neil really had the burning desire to go solo and realize his dream without being involved in another band". According to the liner notes in the compilation album Love Story, Young was involved in Forever Changes long enough to arrange the track "The Daily Planet". Young, however, has denied such involvement. The title of the album came from a story that Lee had heard about a friend-of-a-friend who had broken up with his girlfriend. She exclaimed, "You said you would love me forever!" and he replied, "Well, forever changes." Lee also noted that since the name of the band was Love, the full title was actually Love Forever Changes. Recording According to AllMusic, the band embraced "a more gentle, contemplative, and organic sound on Forever Changes," with much of the album "built around interwoven acoustic guitar textures and subtle orchestrations, with strings and horns both reinforcing and punctuating the melodies." Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman had suggested that Love "advance backwards" by embracing the more subtle approach of folk music, and Lee—while typically independent in his musical directions—accepted Holzman's suggestion, setting the foundational approach to the Forever Changes recording sessions. Pitchfork stated that Lee paired his "dark, discomfiting lyrics" with music that draws from rock, psychedelia, folk, pop, classical, and even mariachi music, but which is not reducible to these influences. Love started recording Forever Changes in June 1967 at Sunset Sound Recorders. However, beginning with the early recording sessions, the band, except Lee, was plagued by internal conflicts and lack of preparation for Lee's intricate arrangements. Through Holzman's perspective, Botnick was an "album savior", guiding and motivating Lee's bandmates out of their trying period. To compel the band to participate, Botnick enlisted top session musicians, the Wrecking Crew's Billy Strange (guitar), Don Randi (piano), Hal Blaine (drums), and Carol Kaye (bass guitar) to work with Lee, completing the sessions for two songs in one day: "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet". Shocked by the implications of losing their role in the album's development, Botnick's plan succeeded in motivating the Love members in recording the other nine tracks appearing on Forever Changes. Lee spent three weeks with David Angel, the arranger of the strings and horns, playing and singing the orchestral parts to him. Lee envisioned the horns and strings from the beginning, and they were not added as an afterthought. A September 25 recording session finished the album, adding the horns and strings, as well as some additional piano from Randi, who played all the keyboard parts on the album as the band now had no keyboard player. Release and reception Initial release Upon its release in late 1967, Forever Changes was only moderately successful commercially. It peaked at No. 154 in 1968, which was the lowest showing of Love's first three albums. Forever Changes had a much stronger showing in Great Britain, where it reached No. 24 on the UK album chart in 1968. Initial reviews were positive. Writing for Rolling Stone in 1968, Jim Bickhart regarded Forever Changes as Love's "most sophisticated album yet", applauding the orchestral arrangements and recording quality. In Esquire, Robert Christgau said it is an elaboration on Love's original musical style and "a vast improvement" over their previous recordings, because "Lee has stopped trying to imitate Mick Jagger with his soft voice, and the lyrics, while still obscure, now have an interesting surface as well." Pete Johnson of the Los Angeles Times believed the album "can survive endless listening with no diminishing either of power or of freshness", adding that "parts of the album are beautiful; others are disturbingly ugly, reflections of the pop movement towards realism". Gene Youngblood of LA Free Express also praised the album, calling it "melancholy iconoclasm and tasteful romanticism." Retrospective acclaim In a retrospective review, AllMusic stated that despite the album's initial mixed reception, "years later it became recognized as one of the finest and most haunting albums to come out of the Summer of Love," calling it "an album that heralds the last days of a golden age and anticipates the growing ugliness that would dominate the counterculture in 1968 and 1969." The 1979 edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide gave the album a rating of five stars (out of five). It also received five stars in the 1983 edition of the guide and in the 1992 guide four. In a special issue of Mojo magazine, Forever Changes was ranked the second greatest psychedelic album of all time. In the January 1996 issue, Mojo readers selected Forever Changes as number 11 on the "100 Greatest Albums Ever Made". Forever Changes was praised by a group of members of the British Parliament in 2002 as being one of the greatest albums of all time. Reissues Forever Changes was included in its entirety on the 2-CD retrospective Love compilation Love Story 1966–1972, released by Rhino Records in 1995. The album was re-released in an expanded single-CD version by Rhino in 2001, featuring alternate mixes, outtakes and the group's 1968 single, "Your Mind and We Belong Together"/"Laughing Stock", the final tracks ever to feature the Forever Changes line-up of Arthur Lee, Johnny Echols, Ken Forssi, Michael Stuart-Ware and Bryan MacLean (Forssi and MacLean both died in 1998). The Forever Changes Concert was released on DVD in 2003 and marked the first time many of the songs had been performed live. The set features the entire album performed in its original running order, recorded in early 2003 during Lee's tour of England, in which he was backed by the band Baby Lemonade and members of the Stockholm Strings 'n' Horns ensemble. The DVD features the album concert, five bonus performances, documentary footage and an interview with Lee. A double-CD "Collector's Edition" of the album was issued by Rhino Records on April 22, 2008. The first disc consists of a remastered version of the original 1967 album. The second disc contains a previously unissued alternate stereo mix of the album, plus ten bonus tracks. A Super High Material CD (SHM-CD) version of Forever Changes was released by Warner Music Japan in 2009, and a 24 bit 192 kHz High Resolution version of the album was released by HDTracks in 2014, and in the same year a hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) version of the album was released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. A 50th anniversary deluxe edition box set was released by Rhino on April 6, 2018, featuring four CDs, a DVD and an LP. It contains remastered versions of the stereo, mono and alternate stereo mixes of the album, a disc of demos, outtakes, alternate mixes and non-album tracks, a DVD containing a 24/96 stereo mix of the album and a bonus music video, and a new LP remaster of the album, remastered by Bruce Botnick and cut from high resolution audio by Bernie Grundman. Legacy In 2008, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2011, the album was added to the National Recording Registry. Rolling Stone ranked it number 180 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was also included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). It was voted number 12 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). In 2013, NME ranked the album number 37 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Publishers such as AllMusic and Slant Magazine have praised the album as well. In a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4, the album was ranked 83rd in the 100 greatest albums of all time. The album was included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. According to the New Musical Express, the Stone Roses' relationship with their future producer John Leckie was settled when they all agreed that Forever Changes was the "best record ever". Robert Plant is an admirer of the album. Track listing All songs written by Arthur Lee, except "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man" which are written by Bryan MacLean. Details are taken from the 50th Anniversary Edition. 2001 Rhino bonus tracks A single disc collection, presenting the original stereo album, remastered, plus the following bonus tracks: 2008 Rhino "Collector's Edition" bonus tracks A two-disc collection. Disc 1 presents the original stereo album, remastered, while disc 2 is a previously unreleased alternate stereo mix of the album, featuring the following bonus tracks: 2018 "50th Anniversary Edition" bonus discs A box set comprising four CDs, one LP and one DVD: disc 2 presents the original mono album, remastered; disc 3 is the alternate stereo mix; disc 4 is outtakes, single versions, demos, session highlights and non album tracks from the era; disc 5 is the original stereo album on vinyl, remastered and cut from high resolution audio; and disc 6 is a 24/96 stereo mix on DVD, featuring a bonus music video. Personnel According to the 2001 reissue CD booklet. Love Arthur Lee – guitar, vocal Bryan MacLean – guitar, vocal Johnny Echols – guitar Ken Forssi – bass Michael Stuart-Ware – drums, percussion Additional musicians Carol Kaye – bass guitar on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet" Don Randi – keyboards on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet"; piano on "Old Man" and "Bummer in the Summer"; harpsichord on "The Red Telephone" Billy Strange – electric rhythm guitar on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet" Hal Blaine – drums on "Andmoreagain" and "The Daily Planet" Neil Young – arranger on "The Daily Planet" David Angel – arranger, orchestrations Strings – Robert Barene, Arnold Belnick, James Getzoff, Marshall Sosson, Darrel Terwilliger (violins); Norman Botnick (viola); Jesse Ehrlich (cello); Chuck Berghofer (string bass) Horns – Bud Brisbois, Roy Caton, Ollie Mitchell (trumpets); Richard Leith (trombone) Production and design See also Timeline of 1960s counterculture References External links Inside the National Recording Registry segment Love (band) albums 1967 albums Albums produced by Bruce Botnick Elektra Records albums Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Rhino Records albums Albums produced by Arthur Lee (musician) United States National Recording Registry recordings Baroque pop albums Psychedelic folk albums Psychedelic rock albums by American artists Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders United States National Recording Registry albums	[ -0.01424001157283783, 0.11427085846662521, 0.44496357440948486, 0.12574689090251923, 0.34338897466659546, 0.3626905083656311, 0.14460588991641998, -0.10860784351825714, 0.029995838180184364, -0.0009652753360569477, -0.07686613500118256, 0.7663901448249817, -0.3793170154094696, 0.6081005334...
17553	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s%20laws%20of%20planetary%20motion	Kepler's laws of planetary motion	In astronomy, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, published by Johannes Kepler between 1609 and 1619, describe the orbits of planets around the Sun. The laws modified the heliocentric theory of Nicolaus Copernicus, replacing its circular orbits and epicycles with elliptical trajectories, and explaining how planetary velocities vary. The three laws state that: The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci. A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time. The square of a planet's orbital period is proportional to the cube of the length of the semi-major axis of its orbit. The elliptical orbits of planets were indicated by calculations of the orbit of Mars. From this, Kepler inferred that other bodies in the Solar System, including those farther away from the Sun, also have elliptical orbits. The second law helps to establish that when a planet is closer to the Sun, it travels faster. The third law expresses that the farther a planet is from the Sun, the slower its orbital speed, and vice versa. Isaac Newton showed in 1687 that relationships like Kepler's would apply in the Solar System as a consequence of his own laws of motion and law of universal gravitation. Comparison to Copernicus Johannes Kepler's laws improved the model of Copernicus. If the eccentricities of the planetary orbits are taken as zero, then Kepler basically agreed with Copernicus: The planetary orbit is a circle with epicycles. The Sun is approximately at the center of the orbit. The speed of the planet in the main orbit is constant. The eccentricities of the orbits of those planets known to Copernicus and Kepler are small, so the foregoing rules give fair approximations of planetary motion, but Kepler's laws fit the observations better than does the model proposed by Copernicus. Kepler's corrections are: The planetary orbit is not a circle with epicycles, but an ellipse. The Sun is not near the center but at a focal point of the elliptical orbit. Neither the linear speed nor the angular speed of the planet in the orbit is constant, but the area speed (closely linked historically with the concept of angular momentum) is constant. The eccentricity of the orbit of the Earth makes the time from the March equinox to the September equinox, around 186 days, unequal to the time from the September equinox to the March equinox, around 179 days. A diameter would cut the orbit into equal parts, but the plane through the Sun parallel to the equator of the Earth cuts the orbit into two parts with areas in a 186 to 179 ratio, so the eccentricity of the orbit of the Earth is approximately which is close to the correct value (0.016710218). The accuracy of this calculation requires that the two dates chosen be along the elliptical orbit's minor axis and that the midpoints of each half be along the major axis. As the two dates chosen here are equinoxes, this will be correct when perihelion, the date the Earth is closest to the Sun, falls on a solstice. The current perihelion, near January 4, is fairly close to the solstice of December 21 or 22. Nomenclature It took nearly two centuries for current formulation of Kepler's work to take on its settled form. Voltaire's Eléments de la philosophie de Newton (Elements of Newton's Philosophy) of 1738 was the first publication to use the terminology of "laws". The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers in its article on Kepler (p. 620) states that the terminology of scientific laws for these discoveries was current at least from the time of Joseph de Lalande. It was the exposition of Robert Small, in An account of the astronomical discoveries of Kepler (1814) that made up the set of three laws, by adding in the third. Small also claimed, against the history, that these were empirical laws, based on inductive reasoning. Further, the current usage of "Kepler's Second Law" is something of a misnomer. Kepler had two versions, related in a qualitative sense: the "distance law" and the "area law". The "area law" is what became the Second Law in the set of three; but Kepler did himself not privilege it in that way. History Kepler published his first two laws about planetary motion in 1609, having found them by analyzing the astronomical observations of Tycho Brahe. Kepler's third law was published in 1619. Kepler had believed in the Copernican model of the Solar System, which called for circular orbits, but he could not reconcile Brahe's highly precise observations with a circular fit to Mars' orbit – Mars coincidentally having the highest eccentricity of all planets except Mercury. His first law reflected this discovery. In 1621, Kepler noted that his third law applies to the four brightest moons of Jupiter. Godefroy Wendelin also made this observation in 1643. The second law, in the "area law" form, was contested by Nicolaus Mercator in a book from 1664, but by 1670 his Philosophical Transactions were in its favour. As the century proceeded it became more widely accepted. The reception in Germany changed noticeably between 1688, the year in which Newton's Principia was published and was taken to be basically Copernican, and 1690, by which time work of Gottfried Leibniz on Kepler had been published. Newton was credited with understanding that the second law is not special to the inverse square law of gravitation, being a consequence just of the radial nature of that law, whereas the other laws do depend on the inverse square form of the attraction. Carl Runge and Wilhelm Lenz much later identified a symmetry principle in the phase space of planetary motion (the orthogonal group O(4) acting) which accounts for the first and third laws in the case of Newtonian gravitation, as conservation of angular momentum does via rotational symmetry for the second law. Formulary The mathematical model of the kinematics of a planet subject to the laws allows a large range of further calculations. First law The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci. Mathematically, an ellipse can be represented by the formula: where is the semi-latus rectum, ε is the eccentricity of the ellipse, r is the distance from the Sun to the planet, and θ is the angle to the planet's current position from its closest approach, as seen from the Sun. So (r, θ) are polar coordinates. For an ellipse 0 < ε < 1 ; in the limiting case ε = 0, the orbit is a circle with the Sun at the centre (i.e. where there is zero eccentricity). At θ = 0°, perihelion, the distance is minimum At θ = 90° and at θ = 270° the distance is equal to . At θ = 180°, aphelion, the distance is maximum (by definition, aphelion is – invariably – perihelion plus 180°) The semi-major axis a is the arithmetic mean between rmin and rmax: The semi-minor axis b is the geometric mean between rmin and rmax: The semi-latus rectum p is the harmonic mean between rmin and rmax: The eccentricity ε is the coefficient of variation between rmin and rmax: The area of the ellipse is The special case of a circle is ε = 0, resulting in r = p = rmin = rmax = a = b and A = πr2. Second law A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time. The orbital radius and angular velocity of the planet in the elliptical orbit will vary. This is shown in the animation: the planet travels faster when closer to the Sun, then slower when farther from the Sun. Kepler's second law states that the blue sector has constant area. In a small time the planet sweeps out a small triangle having base line and height and area , so the constant areal velocity is The area enclosed by the elliptical orbit is . So the period satisfies and the mean motion of the planet around the Sun satisfies And so, Third law The ratio of the square of an object's orbital period with the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit is the same for all objects orbiting the same primary. This captures the relationship between the distance of planets from the Sun, and their orbital periods. Kepler enunciated in 1619 this third law in a laborious attempt to determine what he viewed as the "music of the spheres" according to precise laws, and express it in terms of musical notation. It was therefore known as the harmonic law. Using Newton's law of gravitation (published 1687), this relation can be found in the case of a circular orbit by setting the centripetal force equal to the gravitational force: Then, expressing the angular velocity in terms of the orbital period and then rearranging, results in Kepler's Third Law: A more detailed derivation can be done with general elliptical orbits, instead of circles, as well as orbiting the center of mass, instead of just the large mass. This results in replacing a circular radius, , with the semi-major axis, , of the elliptical relative motion of one mass relative to the other, as well as replacing the large mass with . However, with planet masses being so much smaller than the Sun, this correction is often ignored. The full corresponding formula is: where is the mass of the Sun, is the mass of the planet, is the gravitational constant, is the orbital period and is the elliptical semi-major axis, and is the Astronomical Unit, the average distance from earth to the sun. The following table shows the data used by Kepler to empirically derive his law: Upon finding this pattern Kepler wrote: For comparison, here are modern estimates: Planetary acceleration Isaac Newton computed in his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica the acceleration of a planet moving according to Kepler's first and second law. The direction of the acceleration is towards the Sun. The magnitude of the acceleration is inversely proportional to the square of the planet's distance from the Sun (the inverse square law). This implies that the Sun may be the physical cause of the acceleration of planets. However, Newton states in his Principia that he considers forces from a mathematical point of view, not a physical, thereby taking an instrumentalist view. Moreover, he does not assign a cause to gravity. Newton defined the force acting on a planet to be the product of its mass and the acceleration (see Newton's laws of motion). So: Every planet is attracted towards the Sun. The force acting on a planet is directly proportional to the mass of the planet and is inversely proportional to the square of its distance from the Sun. The Sun plays an unsymmetrical part, which is unjustified. So he assumed, in Newton's law of universal gravitation: All bodies in the Solar System attract one another. The force between two bodies is in direct proportion to the product of their masses and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between them. As the planets have small masses compared to that of the Sun, the orbits conform approximately to Kepler's laws. Newton's model improves upon Kepler's model, and fits actual observations more accurately. (See two-body problem.) Below comes the detailed calculation of the acceleration of a planet moving according to Kepler's first and second laws. Acceleration vector From the heliocentric point of view consider the vector to the planet where is the distance to the planet and is a unit vector pointing towards the planet. where is the unit vector whose direction is 90 degrees counterclockwise of , and is the polar angle, and where a dot on top of the variable signifies differentiation with respect to time. Differentiate the position vector twice to obtain the velocity vector and the acceleration vector: So where the radial acceleration is and the transversal acceleration is Inverse square law Kepler's second law says that is constant. The transversal acceleration is zero: So the acceleration of a planet obeying Kepler's second law is directed towards the Sun. The radial acceleration is Kepler's first law states that the orbit is described by the equation: Differentiating with respect to time or Differentiating once more The radial acceleration satisfies Substituting the equation of the ellipse gives The relation gives the simple final result This means that the acceleration vector of any planet obeying Kepler's first and second law satisfies the inverse square law where is a constant, and is the unit vector pointing from the Sun towards the planet, and is the distance between the planet and the Sun. Since mean motion where is the period, according to Kepler's third law, has the same value for all the planets. So the inverse square law for planetary accelerations applies throughout the entire Solar System. The inverse square law is a differential equation. The solutions to this differential equation include the Keplerian motions, as shown, but they also include motions where the orbit is a hyperbola or parabola or a straight line. (See Kepler orbit.) Newton's law of gravitation By Newton's second law, the gravitational force that acts on the planet is: where is the mass of the planet and has the same value for all planets in the Solar System. According to Newton's third law, the Sun is attracted to the planet by a force of the same magnitude. Since the force is proportional to the mass of the planet, under the symmetric consideration, it should also be proportional to the mass of the Sun, . So where is the gravitational constant. The acceleration of solar system body number i is, according to Newton's laws: where is the mass of body j, is the distance between body i and body j, is the unit vector from body i towards body j, and the vector summation is over all bodies in the Solar System, besides i itself. In the special case where there are only two bodies in the Solar System, Earth and Sun, the acceleration becomes which is the acceleration of the Kepler motion. So this Earth moves around the Sun according to Kepler's laws. If the two bodies in the Solar System are Moon and Earth the acceleration of the Moon becomes So in this approximation, the Moon moves around the Earth according to Kepler's laws. In the three-body case the accelerations are These accelerations are not those of Kepler orbits, and the three-body problem is complicated. But Keplerian approximation is the basis for perturbation calculations. (See Lunar theory.) Position as a function of time Kepler used his two first laws to compute the position of a planet as a function of time. His method involves the solution of a transcendental equation called Kepler's equation. The procedure for calculating the heliocentric polar coordinates (r,θ) of a planet as a function of the time t since perihelion, is the following five steps: Compute the mean motion , where P is the period. Compute the mean anomaly , where t is the time since perihelion. Compute the eccentric anomaly E by solving Kepler's equation: where is the eccentricity. Compute the true anomaly θ by solving the equation: Compute the heliocentric distance r: where is the semimajor axis. The Cartesian velocity vector can then be calculated as , where is the standard gravitational parameter. The important special case of circular orbit, ε = 0, gives . Because the uniform circular motion was considered to be normal, a deviation from this motion was considered an anomaly. The proof of this procedure is shown below. Mean anomaly, M The Keplerian problem assumes an elliptical orbit and the four points: s the Sun (at one focus of ellipse); z the perihelion c the center of the ellipse p the planet and distance between center and perihelion, the semimajor axis, the eccentricity, the semiminor axis, the distance between Sun and planet. the direction to the planet as seen from the Sun, the true anomaly. The problem is to compute the polar coordinates (r,θ) of the planet from the time since perihelion, t. It is solved in steps. Kepler considered the circle with the major axis as a diameter, and the projection of the planet to the auxiliary circle the point on the circle such that the sector areas \|zcy\| and \|zsx\| are equal, the mean anomaly. The sector areas are related by The circular sector area The area swept since perihelion, is by Kepler's second law proportional to time since perihelion. So the mean anomaly, M, is proportional to time since perihelion, t. where n is the mean motion. Eccentric anomaly, E When the mean anomaly M is computed, the goal is to compute the true anomaly θ. The function θ = f(M) is, however, not elementary. Kepler's solution is to use x as seen from the centre, the eccentric anomaly as an intermediate variable, and first compute E as a function of M by solving Kepler's equation below, and then compute the true anomaly θ from the eccentric anomaly E. Here are the details. Division by a2/2 gives Kepler's equation This equation gives M as a function of E. Determining E for a given M is the inverse problem. Iterative numerical algorithms are commonly used. Having computed the eccentric anomaly E, the next step is to calculate the true anomaly θ. But note: Cartesian position coordinates with reference to the center of ellipse are (a cos E, b sin E) With reference to the Sun (with coordinates (c,0) = (ae,0) ), r = (a cos E – ae, b sin E) True anomaly would be arctan(ry/rx), magnitude of r would be . True anomaly, θ Note from the figure that so that Dividing by and inserting from Kepler's first law to get The result is a usable relationship between the eccentric anomaly E and the true anomaly θ. A computationally more convenient form follows by substituting into the trigonometric identity: Get Multiplying by 1 + ε gives the result This is the third step in the connection between time and position in the orbit. Distance, r The fourth step is to compute the heliocentric distance r from the true anomaly θ by Kepler's first law: Using the relation above between θ and E the final equation for the distance r is: See also Circular motion Free-fall time Gravity Kepler orbit Kepler problem Kepler's equation Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector Specific relative angular momentum, relatively easy derivation of Kepler's laws starting with conservation of angular momentum Explanatory notes Citations General bibliography Kepler's life is summarized on pages 523–627 and Book Five of his magnum opus, Harmonice Mundi (harmonies of the world), is reprinted on pages 635–732 of On the Shoulders of Giants: The Great Works of Physics and Astronomy (works by Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Einstein). Stephen Hawking, ed. 2002 A derivation of Kepler's third law of planetary motion is a standard topic in engineering mechanics classes. See, for example, pages 161–164 of . Murray and Dermott, Solar System Dynamics, Cambridge University Press 1999, V. I. Arnold, Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics, Chapter 2. Springer 1989, External links B.Surendranath Reddy; animation of Kepler's laws: applet "Derivation of Kepler's Laws" (from Newton's laws) at Physics Stack Exchange. Crowell, Benjamin, Light and Matter, an online book that gives a proof of the first law without the use of calculus (see section 15.7) David McNamara and Gianfranco Vidali, Kepler's Second Law – Java Interactive Tutorial, https://web.archive.org/web/20060910225253/http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/java/mc_html/kepler.html, an interactive Java applet that aids in the understanding of Kepler's Second Law. Audio – Cain/Gay (2010) Astronomy Cast Johannes Kepler and His Laws of Planetary Motion University of Tennessee's Dept. Physics & Astronomy: Astronomy 161 page on Johannes Kepler: The Laws of Planetary Motion Equant compared to Kepler: interactive model Kepler's Third Law:interactive model Solar System Simulator (Interactive Applet) Kepler and His Laws, educational web pages by David P. Stern 1609 in science 1619 in science Copernican Revolution Equations of astronomy Equations Johannes Kepler Orbits	[ -0.47564393281936646, 0.44709983468055725, 0.037146762013435364, 0.18017978966236115, 0.13716864585876465, 0.7702723145484924, -0.09858530759811401, 0.04487234726548195, -0.537377655506134, -0.537348210811615, 0.0694408193230629, 0.20680609345436096, -0.4479585289955139, 0.7632638216018677...
17556	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser	Laser	A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow (). A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light which is coherent. Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling applications such as laser cutting and lithography. Spatial coherence also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances (collimation), enabling applications such as laser pointers and lidar. Lasers can also have high temporal coherence, which allows them to emit light with a very narrow spectrum. Alternatively, temporal coherence can be used to produce ultrashort pulses of light with a broad spectrum but durations as short as a femtosecond. Lasers are used in optical disc drives, laser printers, barcode scanners, DNA sequencing instruments, fiber-optic, semiconducting chip manufacturing (photolithography), and free-space optical communication, laser surgery and skin treatments, cutting and welding materials, military and law enforcement devices for marking targets and measuring range and speed, and in laser lighting displays for entertainment. Semiconductor lasers in the blue to near-UV have also been used in place of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to excite fluorescence as a white light source. This permits a much smaller emitting area due to the much greater radiance of a laser and avoids the droop suffered by LEDs; such devices are already used in some car headlamps. Fundamentals Lasers are distinguished from other light sources by their coherence. Spatial (or transverse) coherence is typically expressed through the output being a narrow beam, which is diffraction-limited. Laser beams can be focused to very tiny spots, achieving a very high irradiance, or they can have very low divergence in order to concentrate their power at a great distance. Temporal (or longitudinal) coherence implies a polarized wave at a single frequency, whose phase is correlated over a relatively great distance (the coherence length) along the beam. A beam produced by a thermal or other incoherent light source has an instantaneous amplitude and phase that vary randomly with respect to time and position, thus having a short coherence length. Lasers are characterized according to their wavelength in a vacuum. Most "single wavelength" lasers actually produce radiation in several modes with slightly different wavelengths. Although temporal coherence implies some degree of monochromaticity, there are lasers that emit a broad spectrum of light or emit different wavelengths of light simultaneously. Some lasers are not single spatial mode and have light beams that diverge more than is required by the diffraction limit. All such devices are classified as "lasers" based on the method of producing light by stimulated emission. Lasers are employed where light of the required spatial or temporal coherence can not be produced using simpler technologies. Terminology The first device using amplification by stimulated emission operated at microwave frequencies, and was named "maser", an acronym for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". When similar optical devices were developed they were first known as "optical masers", until "microwave" was replaced by "light" in the acronym. All such devices operating at frequencies higher than microwaves are called lasers (including infrared laser, ultraviolet laser, X-ray laser and gamma-ray laser). All devices operating at microwave or lower radio frequencies are called masers. A laser that produces light by itself is technically an optical oscillator rather than an optical amplifier as suggested by the acronym. It has been humorously noted that the acronym LOSER, for "light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiation", would have been more correct. With the widespread use of the original acronym as a common noun, optical amplifiers have come to be referred to as "laser amplifiers". The back-formed verb to lase is frequently used in the field, meaning "to give off coherent light," especially in reference to the gain medium of a laser; when a laser is operating it is said to be "lasing". The words laser and maser are also used in cases where there is a coherent state unconnected with any manufactured device, as in astrophysical maser and atom laser. Design A laser consists of a gain medium, a mechanism to energize it, and something to provide optical feedback. The gain medium is a material with properties that allow it to amplify light by way of stimulated emission. Light of a specific wavelength that passes through the gain medium is amplified (increases in power). Feedback enables stimulated emission to amplify predominantly the optical frequency at the peak of the gain-frequency curve. As stimulated emission grows, eventually one frequency dominates over all others, meaning that a coherent beam has been formed. The process of stimulated emission is analogous to that of an audio oscillator with positive feedback which can occur, for example, when the speaker in a public-address system is placed in proximity to the microphone. The screech one hears is audio oscillation at the peak of the gain-frequency curve for the amplifier. For the gain medium to amplify light, it needs to be supplied with energy in a process called pumping. The energy is typically supplied as an electric current or as light at a different wavelength. Pump light may be provided by a flash lamp or by another laser. The most common type of laser uses feedback from an optical cavity—a pair of mirrors on either end of the gain medium. Light bounces back and forth between the mirrors, passing through the gain medium and being amplified each time. Typically one of the two mirrors, the output coupler, is partially transparent. Some of the light escapes through this mirror. Depending on the design of the cavity (whether the mirrors are flat or curved), the light coming out of the laser may spread out or form a narrow beam. In analogy to electronic oscillators, this device is sometimes called a laser oscillator. Most practical lasers contain additional elements that affect properties of the emitted light, such as the polarization, wavelength, and shape of the beam. Laser physics Electrons and how they interact with electromagnetic fields are important in our understanding of chemistry and physics. Stimulated emission In the classical view, the energy of an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus is larger for orbits further from the nucleus of an atom. However, quantum mechanical effects force electrons to take on discrete positions in orbitals. Thus, electrons are found in specific energy levels of an atom, two of which are shown below: An electron in an atom can absorb energy from light (photons) or heat (phonons) only if there is a transition between energy levels that matches the energy carried by the photon or phonon. For light, this means that any given transition will only absorb one particular wavelength of light. Photons with the correct wavelength can cause an electron to jump from the lower to the higher energy level. The photon is consumed in this process. When an electron is excited from one state to that at a higher energy level with energy difference ΔE, it will not stay that way forever. Eventually, a photon will be spontaneously created from the vacuum having energy ΔE . Conserving energy, the electron transitions to a lower energy level which is not occupied, with transitions to different levels having different time constants. This process is called "spontaneous emission". Spontaneous emission is a quantum-mechanical effect and a direct physical manifestation of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The emitted photon has random direction, but its wavelength matches the absorption wavelength of the transition. This is the mechanism of fluorescence and thermal emission. A photon with the correct wavelength to be absorbed by a transition can also cause an electron to drop from the higher to the lower level, emitting a new photon. The emitted photon exactly matches the original photon in wavelength, phase, and direction. This process is called stimulated emission. Gain medium and cavity The gain medium is put into an excited state by an external source of energy. In most lasers this medium consists of a population of atoms which have been excited into such a state by means of an outside light source, or an electrical field which supplies energy for atoms to absorb and be transformed into their excited states. The gain medium of a laser is normally a material of controlled purity, size, concentration, and shape, which amplifies the beam by the process of stimulated emission described above. This material can be of any state: gas, liquid, solid, or plasma. The gain medium absorbs pump energy, which raises some electrons into higher-energy ("excited") quantum states. Particles can interact with light by either absorbing or emitting photons. Emission can be spontaneous or stimulated. In the latter case, the photon is emitted in the same direction as the light that is passing by. When the number of particles in one excited state exceeds the number of particles in some lower-energy state, population inversion is achieved. In this state, the rate of stimulated emission is larger than the rate of absorption of light in the medium, and therefore the light is amplified. A system with this property is called an optical amplifier. When an optical amplifier is placed inside a resonant optical cavity, one obtains a laser. For lasing media with extremely high gain, so-called superluminescence, it is possible for light to be sufficiently amplified in a single pass through the gain medium without requiring a resonator. Although often referred to as a laser (see for example nitrogen laser), the light output from such a device lacks the spatial and temporal coherence achievable with lasers. Such a device cannot be described as an oscillator but rather is a high gain optical amplifier which amplifies its own spontaneous emission. The same mechanism describes so-called astrophysical masers/lasers. The optical resonator is sometimes referred to as an "optical cavity", but this is a misnomer: lasers use open resonators as opposed to the literal cavity that would be employed at microwave frequencies in a maser. The resonator typically consists of two mirrors between which a coherent beam of light travels in both directions, reflecting back on itself so that an average photon will pass through the gain medium repeatedly before it is emitted from the output aperture or lost to diffraction or absorption. If the gain (amplification) in the medium is larger than the resonator losses, then the power of the recirculating light can rise exponentially. But each stimulated emission event returns an atom from its excited state to the ground state, reducing the gain of the medium. With increasing beam power the net gain (gain minus loss) reduces to unity and the gain medium is said to be saturated. In a continuous wave (CW) laser, the balance of pump power against gain saturation and cavity losses produces an equilibrium value of the laser power inside the cavity; this equilibrium determines the operating point of the laser. If the applied pump power is too small, the gain will never be sufficient to overcome the cavity losses, and laser light will not be produced. The minimum pump power needed to begin laser action is called the lasing threshold. The gain medium will amplify any photons passing through it, regardless of direction; but only the photons in a spatial mode supported by the resonator will pass more than once through the medium and receive substantial amplification. The light emitted In most lasers, lasing begins with spontaneous emission into the lasing mode. This initial light is then amplified by stimulated emission in the gain medium. Stimulated emission produces light that matches the input signal in direction, wavelength, and polarization, whereas the phase of emitted light is 90 degrees in lead of the stimulating light. This, combined with the filtering effect of the optical resonator gives laser light its characteristic coherence, and may give it uniform polarization and monochromaticity, depending on the resonator's design. The fundamental laser linewidth of light emitted from the lasing resonator can be orders of magnitude narrower than the linewidth of light emitted from the passive resonator. Some lasers use a separate injection seeder to start the process off with a beam that is already highly coherent. This can produce beams with a narrower spectrum than would otherwise be possible. In 1963, Roy J. Glauber showed that coherent states are formed from combinations of photon number states, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. A coherent beam of light is formed by single-frequency quantum photon states distributed according to a Poisson distribution. As a result, the arrival rate of photons in a laser beam is described by Poisson statistics. Many lasers produce a beam that can be approximated as a Gaussian beam; such beams have the minimum divergence possible for a given beam diameter. Some lasers, particularly high-power ones, produce multimode beams, with the transverse modes often approximated using Hermite–Gaussian or Laguerre-Gaussian functions. Some high power lasers use a flat-topped profile known as a "tophat beam". Unstable laser resonators (not used in most lasers) produce fractal-shaped beams. Specialized optical systems can produce more complex beam geometries, such as Bessel beams and optical vortexes. Near the "waist" (or focal region) of a laser beam, it is highly collimated: the wavefronts are planar, normal to the direction of propagation, with no beam divergence at that point. However, due to diffraction, that can only remain true well within the Rayleigh range. The beam of a single transverse mode (gaussian beam) laser eventually diverges at an angle which varies inversely with the beam diameter, as required by diffraction theory. Thus, the "pencil beam" directly generated by a common helium–neon laser would spread out to a size of perhaps 500 kilometers when shone on the Moon (from the distance of the earth). On the other hand, the light from a semiconductor laser typically exits the tiny crystal with a large divergence: up to 50°. However even such a divergent beam can be transformed into a similarly collimated beam by means of a lens system, as is always included, for instance, in a laser pointer whose light originates from a laser diode. That is possible due to the light being of a single spatial mode. This unique property of laser light, spatial coherence, cannot be replicated using standard light sources (except by discarding most of the light) as can be appreciated by comparing the beam from a flashlight (torch) or spotlight to that of almost any laser. A laser beam profiler is used to measure the intensity profile, width, and divergence of laser beams. Diffuse reflection of a laser beam from a matte surface produces a speckle pattern with interesting properties. Quantum vs. classical emission processes The mechanism of producing radiation in a laser relies on stimulated emission, where energy is extracted from a transition in an atom or molecule. This is a quantum phenomenon that was predicted by Albert Einstein, who derived the relationship between the A coefficient describing spontaneous emission and the B coefficient which applies to absorption and stimulated emission. However, in the case of the free electron laser, atomic energy levels are not involved; it appears that the operation of this rather exotic device can be explained without reference to quantum mechanics. Continuous and pulsed modes of operation A laser can be classified as operating in either continuous or pulsed mode, depending on whether the power output is essentially continuous over time or whether its output takes the form of pulses of light on one or another time scale. Of course even a laser whose output is normally continuous can be intentionally turned on and off at some rate in order to create pulses of light. When the modulation rate is on time scales much slower than the cavity lifetime and the time period over which energy can be stored in the lasing medium or pumping mechanism, then it is still classified as a "modulated" or "pulsed" continuous wave laser. Most laser diodes used in communication systems fall in that category. Continuous-wave operation Some applications of lasers depend on a beam whose output power is constant over time. Such a laser is known as continuous-wave (CW) laser. Many types of lasers can be made to operate in continuous-wave mode to satisfy such an application. Many of these lasers actually lase in several longitudinal modes at the same time, and beats between the slightly different optical frequencies of those oscillations will, in fact, produce amplitude variations on time scales shorter than the round-trip time (the reciprocal of the frequency spacing between modes), typically a few nanoseconds or less. In most cases, these lasers are still termed "continuous-wave" as their output power is steady when averaged over any longer time periods, with the very high-frequency power variations having little or no impact in the intended application. (However, the term is not applied to mode-locked lasers, where the intention is to create very short pulses at the rate of the round-trip time.) For continuous-wave operation, it is required for the population inversion of the gain medium to be continually replenished by a steady pump source. In some lasing media, this is impossible. In some other lasers, it would require pumping the laser at a very high continuous power level, which would be impractical or destroy the laser by producing excessive heat. Such lasers cannot be run in CW mode. Pulsed operation Pulsed operation of lasers refers to any laser not classified as continuous wave, so that the optical power appears in pulses of some duration at some repetition rate. This encompasses a wide range of technologies addressing a number of different motivations. Some lasers are pulsed simply because they cannot be run in continuous mode. In other cases, the application requires the production of pulses having as large an energy as possible. Since the pulse energy is equal to the average power divided by the repetition rate, this goal can sometimes be satisfied by lowering the rate of pulses so that more energy can be built up in between pulses. In laser ablation, for example, a small volume of material at the surface of a work piece can be evaporated if it is heated in a very short time, while supplying the energy gradually would allow for the heat to be absorbed into the bulk of the piece, never attaining a sufficiently high temperature at a particular point. Other applications rely on the peak pulse power (rather than the energy in the pulse), especially in order to obtain nonlinear optical effects. For a given pulse energy, this requires creating pulses of the shortest possible duration utilizing techniques such as Q-switching. The optical bandwidth of a pulse cannot be narrower than the reciprocal of the pulse width. In the case of extremely short pulses, that implies lasing over a considerable bandwidth, quite contrary to the very narrow bandwidths typical of CW lasers. The lasing medium in some dye lasers and vibronic solid-state lasers produces optical gain over a wide bandwidth, making a laser possible which can thus generate pulses of light as short as a few femtoseconds (10−15 s). Q-switching In a Q-switched laser, the population inversion is allowed to build up by introducing loss inside the resonator which exceeds the gain of the medium; this can also be described as a reduction of the quality factor or 'Q' of the cavity. Then, after the pump energy stored in the laser medium has approached the maximum possible level, the introduced loss mechanism (often an electro- or acousto-optical element) is rapidly removed (or that occurs by itself in a passive device), allowing lasing to begin which rapidly obtains the stored energy in the gain medium. This results in a short pulse incorporating that energy, and thus a high peak power. Mode locking A mode-locked laser is capable of emitting extremely short pulses on the order of tens of picoseconds down to less than 10 femtoseconds. These pulses repeat at the round-trip time, that is, the time that it takes light to complete one round trip between the mirrors comprising the resonator. Due to the Fourier limit (also known as energy–time uncertainty), a pulse of such short temporal length has a spectrum spread over a considerable bandwidth. Thus such a gain medium must have a gain bandwidth sufficiently broad to amplify those frequencies. An example of a suitable material is titanium-doped, artificially grown sapphire (Ti:sapphire), which has a very wide gain bandwidth and can thus produce pulses of only a few femtoseconds duration. Such mode-locked lasers are a most versatile tool for researching processes occurring on extremely short time scales (known as femtosecond physics, femtosecond chemistry and ultrafast science), for maximizing the effect of nonlinearity in optical materials (e.g. in second-harmonic generation, parametric down-conversion, optical parametric oscillators and the like). Unlike the giant pulse of a Q-switched laser, consecutive pulses from a mode-locked laser are phase-coherent, that is, the pulses (and not just their envelopes) are identical and perfectly periodic. For this reason, and the extremely large peak powers attained by such short pulses, such lasers are invaluable in certain areas of research. Pulsed pumping Another method of achieving pulsed laser operation is to pump the laser material with a source that is itself pulsed, either through electronic charging in the case of flash lamps, or another laser which is already pulsed. Pulsed pumping was historically used with dye lasers where the inverted population lifetime of a dye molecule was so short that a high energy, fast pump was needed. The way to overcome this problem was to charge up large capacitors which are then switched to discharge through flashlamps, producing an intense flash. Pulsed pumping is also required for three-level lasers in which the lower energy level rapidly becomes highly populated preventing further lasing until those atoms relax to the ground state. These lasers, such as the excimer laser and the copper vapor laser, can never be operated in CW mode. History Foundations In 1917, Albert Einstein established the theoretical foundations for the laser and the maser in the paper Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung (On the Quantum Theory of Radiation) via a re-derivation of Max Planck's law of radiation, conceptually based upon probability coefficients (Einstein coefficients) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. In 1928, Rudolf W. Ladenburg confirmed the existence of the phenomena of stimulated emission and negative absorption. In 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant predicted the use of stimulated emission to amplify "short" waves. In 1947, Willis E. Lamb and R.C. Retherford found apparent stimulated emission in hydrogen spectra and effected the first demonstration of stimulated emission. In 1950, Alfred Kastler (Nobel Prize for Physics 1966) proposed the method of optical pumping, which was experimentally demonstrated two years later by Brossel, Kastler, and Winter. Maser In 1951, Joseph Weber submitted a paper on using stimulated emissions to make a microwave amplifier to the June 1952 Institute of Radio Engineers Vacuum Tube Research Conference at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. After this presentation, RCA asked Weber to give a seminar on this idea, and Charles Hard Townes asked him for a copy of the paper. In 1953, Charles Hard Townes and graduate students James P. Gordon and Herbert J. Zeiger produced the first microwave amplifier, a device operating on similar principles to the laser, but amplifying microwave radiation rather than infrared or visible radiation. Townes's maser was incapable of continuous output. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Nikolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov were independently working on the quantum oscillator and solved the problem of continuous-output systems by using more than two energy levels. These gain media could release stimulated emissions between an excited state and a lower excited state, not the ground state, facilitating the maintenance of a population inversion. In 1955, Prokhorov and Basov suggested optical pumping of a multi-level system as a method for obtaining the population inversion, later a main method of laser pumping. Townes reports that several eminent physicists—among them Niels Bohr, John von Neumann, and Llewellyn Thomas—argued the maser violated Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and hence could not work. Others such as Isidor Rabi and Polykarp Kusch expected that it would be impractical and not worth the effort. In 1964 Charles H. Townes, Nikolay Basov, and Aleksandr Prokhorov shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, "for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser–laser principle". Laser In April 1957, Japanese engineer Jun-ichi Nishizawa proposed the concept of a "semiconductor optical maser" in a patent application. That same year, Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow, then at Bell Labs, began a serious study of infrared "optical masers". As ideas developed, they abandoned infrared radiation to instead concentrate on visible light. In 1958, Bell Labs filed a patent application for their proposed optical maser; and Schawlow and Townes submitted a manuscript of their theoretical calculations to the Physical Review, which was published in 1958. Simultaneously, at Columbia University, graduate student Gordon Gould was working on a doctoral thesis about the energy levels of excited thallium. When Gould and Townes met, they spoke of radiation emission, as a general subject; afterwards, in November 1957, Gould noted his ideas for a "laser", including using an open resonator (later an essential laser-device component). Moreover, in 1958, Prokhorov independently proposed using an open resonator, the first published appearance of this idea. Meanwhile, Schawlow and Townes had decided on an open-resonator laser design – apparently unaware of Prokhorov's publications and Gould's unpublished laser work. At a conference in 1959, Gordon Gould first published the acronym "LASER" in the paper The LASER, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Gould's intention was that different "-ASER" acronyms should be used for different parts of the spectrum: "XASER" for x-rays, "UVASER" for ultraviolet, etc. "LASER" ended up becoming the generic term for non-microwave devices, although "RASER" was briefly popular for denoting radio-frequency-emitting devices. Gould's notes included possible applications for a laser, such as spectrometry, interferometry, radar, and nuclear fusion. He continued developing the idea, and filed a patent application in April 1959. The U.S. Patent Office denied his application, and awarded a patent to Bell Labs, in 1960. That provoked a twenty-eight-year lawsuit, featuring scientific prestige and money as the stakes. Gould won his first minor patent in 1977, yet it was not until 1987 that he won the first significant patent lawsuit victory, when a Federal judge ordered the U.S. Patent Office to issue patents to Gould for the optically pumped and the gas discharge laser devices. The question of just how to assign credit for inventing the laser remains unresolved by historians. On May 16, 1960, Theodore H. Maiman operated the first functioning laser at Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu, California, ahead of several research teams, including those of Townes, at Columbia University, Arthur Schawlow, at Bell Labs, and Gould, at the TRG (Technical Research Group) company. Maiman's functional laser used a flashlamp-pumped synthetic ruby crystal to produce red laser light at 694 nanometers wavelength. The device was only capable of pulsed operation, due to its three-level pumping design scheme. Later that year, the Iranian physicist Ali Javan, and William R. Bennett, and Donald Herriott, constructed the first gas laser, using helium and neon that was capable of continuous operation in the infrared (U.S. Patent 3,149,290); later, Javan received the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 1993. Basov and Javan proposed the semiconductor laser diode concept. In 1962, Robert N. Hall demonstrated the first laser diode device, which was made of gallium arsenide and emitted in the near-infrared band of the spectrum at 850 nm. Later that year, Nick Holonyak, Jr. demonstrated the first semiconductor laser with a visible emission. This first semiconductor laser could only be used in pulsed-beam operation, and when cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K). In 1970, Zhores Alferov, in the USSR, and Izuo Hayashi and Morton Panish of Bell Telephone Laboratories also independently developed room-temperature, continual-operation diode lasers, using the heterojunction structure. Recent innovations Since the early period of laser history, laser research has produced a variety of improved and specialized laser types, optimized for different performance goals, including: new wavelength bands maximum average output power maximum peak pulse energy maximum peak pulse power minimum output pulse duration minimum linewidth maximum power efficiency minimum cost and this research continues to this day. In 2015, researchers made a white laser, whose light is modulated by a synthetic nanosheet made out of zinc, cadmium, sulfur, and selenium that can emit red, green, and blue light in varying proportions, with each wavelength spanning 191 nm. In 2017, researchers at TU Delft demonstrated an AC Josephson junction microwave laser. Since the laser operates in the superconducting regime, it is more stable than other semiconductor-based lasers. The device has potential for applications in quantum computing. In 2017, researchers at TU Munich demonstrated the smallest mode locking laser capable of emitting pairs of phase-locked picosecond laser pulses with a repetition frequency up to 200 GHz. In 2017, researchers from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), together with US researchers from JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, established a new world record by developing an erbium-doped fiber laser with a linewidth of only 10 millihertz. Types and operating principles Gas lasers Following the invention of the HeNe gas laser, many other gas discharges have been found to amplify light coherently. Gas lasers using many different gases have been built and used for many purposes. The helium–neon laser (HeNe) is able to operate at a number of different wavelengths, however the vast majority are engineered to lase at 633 nm; these relatively low cost but highly coherent lasers are extremely common in optical research and educational laboratories. Commercial carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers can emit many hundreds of watts in a single spatial mode which can be concentrated into a tiny spot. This emission is in the thermal infrared at 10.6 µm; such lasers are regularly used in industry for cutting and welding. The efficiency of a CO2 laser is unusually high: over 30%. Argon-ion lasers can operate at a number of lasing transitions between 351 and 528.7 nm. Depending on the optical design one or more of these transitions can be lasing simultaneously; the most commonly used lines are 458 nm, 488 nm and 514.5 nm. A nitrogen transverse electrical discharge in gas at atmospheric pressure (TEA) laser is an inexpensive gas laser, often home-built by hobbyists, which produces rather incoherent UV light at 337.1 nm. Metal ion lasers are gas lasers that generate deep ultraviolet wavelengths. Helium-silver (HeAg) 224 nm and neon-copper (NeCu) 248 nm are two examples. Like all low-pressure gas lasers, the gain media of these lasers have quite narrow oscillation linewidths, less than 3 GHz (0.5 picometers), making them candidates for use in fluorescence suppressed Raman spectroscopy. Lasing without maintaining the medium excited into a population inversion was demonstrated in 1992 in sodium gas and again in 1995 in rubidium gas by various international teams. This was accomplished by using an external maser to induce "optical transparency" in the medium by introducing and destructively interfering the ground electron transitions between two paths, so that the likelihood for the ground electrons to absorb any energy has been cancelled. Chemical lasers Chemical lasers are powered by a chemical reaction permitting a large amount of energy to be released quickly. Such very high power lasers are especially of interest to the military, however continuous wave chemical lasers at very high power levels, fed by streams of gasses, have been developed and have some industrial applications. As examples, in the hydrogen fluoride laser (2700–2900 nm) and the deuterium fluoride laser (3800 nm) the reaction is the combination of hydrogen or deuterium gas with combustion products of ethylene in nitrogen trifluoride. Excimer lasers Excimer lasers are a special sort of gas laser powered by an electric discharge in which the lasing medium is an excimer, or more precisely an exciplex in existing designs. These are molecules which can only exist with one atom in an excited electronic state. Once the molecule transfers its excitation energy to a photon, its atoms are no longer bound to each other and the molecule disintegrates. This drastically reduces the population of the lower energy state thus greatly facilitating a population inversion. Excimers currently used are all noble gas compounds; noble gasses are chemically inert and can only form compounds while in an excited state. Excimer lasers typically operate at ultraviolet wavelengths with major applications including semiconductor photolithography and LASIK eye surgery. Commonly used excimer molecules include ArF (emission at 193 nm), KrCl (222 nm), KrF (248 nm), XeCl (308 nm), and XeF (351 nm). The molecular fluorine laser, emitting at 157 nm in the vacuum ultraviolet is sometimes referred to as an excimer laser, however this appears to be a misnomer inasmuch as F2 is a stable compound. Solid-state lasers Solid-state lasers use a crystalline or glass rod which is "doped" with ions that provide the required energy states. For example, the first working laser was a ruby laser, made from ruby (chromium-doped corundum). The population inversion is actually maintained in the dopant. These materials are pumped optically using a shorter wavelength than the lasing wavelength, often from a flashtube or from another laser. The usage of the term "solid-state" in laser physics is narrower than in typical use. Semiconductor lasers (laser diodes) are typically not referred to as solid-state lasers. Neodymium is a common dopant in various solid-state laser crystals, including yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO4), yttrium lithium fluoride (Nd:YLF) and yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG). All these lasers can produce high powers in the infrared spectrum at 1064 nm. They are used for cutting, welding and marking of metals and other materials, and also in spectroscopy and for pumping dye lasers. These lasers are also commonly frequency doubled, tripled or quadrupled to produce 532 nm (green, visible), 355 nm and 266 nm (UV) beams, respectively. Frequency-doubled diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers are used to make bright green laser pointers. Ytterbium, holmium, thulium, and erbium are other common "dopants" in solid-state lasers. Ytterbium is used in crystals such as Yb:YAG, Yb:KGW, Yb:KYW, Yb:SYS, Yb:BOYS, Yb:CaF2, typically operating around 1020–1050 nm. They are potentially very efficient and high powered due to a small quantum defect. Extremely high powers in ultrashort pulses can be achieved with Yb:YAG. Holmium-doped YAG crystals emit at 2097 nm and form an efficient laser operating at infrared wavelengths strongly absorbed by water-bearing tissues. The Ho-YAG is usually operated in a pulsed mode, and passed through optical fiber surgical devices to resurface joints, remove rot from teeth, vaporize cancers, and pulverize kidney and gall stones. Titanium-doped sapphire (Ti:sapphire) produces a highly tunable infrared laser, commonly used for spectroscopy. It is also notable for use as a mode-locked laser producing ultrashort pulses of extremely high peak power. Thermal limitations in solid-state lasers arise from unconverted pump power that heats the medium. This heat, when coupled with a high thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dT) can cause thermal lensing and reduce the quantum efficiency. Diode-pumped thin disk lasers overcome these issues by having a gain medium that is much thinner than the diameter of the pump beam. This allows for a more uniform temperature in the material. Thin disk lasers have been shown to produce beams of up to one kilowatt. Fiber lasers Solid-state lasers or laser amplifiers where the light is guided due to the total internal reflection in a single mode optical fiber are instead called fiber lasers. Guiding of light allows extremely long gain regions providing good cooling conditions; fibers have high surface area to volume ratio which allows efficient cooling. In addition, the fiber's waveguiding properties tend to reduce thermal distortion of the beam. Erbium and ytterbium ions are common active species in such lasers. Quite often, the fiber laser is designed as a double-clad fiber. This type of fiber consists of a fiber core, an inner cladding and an outer cladding. The index of the three concentric layers is chosen so that the fiber core acts as a single-mode fiber for the laser emission while the outer cladding acts as a highly multimode core for the pump laser. This lets the pump propagate a large amount of power into and through the active inner core region, while still having a high numerical aperture (NA) to have easy launching conditions. Pump light can be used more efficiently by creating a fiber disk laser, or a stack of such lasers. Fiber lasers have a fundamental limit in that the intensity of the light in the fiber cannot be so high that optical nonlinearities induced by the local electric field strength can become dominant and prevent laser operation and/or lead to the material destruction of the fiber. This effect is called photodarkening. In bulk laser materials, the cooling is not so efficient, and it is difficult to separate the effects of photodarkening from the thermal effects, but the experiments in fibers show that the photodarkening can be attributed to the formation of long-living color centers. Photonic crystal lasers Photonic crystal lasers are lasers based on nano-structures that provide the mode confinement and the density of optical states (DOS) structure required for the feedback to take place. They are typical micrometer-sized and tunable on the bands of the photonic crystals. Semiconductor lasers Semiconductor lasers are diodes which are electrically pumped. Recombination of electrons and holes created by the applied current introduces optical gain. Reflection from the ends of the crystal form an optical resonator, although the resonator can be external to the semiconductor in some designs. Commercial laser diodes emit at wavelengths from 375 nm to 3500 nm. Low to medium power laser diodes are used in laser pointers, laser printers and CD/DVD players. Laser diodes are also frequently used to optically pump other lasers with high efficiency. The highest power industrial laser diodes, with power up to 20 kW, are used in industry for cutting and welding. External-cavity semiconductor lasers have a semiconductor active medium in a larger cavity. These devices can generate high power outputs with good beam quality, wavelength-tunable narrow-linewidth radiation, or ultrashort laser pulses. In 2012, Nichia and OSRAM developed and manufactured commercial high-power green laser diodes (515/520 nm), which compete with traditional diode-pumped solid-state lasers. Vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are semiconductor lasers whose emission direction is perpendicular to the surface of the wafer. VCSEL devices typically have a more circular output beam than conventional laser diodes. As of 2005, only 850 nm VCSELs are widely available, with 1300 nm VCSELs beginning to be commercialized, and 1550 nm devices an area of research. VECSELs are external-cavity VCSELs. Quantum cascade lasers are semiconductor lasers that have an active transition between energy sub-bands of an electron in a structure containing several quantum wells. The development of a silicon laser is important in the field of optical computing. Silicon is the material of choice for integrated circuits, and so electronic and silicon photonic components (such as optical interconnects) could be fabricated on the same chip. Unfortunately, silicon is a difficult lasing material to deal with, since it has certain properties which block lasing. However, recently teams have produced silicon lasers through methods such as fabricating the lasing material from silicon and other semiconductor materials, such as indium(III) phosphide or gallium(III) arsenide, materials which allow coherent light to be produced from silicon. These are called hybrid silicon laser. Recent developments have also shown the use of monolithically integrated nanowire lasers directly on silicon for optical interconnects, paving the way for chip level applications. These heterostructure nanowire lasers capable of optical interconnects in silicon are also capable of emitting pairs of phase-locked picosecond pulses with a repetition frequency up to 200 GHz, allowing for on-chip optical signal processing. Another type is a Raman laser, which takes advantage of Raman scattering to produce a laser from materials such as silicon. Dye lasers Dye lasers use an organic dye as the gain medium. The wide gain spectrum of available dyes, or mixtures of dyes, allows these lasers to be highly tunable, or to produce very short-duration pulses (on the order of a few femtoseconds). Although these tunable lasers are mainly known in their liquid form, researchers have also demonstrated narrow-linewidth tunable emission in dispersive oscillator configurations incorporating solid-state dye gain media. In their most prevalent form these solid state dye lasers use dye-doped polymers as laser media. Free-electron lasers Free-electron lasers, or FELs, generate coherent, high power radiation that is widely tunable, currently ranging in wavelength from microwaves through terahertz radiation and infrared to the visible spectrum, to soft X-rays. They have the widest frequency range of any laser type. While FEL beams share the same optical traits as other lasers, such as coherent radiation, FEL operation is quite different. Unlike gas, liquid, or solid-state lasers, which rely on bound atomic or molecular states, FELs use a relativistic electron beam as the lasing medium, hence the term free-electron. Exotic media The pursuit of a high-quantum-energy laser using transitions between isomeric states of an atomic nucleus has been the subject of wide-ranging academic research since the early 1970s. Much of this is summarized in three review articles. This research has been international in scope, but mainly based in the former Soviet Union and the United States. While many scientists remain optimistic that a breakthrough is near, an operational gamma-ray laser is yet to be realized. Some of the early studies were directed toward short pulses of neutrons exciting the upper isomer state in a solid so the gamma-ray transition could benefit from the line-narrowing of Mössbauer effect. In conjunction, several advantages were expected from two-stage pumping of a three-level system. It was conjectured that the nucleus of an atom, embedded in the near field of a laser-driven coherently-oscillating electron cloud would experience a larger dipole field than that of the driving laser. Furthermore, nonlinearity of the oscillating cloud would produce both spatial and temporal harmonics, so nuclear transitions of higher multipolarity could also be driven at multiples of the laser frequency. In September 2007, the BBC News reported that there was speculation about the possibility of using positronium annihilation to drive a very powerful gamma ray laser. Dr. David Cassidy of the University of California, Riverside proposed that a single such laser could be used to ignite a nuclear fusion reaction, replacing the banks of hundreds of lasers currently employed in inertial confinement fusion experiments. Space-based X-ray lasers pumped by a nuclear explosion have also been proposed as antimissile weapons. Such devices would be one-shot weapons. Living cells have been used to produce laser light. The cells were genetically engineered to produce green fluorescent protein (GFP). The GFP is used as the laser's "gain medium", where light amplification takes place. The cells were then placed between two tiny mirrors, just 20 millionths of a meter across, which acted as the "laser cavity" in which light could bounce many times through the cell. Upon bathing the cell with blue light, it could be seen to emit directed and intense green laser light. Natural lasers Like astrophysical masers, irradiated planetary or stellar gases may amplify light producing a natural laser. Mars, Venus and MWC 349 exhibit this phenomenon. Uses When lasers were invented in 1960, they were called "a solution looking for a problem". Since then, they have become ubiquitous, finding utility in thousands of highly varied applications in every section of modern society, including consumer electronics, information technology, science, medicine, industry, law enforcement, entertainment, and the military. Fiber-optic communication using lasers is a key technology in modern communications, allowing services such as the Internet. The first widely noticeable use of lasers was the supermarket barcode scanner, introduced in 1974. The laserdisc player, introduced in 1978, was the first successful consumer product to include a laser but the compact disc player was the first laser-equipped device to become common, beginning in 1982 followed shortly by laser printers. Some other uses are: Communications: besides fiber-optic communication, lasers are used for free-space optical communication, including laser communication in space. Medicine: see below. Industry: cutting including converting thin materials, welding, material heat treatment, marking parts (engraving and bonding), additive manufacturing or 3D printing processes such as selective laser sintering and selective laser melting, non-contact measurement of parts and 3D scanning, and laser cleaning. Military: marking targets, guiding munitions, missile defense, electro-optical countermeasures (EOCM), lidar, blinding troops, firearms sight. See below Law enforcement: LIDAR traffic enforcement. Lasers are used for latent fingerprint detection in the forensic identification field Research: spectroscopy, laser ablation, laser annealing, laser scattering, laser interferometry, lidar, laser capture microdissection, fluorescence microscopy, metrology, laser cooling. Commercial products: laser printers, barcode scanners, thermometers, laser pointers, holograms, bubblegrams. Entertainment: optical discs, laser lighting displays, laser turntables In 2004, excluding diode lasers, approximately 131,000 lasers were sold with a value of US$2.19 billion. In the same year, approximately 733 million diode lasers, valued at $3.20 billion, were sold. In medicine Lasers have many uses in medicine, including laser surgery (particularly eye surgery), laser healing, kidney stone treatment, ophthalmoscopy, and cosmetic skin treatments such as acne treatment, cellulite and striae reduction, and hair removal. Lasers are used to treat cancer by shrinking or destroying tumors or precancerous growths. They are most commonly used to treat superficial cancers that are on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs. They are used to treat basal cell skin cancer and the very early stages of others like cervical, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and non-small cell lung cancer. Laser therapy is often combined with other treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), or interstitial laser photocoagulation, uses lasers to treat some cancers using hyperthermia, which uses heat to shrink tumors by damaging or killing cancer cells. Lasers are more precise than traditional surgery methods and cause less damage, pain, bleeding, swelling, and scarring. A disadvantage is that surgeons must have specialized training. It may be more expensive than other treatments. As weapons A laser weapon is a laser that is used as a directed-energy weapon. Hobbies In recent years, some hobbyists have taken interests in lasers. Lasers used by hobbyists are generally of class IIIa or IIIb (see Safety), although some have made their own class IV types. However, compared to other hobbyists, laser hobbyists are far less common, due to the cost and potential dangers involved. Due to the cost of lasers, some hobbyists use inexpensive means to obtain lasers, such as salvaging laser diodes from broken DVD players (red), Blu-ray players (violet), or even higher power laser diodes from CD or DVD burners. Hobbyists also have been taking surplus pulsed lasers from retired military applications and modifying them for pulsed holography. Pulsed Ruby and pulsed YAG lasers have been used. Examples by power Different applications need lasers with different output powers. Lasers that produce a continuous beam or a series of short pulses can be compared on the basis of their average power. Lasers that produce pulses can also be characterized based on the peak power of each pulse. The peak power of a pulsed laser is many orders of magnitude greater than its average power. The average output power is always less than the power consumed. Examples of pulsed systems with high peak power: 700 TW (700×1012 W) – National Ignition Facility, a 192-beam, 1.8-megajoule laser system adjoining a 10-meter-diameter target chamber 10 PW (10×1015 W) – world's most powerful laser as of 2019, located at the ELI-NP facility in Măgurele, Romania. Safety Even the first laser was recognized as being potentially dangerous. Theodore Maiman characterized the first laser as having a power of one "Gillette" as it could burn through one Gillette razor blade. Today, it is accepted that even low-power lasers with only a few milliwatts of output power can be hazardous to human eyesight when the beam hits the eye directly or after reflection from a shiny surface. At wavelengths which the cornea and the lens can focus well, the coherence and low divergence of laser light means that it can be focused by the eye into an extremely small spot on the retina, resulting in localized burning and permanent damage in seconds or even less time. Lasers are usually labeled with a safety class number, which identifies how dangerous the laser is: Class 1 is inherently safe, usually because the light is contained in an enclosure, for example in CD players. Class 2 is safe during normal use; the blink reflex of the eye will prevent damage. Usually up to 1 mW power, for example laser pointers. Class 3R (formerly IIIa) lasers are usually up to 5 mW and involve a small risk of eye damage within the time of the blink reflex. Staring into such a beam for several seconds is likely to cause damage to a spot on the retina. Class 3B lasers (5–499 mW) can cause immediate eye damage upon exposure. Class 4 lasers (≥ 500 mW) can burn skin, and in some cases, even scattered light from these lasers can cause eye and/or skin damage. Many industrial and scientific lasers are in this class. The indicated powers are for visible-light, continuous-wave lasers. For pulsed lasers and invisible wavelengths, other power limits apply. People working with class 3B and class 4 lasers can protect their eyes with safety goggles which are designed to absorb light of a particular wavelength. Infrared lasers with wavelengths longer than about 1.4 micrometers are often referred to as "eye-safe", because the cornea tends to absorb light at these wavelengths, protecting the retina from damage. The label "eye-safe" can be misleading, however, as it applies only to relatively low power continuous wave beams; a high power or Q-switched laser at these wavelengths can burn the cornea, causing severe eye damage, and even moderate power lasers can injure the eye. Lasers can be a hazard to both civil and military aviation, due to the potential to temporarily distract or blind pilots. See Lasers and aviation safety for more on this topic. Cameras based on charge-coupled devices may actually be more sensitive to laser damage than biological eyes. See also Anti-laser Coherent perfect absorber Homogeneous broadening Laser linewidth List of laser articles List of light sources Nanolaser Sound amplification by stimulated emission of radiation Spaser Fabry–Pérot interferometer References Further reading Books Bertolotti, Mario (1999, trans. 2004). The History of the Laser. Institute of Physics. . Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1991). The Laser in America, 1950–1970. MIT Press. . Csele, Mark (2004). Fundamentals of Light Sources and Lasers. Wiley. . Koechner, Walter (1992). Solid-State Laser Engineering. 3rd ed. Springer-Verlag. . Siegman, Anthony E. (1986). Lasers. University Science Books. . Silfvast, William T. (1996). Laser Fundamentals. Cambridge University Press. . Svelto, Orazio (1998). Principles of Lasers. 4th ed. Trans. David Hanna. Springer. . Wilson, J. & Hawkes, J.F.B. (1987). Lasers: Principles and Applications. Prentice Hall International Series in Optoelectronics, Prentice Hall. . Yariv, Amnon (1989). Quantum Electronics. 3rd ed. Wiley. . Periodicals Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics () IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology () IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics () IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics () IEEE Photonics Technology Letters () Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics () Laser Focus World () Optics Letters () Photonics Spectra () External links Encyclopedia of laser physics and technology by Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta A Practical Guide to Lasers for Experimenters and Hobbyists by Samuel M. Goldwasser Homebuilt Lasers Page by Professor Mark Csele Powerful laser is 'brightest light in the universe' – The world's most powerful laser as of 2008 might create supernova-like shock waves and possibly even antimatter (New Scientist, April 9, 2008) "Laser Fundamentals" an online course by Prof. F. Balembois and Dr. S. Forget. Instrumentation for Optics, 2008, (accessed January 17, 2014) Northrop Grumman's Press Release on the Firestrike 15 kW tactical laser product. Website on Lasers 50th anniversary by APS, OSA, SPIE Advancing the Laser anniversary site by SPIE: Video interviews, open-access articles, posters, DVDs Bright Idea: The First Lasers history of the invention, with audio interview clips. Free software for Simulation of random laser dynamics Video Demonstrations in Lasers and Optics Produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Real-time effects are demonstrated in a way that would be difficult to see in a classroom setting. MIT Video Lecture: Understanding Lasers and Fiberoptics Virtual Museum of Laser History, from the touring exhibit by SPIE website with animations, applications and research about laser and other quantum based phenomena Universite Paris Sud 1960 introductions American inventions Articles containing video clips Photonics Quantum optics Russian inventions Soviet inventions	[ 0.5534370541572571, 0.25380218029022217, 0.11731988936662674, -0.02977832779288292, 0.03569239377975464, -0.22181150317192078, 0.36234816908836365, -0.1810556948184967, -0.14834268391132355, -0.23500870168209076, -0.6418570876121521, 0.7995277047157288, -0.3489173352718353, 0.2381404340267...
17560	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live%20action%20role-playing%20game	Live action role-playing game	A Live Action Role-Playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play. The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by tabletop role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity spread internationally during the 1980s and has diversified into a wide variety of styles. Play may be very game-like or may be more concerned with dramatic or artistic expression. Events can also be designed to achieve educational or political goals. The fictional genres used vary greatly, from realistic modern or historical settings to fantastic or futuristic eras. Production values are sometimes minimal, but can involve elaborate venues and costumes. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours, to large public events with thousands of players lasting for days. Terminology LARP has also been referred to as live role-playing (LRP), interactive literature, and free form role-playing. Some of these terms are still in common use; however, LARP has become the most commonly accepted term. It is sometimes written in lowercase, as larp. The live action in LARP is analogous to the term live action used in film and video to differentiate works with human actors from animation. Playing a LARP is often called larping, and one who does it is a larper. Play overview The participants in a LARP physically portray characters in a fictional setting, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like actors in improvisational theatre. This is distinct from tabletop role-playing games, where character actions are described verbally. LARPs may be played in a public or private area and may last for hours or days. There is usually no audience. Players may dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, and the environment is sometimes decorated to resemble the setting. LARPs can be one-off events or a series of events in the same setting, and events can vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand. Events are put on for the benefit of the players, who take on roles called player characters (PCs) that the players may create themselves or be given by the gamemasters. Players sometimes play the same character repeatedly at separate events, progressively developing the character and its relations with other characters and the setting. Arrangers called gamemasters (GMs) determine the rules and setting of a LARP, and may also influence an event and act as referees while it is taking place. The GMs may also do the logistical work, or there may be other arrangers who handle details such as advertising the event, booking a venue, and financial management. Unlike the GM in a tabletop role-playing game, a LARP GM seldom has an overview of everything that is happening during play because numerous participants may be interacting at once. For this reason, a LARP GM's role is often less concerned with tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and more with arranging the structure of the LARP before play begins and facilitating the players and crew to maintain the fictional environment during play. Participants sometimes known as the crew may help the GMs to set up and maintain the environment of the LARP during play by acting as stagehands or playing non-player characters (NPCs) who fill out the setting. Crew typically receive more information about the setting and more direction from the GMs than players do. In a tabletop role-playing game, a GM usually plays all the NPCs, whereas in a LARP, each NPC is typically played by a separate crew member. Sometimes players are asked to play NPCs for periods of an event. Much of play consists of interactions between characters. Some LARP scenarios primarily feature interaction between PCs. Other scenarios focus on interaction between PCs and aspects of the setting, including NPCs, that are under the direction of the GMs. History LARP does not have a single point of origin, but was invented independently by groups in North America, Europe, and Australia. These groups shared an experience with genre fiction or tabletop role-playing games, and a desire to physically experience such settings. In addition to tabletop role-playing, LARP is rooted in childhood games of make believe, play fighting, costume parties, roleplay simulations, Commedia dell'arte, improvisational theatre, psychodrama, military simulations, and historical reenactment groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism. The earliest recorded LARP group is Dagorhir, which was founded in 1977 in the United States and focuses on fantasy battles. Soon after the release of the movie Logan's Run in 1976, rudimentary live role-playing games based on the movie were run at US science fiction conventions. In 1981, the International Fantasy Gaming Society (IFGS) started, with rules influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. IFGS was named after a fictional group in the 1981 novel Dream Park, which described futuristic LARPs. In 1982, the Society for Interactive Literature, a predecessor of the Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA), formed as the first recorded theatre-style LARP group in the US. Treasure Trap, formed in 1982 at Peckforton Castle, was the first recorded LARP game in the UK and influenced the fantasy LARPs that followed there. The first recorded LARP in Australia was run in 1983, using the science fiction Traveller setting. In 1993, White Wolf Publishing released Mind's Eye Theatre, which is still played internationally and is probably the most commercially successful published LARP. The first German events were in the early 1990s, with fantasy LARP in particular growing quickly there, so that since 2001, two major German events have been run annually that have between 3000 and 7000 players each and attract players from around Europe. Today, LARP is a widespread activity internationally. Games with thousands of participants are run by for-profit companies, and a small industry exists to sell costume, armour and foam weapons intended primarily for LARP. Purpose Most LARPs are intended as games for entertainment. Enjoyable aspects can include the collaborative creation of a story, the attempt to overcome challenges in pursuit of a character's objectives, and a sense of immersion in a fictional setting. LARPs may also include other game-like aspects such as intellectual puzzles, and sport-like aspects such as fighting with simulated weapons. Some LARPs stress artistic considerations such as dramatic interaction or challenging subject matter. Avant-garde or arthaus events have especially experimental approaches and high culture aspirations and are occasionally held in fine art contexts such as festivals or art museums. The themes of avant-garde events often include politics, culture, religion, sexuality and the human condition. Such LARPs are common in the Nordic countries but also present elsewhere. In addition to entertainment and artistic merit, LARP events may be designed for educational or political purposes. For example, the Danish secondary school uses LARP to teach most of its classes. Language classes can be taught by immersing students in a role-playing scenario in which they are forced to improvise speech or writing in the language they are learning. Politically themed LARP events may attempt to awaken or shape political thinking within a culture. Because LARP involves a controlled artificial environment within which people interact, it has sometimes been used as a research tool to test theories in social fields such as economics or law. For example, LARP has been used to study the application of game theory to the development of criminal law. Fiction and reality During a LARP, player actions in the real world represent character actions in an imaginary setting. Game rules, physical symbols and theatrical improvisation are used to bridge differences between the real world and the setting. For example, a rope could signify an imaginary wall. Realistic-looking weapon props and risky physical activity are sometimes discouraged or forbidden for safety reasons. While the fictional timeline in a tabletop RPG often progresses in game-time, which may be much faster or slower than the time passing for players, LARPs are different in that they usually run in real-time, with game-time only being used in special circumstances. There is a distinction between when a player is in character, meaning they are actively representing their character, and when the player is out-of-character, meaning they are being themselves. Some LARPs encourage players to stay consistently in character except in emergencies, while others accept players being out-of-character at times. In a LARP, it is usually assumed that players are speaking and acting in character unless otherwise noted, which is the opposite of normal practice in tabletop role-playing games. Character knowledge is usually considered to be separate from player knowledge, and acting upon information a character would not know may be viewed as cheating. While most LARPs maintain a clear distinction between the real world and the fictional setting, pervasive LARPs mingle fiction with modern reality in a fashion similar to alternate reality games. Bystanders who are unaware that a game is taking place may be treated as part of the fictional setting, and in-character materials may be incorporated into the real world. Rules Many LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and the setting. The rules may be defined in a publication or created by the gamemasters. These rules may define characters' capabilities, what can be done with various objects that exist in the setting, and what characters can do during the downtime between LARP events. Because referees are often not available to mediate all character actions, players are relied upon to be honest in their application of the rules. Some LARP rules call for the use of simulated weapons such as foam weapons or airsoft guns to determine whether characters succeed in hitting one another in combat situations. In Russian LARP events, weapons made of hard plastic, metal or wood are used. The alternative to using simulated weapons is to pause role-play and determine the outcome of an action symbolically, for example by rolling dice, playing rock paper scissors or comparing character attributes. There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be. Genres LARPs can have any genre, although many use themes and settings derived from genre fiction. Some LARPs borrow a setting from an established work in another medium (e.g., The Lord of the Rings or the World of Darkness), while others use settings based on the real world or designed specifically for the LARP. Proprietary campaign settings, together with rulesets, are often the principal creative asset of LARP groups and LARP publishers. LARPs set in the modern day may explore everyday concerns, or special interests such as espionage or military activity. Such LARPs sometimes resemble an Alternate Reality Game, an Assassin game, or a military simulation using live combat with airsoft, laser tag, or paintball markers. LARPs can also be set in historical eras or have semi-historical settings with mythological or fantastical aspects incorporated. Fantasy is one of the most common LARP genres internationally and is the genre that the largest events use. Fantasy LARPs are set in pseudo-historical worlds inspired by fantasy literature and fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. These settings typically have magic, fantasy races, and limited technology. Many fantasy LARPs focus on adventure or on competition between character factions. In contrast, science fiction LARPs take place in futuristic settings with high technology and sometimes with extraterrestrial life. This describes a broad array of LARPs, including politically themed LARPs depicting dystopian or utopian societies and settings inspired by cyberpunk, space opera and post-apocalyptic fiction. Horror LARPs are inspired by horror fiction. Popular subgenres include zombie apocalypse and Cthulhu Mythos, sometimes using the published Cthulhu Live rules. The World of Darkness, published by White Wolf Publishing, is a widely used goth–punk horror setting in which players usually portray secretive supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves. This setting can be played using Mind's Eye Theatre, which is a set of LARP rules also published by White Wolf. World of Darkness LARPs are usually played in a chronicle, a series of short events held at regular intervals, and are also popular at conventions. An international chronicle is run by White Wolf's official fan club, the Camarilla. Styles LARP events have a wide variety of styles that often overlap. Simple distinctions can be made regarding the genre used, the presence of simulated weapons or abstract rules, and whether players create their own characters or have them assigned by gamemasters. There is also a distinction between scenarios that are only run once and those that are designed to be repeatable. A number of other common classifications follow. Nordic larp emphasises a collaborative "play to lose" strategy, keeping rules unobtrusive, and often explores emotionally complex issues. The Nordic Larp Wiki has extensive documentation of this style of playing, and of specific larps. Theatre-style, or freeform, LARP is characterised by a focus on interaction between characters that are written by the gamemasters, not using simulated weapons for combat, and an eclectic approach to genre and setting. Events in this style typically only last a few hours and require relatively little preparation by players and are sometimes played at gaming conventions. Some murder mystery games where players are assigned characters and encouraged to roleplay freely also resemble theatre-style LARP. Some very large events known as fests (short for festival) have hundreds or thousands of participants who are usually split into competing character factions camped separately around a large venue. The Nordic Knutepunkt There are only a few fests in the world, all based in Europe and Canada; however, their size means that they have a significant influence on local LARP culture and design. At the other end of the size scale, some small events known as linear or line-course LARPs feature a small group of PCs facing a series of challenges from NPCs and are often more tightly planned and controlled by GMs than other styles of LARP. While some LARPs are open to participants of all ages, others have a minimum age requirement. There are also youth LARPs, specifically intended for children and young people. Some are run through institutions such as schools, churches, or the Scouts. Denmark has an especially high number of youth LARPs. Cultural significance Roleplaying may be seen as part of a movement in Western culture towards participatory arts, as opposed to traditional spectator arts. Participants in a LARP cast off the role of passive observer and take on new roles that are often outside of their daily life and contrary to their culture. The arrangers of a LARP and the other participants act as co-creators of the game. This collaborative process of creating shared fictional worlds may be associated with a broader burgeoning "geek" culture in developed societies that is in turn associated with prolonged education, high uptake of information technology and increased leisure time. In comparison to the mainstream video-game industry, which is highly commercialized and often marketed towards a male audience, LARP is less commoditized, and women actively contribute as authors and participants. LARP is not well known in most countries and is sometimes confused with other role-playing, reenactment, costuming, or dramatic activities. While fan and gamer culture in general has become increasingly mainstream in developed countries, LARP has often not achieved the same degree of cultural acceptability. This may be due to intolerance of the resemblance to childhood games of pretend, a perceived risk of over-identification with the characters, and the absence of mass marketing. In US films such as the 2006 documentary Darkon, the 2007 documentary Monster Camp, and the 2008 comedy Role Models, fantasy LARP is depicted as somewhat ridiculous and escapist, but also treated affectionately as a "constructive social outlet". In the Nordic countries, LARP has achieved a high level of public recognition and popularity. It is often shown in a positive light in mainstream media, with an emphasis on the dramatic and creative aspects. However, even in Norway, where LARP has greater recognition than in most other countries, it has still not achieved full recognition as a cultural activity by government bodies. Communities have formed around the creation, play and discussion of LARP. These communities have developed a subculture that crosses over with role-playing, fan, reenactment, and drama subcultures. Early LARP subculture focused on Tolkien-like fantasy, but it later broadened to include appreciation of other genres, especially the horror genre with the rapid uptake of the World of Darkness setting in the 1990s. Like many subcultures, LARP groups often have a common context of shared experience, language, humour, and clothing that can be regarded by some as a lifestyle. LARP has been a subject of academic research and theory. Much of this research originates from role-players, especially from the publications of the Nordic Knutepunkt role-playing conventions. The broader academic community has recently begun to study LARP as well, both to compare it to other media and other varieties of interactive gaming, and also to evaluate it in its own right. In 2010, William Bainbridge speculated that LARP may one day evolve into a major industry in the form of location-based games using ubiquitous computing. In Denmark, Østerskov Efterskole uses LARP as an educational method of teaching subjects to high school boarding students through interactivity and simulation. LARP groups are also using simulations of current and historical events and topics like refugees and the AIDS crisis to roleplay and explore these subjects. See also List of live action role-playing groups Cosplay References Notes Bibliography Role-playing Nerd culture Combat sports	[ 0.38158661127090454, -0.2429416924715042, -0.45039480924606323, 0.38514429330825806, 0.037380822002887726, 0.1261737197637558, -0.030929656699299812, 0.20967774093151093, -0.20753929018974304, -0.2216154932975769, -0.5294647216796875, 0.644426167011261, -0.2851172983646393, -0.640612185001...
17561	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium	Lithium	Lithium (from ) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in vacuum, inert atmosphere or inert liquid such as purified kerosene or mineral oil. When cut, it exhibits a metallic luster, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. It never occurs freely in nature, but only in (usually ionic) compounds, such as pegmatitic minerals, which were once the main source of lithium. Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines. Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride. The nucleus of the lithium atom verges on instability, since the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have among the lowest binding energies per nucleon of all stable nuclides. Because of its relative nuclear instability, lithium is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements even though its nuclei are very light: it is an exception to the trend that heavier nuclei are less common. For related reasons, lithium has important uses in nuclear physics. The transmutation of lithium atoms to helium in 1932 was the first fully man-made nuclear reaction, and lithium deuteride serves as a fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons. Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lithium grease lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel and aluminium production, lithium batteries, and lithium-ion batteries. These uses consume more than three-quarters of lithium production. Lithium is present in biological systems in trace amounts; its functions are uncertain. Lithium salts have proven to be useful as a mood stabilizer and antidepressant in the treatment of mental illness such as bipolar disorder. Properties Atomic and physical The alkali metals are also called the lithium family, after its leading element. Like the other alkali metals (which are sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr)), lithium has a single valence electron that is easily given up to form a cation. Because of this, lithium is a good conductor of heat and electricity as well as a highly reactive element, though it is the least reactive of the alkali metals. Lithium's low reactivity is due to the proximity of its valence electron to its nucleus (the remaining two electrons are in the 1s orbital, much lower in energy, and do not participate in chemical bonds). Molten lithium is significantly more reactive than its solid form. Lithium metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife. When cut, it possesses a silvery-white color that quickly changes to gray as it oxidizes to lithium oxide. Its melting point of and its boiling point of are each the highest of all the alkali metals while its density of 0.534 is the lowest. Lithium has a very low density (0.534 g/cm3), comparable with pine wood. It is the least dense of all elements that are solids at room temperature; the next lightest solid element (potassium, at 0.862 g/cm3) is more than 60% denser. Apart from helium and hydrogen, as a solid it is less dense than any other element as a liquid, being only two-thirds as dense as liquid nitrogen (0.808 g/cm3). Lithium can float on the lightest hydrocarbon oils and is one of only three metals that can float on water, the other two being sodium and potassium. Lithium's coefficient of thermal expansion is twice that of aluminium and almost four times that of iron. Lithium is superconductive below 400 μK at standard pressure and at higher temperatures (more than 9 K) at very high pressures (>20 GPa). At temperatures below 70 K, lithium, like sodium, undergoes diffusionless phase change transformations. At 4.2 K it has a rhombohedral crystal system (with a nine-layer repeat spacing); at higher temperatures it transforms to face-centered cubic and then body-centered cubic. At liquid-helium temperatures (4 K) the rhombohedral structure is prevalent. Multiple allotropic forms have been identified for lithium at high pressures. Lithium has a mass specific heat capacity of 3.58 kilojoules per kilogram-kelvin, the highest of all solids. Because of this, lithium metal is often used in coolants for heat transfer applications. Isotopes Naturally occurring lithium is composed of two stable isotopes, 6Li and 7Li, the latter being the more abundant (92.5% natural abundance). Both natural isotopes have anomalously low nuclear binding energy per nucleon (compared to the neighboring elements on the periodic table, helium and beryllium); lithium is the only low numbered element that can produce net energy through nuclear fission. The two lithium nuclei have lower binding energies per nucleon than any other stable nuclides other than deuterium and helium-3. As a result of this, though very light in atomic weight, lithium is less common in the Solar System than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements. Seven radioisotopes have been characterized, the most stable being 8Li with a half-life of 838 ms and 9Li with a half-life of 178 ms. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are shorter than 8.6 ms. The shortest-lived isotope of lithium is 4Li, which decays through proton emission and has a half-life of 7.6 × 10−23 s. The 6Li isotope is one of only five stable nuclides to have both an odd number of protons and an odd number of neutrons, the other four stable odd-odd nuclides being hydrogen-2, boron-10, nitrogen-14, and tantalum-180m. 7Li is one of the primordial elements (or, more properly, primordial nuclides) produced in Big Bang nucleosynthesis. A small amount of both 6Li and 7Li are produced in stars during stellar nucleosynthesis, but it is further "burned" as fast as produced. 7Li can also be generated in carbon stars. Additional small amounts of both 6Li and 7Li may be generated from solar wind, cosmic rays hitting heavier atoms, and from early solar system 7Be and 10Be radioactive decay. Lithium isotopes fractionate substantially during a wide variety of natural processes, including mineral formation (chemical precipitation), metabolism, and ion exchange. Lithium ions substitute for magnesium and iron in octahedral sites in clay minerals, where 6Li is preferred to 7Li, resulting in enrichment of the light isotope in processes of hyperfiltration and rock alteration. The exotic 11Li is known to exhibit a neutron halo, with 2 neutrons orbiting around its nucleus of 3 protons and 6 neutrons. The process known as laser isotope separation can be used to separate lithium isotopes, in particular 7Li from 6Li. Nuclear weapons manufacture and other nuclear physics applications are a major source of artificial lithium fractionation, with the light isotope 6Li being retained by industry and military stockpiles to such an extent that it has caused slight but measurable change in the 6Li to 7Li ratios in natural sources, such as rivers. This has led to unusual uncertainty in the standardized atomic weight of lithium, since this quantity depends on the natural abundance ratios of these naturally-occurring stable lithium isotopes, as they are available in commercial lithium mineral sources. Both stable isotopes of lithium can be laser cooled and were used to produce the first quantum degenerate Bose-Fermi mixture. Occurrence Astronomical Although it was synthesized in the Big Bang, lithium (together with beryllium and boron) is markedly less abundant in the universe than other elements. This is a result of the comparatively low stellar temperatures necessary to destroy lithium, along with a lack of common processes to produce it. According to modern cosmological theory, lithium—in both stable isotopes (lithium-6 and lithium-7)—was one of the three elements synthesized in the Big Bang. Though the amount of lithium generated in Big Bang nucleosynthesis is dependent upon the number of photons per baryon, for accepted values the lithium abundance can be calculated, and there is a "cosmological lithium discrepancy" in the universe: older stars seem to have less lithium than they should, and some younger stars have much more. The lack of lithium in older stars is apparently caused by the "mixing" of lithium into the interior of stars, where it is destroyed, while lithium is produced in younger stars. Although it transmutes into two atoms of helium due to collision with a proton at temperatures above 2.4 million degrees Celsius (most stars easily attain this temperature in their interiors), lithium is more abundant than computations would predict in later-generation stars. Lithium is also found in brown dwarf substellar objects and certain anomalous orange stars. Because lithium is present in cooler, less-massive brown dwarfs, but is destroyed in hotter red dwarf stars, its presence in the stars' spectra can be used in the "lithium test" to differentiate the two, as both are smaller than the Sun. Certain orange stars can also contain a high concentration of lithium. Those orange stars found to have a higher than usual concentration of lithium (such as Centaurus X-4) orbit massive objects—neutron stars or black holes—whose gravity evidently pulls heavier lithium to the surface of a hydrogen-helium star, causing more lithium to be observed. On 27 May 2020, astronomers reported that classical nova explosions are galactic producers of lithium-7. Terrestrial Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity. The total lithium content of seawater is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tonnes, where the element exists at a relatively constant concentration of 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million (ppm), or 25 micromolar; higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near hydrothermal vents. Estimates for the Earth's crustal content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight. Lithium constitutes about 0.002 percent of Earth's crust. In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of igneous rocks, with the largest concentrations in granites. Granitic pegmatites also provide the greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with spodumene and petalite being the most commercially viable sources. Another significant mineral of lithium is lepidolite which is now an obsolete name for a series formed by polylithionite and trilithionite. A newer source for lithium is hectorite clay, the only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States. At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth's crust, lithium is the 25th most abundant element. According to the Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium, "Lithium is a comparatively rare element, although it is found in many rocks and some brines, but always in very low concentrations. There are a fairly large number of both lithium mineral and brine deposits but only comparatively few of them are of actual or potential commercial value. Many are very small, others are too low in grade." Chile is estimated (2020) to have the largest reserves by far (9.2 million tonnes), and Australia the highest annual production (40,000 tonnes). One of the largest reserve bases of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China. As of 2015, the Czech Geological Survey considered the entire Ore Mountains in the Czech Republic as lithium province. Five deposits are registered, one near is considered as a potentially economical deposit, with 160 000 tonnes of lithium. In December 2019, Finnish mining company Keliber Oy reported its Rapasaari lithium deposit has estimated proven and probable ore reserves of 5.280 million tonnes. In June 2010, The New York Times reported that American geologists were conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan believing that large deposits of lithium are located there. These estimates are "based principally on old data, which was gathered mainly by the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan from 1979–1989". The Department of Defense estimated the lithium reserves in Afghanistan to amount to the ones in Bolivia and dubbed it as a potential "Saudi-Arabia of lithium". In Cornwall, England, the presence of brine rich in lithium was well known due to the region's historic mining industry, and private investors have conducted tests to investigate potential lithium extraction in this area. Biological Lithium is found in trace amount in numerous plants, plankton, and invertebrates, at concentrations of 69 to 5,760 parts per billion (ppb). In vertebrates the concentration is slightly lower, and nearly all vertebrate tissue and body fluids contain lithium ranging from 21 to 763 ppb. Marine organisms tend to bioaccumulate lithium more than terrestrial organisms. Whether lithium has a physiological role in any of these organisms is unknown. Studies of lithium concentrations in mineral-rich soil give ranges between around 0.1 and 50−100 ppm, with some concentrations as high as 100−400 ppm, although it is unlikely that all of it is available for uptake by plants. Lithium concentration in plant tissue is typically around 1 ppm, with some plant families bioaccumulating more lithium than others; lithium accumulation does not appear to affect the essential nutrient composition of plants. Tolerance to lithium varies by plant species and typically parallels sodium tolerance; maize and Rhodes grass, for example, are highly tolerant to lithium injury while avocado and soybean are very sensitive. Similarly, lithium at concentrations of 5 ppm reduces seed germination in some species (e.g. Asian rice and chickpea) but not in others (e.g. barley and wheat). Many of lithium's major biological effects can be explained by its competition with other ions. The monovalent lithium ion competes with other ions such as sodium (immediately below lithium on the periodic table), which like lithium is also a monovalent alkali metal. Lithium also competes with bivalent magnesium ions, whose ionic radius (86 pm) is approximately that of the lithium ion (90 pm). Mechanisms that transport sodium across cellular membranes also transport lithium. For instance, sodium channels (both voltage-gated and epithelial) are particularly major pathways of entry for lithium. Lithium ions can also permeate through ligand-gated ion channels as well as cross both nuclear and mitochondrial membranes. Like sodium, lithium can enter and partially block (although not permeate) potassium channels and calcium channels. The biological effects of lithium are many and varied but its mechanisms of action are only partially understood. For instance, studies of lithium-treated patients with bipolar disorder show that, among many other effects, lithium partially reverses telomere shortening in these patients and also increases mitochondrial function, although how lithium produces these pharmacological effects is not understood. Even the exact mechanisms involved in lithium toxicity are not fully understood. History Petalite (LiAlSi4O10) was discovered in 1800 by the Brazilian chemist and statesman José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva in a mine on the island of Utö, Sweden. However, it was not until 1817 that Johan August Arfwedson, then working in the laboratory of the chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius, detected the presence of a new element while analyzing petalite ore. This element formed compounds similar to those of sodium and potassium, though its carbonate and hydroxide were less soluble in water and less alkaline. Berzelius gave the alkaline material the name "lithion/lithina", from the Greek word λιθoς (transliterated as lithos, meaning "stone"), to reflect its discovery in a solid mineral, as opposed to potassium, which had been discovered in plant ashes, and sodium, which was known partly for its high abundance in animal blood. He named the metal inside the material "lithium". Arfwedson later showed that this same element was present in the minerals spodumene and lepidolite. In 1818, Christian Gmelin was the first to observe that lithium salts give a bright red color to flame. However, both Arfwedson and Gmelin tried and failed to isolate the pure element from its salts. It was not isolated until 1821, when William Thomas Brande obtained it by electrolysis of lithium oxide, a process that had previously been employed by the chemist Sir Humphry Davy to isolate the alkali metals potassium and sodium. Brande also described some pure salts of lithium, such as the chloride, and, estimating that lithia (lithium oxide) contained about 55% metal, estimated the atomic weight of lithium to be around 9.8 g/mol (modern value ~6.94 g/mol). In 1855, larger quantities of lithium were produced through the electrolysis of lithium chloride by Robert Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen. The discovery of this procedure led to commercial production of lithium in 1923 by the German company Metallgesellschaft AG, which performed an electrolysis of a liquid mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride. Australian psychiatrist John Cade is credited with reintroducing and popularizing the use of lithium to treat mania in 1949. Shortly after, throughout the mid 20th century, lithium's mood stabilizing applicability for mania and depression took off in Europe and the United States. The production and use of lithium underwent several drastic changes in history. The first major application of lithium was in high-temperature lithium greases for aircraft engines and similar applications in World War II and shortly after. This use was supported by the fact that lithium-based soaps have a higher melting point than other alkali soaps, and are less corrosive than calcium based soaps. The small demand for lithium soaps and lubricating greases was supported by several small mining operations, mostly in the US. The demand for lithium increased dramatically during the Cold War with the production of nuclear fusion weapons. Both lithium-6 and lithium-7 produce tritium when irradiated by neutrons, and are thus useful for the production of tritium by itself, as well as a form of solid fusion fuel used inside hydrogen bombs in the form of lithium deuteride. The US became the prime producer of lithium between the late 1950s and the mid 1980s. At the end, the stockpile of lithium was roughly 42,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The stockpiled lithium was depleted in lithium-6 by 75%, which was enough to affect the measured atomic weight of lithium in many standardized chemicals, and even the atomic weight of lithium in some "natural sources" of lithium ion which had been "contaminated" by lithium salts discharged from isotope separation facilities, which had found its way into ground water. Lithium is used to decrease the melting temperature of glass and to improve the melting behavior of aluminium oxide in the Hall-Héroult process. These two uses dominated the market until the middle of the 1990s. After the end of the nuclear arms race, the demand for lithium decreased and the sale of department of energy stockpiles on the open market further reduced prices. In the mid 1990s, several companies started to isolate lithium from brine which proved to be a less expensive option than underground or open-pit mining. Most of the mines closed or shifted their focus to other materials because only the ore from zoned pegmatites could be mined for a competitive price. For example, the US mines near Kings Mountain, North Carolina closed before the beginning of the 21st century. The development of lithium ion batteries increased the demand for lithium and became the dominant use in 2007. With the surge of lithium demand in batteries in the 2000s, new companies have expanded brine isolation efforts to meet the rising demand. It has been argued that lithium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy and dependent on batteries, but this perspective has also been criticised for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production. Chemistry Of lithium metal Lithium reacts with water easily, but with noticeably less vigor than other alkali metals. The reaction forms hydrogen gas and lithium hydroxide. When placed over a flame, lithium compounds give off a striking crimson color, but when the metal burns strongly, the flame becomes a brilliant silver. Lithium will ignite and burn in oxygen when exposed to water or water vapor. In moist air, lithium rapidly tarnishes to form a black coating of lithium hydroxide (LiOH and LiOH·H2O), lithium nitride (Li3N) and lithium carbonate (Li2CO3, the result of a secondary reaction between LiOH and CO2). Lithium is one of the few metals that react with nitrogen gas. Because of its reactivity with water, and especially nitrogen, lithium metal is usually stored in a hydrocarbon sealant, often petroleum jelly. Although the heavier alkali metals can be stored under mineral oil, lithium is not dense enough to fully submerge itself in these liquids. Lithium has a diagonal relationship with magnesium, an element of similar atomic and ionic radius. Chemical resemblances between the two metals include the formation of a nitride by reaction with N2, the formation of an oxide () and peroxide () when burnt in O2, salts with similar solubilities, and thermal instability of the carbonates and nitrides. The metal reacts with hydrogen gas at high temperatures to produce lithium hydride (LiH). Lithium forms a variety of binary and ternary materials by direct reaction with the main group elements. These Zintl phases, although highly covalent, can be viewed as salts of polyatomic anions such as Si44-, P73-, and Te52-. With graphite, lithium forms a variety of intercalation compounds. It dissolves in ammonia (and amines) to give [Li(NH3)4]+ and the solvated electron. Inorganic compounds Lithium forms salt-like derivatives with all halides and pseudohalides. Some examples include the halides LiF, LiCl, LiBr, LiI, as well as the pseudohalides and related anions. Lithium carbonate has been described as the most important compound of lithium. This white solid is the principal product of beneficiation of lithium ores. It is a precursor to other salts including ceramics and materials for lithium batteries. The compounds and are useful reagents. These salts and many other lithium salts exhibit distinctively high solubility in ethers, in contrast with salts of heavier alkali metals. In aqueous solution, the coordination complex [Li(H2O)4]+ predominates for many lithium salts. Related complexes are known with amines and ethers. Organic chemistry Organolithium compounds are numerous and useful. They are defined by the presence of a bond between carbon and lithium. They serve as metal-stabilized carbanions, although their solution and solid-state structures are more complex than this simplistic view. Thus, these are extremely powerful bases and nucleophiles. They have also been applied in asymmetric synthesis in the pharmaceutical industry. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoric. Like its inorganic compounds, almost all organic compounds of lithium formally follow the duet rule (e.g., BuLi, MeLi). However, it is important to note that in the absence of coordinating solvents or ligands, organolithium compounds form dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric clusters (e.g., BuLi is actually [BuLi]6 and MeLi is actually [MeLi]4) which feature multi-center bonding and increase the coordination number around lithium. These clusters are broken down into smaller or monomeric units in the presence of solvents like dimethoxyethane (DME) or ligands like tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA). As an exception to the duet rule, a two-coordinate lithate complex with four electrons around lithium, [Li(thf)4]+[((Me3Si)3C)2Li]–, has been characterized crystallographically. Production Lithium production has greatly increased since the end of World War II. The main sources of lithium are brines and ores. Lithium metal is produced through electrolysis from a mixture of fused 55% lithium chloride and 45% potassium chloride at about 450 °C. Reserves and occurrence Worldwide identified reserves in 2020 and 2021 were estimated by the US Geological Survey (USGS) to be 17 million and 21 million tonnes, respectively. An accurate estimate of world lithium reserves is difficult. One reason for this is that most lithium classification schemes are developed for solid ore deposits, whereas brine is a fluid that is problematic to treat with the same classification scheme due to varying concentrations and pumping effects. Following a hike in lithium price in 2015 and concern for insufficiency of lithium resource for the growing battery industry, a peer-reviewed analysis of USGS data in 2017 predicted that there will be no shortage of lithium and the current estimates of the reserves will be subject to increase along with the demand. Worldwide lithium resources identified by USGS started to increase in 2017 owing to continuing exploration. Identified resources in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 were 41, 47, 54, 62 and 80 million tonnes, respectively. The world in 2013 was estimated to contain about 15 million tonnes of lithium reserves, while 65 million tonnes of known resources were reasonable. A total of 75% of everything could typically be found in the ten largest deposits of the world. Another study noted that 83% of the geological resources of lithium are located in six brine, two pegmatite, and two sedimentary deposits. In the US, lithium is recovered from brine pools in Nevada. A deposit discovered in 2013 in Wyoming's Rock Springs Uplift is estimated to contain 228,000 tons. Additional deposits in the same formation were estimated to be as much as 18 million tons. Similarly in Nevada, the McDermitt Caldera hosts lithium-bearing volcanic muds that consist of the largest known deposits of lithium within the United States. Lithium triangle The world's top four lithium-producing countries from 2019, as reported by the US Geological Survey are Australia, Chile, China and Argentina. The intersection of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina make up the region known as the Lithium Triangle. The Lithium Triangle is known for its high quality salt flats including Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, Chile's Salar de Atacama, and Argentina's Salar de Arizaro. The Lithium Triangle is believed to contain over 75% of existing known lithium reserves. Deposits are found in South America throughout the Andes mountain chain. Chile is the leading producer, followed by Argentina. Both countries recover lithium from brine pools. According to USGS, Bolivia's Uyuni Desert has 5.4 million tonnes of lithium. Half the world's known reserves are located in Bolivia along the central eastern slope of the Andes. Since 2009 the Bolivian government was looking for investors for developing the Salar de Uyuni mine among which were Japanese, French, and Korean firms. In 2019 Bolivian state-run company YLB has signed a contract with Germany's ACI Systems estimated to be $1.2 billion worth to build a lithium hydroxide and lithium-ion batteries plants but quickly scrapped the deal. Since 2018 the Democratic Republic of Congo is known to have the largest lithium spodumene hard rock deposit in the world. The total resource of the deposit located in Manono, central DRC, has the potential to be in the magnitude of 1.5 billion tons of lithium spodumene hard-rock. The two largest pegmatites (known as the Carriere de l'Este Pegmatite and the Roche Dure Pegmatite) are each of similar size or larger than the famous Greenbushes Pegmatite in Western Australia. In the near future by 2023, the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to be a significant supplier of lithium to the world with its high grade and low impurities. According to a later 2011 study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, the then estimated reserve base of lithium should not be a limiting factor for large-scale battery production for electric vehicles because an estimated 1 billion 40 kWh Li-based batteries could be built with those reserves - about 10 kg of lithium per car. Another 2011 study at the University of Michigan and Ford Motor Company found enough resources to support global demand until 2100, including the lithium required for the potential widespread transportation use. The study estimated global reserves at 39 million tons, and total demand for lithium during the 90-year period annualized at 12–20 million tons, depending on the scenarios regarding economic growth and recycling rates. In 2014, The Financialist stated that demand for lithium was growing at more than 12% a year. According to Credit Suisse, this rate exceeded projected availability by 25%. The publication compared the 2014 lithium situation with oil, whereby "higher oil prices spurred investment in expensive deepwater and oil sands production techniques"; that is, the price of lithium would continue to rise until more expensive production methods that could boost total output would receive the attention of investors. On 16 July 2018 2.5 million tonnes of high-grade lithium resources and 124 million pounds of uranium resources were found in the Falchani hard rock deposit in the region Puno, Peru. In 2019, world production of lithium from spodumene was around 80,000t per annum, primarily from the Greenbushes pegmatite and from some Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes is reported to be the largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li2O (2012 figures). Oceans are estimated to contain 230 billion tons of lithium, but the concentration is 0.1-0.2ppm, making it more expensive to isolate with 2020 technology than from land based brine and rock. Sources Another potential source of lithium was identified as the leachates of geothermal wells, which are carried to the surface. Recovery of this type of lithium has been demonstrated in the field; the lithium is separated by simple filtration. Reserves are more limited than those of brine reservoirs and hard rock. Pricing In 1998, the price of lithium metal was about (or US$43/lb). After the 2007 financial crisis, major suppliers, such as Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM), dropped lithium carbonate pricing by 20%. Prices rose in 2012. A 2012 Business Week article outlined an oligopoly in the lithium space: "SQM, controlled by billionaire Julio Ponce, is the second-largest, followed by Rockwood, which is backed by Henry Kravis’s KKR & Co., and Philadelphia-based FMC", with Talison mentioned as the biggest producer. Global consumption may jump to 300,000 metric tons a year by 2020 from about 150,000 tons in 2012, to match the demand for lithium batteries that has been growing at about 25% a year, outpacing the 4% to 5% overall gain in lithium production. Extraction Lithium and its compounds were historically isolated and extracted from hard rock but by the 1990s mineral springs, brine pools, and brine deposits had become the dominant source. Most of these were in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Large lithium-clay deposits under development in the McDermitt caldera (Nevada, USA) require concentrated sulfuric acid to leach lithium from the clay ore. By early 2021, much of the lithium mined globally comes from either "spodumene, the mineral contained in hard rocks found in places such as Australia and North Carolina" or from the salty brine pumped directly out of the ground, as it is in locations in Chile. Low-cobalt cathodes for lithium batteries are expected to require lithium hydroxide rather than lithium carbonate as a feedstock, and this trend favours rock as a source. In one method of making lithium intermediates from brine, the brine is first pumped up from underground pools and concentrated by solar evaporation. When the lithium concentration is sufficient, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide are precipitated by addition of sodium carbonate and calcium hydroxide respectively. Each batch takes from 18 to 24 months. The use of electrodialysis and electrochemical intercalation has been proposed to extract lithium compounds from seawater (which contains lithium at 0.2 parts per million), but it is not yet commercially viable. Environmental issues The manufacturing processes of lithium, including the solvent and mining waste, presents significant environmental and health hazards. Lithium extraction can be fatal to aquatic life due to water pollution. It is known to cause surface water contamination, drinking water contamination, respiratory problems, ecosystem degradation and landscape damage. It also leads to unsustainable water consumption in arid regions (1.9 million liters per ton of lithium). Massive byproduct generation of lithium extraction also presents unsolved problems, such as large amounts of magnesium and lime waste. In the United States, there is active competition between environmentally catastrophic open-pit mining, mountaintop removal mining and less damaging brine extraction mining in an effort to drastically expand domestic lithium mining capacity. Environmental concerns include wildlife habitat degradation, potable water pollution including arsenic and antimony contamination, unsustainable water table reduction, and massive mining waste, including radioactive uranium byproduct and sulfuric acid discharge. Human rights issues A study of relationships between lithium extraction companies and indigenous peoples in Argentina indicated that the state may not have protected indigenous peoples' right to free prior and informed consent, and that extraction companies generally controlled community access to information and set the terms for discussion of the projects and benefit sharing. Development of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, USA has met with protests and lawsuits from several indigenous tribes who have said they were not provided free prior and informed consent and that the project threatens cultural and sacred sites. They have also expressed concerns that development of the project will create risks to indigenous women, because resource extraction is linked to missing and murdered indigenous women. Protestors have been occupying the site of the proposed mine since January, 2021. Investment A number of options are available in the marketplace to invest in the metal. While buying physical stock of lithium is hardly possible, investors can buy shares of companies engaged in lithium mining and producing. Also, investors can purchase a dedicated lithium ETF offering exposure to a group of commodity producers. With substantial demand growth for lithium occurring in the 2020s, lithium mining and production companies are growing and some are experiencing marked increases in market valuation. Lithium Americas, Piedmont Lithium, AVZ Minerals and MP Materials stock prices have increased substantially as a result of the increased importance of lithium to the global economy. In 2021, AVZ Minerals, an Australian company, is developing the Manono Lithium and Tin project in Manono, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the resource has high grade low impurities at 1.65% Li2O (Lithium oxide) spodumene hard-rock based on studies and drilling of Roche Dure, one of several pegmatites in the deposit. There is a push globally by the EU and major car manufacturers (OEM) for all lithium to be produced and sourced sustainably with ESG initiatives and zero to low carbon footprint. The AVZ Minerals Manono project has completed a GHG greenhouse study in 2021 into its future carbon footprint. This has become more commonplace now for batteries supply chain companies to comply with Environmental, social, and governance (ESG), sustainable practices, compliance with government environmental regulations, EIA and low carbon footprint performance, in order to be considered for financing/Investment activities and funds portfolios. Responsible investments is critical to help meet the Paris Agreement and the UN SDGs. The study shows the AVZ Minerals DRC Manono project to likely have one of the lowest carbon footprint of all the spodumene hard rock producers by 30% to 40% and some brine producers throughout the world. AVZ Minerals signed a long-term offtake partnership with major Ganfeng Lithium, China's largest lithium compounds producer. Importantly, the partnership makes provisions for both parties to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) development. As of early 2021, Piedmont Lithium Ltd—an Australian company founded in 2016—is exploring of land it owns or has mineral rights to in Gaston County, North Carolina. "The modern lithium-mining industry started in this North Carolina region in the 1950s, when the metal was used to make components for nuclear bombs. One of the world’s biggest lithium miners by production, Albemarle Corp, is based in nearby Charlotte. Nearly all of its lithium, however, is extracted in Australia and Chile, which have large, accessible deposits of the metal." , just one percent of global lithium supply is both mined and processed in the United States (), while is produced in Australia and Chile. It is expected that lithium will be recycled from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries in the future but as of 2020, batteries are not designed for recycling, the technology is not well developed, and recycling rates are 5% or lower. In any case, the most valuable component is likely to remain the NCM cathode material, and the recovery of this material is expected to be the driver. Applications Batteries In 2021, most lithium is used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and mobile devices. Ceramics and glass Lithium oxide is widely used as a flux for processing silica, reducing the melting point and viscosity of the material and leading to glazes with improved physical properties including low coefficients of thermal expansion. Worldwide, this is one of the largest use for lithium compounds. Glazes containing lithium oxides are used for ovenware. Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) is generally used in this application because it converts to the oxide upon heating. Electrical and electronic Late in the 20th century, lithium became an important component of battery electrolytes and electrodes, because of its high electrode potential. Because of its low atomic mass, it has a high charge- and power-to-weight ratio. A typical lithium-ion battery can generate approximately 3 volts per cell, compared with 2.1 volts for lead-acid and 1.5 volts for zinc-carbon. Lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable and have a high energy density, differ from lithium batteries, which are disposable (primary) batteries with lithium or its compounds as the anode. Other rechargeable batteries that use lithium include the lithium-ion polymer battery, lithium iron phosphate battery, and the nanowire battery. Over the years opinions have been differing about potential growth. A 2008 study concluded that "realistically achievable lithium carbonate production would be sufficient for only a small fraction of future PHEV and EV global market requirements", that "demand from the portable electronics sector will absorb much of the planned production increases in the next decade", and that "mass production of lithium carbonate is not environmentally sound, it will cause irreparable ecological damage to ecosystems that should be protected and that LiIon propulsion is incompatible with the notion of the 'Green Car'". Lubricating greases The third most common use of lithium is in greases. Lithium hydroxide is a strong base and, when heated with a fat, produces a soap made of lithium stearate. Lithium soap has the ability to thicken oils, and it is used to manufacture all-purpose, high-temperature lubricating greases. Metallurgy Lithium (e.g. as lithium carbonate) is used as an additive to continuous casting mould flux slags where it increases fluidity, a use which accounts for 5% of global lithium use (2011). Lithium compounds are also used as additives (fluxes) to foundry sand for iron casting to reduce veining. Lithium (as lithium fluoride) is used as an additive to aluminium smelters (Hall–Héroult process), reducing melting temperature and increasing electrical resistance, a use which accounts for 3% of production (2011). When used as a flux for welding or soldering, metallic lithium promotes the fusing of metals during the process and eliminates the forming of oxides by absorbing impurities. Alloys of the metal with aluminium, cadmium, copper and manganese are used to make high-performance, low density aircraft parts (see also Lithium-aluminium alloys). Silicon nano-welding Lithium has been found effective in assisting the perfection of silicon nano-welds in electronic components for electric batteries and other devices. Pyrotechnics Lithium compounds are used as pyrotechnic colorants and oxidizers in red fireworks and flares. Air purification Lithium chloride and lithium bromide are hygroscopic and are used as desiccants for gas streams. Lithium hydroxide and lithium peroxide are the salts most used in confined areas, such as aboard spacecraft and submarines, for carbon dioxide removal and air purification. Lithium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide from the air by forming lithium carbonate, and is preferred over other alkaline hydroxides for its low weight. Lithium peroxide (Li2O2) in presence of moisture not only reacts with carbon dioxide to form lithium carbonate, but also releases oxygen. The reaction is as follows: 2 Li2O2 + 2 CO2 → 2 Li2CO3 + O2. Some of the aforementioned compounds, as well as lithium perchlorate, are used in oxygen candles that supply submarines with oxygen. These can also include small amounts of boron, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, titanium, manganese, and iron. Optics Lithium fluoride, artificially grown as crystal, is clear and transparent and often used in specialist optics for IR, UV and VUV (vacuum UV) applications. It has one of the lowest refractive indexes and the furthest transmission range in the deep UV of most common materials. Finely divided lithium fluoride powder has been used for thermoluminescent radiation dosimetry (TLD): when a sample of such is exposed to radiation, it accumulates crystal defects which, when heated, resolve via a release of bluish light whose intensity is proportional to the absorbed dose, thus allowing this to be quantified. Lithium fluoride is sometimes used in focal lenses of telescopes. The high non-linearity of lithium niobate also makes it useful in non-linear optics applications. It is used extensively in telecommunication products such as mobile phones and optical modulators, for such components as resonant crystals. Lithium applications are used in more than 60% of mobile phones. Organic and polymer chemistry Organolithium compounds are widely used in the production of polymer and fine-chemicals. In the polymer industry, which is the dominant consumer of these reagents, alkyl lithium compounds are catalysts/initiators. in anionic polymerization of unfunctionalized olefins. For the production of fine chemicals, organolithium compounds function as strong bases and as reagents for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. Organolithium compounds are prepared from lithium metal and alkyl halides. Many other lithium compounds are used as reagents to prepare organic compounds. Some popular compounds include lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4), lithium triethylborohydride, n-butyllithium and tert-butyllithium. Military Metallic lithium and its complex hydrides, such as Li[AlH4], are used as high-energy additives to rocket propellants. Lithium aluminum hydride can also be used by itself as a solid fuel. The Mark 50 torpedo stored chemical energy propulsion system (SCEPS) uses a small tank of sulfur hexafluoride, which is sprayed over a block of solid lithium. The reaction generates heat, creating steam to propel the torpedo in a closed Rankine cycle. Lithium hydride containing lithium-6 is used in thermonuclear weapons, where it serves as fuel for the fusion stage of the bomb. Nuclear Lithium-6 is valued as a source material for tritium production and as a neutron absorber in nuclear fusion. Natural lithium contains about 7.5% lithium-6 from which large amounts of lithium-6 have been produced by isotope separation for use in nuclear weapons. Lithium-7 gained interest for use in nuclear reactor coolants. Lithium deuteride was the fusion fuel of choice in early versions of the hydrogen bomb. When bombarded by neutrons, both 6Li and 7Li produce tritium — this reaction, which was not fully understood when hydrogen bombs were first tested, was responsible for the runaway yield of the Castle Bravo nuclear test. Tritium fuses with deuterium in a fusion reaction that is relatively easy to achieve. Although details remain secret, lithium-6 deuteride apparently still plays a role in modern nuclear weapons as a fusion material. Lithium fluoride, when highly enriched in the lithium-7 isotope, forms the basic constituent of the fluoride salt mixture LiF-BeF2 used in liquid fluoride nuclear reactors. Lithium fluoride is exceptionally chemically stable and LiF-BeF2 mixtures have low melting points. In addition, 7Li, Be, and F are among the few nuclides with low enough thermal neutron capture cross-sections not to poison the fission reactions inside a nuclear fission reactor. In conceptualized (hypothetical) nuclear fusion power plants, lithium will be used to produce tritium in magnetically confined reactors using deuterium and tritium as the fuel. Naturally occurring tritium is extremely rare, and must be synthetically produced by surrounding the reacting plasma with a 'blanket' containing lithium where neutrons from the deuterium-tritium reaction in the plasma will fission the lithium to produce more tritium: 6Li + n → 4He + 3H. Lithium is also used as a source for alpha particles, or helium nuclei. When 7Li is bombarded by accelerated protons 8Be is formed, which almost immediately undergoes fission to form two alpha particles. This feat, called "splitting the atom" at the time, was the first fully man-made nuclear reaction. It was produced by Cockroft and Walton in 1932. In 2013, the US Government Accountability Office said a shortage of lithium-7 critical to the operation of 65 out of 100 American nuclear reactors "places their ability to continue to provide electricity at some risk". Castle Bravo first used lithium-7, in the Shrimp, its first device, which weighed only 10 tons, and generated massive nuclear atmospheric contamination of Bikini Atoll. This perhaps accounts for the decline of US nuclear infrastructure. The equipment needed to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7 is mostly a cold war leftover. The US shut down most of this machinery in 1963, when it had a huge surplus of separated lithium, mostly consumed during the twentieth century. The report said it would take five years and $10 million to $12 million to reestablish the ability to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7. Reactors that use lithium-7 heat water under high pressure and transfer heat through heat exchangers that are prone to corrosion. The reactors use lithium to counteract the corrosive effects of boric acid, which is added to the water to absorb excess neutrons. Medicine Lithium is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Lithium salts may also be helpful for related diagnoses, such as schizoaffective disorder and cyclic major depression. The active part of these salts is the lithium ion Li+. They may increase the risk of developing Ebstein's cardiac anomaly in infants born to women who take lithium during the first trimester of pregnancy. Lithium has also been researched as a possible treatment for cluster headaches. Precautions Lithium metal is corrosive and requires special handling to avoid skin contact. Breathing lithium dust or lithium compounds (which are often alkaline) initially irritate the nose and throat, while higher exposure can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs, leading to pulmonary edema. The metal itself is a handling hazard because contact with moisture produces the caustic lithium hydroxide. Lithium is safely stored in non-reactive compounds such as naphtha. See also Cosmological lithium problem Dilithium Halo nucleus Isotopes of lithium List of countries by lithium production Lithia water Lithium–air battery Lithium as an investment Lithium burning Lithium compounds (category) Lithium-ion battery Lithium Tokamak Experiment Notes References External links McKinsey review of 2018 Lithium at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham) International Lithium Alliance USGS: Lithium Statistics and Information Lithium Supply & Markets 2009 IM Conference 2009 Sustainable lithium supplies through 2020 in the face of sustainable market growth University of Southampton, Mountbatten Centre for International Studies, Nuclear History Working Paper No5. Lithium preserves by Country at investingnews.com Alkali metals Chemical elements Reducing agents Chemical elements with body-centered cubic structure	[ 0.15654675662517548, 0.3063638210296631, -0.30646634101867676, -0.3007197976112366, -0.05565753951668739, 0.012766159139573574, -0.07853171229362488, -0.23460297286510468, 0.5012439489364624, 0.4760721027851105, -0.24468959867954254, 0.2563604414463043, -0.34005364775657654, 0.471521258354...
17562	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni%20Riefenstahl	Leni Riefenstahl	Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her seminal role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became interested in dancing during her childhood, taking lessons and performing across Europe. After seeing a promotional poster for the 1924 film Mountain of Destiny, she was inspired to move into acting and between 1925 and 1929 starred in five successful motion pictures. Riefenstahl became one of the few women in Germany to direct a film during the Weimar Period when, in 1932, she decided to try directing with her own film, Das Blaue Licht ("The Blue Light"). In the 1930s, she directed the Nazi propaganda films Triumph des Willens ("Triumph of the Will") and Olympia, resulting in worldwide attention and acclaim. The films are widely considered two of the most effective and technically innovative propaganda films ever made. Her involvement in Triumph des Willens, however, significantly damaged her career and reputation after World War II. Adolf Hitler was in close collaboration with Riefenstahl during the production of at least three important Nazi films, and they formed a friendly relationship. After the war, Riefenstahl was arrested, but classified as being a "fellow traveler" or "Nazi sympathizer" only and was not charged with war crimes. Throughout her life, she denied having known about the Holocaust. Besides directing, Riefenstahl released an autobiography and wrote several books on the Nuba people. Early life Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl was born in Berlin on 22 August 1902. Her father, Alfred Theodor Paul Riefenstahl, owned a successful heating and ventilation company and wanted his daughter to follow him into the business world. Since Riefenstahl was the only child for several years, Alfred wanted her to carry on the family name and secure the family fortune. However, her mother, Bertha Ida (Scherlach), who had been a part-time seamstress before her marriage, had faith in Riefenstahl and believed that her daughter's future was in show business. Riefenstahl had a younger brother, Heinz, who was killed at the age of 39 on the Eastern Front in Nazi Germany's war against the Soviet Union. Riefenstahl fell in love with the arts in her childhood. She began to paint and write poetry at the age of four. She was also athletic, and at the age of twelve joined a gymnastics and swimming club. Her mother was confident her daughter would grow up to be successful in the field of art and therefore gave her full support, unlike Riefenstahl's father, who was not interested in his daughter's artistic inclinations. In 1918, when she was 16, Riefenstahl attended a presentation of Snow White which interested her deeply; it led her to want to be a dancer. Her father instead wanted to provide his daughter with an education that could lead to a more dignified occupation. His wife, however, continued to support her daughter's passion. Without her husband's knowledge, she enrolled Riefenstahl in dance and ballet classes at the Grimm-Reiter Dance School in Berlin, where she quickly became a star pupil. Dancing and acting careers Riefenstahl attended dancing academies and became well known for her self-styled interpretive dancing skills, traveling across Europe with Max Reinhardt in a show funded by Jewish producer Harry Sokal. Riefenstahl often made almost 700 Reichsmarks for each performance and was so dedicated to dancing that she gave filmmaking no thought. She began to suffer a series of foot injuries that led to knee surgery that threatened her dancing career. It was while going to a doctor's appointment that she first saw a poster for the 1924 film Mountain of Destiny. She became inspired to go into movie making, and began visiting the cinema to see films and also attended film shows. On one of her adventures, Riefenstahl met Luis Trenker, an actor who had appeared in Mountain of Destiny. At a meeting arranged by her friend Gunther Rahn, she met Arnold Fanck, the director of Mountain of Destiny and a pioneer of the mountain film genre. Fanck was working on a film in Berlin. After Riefenstahl told him how much she admired his work, she also convinced him of her acting skill. She persuaded him to feature her in one of his films. Riefenstahl later received a package from Fanck containing the script of the 1926 film The Holy Mountain. She made a series of films for Fanck, where she learned from him acting and film editing techniques. One of Fanck's films that brought Riefenstahl into the limelight was The White Hell of Pitz Palu of 1929, co-directed by G. W. Pabst. Her fame spread to countries outside Germany. Riefenstahl produced and directed her own work called Das Blaue Licht ("The Blue Light") in 1932, co-written by Carl Mayer and Béla Balázs. This film won the silver medal at the Venice Film Festival, but was not universally well-received, for which Riefenstahl blamed the critics, many of whom were Jewish. Upon its 1938 re-release, the names of Balázs and Sokal, both Jewish, were removed from the credits; some reports say this was at Riefenstahl's behest. In the film, Riefenstahl played an innocent peasant girl who is hated by the villagers because they think she is diabolic and cast out. She is protected by a glowing mountain grotto. According to herself, Riefenstahl received invitations to travel to Hollywood to create films, but she refused them in favour of remaining in Germany with a boyfriend. Hitler was a fan of the film, and thought Riefenstahl epitomized the perfect German female. He saw talent in Riefenstahl and arranged a meeting. In 1933, Riefenstahl appeared in the U.S.-German co-productions of the Arnold Fanck-directed, German-language SOS Eisberg and the Tay Garnett-directed, English-language S.O.S. Iceberg. The films were filmed simultaneously in English and German and produced and distributed by Universal Studios. Her role as an actress in S.O.S. Iceberg was her only English language role in film. Directing career Propaganda films Riefenstahl heard Nazi Party (NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler speak at a rally in 1932 and was mesmerized by his talent as a public speaker. Describing the experience in her memoir, Riefenstahl wrote, "I had an almost apocalyptic vision that I was never able to forget. It seemed as if the Earth's surface were spreading out in front of me, like a hemisphere that suddenly splits apart in the middle, spewing out an enormous jet of water, so powerful that it touched the sky and shook the earth". Hitler was immediately captivated by Riefenstahl's work. She is described as fitting in with Hitler's ideal of Aryan womanhood, a feature he had noted when he saw her starring performance in Das Blaue Licht. After meeting Hitler, Riefenstahl was offered the opportunity to direct Der Sieg des Glaubens ("The Victory of Faith"), an hour-long propaganda film about the fifth Nuremberg Rally in 1933. The opportunity that was offered was a huge surprise to Riefenstahl. Hitler had ordered Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry to give the film commission to Riefenstahl, but the Ministry had never informed her. Riefenstahl agreed to direct the movie even though she was only given a few days before the rally to prepare. She and Hitler got on well, forming a friendly relationship. The propaganda film was funded entirely by the NSDAP. During the filming of Victory of Faith, Hitler had stood side by side with the leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA), Ernst Röhm, a man with whom he clearly had a close working relationship. Röhm was murdered on Hitler's orders a short time later, during the purge of the SA referred to as the Night of the Long Knives. It has gone on record that, immediately following the killings, Hitler ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed, although Riefenstahl disputes that this ever happened. Still impressed with Riefenstahl's work, Hitler asked her to film Triumph des Willens ("Triumph of the Will"), a new propaganda film about the 1934 party rally in Nuremberg. More than one million Germans participated in the rally. The film is sometimes considered the greatest propaganda film ever made. Initially, according to Riefenstahl, she resisted and did not want to create further Nazi Party films, instead wanting to direct a feature film based on Eugen d'Albert's Tiefland ("Lowlands"), an opera that was extremely popular in Berlin in the 1920s. Riefenstahl received private funding for the production of Tiefland, but the filming in Spain was derailed and the project was cancelled. (When Tiefland was eventually shot, between 1940 and 1944, it was done in black and white, and was the third most expensive film produced in Nazi Germany. During the filming of Tiefland, Riefenstahl utilized Romani from internment camps for extras, who were severely mistreated on set, and when the filming completed they were sent to the death camp Auschwitz.) Hitler was able to convince her to film Triumph des Willens on the condition that she would not be required to make further films for the party, according to Riefenstahl. The motion picture was generally recognized as an epic, innovative work of propaganda filmmaking. The film took Riefenstahl's career to a new level and gave her further international recognition. In interviews for the 1993 documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, Riefenstahl adamantly denied any deliberate attempt to create Nazi propaganda and said she was disgusted that Triumph des Willens was used in such a way. Despite allegedly vowing not to make any more films about the Nazi Party, Riefenstahl made the 28-minute Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht ("Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces") about the German Army in 1935. Like Der Sieg des Glaubens and Triumph des Willens, this was filmed at the annual Nazi Party rally at Nuremberg. Riefenstahl said this film was a sub-set of Der Sieg des Glaubens, added to mollify the German Army which felt it was not represented well in Triumph des Willens. Hitler invited Riefenstahl to film the 1936 Summer Olympics scheduled to be held in Berlin, a film which Riefenstahl said had been commissioned by the International Olympic Committee. She visited Greece to take footage of the route of the inaugural torch relay and the games' original site at Olympia, where she was aided by Greek photographer Nelly's. This material became Olympia, a hugely successful film which has since been widely noted for its technical and aesthetic achievements. Olympia was secretly funded by the Nazis. She was one of the first filmmakers to use tracking shots in a documentary, placing a camera on rails to follow the athletes' movement. The film is also noted for its slow motion shots. Riefenstahl played with the idea of slow motion, underwater diving shots, extremely high and low shooting angles, panoramic aerial shots, and tracking system shots for allowing fast action. Many of these shots were relatively unheard of at the time, but Riefenstahl's use and augmentation of them set a standard, and is the reason they are still used to this day. Riefenstahl's work on Olympia has been cited as a major influence in modern sports photography. Riefenstahl filmed competitors of all races, including African-American Jesse Owens in what later became famous footage. Olympia premiered for Hitler's 49th birthday in 1938. Its international debut led Riefenstahl to embark on an American publicity tour in an attempt to secure commercial release. In February 1937, Riefenstahl enthusiastically told a reporter for the Detroit News, "To me, Hitler is the greatest man who ever lived. He truly is without fault, so simple and at the same time possessed of masculine strength". She arrived in New York City on 4 November 1938, five days before Kristallnacht (the "Night of the Broken Glass"). When news of the event reached the United States, Riefenstahl publicly defended Hitler. On 18 November, she was received by Henry Ford in Detroit. Olympia was shown at the Chicago Engineers Club two days later. Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee, praised the film and held Riefenstahl in the highest regard. She negotiated with Louis B. Mayer, and on 8 December, Walt Disney brought her on a three-hour tour showing her the ongoing production of Fantasia. From the Goebbels Diaries, researchers learned that Riefenstahl had been friendly with Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda, attending the opera with them and going to his parties. Riefenstahl maintained that Goebbels was upset when she rejected his advances and was jealous of her influence on Hitler, seeing her as an internal threat. She therefore insisted his diary entries could not be trusted. By later accounts, Goebbels thought highly of Riefenstahl's filmmaking but was angered with what he saw as her overspending on the Nazi-provided filmmaking budgets. Iconography In Triumph of the Will, Tom Saunders argues that Hitler serves as the object of the camera's gaze. Saunders writes, "Without denying that "rampant masculinity" (the "sexiness" of Hitler and the SS) serves as the object of the gaze, I would suggest that desire is also directed toward the feminine. This occurs not in the familiar sequences of adoring women greeting Hitler's arrival and cavalcade through Nuremberg. In these Hitler clearly remains the focus of attraction, as more generally in the visual treatment of his mass following. Rather, it is encoded in representation of flags and banners, which were shot in such a way as to make them visually desirable as well as potent political symbols". The flag serves as a symbol of masculinity, equated with national pride and dominance, that supposedly channels men's sexual and masculine energy. Riefenstahl's cinematic framing of the flags encapsulated its iconography. Saunders continues, "The effect is a significant double transformation: the images mechanize human beings and breathe life into flags. Even when the carriers are not mostly submerged under the sea of colored cloth, and when facial features are visible in profile, they attain neither character nor distinctiveness. The men remain ants in a vast enterprise. By contrast and paradoxically, the flags, whether a few or hundreds peopling the frame, assume distinct identities". Use of music Riefenstahl distorts the diegetic sound in Triumph of the Will. Her distortion of sound suggests she was influenced by German art cinema. Influenced by Classical Hollywood cinema's style, German art film employed music to enhance the narrative, establish a sense of grandeur, and to heighten the emotions in a scene. In Triumph of the Will, Riefenstahl used traditional folk music to accompany and intensify her shots. Ben Morgan comments on Riefenstahl's distortion of sound: "In Triumph of the Will, the material world leaves no aural impression beyond the music. Where the film does combine diegetic noise with the music, the effects used are human (laughter or cheering) and offer a rhythmic extension to the music rather than a contrast to it. By replacing diegetic sound, Riefenstahl's film employs music to combine the documentary with the fantastic." World War II When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, Riefenstahl was photographed in Poland wearing a military uniform and a pistol on her belt in the company of German soldiers; she had gone to Poland as a war correspondent. On 12 September, she was in the town of Końskie when 30 civilians were executed in retaliation for an alleged attack on German soldiers. According to her memoir, Riefenstahl tried to intervene but a furious German soldier held her at gunpoint and threatened to shoot her on the spot. She said she did not realize the victims were Jews. Photographs of a potentially distraught Riefenstahl survive from that day. Nevertheless, by 5 October 1939, Riefenstahl was back in occupied Poland filming Hitler's victory parade in Warsaw. Afterwards, she left Poland and chose not to make any more Nazi-related films. On 14 June 1940, the day Paris was declared an open city by the French and occupied by German troops, Riefenstahl wrote to Hitler in a telegram, "With indescribable joy, deeply moved and filled with burning gratitude, we share with you, my Führer, your and Germany's greatest victory, the entry of German troops into Paris. You exceed anything human imagination has the power to conceive, achieving deeds without parallel in the history of mankind. How can we ever thank you?" She later explained, "Everyone thought the war was over, and in that spirit I sent the cable to Hitler". Riefenstahl was friends with Hitler for 12 years. However, her relationship with Hitler severely declined in 1944 after her brother died on the Russian Front. After the Nuremberg rallies trilogy and Olympia, Riefenstahl began work on the movie she had tried and failed to direct once before, namely Tiefland. On Hitler's direct order, the German government paid her seven million Reichsmarks in compensation. From 23 September until 13 November 1940, she filmed in Krün near Mittenwald. The extras playing Spanish women and farmers were drawn from Romani detained in a camp at Salzburg-Maxglan who were forced to work with her. Filming at the Babelsberg Studios near Berlin began 18 months later in April 1942. This time Sinti and Roma people from the Marzahn detention camp near Berlin were compelled to work as extras. Almost to the end of her life, despite overwhelming evidence that the concentration camp occupants had been forced to work on the movie unpaid, Riefenstahl continued to maintain all the film extras survived and that she had met several of them after the war. Riefenstahl sued filmmaker Nina Gladitz, who said Riefenstahl personally chose the extras at their holding camp; Gladitz had found one of the Romani survivors and matched his memory with stills of the movie for a documentary Gladitz was filming. The German court ruled largely in favour of Gladitz, declaring that Riefenstahl had known the extras were from a concentration camp, but they also agreed that Riefenstahl had not been informed the Romani would be sent to Auschwitz after filming was completed. This issue came up again in 2002, when Riefenstahl was 100 years old and she was taken to court by a Roma group for denying the Nazis had exterminated Romani. Riefenstahl apologized and said, "I regret that Sinti and Roma [people] had to suffer during the period of National Socialism. It is known today that many of them were murdered in concentration camps". In October 1944 the production of Tiefland moved to Barrandov Studios in Prague for interior filming. Lavish sets made these shots some of the most costly of the film. The film was not edited and released until almost ten years later. The last time Riefenstahl saw Hitler was when she married Peter Jacob on 21 March 1944. Riefenstahl and Jacob divorced in 1946. As Germany's military situation became impossible by early 1945, Riefenstahl left Berlin and was hitchhiking with a group of men, trying to reach her mother, when she was taken into custody by American troops. She walked out of a holding camp, beginning a series of escapes and arrests across the chaotic landscape. At last making it back home on a bicycle, she found that American troops had seized her house. She was surprised by how kindly they treated her. Thwarted film projects Most of Riefenstahl's unfinished projects were lost towards the end of the war. The French government confiscated all of her editing equipment, along with the production reels of Tiefland. After years of legal wrangling, these were returned to her, but the French government had reportedly damaged some of the film stock whilst trying to develop and edit it, with a few key scenes being missing (although Riefenstahl was surprised to find the original negatives for Olympia in the same shipment). During the filming of Olympia, Riefenstahl was funded by the state to create her own production company in her own name, Riefenstahl-Film GmbH, which was uninvolved with her most influential works. She edited and dubbed the remaining material and Tiefland premiered on 11 February 1954 in Stuttgart. However, it was denied entry into the Cannes Film Festival. Although Riefenstahl lived for almost another half century, Tiefland was her last feature film. Riefenstahl tried many times to make more films during the 1950s and 1960s, but was met with resistance, public protests and sharp criticism. Many of her filmmaking peers in Hollywood had fled Nazi Germany and were unsympathetic to her. Although both film professionals and investors were willing to support her work, most of the projects she attempted were stopped owing to ever-renewed and highly negative publicity about her past work in Nazi Germany. In 1954, Jean Cocteau, who greatly admired the film, insisted on Tiefland being shown at the Cannes Film Festival, which he was running that year. In 1960, Riefenstahl attempted to prevent filmmaker Erwin Leiser from juxtaposing scenes from Triumph des Willens with footage from concentration camps in his film Mein Kampf. Riefenstahl had high hopes for a collaboration with Cocteau called Friedrich und Voltaire ("Friedrich and Voltaire"), wherein Cocteau was to play two roles. They thought the film might symbolize the love-hate relationship between Germany and France. Cocteau's illness and 1963 death put an end to the project. A musical remake of Das Blaue Licht ("The Blue Light") with an English production company also fell apart. In the 1960s, Riefenstahl became interested in Africa from Ernest Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa and from the photographs of George Rodger. She visited Kenya for the first time in 1956 and later Sudan, where she photographed Nuba tribes with whom she sporadically lived, learning about their culture so she could photograph them more easily. Even though her film project about modern slavery entitled Die Schwarze Fracht ("The Black Cargo") was never completed, Riefenstahl was able to sell the stills from the expedition to magazines in various parts of the world. While scouting shooting locations, she almost died from injuries received in a truck accident. After waking up from a coma in a Nairobi hospital, she finished writing the script, but was soon thoroughly thwarted by uncooperative locals, the Suez Canal crisis and bad weather. In the end, the film project was called off. Even so, Riefenstahl was granted Sudanese citizenship for her services to the country, becoming the first foreigner to receive a Sudanese passport. Detention and trials Novelist and sports writer Budd Schulberg, assigned by the U.S. Navy to the OSS for intelligence work while attached to John Ford's documentary unit, was ordered to arrest Riefenstahl at her chalet in Kitzbühel, ostensibly to have her identify Nazi war criminals in German film footage captured by the Allied troops shortly after the war. Riefenstahl said she was not aware of the nature of the internment camps. According to Schulberg, "She gave me the usual song and dance. She said, 'Of course, you know, I'm really so misunderstood. I'm not political'". Riefenstahl said she was fascinated by the Nazis, but also politically naive, remaining ignorant about war crimes. Throughout 1945 to 1948, she was held by various Allied-controlled prison camps across Germany. She was also under house arrest for a period of time. She was tried four times by postwar authorities for denazification and eventually found to be a "fellow traveller" (Mitläufer) who sympathised with the Nazis. She was never an official member of the Nazi party but was always seen in association with the propaganda films she made in Nazi Germany. Over the years she filed and won over fifty libel cases against people who had accused her of complicity with Nazi crimes. Riefenstahl said that her biggest regret in life was meeting Hitler, declaring, "It was the biggest catastrophe of my life. Until the day I die people will keep saying, 'Leni is a Nazi', and I'll keep saying, 'But what did she do?'" Even though she went on to win up to 50 libel cases, details about her relation to the Nazi party generally remain unclear. Shortly before she died, Riefenstahl voiced her final words on the subject of her connection to Adolf Hitler in a BBC interview: "I was one of millions who thought Hitler had all the answers. We saw only the good things; we didn't know bad things were to come." Africa, photography, books and final film Riefenstahl began a lifelong companionship with her cameraman Horst Kettner, who was 40 years her junior and assisted her with the photographs; they were together from the time she was 60 and he was 20. Riefenstahl traveled to Africa, inspired by the works of George Rodger that celebrated the ceremonial wrestling matches of the Nuba. Riefenstahl's books with photographs of the Nuba tribes were published in 1974 and republished in 1976 as Die Nuba (translated as "The Last of the Nuba") and Die Nuba von Kau ("The Nuba People of Kau"). They were harshly criticized by American writer and philosopher Susan Sontag, who wrote in The New York Review of Books that they were evidence of Riefenstahl's continued adherence to "fascist aesthetics". In this review, which art critic Hilton Kramer described as "one of the most important inquiries into the relation of esthetics to ideology we have had in many years", Sontag argued that:Although the Nuba are black, not Aryan, Riefenstahl's portrait of them is consistent with some of the larger themes of Nazi ideology: the contrast between the clean and the impure, the incorruptible and the defiled, the physical and the mental, the joyful and the critical. [...] What is distinctive about the fascist version of the old idea of the Noble Savage is its contempt for all that is reflective, critical, and pluralistic. [...] In celebrating a society where the exhibition of physical skill and courage and the victory of the stronger man over the weaker have, at least as she sees it, become the unifying symbol of the communal culture—where success in fighting is the "main aspiration of a man's life"—Riefenstahl seems only to have modified the ideas of her Nazi films.In December 1974, American writer and photographer Eudora Welty reviewed Die Nuba positively for the New York Times, giving an impressionistic account of the aesthetics of Riefenstahl's book:She uses the light purposefully: the full, blinding brightness to make us see the ail‐absorbing blackness of the skin; the ray of light slanting down from the single hole, high in the wall, that is the doorway of the circular house, which tells us how secret and safe it has been made; the first dawn light streaking the face of a calf in the sleeping camp where the young men go to live, which suggests their world apart. All the pictures bring us the physical beauty of the people: a young girl, shy and mischievous of face, with a bead sewn into her lower lip like a permanent cinnamon drop; a wrestler prepared for his match, with his shaven head turned to look over the massive shoulder, all skin color taken away by a coating of ashes.Art Director's Club of Germany awarded Riefenstahl a gold medal for the best photographic achievement of 1975. She also sold some of the pictures to German magazines. Riefenstahl photographed the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, and rock star Mick Jagger along with his wife Bianca for The Sunday Times. Years later, Riefenstahl photographed Las Vegas entertainers Siegfried & Roy. She was guest of honour at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 1978, Riefenstahl published a book of her sub-aquatic photographs called Korallengärten ("Coral Gardens"), followed by the 1990 book Wunder unter Wasser ("Wonder under Water"). On 22 August 2002, her 100th birthday, she released the film Impressionen unter Wasser ("Underwater Impressions"), an idealized documentary of life in the oceans and her first film in over 25 years. Riefenstahl was a member of Greenpeace for eight years. When filming Impressionen unter Wasser, Riefenstahl lied about her age in order to be certified for scuba diving. Riefenstahl survived a helicopter crash in Sudan in 2000 while trying to learn the fates of her Nuba friends during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and was airlifted to a Munich hospital, where she received treatment for two broken ribs. Death Riefenstahl celebrated her 101st birthday on 22 August 2003 at a hotel in Feldafing, on Lake Starnberg, Bavaria, near her home. The day after her birthday celebration, she became ill. Riefenstahl had been suffering from cancer for some time, and her health rapidly deteriorated during the last weeks of her life. Kettner said in an interview in 2002, "Ms. Riefenstahl is in great pain and she has become very weak and is taking painkillers". Riefenstahl died in her sleep at around 10:00 pm on 8 September 2003 at her home in Pöcking, Germany. After her death, there was a varied response in the obituary pages of leading publications, although most recognized her technical breakthroughs in filmmaking. Reception Film scholar Mark Cousins notes in his book The Story of Film that, "Next to Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, Leni Riefenstahl was the most technically talented Western film maker of her era". When traveling to Hollywood, Riefenstahl was criticized by the Anti-Nazi League very harshly when wanting to showcase her film Olympia soon after its release. Reviewer Gary Morris called Riefenstahl, "An artist of unparalleled gifts, a woman in an industry dominated by men, one of the great formalists of the cinema on a par with Eisenstein or Welles". Film critic Hal Erickson of The New York Times states that the "Jewish Question" is mainly unmentioned in Triumph des Willens; "filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl prefers to concentrate on cheering crowds, precision marching, military bands, and Hitler's climactic speech, all orchestrated, choreographed and illuminated on a scale that makes Griffith and DeMille look like poverty-row directors". Charles Moore of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "She was perhaps the most talented female cinema director of the 20th century; her celebration of Nazi Germany in film ensured that she was certainly the most infamous". Film journalist Sandra Smith from The Independent remarked, "Opinions will be divided between those who see her as a young, talented and ambitious woman caught up in the tide of events which she did not fully understand, and those who believe her to be a cold and opportunist propagandist and a Nazi by association." Critic Judith Thurman said in The New Yorker that, "Riefenstahl's genius has rarely been questioned, even by critics who despise the service to which she lent it. Riefenstahl was a consummate stylist obsessed with bodies in motion, particularly those of dancers and athletes. Riefenstahl relies heavily for her transitions on portentous cutaways to clouds, mist, statuary, foliage, and rooftops. Her reaction shots have a tedious sameness: shining, ecstatic faces—nearly all young and Aryan, except for Hitler's". Pauline Kael, also a film reviewer employed for The New Yorker, called Triumph des Willens and Olympia, "the two greatest films ever directed by a woman". Writer Richard Corliss wrote in Time that he was "impressed by Riefenstahl's standing as a total auteur: producer, writer, director, editor and, in the fiction films, actress. The issues her films and her career raise are as complex and they are important, and her vilifiers tend to reduce the argument to one of a director's complicity in atrocity or her criminal ignorance". Film biographies In 1993, Riefenstahl was the subject of the award-winning German documentary film The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, directed by Ray Müller. Riefenstahl appeared in the film and answered several questions and detailed the production of her films. The biofilm was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning in one category. Riefenstahl, who for some time had been working on her memoirs, decided to cooperate in the production of this documentary to tell her life story about the struggles she had gone through in her personal life, her film-making career and what people thought of her. She was also the subject of Müller's 2000 documentary film Leni Riefenstahl: Her Dream of Africa, about her return to Sudan to visit the Nuba people. In 2000, Jodie Foster was planning a biographical drama on Riefenstahl, then seen as the last surviving member of Hitler's "inner circle", causing protests, with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's dean Marvin Hier warning against a revisionist view that glorified the director, observing that Riefenstahl had seemed "quite infatuated" with Hitler. In 2007 British screenwriter Rupert Walters was reported to be writing a script for the movie. The project did not receive Riefenstahl's approval prior to her death, as Riefenstahl asked for a veto on any scenes to which she did not agree. Riefenstahl reportedly wanted Sharon Stone to play her rather than Foster. In 2011, director Steven Soderbergh revealed that he had also been working on a biopic of Riefenstahl for about six months. He eventually abandoned the project over concerns of its commercial prospects. In popular culture Riefenstahl's filming merits are discussed between characters in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. Riefenstahl was referred to in the series finale of the television show Weeds when Nancy questions Andy for naming his daughter after a Nazi, to which he replied "she was a pioneer in film-making, I don't believe in holding grudges." Riefenstahl was portrayed by Zdena Studenková in Leni, a 2014 Slovak drama play about her fictional participation in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Riefenstahl was portrayed by Dutch actress Carice van Houten in Race, a sports drama film directed by Stephen Hopkins about Jesse Owens. It was released in North America on 19 February 2016. In the 2016 short film Leni. Leni., based on the play by Tom McNab and directed by Adrian Vitoria, Hildegard Neil portrays Riefenstahl. The 2017 video game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (which takes place in an alternative 1961 after the Nazis won World War II) features a supporting character heavily implied to be Riefenstahl, voiced by actress Kristina Klebe. Named Lady Helene, this female director is responsible for making the vast majority of the propaganda films said to be playing (most notably a big-budget movie detailing how America was "liberated" by Nazis). Lady Helene is later met face to face and she is seen to closely resemble Riefenstahl. It also revealed that her mysterious "producer" is an aging, delusional Adolf Hitler and that the two share a close working relationship. Riefenstahl appears in the 2019 film Hellboy portrayed again by Kristina Klebe. in 2021 Riefenstahl was the subject of Nigel Farndale's novel The Dictator's Muse. Filmography As actress 1925: Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit ("Ways to Strength and Beauty") as Dancer 1926: Der heilige Berg ("The Holy Mountain") as Diotima 1927: Der große Sprung ("The Great Leap") as Gita 1928: Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg ("Fate of the House of Habsburg") as Maria Vetsera 1929: Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü ("The White Hell of Pitz Palu") as Maria Maioni 1930: Stürme über dem Mont Blanc ("Storm Over Mont Blanc") as Hella Armstrong 1931: Der weiße Rausch ("The White Ecstasy") as Leni 1932: Das blaue Licht ("The Blue Light") as Junta 1933: S.O.S. Eisberg ("S.O.S. Iceberg") as Hella, seine Frau 1954: Tiefland ("Lowlands") as Martha, eine spanische Betteltänzerin (final film role) As director 1932: Das blaue Licht ("The Blue Light") 1933: Der Sieg des Glaubens ("The Victory of Faith") 1935: Triumph des Willens ("Triumph of the Will") 1935: Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht ("Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces") 1937: Wilde Wasser ("Wild Water") 1938: Olympia 1954: Tiefland ("Lowlands") 1965: Allein unter den Nuba ("Alone Among the Nuba") (Unreleased) 2002: Impressionen unter Wasser ("Impressions under Water") Books (reviewed by bell hooks) References Notes Bibliography Printed Online External links Leni Riefenstahl at Jewish Virtual Library Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will on MoMA Learning 1902 births 2003 deaths 20th-century German actresses 20th-century German women artists 20th-century memoirists 20th-century women photographers Actresses from Berlin Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof Deaths from cancer in Germany Expatriate photographers in Sudan Film directors from Berlin German centenarians German documentary film directors German female dancers German film actresses German memoirists German propagandists German Protestants German silent film actresses German women film directors German women photographers Mountaineering film directors Nazi propagandists People from the Province of Brandenburg Photographers from Berlin Propaganda film directors Underwater photographers Women centenarians Women documentary filmmakers Women in Nazi Germany	[ 0.08693677186965942, -0.013628087006509304, -0.5349729061126709, -0.3657270073890686, -0.6313398480415344, 0.5304986834526062, 0.5793792605400085, -0.40693268179893494, -0.1561720073223114, 0.3716041147708893, -0.33227720856666565, 0.29915952682495117, 0.15765391290187836, 0.58244299888610...
17565	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labatt%20Brewing%20Company	Labatt Brewing Company	Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interbrew merged with Brazilian brewer AmBev to form InBev. In 2008, InBev merged with American brewer Anheuser-Busch to form Anheuser-Busch InBev (abbreviated as AB InBev), making Labatt part of Anheuser-Busch InBev. On October 10, 2016, an over $100 billion merger between Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller closed. Labatt is now part of the new company, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, which is trading as BUD on the New York Stock Exchange (ABI:BB in Brussels). In the United States, Labatt brand beers are sold under license by Labatt USA, which since 2009 has been fully independent of the Canadian firm and a subsidiary of the privately held FIFCO USA of Rochester, New York. History Labatt Breweries was founded by John Kinder Labatt in 1847 in London, Canada West (now Ontario). Kinder had immigrated to Canada from Ireland in the 1830s and initially established himself as a farmer near London. In 1847, he invested in a brewery with a partner, Samuel Eccles, launching "Labatt and Eccles". When Eccles retired in 1854, Labatt acquired his interest and renamed the firm the "London Brewery". He was assisted by his sons Ephraim, Robert and John. When John Kinder Labatt died in 1866, his son John assumed control of the company. Under his supervision, it grew to be the largest brewery in Canada. Following his death in 1915, the company was controlled by a trust operated by his nine children, although his sons John Sackville Labatt and Hugh Francis Labatt assumed managerial control. In 1901, Prohibition in Canada began through provincial legislation in Prince Edward Island. In 1916, prohibition was instituted in Ontario as well, affecting all 64 breweries in the province. Although some provinces totally banned alcohol manufacture, some permitted production for export to the United States. Labatt survived by producing full strength beer for export south of the border and by introducing two "temperance ales" with less than two per cent alcohol for sale in Ontario. However, the Canadian beer industry suffered a second blow when Prohibition in the United States began in 1919. When Prohibition was repealed in Ontario in 1926, just 15 breweries remained, and only Labatt retained its original management. This resulted in a strengthened industry position. In 1945, Labatt became a publicly traded company with the issuance of 900,000 shares. John and Hugh Labatt, grandsons of founder John K. Labatt, launched Labatt 50 in 1950 to commemorate 50 years of partnership. The first light ale introduced in Canada, Labatt 50 was Canada's best-selling beer until 1979. In 1951, Labatt launched its Pilsener Lager; when it was introduced in Manitoba, the beer was nicknamed "Blue" for the colour of its label and the company's support of Winnipeg's Canadian Football League (CFL) franchise, the Blue Bombers. The brew-master at the time was Robert Frank Lewarne (b. 1921 Toronto; R.F. Lewarne also headed the team that produced the famous Labatt 50, mainly for the Quebec market). The nickname "Blue" stuck and in 1979, Labatt Blue claimed the top spot in the Canadian beer market. It lost this status in the late eighties to Molson Canadian, but over the next decade, it periodically regained the top spot as consumer preferences fluctuated. In 2004, Budweiser took the top spot, pushing Blue to third for the first time in twenty-five years. However, since Labatt has brewed Budweiser (and other Anheuser-Busch products) in Canada under licence since the 1980s, Labatt likely did not suffer from this shift. Moreover, Labatt Blue remains the best selling Canadian beer in the world, based upon worldwide sales. Labatt was also the majority owner of the Toronto Blue Jays from their inception in 1976 until 1995, when Interbrew purchased Labatt. In 2000, Rogers Communications purchased an 80% stake in the team and Interbrew retained the other 20%; Rogers later acquired full ownership of the team. Labatt's innovations include the introduction of the first twist-off cap on a refillable bottle in 1984. In 1989, Labatt's had the opportunity to hire Canadian model Pamela Anderson as a Labatt's Blue Zone Girl after she was picked out of the crowd by a TV camera man at a BC Lions football game wearing a Blue Zone crop-top. Photographer and boyfriend Dann Ilicic produced the Blue Zone Girl poster on his own after Labatt's refused to have anything to do with it. Later, Labatt's did buy 1000 posters to deal with consumer demand. In 1995, Labatt was acquired by the large Belgian multinational brewer Interbrew (now InBev), the world market leader. Labatt is part-owner of Brewers Retail Inc., operator of The Beer Store retail chain, which—protected by legislation—has over 90% market share of Ontario off-premises beer sales. In early 2007, Labatt also acquired Lakeport Brewing Company of Hamilton, Ontario. In 2009, the company sold Labatt USA, including the American rights to its core Labatt products (such as Blue, Blue Light, and Labatt 50) to FIFCO USA, and agreed to brew those brands on Labatt USA's behalf until 2012. This sale was mandated by the U.S. Department of Justice for competitive reasons following InBev's merger with Anheuser-Busch, since Budweiser and Labatt Blue were both among the top brands in upstate New York, despite the latter having less than 1% market share in the U.S. overall. The sale did not include U.S. rights to Labatt products not carrying the "Labatt" label, such as Kokanee or Alexander Keith's, which are now distributed in the U.S. by Anheuser-Busch. Moreover, the underlying intellectual property (such as the Labatt trademarks) remains the property of the Canadian firm. Finally, the sale did not affect Labatt's Canadian operations in any way, however Anheuser-Busch InBev retains full control of the Labatt brand portfolio within Canada. In 2020, Labatt acquired Canadian distiller Goodridge & Williams, a company known for creating Nütrl Vodka Soda and other ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails. Operations Canada London, Ontario St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Montreal, Quebec (in the LaSalle borough) Halifax, Nova Scotia Creston, British Columbia Edmonton, Alberta United States (previous to sale) Buffalo, New York (Original and current United States Headquarters) Norwalk, Connecticut (One time US headquarters) Labatt's US headquarters were originally located in Buffalo for some years. Labatt then decided to relocate their headquarters to Norwalk, Connecticut, for a time. In 2007 Labatt decided to relocate their US operations back to Buffalo due to strong sales in the city and closer proximity to their Ontario operations. Labatt USA is now owned by FIFCO USA of Rochester, New York. Labatt's Toronto (Rexdale) brewery was built in 1970. It ceased operations in 2005 and was demolished by 2007, thus ending the brewery's ties to the city. Brands Labatt 50 is a 5% abv ale launched in 1950 to commemorate 50 years of partnership between the grandsons of the brewer's founder. The first light-tasting ale introduced in Canada, Labatt 50 was Canada's best-selling beer until 1979, when, with the increasing popularity of lagers, it was surpassed by Labatt Blue. Labatt 50 is fermented using a special ale yeast, in use at Labatt since 1933. Labatt Blue is a 5% abv pale lager. There are of beer in a bottle of Labatt Blue. There are 355 mL of beer in a standard can of Labatt Blue/Bleue in Canada with other volumes available in specific regions of the country. In Quebec, Labatt also produces a stronger lager, Labatt Bleue Dry, at 6.1%. Blue, the company's flagship brand, has entered a number of international beer ratings competitions and has always performed notably well. In 2003, Labatt Blue received a Gold Quality Award at the World Quality Selections, organized yearly by Monde Selection. Labatt had patented a specific method for making ice beer in 1997, 1998 and 2000: "A process for chill-treating, which is exemplified by a process for preparing a fermented malt beverage wherein brewing materials are mashed with water and the resulting mash is heated and wort separated therefrom. The wort is boiled cooled and fermented and the beer is subjected to a finishing stage, which includes aging, to produce the final beverage. The improvement comprises subjecting the beer to a cold stage comprising rapidly cooling the beer to a temperature of about its freezing point in such a manner that ice crystals are formed therein in only minimal amounts. The resulting cooled beer is then mixed for a short period of time with a beer slurry containing ice crystals, without any appreciable collateral increase in the amount of ice crystals in the resulting mixture. Finally, the so-treated beer is extracted from the mixture." The company provides the following explanation about Labatt Ice and Maximum Ice for the layman: "During this unique process, the temperature is reduced until fine ice crystals form in the beer. Then using an exclusive process, the crystals are removed. The result is a full flavoured balanced beer." Corporate activities Labatt has sponsored the construction of many buildings in London, including Labatt Park, the John Labatt Centre, and the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). Bessie Labatt's son Arthur Labatt was the 19th chancellor of UWO (2004–2008). In 1998 Labatt announced a 20-year sponsorship agreement with the now defunct Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals), which included naming rights for a downtown Montreal ballpark that was never built. They sponsored the English football team Nottingham Forest F.C. from 1992 (interchanging with Shipstones Brewery until 1994) to 1997. They also are the official beer and corporate sponsor of the OHL hockey franchise Plymouth Whalers. In the 1950s, the company sponsored a PGA Tour golf tournament, the Labatt Open. Labatt sponsored Gilles Villeneuve as well as being the main sponsor of the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix from 1972 to 1986, as well as Williams F1 racing team from 1991 to 1994. In 1983–1986, Labatt sponsored Ken Westerfield, Canadian Frisbee champion and world record holder, to perform Frisbee shows throughout Ontario, as well as sponsor the World Guts (Frisbee) Championships on Toronto Islands in 1986. Labatt is a beer partner of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, as well as the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers. Labatt sponsors the annual Labatt Blue Buffalo Pond Hockey Tournament at Buffalo RiverWorks. The outdoor amateur hockey tournament features more than 800 players. In May 2009, Labatt gave their support to a seventh NHL team in Canada, which was pursued by Jim Balsillie. In November 2018, Labatt USA opened Labatt Brew House, a innovation brewery and tasting room in Buffalo, New York. Visitors may sample experimental beers or choose from a variety of established brews. Marketing Labatt Blue is sold in all provinces of Canada; however, in Quebec it is sold under the French name Labatt Bleue, with a fleur-de-lis logo. Aside from the name, and containing 4.9% alcohol/volume instead of 5.0%, the red maple leaf on the logo has also been changed to a stylized red sheaf of wheat, which Labatt calls its symbol of "brewing quality." Labatt Blue is sold in most of the United States, with sales particularly strong in the Midwest and Northeast along the Canada–United States border. In media See also Beer in Canada The Beer Store, beer retailer in Ontario Brewers' Distributor, beer distributor in Western Canada Ice beer Ken Westerfield Labatt Schooner Frisbee Team 1983-86 References External links 1970s Labatt's Beer Commercial - From the Internet Archive. Article on the streamliner trucks Multimedia CBC Archives CBC Radio reports on Interbrew's takeover of Labatt (From 1995). Beer brewing companies based in Ontario LaSalle, Quebec 1847 establishments in Ontario Toronto Blue Jays owners InBev brands Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies Food and drink companies established in 1847 Canadian companies established in 1847	[ 0.49669963121414185, 0.582833468914032, -0.3515138030052185, -0.272455096244812, 0.2942769229412079, 0.6837156414985657, 0.5617437958717346, 0.4770156741142273, 0.03038937598466873, -0.39862120151519775, -0.22865673899650574, -0.2210330218076706, -0.03394526615738869, 0.3806861340999603, ...
17568	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local%20color	Local color	Local color/colour may refer to: Local Color (book), a 1950 note and sketch study by Truman Capote Local Color (Mose Allison album), 1958 Local Color (University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One album), 2015 Local Color (film), a 2006 film starring Trevor Morgan Local color (visual art), the natural color of an object Local Colour: Travels in the Other Australia, a 1994 book by Bill Bachman and Tim Winton Local Color, a short-story collection by John Andrew Rice Local Color, an art exhibition by Tullio DeSantis See also Regionalism (disambiguation)	[ 0.11045394092798233, 0.0489007830619812, -1.091511607170105, 0.11219563335180283, 0.23728859424591064, 0.2814848721027374, 0.4853001832962036, 0.33915480971336365, -0.67692631483078, -0.4272775948047638, -0.8717845678329468, 0.6854560971260071, -0.10668176412582397, 0.23099131882190704, ...
17570	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear%20equation	Linear equation	In mathematics, a linear equation is an equation that may be put in the form where are the variables (or unknowns), and are the coefficients, which are often real numbers. The coefficients may be considered as parameters of the equation, and may be arbitrary expressions, provided they do not contain any of the variables. To yield a meaningful equation, the coefficients are required to not all be zero. Alternatively a linear equation can be obtained by equating to zero a linear polynomial over some field, from which the coefficients are taken. The solutions of such an equation are the values that, when substituted for the unknowns, make the equality true. In the case of just one variable, there is exactly one solution (provided that ). Often, the term linear equation refers implicitly to this particular case, in which the variable is sensibly called the unknown. In the case of two variables, each solution may be interpreted as the Cartesian coordinates of a point of the Euclidean plane. The solutions of a linear equation form a line in the Euclidean plane, and, conversely, every line can be viewed as the set of all solutions of a linear equation in two variables. This is the origin of the term linear for describing this type of equations. More generally, the solutions of a linear equation in variables form a hyperplane (a subspace of dimension ) in the Euclidean space of dimension . Linear equations occur frequently in all mathematics and their applications in physics and engineering, partly because non-linear systems are often well approximated by linear equations. This article considers the case of a single equation with coefficients from the field of real numbers, for which one studies the real solutions. All of its content applies to complex solutions and, more generally, for linear equations with coefficients and solutions in any field. For the case of several simultaneous linear equations, see system of linear equations. One variable Frequently the term linear equation refers implicitly to the case of just one variable. In this case, the equation can be put in the form and it has a unique solution in the general case where . In this case, the name unknown is sensibly given to the variable . If , there are two cases. Either equals also 0, and every number is a solution. Otherwise , and there is no solution. In this latter case, the equation is said to be inconsistent. Two variables In the case of two variables, any linear equation can be put in the form where the variables are and , and the coefficients are , and . An equivalent equation (that is an equation with exactly the same solutions) is with , and These equivalent variants are sometimes given generic names, such as general form or standard form. There are other forms for a linear equation (see below), which can all be transformed in the standard form with simple algebraic manipulations, such as adding the same quantity to both members of the equation, or multiplying both members by the same nonzero constant. Linear function If , the equation is a linear equation in the single variable for every value of . It has therefore a unique solution for , which is given by This defines a function. The graph of this function is a line with slope and -intercept The functions whose graph is a line are generally called linear functions in the context of calculus. However, in linear algebra, a linear function is a function that maps a sum to the sum of the images of the summands. So, for this definition, the above function is linear only when , that is when the line passes through the origin. For avoiding confusion, the functions whose graph is an arbitrary line are often called affine functions. Geometric interpretation Each solution of a linear equation may be viewed as the Cartesian coordinates of a point in the Euclidean plane. With this interpretation, all solutions of the equation form a line, provided that and are not both zero. Conversely, every line is the set of all solutions of a linear equation. The phrase "linear equation" takes its origin in this correspondence between lines and equations: a linear equation in two variables is an equation whose solutions form a line. If , the line is the graph of the function of that has been defined in the preceding section. If , the line is a vertical line (that is a line parallel to the -axis) of equation which is not the graph of a function of . Similarly, if , the line is the graph of a function of , and, if , one has a horizontal line of equation Equation of a line There are various ways of defining a line. In the following subsections, a linear equation of the line is given in each case. Slope–intercept form or Gradient-intercept form A non-vertical line can be defined by its slope , and its -intercept (the coordinate of its intersection with the -axis). In this case its linear equation can be written If, moreover, the line is not horizontal, it can be defined by its slope and its -intercept . In this case, its equation can be written or, equivalently, These forms rely on the habit of considering a non vertical line as the graph of a function. For a line given by an equation these forms can be easily deduced from the relations Point–slope form or Point-gradient form A non-vertical line can be defined by its slope , and the coordinates of any point of the line. In this case, a linear equation of the line is or This equation can also be written for emphasizing that the slope of a line can be computed from the coordinates of any two points. Intercept form A line that is not parallel to an axis and does not pass through the origin cuts the axes in two different points. The intercept values and of these two points are nonzero, and an equation of the line is (It is easy to verify that the line defined by this equation has and as intercept values). Two-point form Given two different points and , there is exactly one line that passes through them. There are several ways to write a linear equation of this line. If , the slope of the line is Thus, a point-slope form is By clearing denominators, one gets the equation which is valid also when (for verifying this, it suffices to verify that the two given points satisfy the equation). This form is not symmetric in the two given points, but a symmetric form can be obtained by regrouping the constant terms: (exchanging the two points changes the sign of the left-hand side of the equation). Determinant form The two-point form of the equation of a line can be expressed simply in terms of a determinant. There are two common ways for that. The equation is the result of expanding the determinant in the equation The equation can be obtained be expanding with respect to its first row the determinant in the equation Beside being very simple and mnemonic, this form has the advantage of being a special case of the more general equation of a hyperplane passing through points in a space of dimension . These equations rely on the condition of linear dependence of points in a projective space. More than two variables A linear equation with more than two variables may always be assumed to have the form The coefficient , often denoted is called the constant term (sometimes the absolute term in old books). Depending on the context, the term coefficient can be reserved for the with . When dealing with variables, it is common to use and instead of indexed variables. A solution of such an equation is a -tuples such that substituting each element of the tuple for the corresponding variable transforms the equation into a true equality. For an equation to be meaningful, the coefficient of at least one variable must be non-zero. In fact, if every variable has a zero coefficient, then, as mentioned for one variable, the equation is either inconsistent (for ) as having no solution, or all are solutions. The -tuples that are solutions of a linear equation in are the Cartesian coordinates of the points of an -dimensional hyperplane in an Euclidean space (or affine space if the coefficients are complex numbers or belong to any field). In the case of three variable, this hyperplane is a plane. If a linear equation is given with , then the equation can be solved for , yielding If the coefficients are real numbers, this defines a real-valued function of real variables. See also Linear equation over a ring Algebraic equation Linear inequality Notes References External links Elementary algebra Equations	[ -0.3655548691749573, 0.19719482958316803, 0.03922111168503761, 0.09565900266170502, -0.00822401326149702, 0.3017163872718811, -0.06484219431877136, -0.2972509562969208, 0.03785227984189987, -0.46136075258255005, -0.27210184931755066, 0.48967471718788147, -0.3604768216609955, 0.203132703900...
17573	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS	LMS	LMS may refer to: Science and technology Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique Learning management system, education software Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer Lenz microphthalmia syndrome Computerised Library management system Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery, a degree in India LMS color space Laboratory information management system (but usually LIMS) Organisations Latin Mass Society of England and Wales List of Marjan Šarec, a Slovenian political party London Mathematical Society London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Missionary Society League of Legends Master Series Entertainment Last man standing (gaming), a type of video game LMS, family band of Denroy Morgan Other uses Leamington Spa railway station code, England Local Mitigation Strategy Local Management of Schools, in the Education Reform Act 1988 Loïc Mbe Soh, French footballer	[ 0.08293924480676651, 0.26642894744873047, 0.21601156890392303, -0.2571423053741455, 0.4391855299472809, 0.07348530739545822, 0.1461966335773468, 0.4285888373851776, -0.4210798442363739, -0.11114629358053207, -0.7009367942810059, 0.06731706857681274, 0.12201650440692902, 0.10639239847660065...
17575	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limousine%20liberal	Limousine liberal	Limousine liberal and latte liberal are pejorative U.S. political terms used to illustrate hypocritical behavior by political liberals of upper class or upper middle class status. The label stems primarily from unwillingness of limousine liberals to practice the views they purport to uphold, e.g. calling for the use of public transportation while frequently using privately owned luxury transportation, especially by limousines or private jets in the case of the extremely affluent, claiming environmental consciousness but driving fuel inefficient vehicles, or ostensibly supporting public education while sending their children to exclusive private schools with high tuition fees. Formation and early use Procaccino campaign Democratic New York City mayoral hopeful Mario Procaccino coined the term "limousine liberal" to describe incumbent Mayor John Lindsay and his wealthy Manhattan backers during a heated 1969 campaign. Historian David Callahan says that Procaccino: It was a populist and producerist epithet, carrying an implicit accusation that the people it described were insulated from all negative consequences of their programs purported to benefit the poor and that the costs and consequences of such programs would be borne in the main by working class or lower middle class people who were not so poor as to be beneficiaries themselves. In particular, Procaccino criticized Lindsay for favoring unemployed minorities, ex. blacks and Hispanics, over working-class white ethnics. One Procaccino campaign memo attacked "rich super-assimilated people who live on Fifth Avenue and maintain some choice mansions outside the city and have no feeling for the small middle class shopkeeper, home owner, etc. They preach the politics of confrontation and condone violent upheaval in society because they are not touched by it and are protected by their courtiers". The Independent later stated that "Lindsay came across as all style and no substance, a 'limousine liberal' who knew nothing of the concerns of the same 'silent majority' that was carrying Richard Nixon to the White House at the very same time." Later use In the 1970s, the term was applied to wealthy liberal supporters of open-housing and forced school busing who did not make use of either of these themselves. In Boston, Massachusetts, supporters of busing, such as Senator Ted Kennedy, sent their children to private schools and lived in affluent suburbs. To some South Boston residents, Kennedy's support of a plan that "integrated" their children with blacks and his apparent unwillingness to do the same with his own children, was hypocrisy. By the late 1990s and early 21st century, the term has also come to be applied to those who support environmentalist or "green" goals, such as mass transit, yet drive large SUVs or literally have a limousine and driver. Sam Dealey, writing in The Weekly Standard, applied the term to Sheila Jackson-Lee for being "routinely chauffeured the one short block to work—in a government car, by a member of her staff, at the taxpayers' expense." The term was also used disparagingly in a 2004 episode of Law & Order by Fred Thompson's character, Arthur Branch, to criticize the politics and beliefs of his more liberal colleague, Serena Southerlyn. South Park'''s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone poked fun at the tendency of some liberals to be more concerned with image than actually helping the earth in the episode "Smug Alert!".The New York Observer applied the term to 2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards for paying $400 () for a haircut and, according to the newspaper, "lectures about poverty while living in gated opulence". In 2009, the term was applied by some commentators to former Senate Majority Leader and then-Barack Obama cabinet appointee Tom Daschle for failing to pay back taxes and interest on the use of a limousine service.\| Civil rights leader Al Sharpton used the term latte liberal to criticize (mostly white and high-income) left-leaning people "sit[ing] around the Hamptons" who advocated for the Defund the police movement and ignored the concerns of African-Americans that suffer under high crime rates and rely on a strong police force. See alsoBobos in ParadiseChampagne socialist Chattering class Gauche caviar Liberal elite Radical chic References Further reading Francia, Peter L., et al. "Limousine liberals and corporate conservatives: The financial constituencies of the democratic and republican parties." Social Science Quarterly 86.4 (2005): 761–778. Fraser, Steve. The Limousine Liberal: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America (Basic, 2016). viii, 291 pp. Stark, Andrew. "Limousine liberals, welfare conservatives: On belief, interest, and inconsistency in democratic discourse." Political Theory'' 25.4 (1997): 475–501. External links Class-related slurs Liberalism Upper class Political metaphors referring to people Political terminology of the United States	[ 0.33762624859809875, 0.011810940690338612, -0.06604637205600739, 0.2239769548177719, -0.607318103313446, 0.1557013988494873, -0.14903311431407928, 0.4388529360294342, -0.13217638432979584, -0.5631234645843506, -0.26073601841926575, 0.6710226535797119, 0.15281802415847778, 0.317500710487365...
17615	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis%20and%20Clark%20Expedition	Lewis and Clark Expedition	The Lewis and Clark Expedition from August 31, 1803, to September 25, 1806, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select group of U.S. Army and civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The expedition made its way westward, and crossed the Continental Divide of the Americas before reaching the Pacific Coast. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired territory, to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in this territory before European powers attempted to establish claims in the region. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local Native American tribes. The expedition returned to St. Louis to report its findings to Jefferson, with maps, sketches, and journals in hand. Overview One of Thomas Jefferson's goals was to find "the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce." He also placed special importance on declaring US sovereignty over the land occupied by the many different Native American tribes along the Missouri River, and getting an accurate sense of the resources in the recently completed Louisiana Purchase. The expedition made notable contributions to science, but scientific research was not the main goal of the mission. During the 19th century, references to Lewis and Clark "scarcely appeared" in history books, even during the United States Centennial in 1876, and the expedition was largely forgotten. Lewis and Clark began to gain attention around the start of the 20th century. Both the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon showcased them as American pioneers. However, the story remained relatively shallow until mid-century as a celebration of US conquest and personal adventures, but more recently the expedition has been more thoroughly researched. In 2004, a complete and reliable set of the expedition's journals was compiled by Gary E. Moulton. In the 2000s, the bicentennial of the expedition further elevated popular interest in Lewis and Clark. As of 1984, no US exploration party was more famous, and no American expedition leaders are more recognizable by name. Timeline The timeline covers the primary events associated with the expedition, from January 1803 through January 1807. Preparations For years, Thomas Jefferson read accounts about the ventures of various explorers in the western frontier, and consequently had a long-held interest in further exploring this mostly unknown region of the continent. In the 1780s, while Minister to France, Jefferson met John Ledyard in Paris and they discussed a possible trip to the Pacific Northwest. Jefferson had also read Captain James Cook's A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (London, 1784), an account of Cook's third voyage, and Le Page du Pratz's The History of Louisiana (London, 1763), all of which greatly influenced his decision to send an expedition. Like Captain Cook, he wished to discover a practical route through the Northwest to the Pacific coast. Alexander Mackenzie had already charted a route in his quest for the Pacific, following Canada's Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean in 1789. Mackenzie and his party were the first to cross America north of Mexico, reaching the Pacific coast in British Columbia in 1793–a dozen years before Lewis and Clark. Mackenzie's accounts in Voyages from Montreal (1801) informed Jefferson of Britain's intent to establish control over the lucrative fur trade of the Columbia River and convinced him of the importance of securing the territory as soon as possible. At Philadelphia, Israel Whelan, the purveyor of public supplies, purchased supplies for the expedition after a list provided by Lewis. Among the purchased items were found 193 pounds of portable soup, 130 rolls of pigtail tobacco, 30 gallons of strong spirit of wine, a wide assortment of Indian presents, medical and surgical supplies, mosquito netting and oilskin bags. Two years into his presidency, Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition through the Louisiana territory to the Pacific Ocean. He did not attempt to make a secret of the Lewis and Clark expedition from Spanish, French, and British officials, but rather claimed different reasons for the venture. He used a secret message to ask for funding due to poor relations with the opposition Federalist Party in Congress. Congress subsequently appropriated $2,324 for supplies and food, the appropriation of which was left in Lewis's charge. In 1803, Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery and named Army Captain Meriwether Lewis its leader, who then invited William Clark to co-lead the expedition with him. Lewis demonstrated remarkable skills and potential as a frontiersman, and Jefferson made efforts to prepare him for the long journey ahead as the expedition was gaining approval and funding. Jefferson explained his choice of Lewis: It was impossible to find a character who to a complete science in botany, natural history, mineralogy & astronomy, joined the firmness of constitution & character, prudence, habits adapted to the woods & a familiarity with the Indian manners and character, requisite for this undertaking. All the latter qualifications Capt. Lewis has. In 1803, Jefferson sent Lewis to Philadelphia to study medicinal cures under Benjamin Rush, a physician and humanitarian. He also arranged for Lewis to be further educated by Andrew Ellicott, an astronomer who instructed him in the use of the sextant and other navigational instruments. From Benjamin Smith Barton, Lewis learned how to describe and preserve plant and animal specimens, from Robert Patterson refinements in computing latitude and longitude, while Caspar Wistar covered fossils, and the search for possible living remnants. Lewis, however, was not ignorant of science and had demonstrated a marked capacity to learn, especially with Jefferson as his teacher. At Monticello, Jefferson possessed an enormous library on the subject of the geography of the North American continent, and Lewis had full access to it. He spent time consulting maps and books and conferring with Jefferson. The keelboat used for the first year of the journey was built near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1803 at Lewis's specifications. The boat was completed on August 31 and was immediately loaded with equipment and provisions. While in Pittsburgh, Lewis bought a Newfoundland dog, Seaman, to accompany them. Newfoundlands are working dogs and good swimmers; commonly found on fishing boats, they can assist in water rescues. Seaman proved a valuable member of the party, helping with hunting and protection from bears and other wildlife. He was the only animal to complete the entire trip. Lewis and his crew set sail that afternoon, traveling down the Ohio River to meet up with Clark near Louisville, Kentucky in October 1803 at the Falls of the Ohio. Their goals were to explore the vast territory acquired by the Louisiana Purchase and to establish trade and US sovereignty over the Native Americans along the Missouri River. Jefferson also wanted to establish a US claim of "discovery" to the Pacific Northwest and Oregon territory by documenting an American presence there before European nations could claim the land. According to some historians, Jefferson understood that he would have a better claim of ownership to the Pacific Northwest if the team gathered scientific data on animals and plants. However, his main objectives were centered around finding an all-water route to the Pacific coast and commerce. His instructions to the expedition stated: The US mint prepared special silver medals with a portrait of Jefferson and inscribed with a message of friendship and peace, called Indian Peace Medals. The soldiers were to distribute them to the tribes that they met. The expedition also prepared advanced weapons to display their military firepower. Among these was an Austrian-made .46 caliber Girandoni air rifle, a repeating rifle with a 20-round tubular magazine that was powerful enough to kill a deer. The expedition was prepared with flintlock firearms, knives, blacksmithing supplies, and cartography equipment. They also carried flags, gift bundles, medicine, and other items that they would need for their journey. The route of Lewis and Clark's expedition took them up the Missouri River to its headwaters, then on to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River, and it may have been influenced by the purported transcontinental journey of Moncacht-Apé by the same route about a century before. Jefferson had a copy of Le Page's book in his library detailing Moncacht-Apé's itinerary, and Lewis carried a copy with him during the expedition. Le Page's description of Moncacht-Apé's route across the continent neglects to mention the need to cross the Rocky Mountains, and it might be the source of Lewis and Clark's mistaken belief that they could easily carry boats from the Missouri's headwaters to the westward-flowing Columbia. Journey Departure The Corps of Discovery departed from Camp Dubois (Camp Wood) at 4pm on May 14, 1804. Under Clark's command, they traveled up the Missouri River in their keelboat and two pirogues to St. Charles, Missouri where Lewis joined them six days later. The expedition set out the next afternoon, May 21. While accounts vary, it is believed the Corps had as many as 45 members, including the officers, enlisted military personnel, civilian volunteers, and Clark's African-American slave York. From St. Charles, the expedition followed the Missouri through what is now Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. On August 20, 1804, Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently from acute appendicitis. He had been among the first to sign up with the Corps of Discovery and was the only member to die during the expedition. He was buried at a bluff by the river, now named after him, in what is now Sioux City, Iowa. His burial site was marked with a cedar post on which was inscribed his name and day of death. up the river, the expedition camped at a small river which they named Floyd's River. During the final week of August, Lewis and Clark reached the edge of the Great Plains, a place abounding with elk, deer, bison, and beavers. The Lewis and Clark Expedition established relations with two dozen Indian nations, without whose help the expedition would have risked starvation during the harsh winters or become hopelessly lost in the vast ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The Americans and the Lakota nation (whom the Americans called Sioux or "Teton-wan Sioux") had problems when they met, and there was a concern the two sides might fight. According to Harry W. Fritz, "All earlier Missouri River travelers had warned of this powerful and aggressive tribe, determined to block free trade on the river. ... The Sioux were also expecting a retaliatory raid from the Omaha Indians, to the south. A recent Sioux raid had killed 75 Omaha men, burned 40 lodges, and taken four dozen prisoners." The expedition held talks with the Lakota near the confluence of the Missouri and Bad Rivers in what is now Fort Pierre, South Dakota. One of their horses disappeared, and they believed the Sioux were responsible. Afterward, the two sides met and there was a disagreement, and the Sioux asked the men to stay or to give more gifts instead before being allowed to pass through their territory. They came close to fighting several times, and both sides finally backed down and the expedition continued on to Arikara territory. Clark wrote they were "warlike" and were the "vilest miscreants of the savage race". In the winter of 180405, the party built Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, North Dakota. Just before departing on April 7, 1805, the expedition sent the keelboat back to St. Louis with a sample of specimens, some never seen before east of the Mississippi. One chief asked Lewis and Clark to provide a boat for passage through their national territory. As tensions increased, Lewis and Clark prepared to fight, but the two sides fell back in the end. The Americans quickly continued westward (upriver), and camped for the winter in the Mandan nation's territory. After the expedition had set up camp, nearby Indians came to visit in fair numbers, some staying all night. For several days, Lewis and Clark met in council with Mandan chiefs. Here they met a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau, and his young Shoshone wife Sacagawea. Charbonneau at this time began to serve as the expedition's translator. Peace was established between the expedition and the Mandan chiefs with the sharing of a Mandan ceremonial pipe. By April 25, Captain Lewis wrote his progress report of the expedition's activities and observations of the Native American nations they have encountered to date: A Statistical view of the Indian nations inhabiting the Territory of Louisiana, which outlined the names of various tribes, their locations, trading practices, and water routes used, among other things. President Jefferson would later present this report to Congress. They followed the Missouri to its headwaters, and over the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass. In canoes, they descended the mountains by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls, and past what is now Portland, Oregon, at the meeting of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Lewis and Clark used William Robert Broughton's 1792 notes and maps to orient themselves once they reached the lower Columbia River. The sighting of Mount Hood and other stratovolcanos confirmed that the expedition had almost reached the Pacific Ocean. Pacific Ocean The expedition sighted the Pacific Ocean for the first time on November 7, 1805, arriving two weeks later. The expedition faced its second bitter winter camped on the north side of the Columbia River, in a storm-wracked area. Lack of food was a major factor. The elk, the party's main source of food, had retreated from their usual haunts into the mountains, and the party was now too poor to purchase enough food from neighboring tribes. On November 24, 1805, the party voted to move their camp to the south side of the Columbia River near modern Astoria, Oregon. Sacagawea, and Clark's slave York, were both allowed to participate in the vote. On the south side of the Columbia River, upstream on the west side of the Netul River (now Lewis and Clark River), they constructed Fort Clatsop. They did this not just for shelter and protection, but also to officially establish the American presence there, with the American flag flying over the fort. During the winter at Fort Clatsop, Lewis committed himself to writing. He filled many pages of his journals with valuable knowledge, mostly about botany, because of the abundant growth and forests that covered that part of the continent. The health of the men also became a problem, with many suffering from colds and influenza. Knowing that maritime fur traders sometimes visited the lower Columbia River, Lewis and Clark repeatedly asked the local Chinooks about trading ships. They learned that Captain Samuel Hill had been there in early 1805. Miscommunication caused Clark to record the name as "Haley". Captain Hill returned in November 1805, and anchored about from Fort Clatsop. The Chinook told Hill about Lewis and Clark, but no direct contact was made. Return trip Lewis was determined to remain at the fort until April 1, but was still anxious to move out at the earliest opportunity. By March 22, the stormy weather had subsided and the following morning, on March 23, 1806, the journey home began. The Corps began their journey homeward using canoes to ascend the Columbia River, and later by trekking over land. Before leaving, Clark gave the Chinook a letter to give to the next ship captain to visit, which was the same Captain Hill who had been nearby during the winter. Hill took the letter to Canton and had it forwarded to Thomas Jefferson, who thus received it before Lewis and Clark returned. They made their way to Camp Chopunnish in Idaho, along the north bank of the Clearwater River, where the members of the expedition collected 65 horses in preparation to cross the Bitterroot Mountains, lying between modern-day Idaho and western Montana. However, the range was still covered in snow, which prevented the expedition from making the crossing. On April 11, while the Corps was waiting for the snow to diminish, Lewis's dog, Seaman, was stolen by Native Americans, but was retrieved shortly. Worried that other such acts might follow, Lewis warned the chief that any other wrongdoing or mischievous acts would result in instant death. On July 3, before crossing the Continental Divide, the Corps split into two teams so Lewis could explore the Marias River. Lewis's group of four met some men from the Blackfeet nation. During the night, the Blackfeet tried to steal their weapons. In the struggle, the soldiers killed two Blackfeet men. Lewis, George Drouillard, and the Field brothers fled over in a day before they camped again. Meanwhile, Clark had entered the Crow tribe's territory. In the night, half of Clark's horses disappeared, but not a single Crow had been seen. Lewis and Clark stayed separated until they reached the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on August 11. As the groups reunited, one of Clark's hunters, Pierre Cruzatte, mistook Lewis for an elk and fired, injuring Lewis in the thigh. Once together, the Corps was able to return home quickly via the Missouri River. They reached St. Louis on September 23, 1806. Spanish interference In March 1804, before the expedition began in May, the Spanish in New Mexico learned from General James Wilkinson that the Americans were encroaching on territory claimed by Spain. After the Lewis and Clark expedition set off in May, the Spanish sent four armed expeditions of 52 soldiers, mercenaries , and Native Americans on August 1, 1804, from Santa Fe, New Mexico northward under Pedro Vial and José Jarvet to intercept Lewis and Clark and imprison the entire expedition. They reached the Pawnee settlement on the Platte River in central Nebraska and learned that the expedition had been there many days before. The expedition was covering a day and Vial's attempt to intercept them was unsuccessful. Geography and science The Lewis and Clark Expedition gained an understanding of the geography of the Northwest and produced the first accurate maps of the area. During the journey, Lewis and Clark drew about 140 maps. Stephen Ambrose says the expedition "filled in the main outlines" of the area. The expedition documented natural resources and plants that had been previously unknown to Euro-Americans, though not to the indigenous peoples. Lewis and Clark were the first Americans to cross the Continental Divide, and the first Americans to see Yellowstone, enter into Montana, and produce an official description of these different regions. Their visit to the Pacific Northwest, maps, and proclamations of sovereignty with medals and flags were legal steps needed to claim title to each indigenous nation's lands under the Doctrine of Discovery. The expedition was sponsored by the American Philosophical Society (APS). Lewis and Clark received some instruction in astronomy, botany, climatology, ethnology, geography, meteorology, mineralogy, ornithology, and zoology. During the expedition, they made contact with over 70 Native American tribes and described more than 200 new plant and animal species. Jefferson had the expedition declare "sovereignty" and demonstrate their military strength to ensure native tribes would be subordinate to the U.S., as European colonizers did elsewhere. After the expedition, the maps that were produced allowed the further discovery and settlement of this vast territory in the years that followed. In 1807, Patrick Gass, a private in the U.S. Army, published an account of the journey. He was promoted to sergeant during the course of the expedition. Paul Allen edited a two-volume history of the Lewis and Clark expedition that was published in 1814, in Philadelphia, but without mention of the actual author, banker Nicholas Biddle. Even then, the complete report was not made public until more recently. The earliest authorized edition of the Lewis and Clark journals resides in the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library at the University of Montana. Encounters with Native Americans One of the expedition's primary objectives as directed by President Jefferson was to be a surveillance mission that would report back the whereabouts, military strength, lives, activities, and cultures of the various Native American tribes that inhabited the territory newly acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase and the northwest in general. The expedition was to make native people understand that their lands now belonged to the United States and that "their great father" in Washington was now their sovereign. The expedition encountered many different native nations and tribes along the way, many of whom offered their assistance, providing the expedition with their knowledge of the wilderness and with the acquisition of food. The expedition had blank leather-bound journals and ink for the purpose of recording such encounters, as well as for scientific and geological information. They were also provided with various gifts of medals, ribbons, needles, mirrors, and other articles which were intended to ease any tensions when negotiating their passage with the various Indian chiefs whom they would encounter along their way. Many of the tribes had friendly experiences with British and French fur traders in various isolated encounters along the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, and for the most part the expedition did not encounter hostilities. However, there was a tense confrontation on September 25, 1804, with the Teton-Sioux tribe (also known as the Lakota people, one of the three tribes that comprise the Great Sioux Nation), under chiefs that included Black Buffalo and the Partisan. These chiefs confronted the expedition and demanded tribute from the expedition for their passage over the river. The seven native tribes that comprised the Lakota people controlled a vast inland empire and expected gifts from strangers who wished to navigate their rivers or to pass through their lands. According to Harry W. Fritz, "All earlier Missouri River travelers had warned of this powerful and aggressive tribe, determined to block free trade on the river. ... The Sioux were also expecting a retaliatory raid from the Omaha Indians, to the south. A recent Sioux raid had killed 75 Omaha men, burned 40 lodges, and taken four dozen prisoners." Captain Lewis made his first mistake by offering the Sioux chief gifts first, which insulted and angered the Partisan chief. Communication was difficult, since the expedition's only Sioux language interpreter was Pierre Dorion who had stayed behind with the other party and was also involved with diplomatic affairs with another tribe. Consequently, both chiefs were offered a few gifts, but neither was satisfied and they wanted some gifts for their warriors and tribe. At that point, some of the warriors from the Partisan tribe took hold of their boat and one of the oars. Lewis took a firm stand, ordering a display of force and presenting arms; Captain Clark brandished his sword and threatened violent reprisal. Just before the situation erupted into a violent confrontation, Black Buffalo ordered his warriors to back off. The captains were able to negotiate their passage without further incident with the aid of better gifts and a bottle of whiskey. During the next two days, the expedition made camp not far from Black Buffalo's tribe. Similar incidents occurred when they tried to leave, but trouble was averted with gifts of tobacco. Observations As the expedition encountered the various Native American tribes during the course of their journey, they observed and recorded information regarding their lifestyles, customs and the social codes they lived by, as directed by President Jefferson. By European standards, the Native American way of life seemed harsh and unforgiving as witnessed by members of the expedition. After many encounters and camping in close proximity to the Native American nations for extended periods of time during the winter months, they soon learned first hand of their customs and social orders. One of the primary customs that distinguished Native American cultures from those of the West was that it was customary for the men to take on two or more wives if they were able to provide for them and often took on a wife or wives who were members of the immediate family circle, e.g. men in the Minnetaree and Mandan tribes would often take on a sister for a wife. Chastity among women was not held in high regard. Infant daughters were often sold by the father to men who were grown, usually for horses or mules. They learned that women in Sioux nations were often bartered away for horses or other supplies, yet this was not practiced among the Shoshone nation who held their women in higher regard. They witnessed that many of the Native American nations were constantly at war with other tribes, especially the Sioux, who, while remaining generally friendly to the white fur traders, had proudly boasted of and justified the almost complete destruction of the once great Cahokia nation, along with the Missouris, Illinois, Kaskaskia, and Piorias tribes that lived about the countryside adjacent to the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Sacagawea Sacagawea, sometimes spelled Sakajawea or Sakagawea ( 1788December 20, 1812), was a Shoshone Native American woman who arrived with her husband and owner Toussaint Charbonneau on the expedition to the Pacific Ocean. On February 11, 1805, a few weeks after her first contact with the expedition, Sacagawea went into labor which was slow and painful, so the Frenchman Charbonneau suggested she be given a potion of rattlesnake's rattle to aid in her delivery. Lewis happened to have some snake's rattle with him. A short time after administering the potion, she delivered a healthy boy who was given the name Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. When the expedition reached Marias River, on June 16, 1805, Sacagawea became dangerously ill. She was able to find some relief by drinking mineral water from the sulphur spring that fed into the river. Though she has been discussed in literature frequently, much of the information is exaggeration or fiction. Scholars say she did notice some geographical features, but "Sacagawea ... was not the guide for the Expedition, she was important to them as an interpreter and in other ways." The sight of a woman and her infant son would have been reassuring to some indigenous nations, and she played an important role in diplomatic relations by talking to chiefs, easing tensions, and giving the impression of a peaceful mission. In his writings, Meriwether Lewis presented a somewhat negative view of her, though Clark had a higher regard for her, and provided some support for her children in subsequent years. In the journals, they used the terms "squar" (squaw) and "savages" to refer to Sacagawea and other indigenous peoples. York An enslaved black man known only as York took part in the expedition as personal servant to William Clark, his owner. York did much to help the expedition succeed. He proved popular with the Native Americans, who had never seen a black man. He also helped with hunting and the heavy labor of pulling boats upstream. Expecting his freedom after the expedition, he was disappointed when Clark refused repeatedly. While all the other explorers enjoyed rewards of double pay and land, York received nothing. Clark would not allow York to remain in Louisville with his wife and probably children. He whipped York, put him in jail, and eventually sold him. The last years of York's life are disputed. In the 1830s, a black man who said he had first come with Lewis & Clark was living as a chief with Indians they met on the expedition, in modern Wyoming. Accomplishments The Corps met their objective of reaching the Pacific, mapping and establishing their presence for a legal claim to the land. They established diplomatic relations and trade with at least two dozen indigenous nations. They did not find a continuous waterway to the Pacific Ocean but located an Indian trail that led from the upper end of the Missouri River to the Columbia River which ran to the Pacific Ocean. They gained information about the natural habitat, flora and fauna, bringing back various plant, seed and mineral specimens. They mapped the topography of the land, designating the location of mountain ranges, rivers and the many Native American tribes during the course of their journey. They also learned and recorded much about the language and customs of the Indian tribes they encountered, and brought back many of their artifacts, including bows, clothing and ceremonial robes. Aftermath Two months passed after the expedition's end before Jefferson made his first public statement to Congress and others, giving a one-sentence summary about the success of the expedition before getting into the justification for the expenses involved. In the course of their journey, they acquired a knowledge of numerous tribes of Native Americans hitherto unknown; they informed themselves of the trade which may be carried on with them, the best channels and positions for it, and they are enabled to give with accuracy the geography of the line they pursued. Back east, the botanical and zoological discoveries drew the intense interest of the American Philosophical Society who requested specimens, various artifacts traded with the Native Americans, and reports on plants and wildlife along with various seeds obtained. Jefferson used seeds from "Missouri hominy corn" along with a number of other unidentified seeds to plant at Monticello which he cultivated and studied. He later reported on the "Indian corn" he had grown as being an "excellent" food source. The expedition helped establish the U.S. presence in the newly acquired territory and beyond and opened the door to further exploration, trade and scientific discoveries. Lewis and Clark returned from their expedition, bringing with them the Mandan Native American Chief Shehaka from the Upper Missouri to visit the "Great Father" in Washington. After Chief Shehaka's visit, it required multiple attempts and multiple military expeditions to safely return Shehaka to his nation. Legacy and honors In the 1970s, the federal government memorialized the winter assembly encampment, Camp Dubois, as the start of the Lewis and Clark voyage of discovery and in 2019 it recognized Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the start of the expedition. Since the expedition, Lewis and Clark have been commemorated and honored over the years on various coins, currency, and commemorative postage stamps, as well as in a number of other capacities. In 2004, the American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Lewis & Clark' (selling name ) was released by North Dakota State University Research Foundation in commemoration of the expedition's bicentenary; the tree has a resistance to Dutch elm disease. The Lewis and Clark Public School District in North Dakota is named after the pair. Prior discoveries In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle traveled down the Mississippi from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. The French then established a chain of posts along the Mississippi from New Orleans to the Great Lakes. There followed a number of French explorers including Pedro Vial and Pierre Antoine and Paul Mallet, among others. Vial may have preceded Lewis and Clark to Montana. In 1787, he gave a map of the upper Missouri River and locations of "territories transited by Pedro Vial" to Spanish authorities. Early in 1792, the American explorer Robert Gray, sailing in the Columbia Rediviva, discovered the yet to be named Columbia River, named it after his ship and claimed it for the United States. Later in 1792, the Vancouver Expedition had learned of Gray's discovery and used his maps. Vancouver's expedition explored over up the Columbia, into the Columbia River Gorge. Lewis and Clark used the maps produced by these expeditions when they descended the lower Columbia to the Pacific coast. From 1792 to 1793, Alexander Mackenzie had crossed North America from Quebec to the Pacific. See also Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition The Far Horizons, a film about the expedition Gateway Arch National Park Lewis and Clark Pass (Montana) – the only non-motorized pass on the expedition's route Lewis and Clark's Keelboat The Red River Expedition (1806) and the Pike Expedition were also commissioned by Jefferson James Kendall Hosmer American history professor and librarian who edited and published Nicholas Biddle's account of Lewis and Clark's journal Notes References Bibliography Cutright, Paul Russel (1969). Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists. University of Nebraska Press. Primary sources E'books, Full view Further reading External links Full text of the Lewis and Clark journals online – edited by Gary E. Moulton, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lewis and Clark Expedition, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary "History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark: To the Sources of the Missouri, thence Across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean" published in 1814; from the World Digital Library Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation: Discovering Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery Online Atlas, created by Watzek Library, Lewis & Clark College Lewis and Clark Expedition Maps and Receipt. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. William Clark Field Notes. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Louis Starr Collection Concerning the Field Notes of William Clark. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. 1800s in the United States 1804 in the United States 1805 in the United States 1806 in the United States Botanical expeditions Columbia River Gorge Exploration of North America American explorers History of Lancaster, Pennsylvania History of Louisville, Kentucky History of Missoula, Montana History of St. Louis History of the Northwestern United States History of the Pacific Northwest History of the Rocky Mountains History of United States expansionism Louisiana Purchase Military expeditions of the United States Missouri River North American expeditions Presidency of Thomas Jefferson Explorers of Montana	[ -0.467134028673172, 0.3534892797470093, -0.23259839415550232, 0.5145182609558105, 0.5710186958312988, -0.1830226480960846, 0.4753677248954773, 0.6450360417366028, -0.43270143866539, -0.280399888753891, -0.195204496383667, 0.07438583672046661, -0.13405412435531616, 0.9033065438270569, -0....
17616	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latitude	Latitude	In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Latitude is an angle (defined below) which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South) at the poles. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east–west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude is used together with longitude to specify the precise location of features on the surface of the Earth. On its own, the term latitude should be taken to be the geodetic latitude as defined below. Briefly, geodetic latitude at a point is the angle formed by the vector perpendicular (or normal) to the ellipsoidal surface from that point, and the equatorial plane. Also defined are six auxiliary latitudes that are used in special applications. Background Two levels of abstraction are employed in the definitions of latitude and longitude. In the first step the physical surface is modeled by the geoid, a surface which approximates the mean sea level over the oceans and its continuation under the land masses. The second step is to approximate the geoid by a mathematically simpler reference surface. The simplest choice for the reference surface is a sphere, but the geoid is more accurately modeled by an ellipsoid. The definitions of latitude and longitude on such reference surfaces are detailed in the following sections. Lines of constant latitude and longitude together constitute a graticule on the reference surface. The latitude of a point on the actual surface is that of the corresponding point on the reference surface, the correspondence being along the normal to the reference surface, which passes through the point on the physical surface. Latitude and longitude together with some specification of height constitute a geographic coordinate system as defined in the specification of the ISO 19111 standard. Since there are many different reference ellipsoids, the precise latitude of a feature on the surface is not unique: this is stressed in the ISO standard which states that "without the full specification of the coordinate reference system, coordinates (that is latitude and longitude) are ambiguous at best and meaningless at worst". This is of great importance in accurate applications, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), but in common usage, where high accuracy is not required, the reference ellipsoid is not usually stated. In English texts, the latitude angle, defined below, is usually denoted by the Greek lower-case letter phi ( or ). It is measured in degrees, minutes and seconds or decimal degrees, north or south of the equator. For navigational purposes positions are given in degrees and decimal minutes. For instance, The Needles lighthouse is at 50°39.734′ N 001°35.500′ W. This article relates to coordinate systems for the Earth: it may be adapted to cover the Moon, planets and other celestial objects (planetographic latitude). For a brief history see History of latitude. Determination In celestial navigation, latitude is determined with the meridian altitude method. More precise measurement of latitude requires an understanding of the gravitational field of the Earth, either to set up theodolites or to determine GPS satellite orbits. The study of the figure of the Earth together with its gravitational field is the science of geodesy. Latitude on the sphere The graticule on the sphere The graticule is formed by the lines of constant latitude and constant longitude, which are constructed with reference to the rotation axis of the Earth. The primary reference points are the poles where the axis of rotation of the Earth intersects the reference surface. Planes which contain the rotation axis intersect the surface at the meridians; and the angle between any one meridian plane and that through Greenwich (the Prime Meridian) defines the longitude: meridians are lines of constant longitude. The plane through the centre of the Earth and perpendicular to the rotation axis intersects the surface at a great circle called the Equator. Planes parallel to the equatorial plane intersect the surface in circles of constant latitude; these are the parallels. The Equator has a latitude of 0°, the North Pole has a latitude of 90° North (written 90° N or +90°), and the South Pole has a latitude of 90° South (written 90° S or −90°). The latitude of an arbitrary point is the angle between the equatorial plane and the normal to the surface at that point: the normal to the surface of the sphere is along the radius vector. The latitude, as defined in this way for the sphere, is often termed the spherical latitude, to avoid ambiguity with the geodetic latitude and the auxiliary latitudes defined in subsequent sections of this article. Named latitudes on the Earth Besides the equator, four other parallels are of significance: {\| class="wikitable" \| Arctic Circle \|\| 66° 34′ (66.57°) N \|- \| Tropic of Cancer \|\|23° 26′ (23.43°) N \|- \| Tropic of Capricorn \|\| 23° 26′ (23.43°) S \|- \| Antarctic Circle \|\| 66° 34′ (66.57°) S \|} The plane of the Earth's orbit about the Sun is called the ecliptic, and the plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the Earth is the equatorial plane. The angle between the ecliptic and the equatorial plane is called variously the axial tilt, the obliquity, or the inclination of the ecliptic, and it is conventionally denoted by . The latitude of the tropical circles is equal to and the latitude of the polar circles is its complement (90° - i). The axis of rotation varies slowly over time and the values given here are those for the current epoch. The time variation is discussed more fully in the article on axial tilt. The figure shows the geometry of a cross-section of the plane perpendicular to the ecliptic and through the centres of the Earth and the Sun at the December solstice when the Sun is overhead at some point of the Tropic of Capricorn. The south polar latitudes below the Antarctic Circle are in daylight, whilst the north polar latitudes above the Arctic Circle are in night. The situation is reversed at the June solstice, when the Sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. Only at latitudes in between the two tropics is it possible for the Sun to be directly overhead (at the zenith). On map projections there is no universal rule as to how meridians and parallels should appear. The examples below show the named parallels (as red lines) on the commonly used Mercator projection and the Transverse Mercator projection. On the former the parallels are horizontal and the meridians are vertical, whereas on the latter there is no exact relationship of parallels and meridians with horizontal and vertical: both are complicated curves. Latitude on the ellipsoid Ellipsoids In 1687 Isaac Newton published the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in which he proved that a rotating self-gravitating fluid body in equilibrium takes the form of an oblate ellipsoid. (This article uses the term ellipsoid in preference to the older term spheroid.) Newton's result was confirmed by geodetic measurements in the 18th century. (See Meridian arc.) An oblate ellipsoid is the three-dimensional surface generated by the rotation of an ellipse about its shorter axis (minor axis). "Oblate ellipsoid of revolution" is abbreviated to 'ellipsoid' in the remainder of this article. (Ellipsoids which do not have an axis of symmetry are termed triaxial.) Many different reference ellipsoids have been used in the history of geodesy. In pre-satellite days they were devised to give a good fit to the geoid over the limited area of a survey but, with the advent of GPS, it has become natural to use reference ellipsoids (such as WGS84) with centre at the centre of mass of the Earth and minor axis aligned to the rotation axis of the Earth. These geocentric ellipsoids are usually within of the geoid. Since latitude is defined with respect to an ellipsoid, the position of a given point is different on each ellipsoid: one cannot exactly specify the latitude and longitude of a geographical feature without specifying the ellipsoid used. Many maps maintained by national agencies are based on older ellipsoids, so one must know how the latitude and longitude values are transformed from one ellipsoid to another. GPS handsets include software to carry out datum transformations which link WGS84 to the local reference ellipsoid with its associated grid. The geometry of the ellipsoid The shape of an ellipsoid of revolution is determined by the shape of the ellipse which is rotated about its minor (shorter) axis. Two parameters are required. One is invariably the equatorial radius, which is the semi-major axis, . The other parameter is usually (1) the polar radius or semi-minor axis, ; or (2) the (first) flattening, ; or (3) the eccentricity, . These parameters are not independent: they are related by Many other parameters (see ellipse, ellipsoid) appear in the study of geodesy, geophysics and map projections but they can all be expressed in terms of one or two members of the set , , and . Both and are small and often appear in series expansions in calculations; they are of the order and 0.0818 respectively. Values for a number of ellipsoids are given in Figure of the Earth. Reference ellipsoids are usually defined by the semi-major axis and the inverse flattening, . For example, the defining values for the WGS84 ellipsoid, used by all GPS devices, are (equatorial radius): exactly (inverse flattening): exactly from which are derived (polar radius): (eccentricity squared): The difference between the semi-major and semi-minor axes is about and as fraction of the semi-major axis it equals the flattening; on a computer monitor the ellipsoid could be sized as 300 by 299 pixels. This would barely be distinguishable from a 300-by-300-pixel sphere, so illustrations usually exaggerate the flattening. Geodetic and geocentric latitudes The graticule on the ellipsoid is constructed in exactly the same way as on the sphere. The normal at a point on the surface of an ellipsoid does not pass through the centre, except for points on the equator or at the poles, but the definition of latitude remains unchanged as the angle between the normal and the equatorial plane. The terminology for latitude must be made more precise by distinguishing: Geodetic latitude: the angle between the normal and the equatorial plane. The standard notation in English publications is . This is the definition assumed when the word latitude is used without qualification. The definition must be accompanied with a specification of the ellipsoid. Geocentric latitude (also known as spherical latitude, after the 3D polar angle): the angle between the radius (from centre to the point on the surface) and the equatorial plane. (Figure below). There is no standard notation: examples from various texts include , , , , , . This article uses . Geographic latitude must be used with care, as some authors use it as a synonym for geodetic latitude whilst others use it as an alternative to the astronomical latitude. "Latitude" (unqualified) should normally refer to the geodetic latitude. The importance of specifying the reference datum may be illustrated by a simple example. On the reference ellipsoid for WGS84, the centre of the Eiffel Tower has a geodetic latitude of 48° 51′ 29″ N, or 48.8583° N and longitude of 2° 17′ 40″ E or 2.2944°E. The same coordinates on the datum ED50 define a point on the ground which is distant from the tower. A web search may produce several different values for the latitude of the tower; the reference ellipsoid is rarely specified. Meridian distance The length of a degree of latitude depends on the figure of the Earth assumed. Meridian distance on the sphere On the sphere the normal passes through the centre and the latitude () is therefore equal to the angle subtended at the centre by the meridian arc from the equator to the point concerned. If the meridian distance is denoted by then where denotes the mean radius of the Earth. is equal to . No higher accuracy is appropriate for since higher-precision results necessitate an ellipsoid model. With this value for the meridian length of 1 degree of latitude on the sphere is (60.0 nautical miles). The length of 1 minute of latitude is (1.00 nautical miles), while the length of 1 second of latitude is (see nautical mile). Meridian distance on the ellipsoid In Meridian arc and standard texts it is shown that the distance along a meridian from latitude to the equator is given by ( in radians) where is the meridional radius of curvature. The quarter meridian distance from the equator to the pole is For WGS84 this distance is . The evaluation of the meridian distance integral is central to many studies in geodesy and map projection. It can be evaluated by expanding the integral by the binomial series and integrating term by term: see Meridian arc for details. The length of the meridian arc between two given latitudes is given by replacing the limits of the integral by the latitudes concerned. The length of a small meridian arc is given by When the latitude difference is 1 degree, corresponding to radians, the arc distance is about The distance in metres (correct to 0.01 metre) between latitudes − 0.5 degrees and + 0.5 degrees on the WGS84 spheroid is The variation of this distance with latitude (on WGS84) is shown in the table along with the length of a degree of longitude (east–west distance): A calculator for any latitude is provided by the U.S. Government's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The following graph illustrates the variation of both a degree of latitude and a degree of longitude with latitude. Auxiliary latitudes There are six auxiliary latitudes that have applications to special problems in geodesy, geophysics and the theory of map projections: Geocentric latitude Parametric (or reduced) latitude Rectifying latitude Authalic latitude Conformal latitude Isometric latitude The definitions given in this section all relate to locations on the reference ellipsoid but the first two auxiliary latitudes, like the geodetic latitude, can be extended to define a three-dimensional geographic coordinate system as discussed below. The remaining latitudes are not used in this way; they are used only as intermediate constructs in map projections of the reference ellipsoid to the plane or in calculations of geodesics on the ellipsoid. Their numerical values are not of interest. For example, no one would need to calculate the authalic latitude of the Eiffel Tower. The expressions below give the auxiliary latitudes in terms of the geodetic latitude, the semi-major axis, , and the eccentricity, . (For inverses see below.) The forms given are, apart from notational variants, those in the standard reference for map projections, namely "Map projections: a working manual" by J. P. Snyder. Derivations of these expressions may be found in Adams and online publications by Osborne and Rapp. Geocentric latitude The geocentric latitude is the angle between the equatorial plane and the radius from the centre to a point of interest. When the point is on the surface of the ellipsoid, the relation between the geocentric latitude () and the geodetic latitude () is: For points not on the surface of the ellipsoid, the relationship involves additionally the ellipsoidal height h: The geodetic and geocentric latitudes are equal at the equator and at the poles but at other latitudes they differ by a few minutes of arc. Taking the value of the squared eccentricity as 0.0067 (it depends on the choice of ellipsoid) the maximum difference of may be shown to be about 11.5 minutes of arc at a geodetic latitude of approximately 45° 6′. Parametric latitude (or reduced latitude) The parametric latitude or reduced latitude, , is defined by the radius drawn from the centre of the ellipsoid to that point on the surrounding sphere (of radius ) which is the projection parallel to the Earth's axis of a point on the ellipsoid at latitude . It was introduced by Legendre and Bessel who solved problems for geodesics on the ellipsoid by transforming them to an equivalent problem for spherical geodesics by using this smaller latitude. Bessel's notation, , is also used in the current literature. The parametric latitude is related to the geodetic latitude by: The alternative name arises from the parameterization of the equation of the ellipse describing a meridian section. In terms of Cartesian coordinates , the distance from the minor axis, and , the distance above the equatorial plane, the equation of the ellipse is: The Cartesian coordinates of the point are parameterized by Cayley suggested the term parametric latitude because of the form of these equations. The parametric latitude is not used in the theory of map projections. Its most important application is in the theory of ellipsoid geodesics, (Vincenty, Karney). Rectifying latitude The rectifying latitude, , is the meridian distance scaled so that its value at the poles is equal to 90 degrees or radians: where the meridian distance from the equator to a latitude is (see Meridian arc) and the length of the meridian quadrant from the equator to the pole (the polar distance) is Using the rectifying latitude to define a latitude on a sphere of radius defines a projection from the ellipsoid to the sphere such that all meridians have true length and uniform scale. The sphere may then be projected to the plane with an equirectangular projection to give a double projection from the ellipsoid to the plane such that all meridians have true length and uniform meridian scale. An example of the use of the rectifying latitude is the equidistant conic projection. (Snyder, Section 16). The rectifying latitude is also of great importance in the construction of the Transverse Mercator projection. Authalic latitude The authalic latitude (after the Greek for "same area"), , gives an area-preserving transformation to a sphere. where and and the radius of the sphere is taken as An example of the use of the authalic latitude is the Albers equal-area conic projection. Conformal latitude The conformal latitude, , gives an angle-preserving (conformal) transformation to the sphere. where is the Gudermannian function. (See also Mercator projection.) The conformal latitude defines a transformation from the ellipsoid to a sphere of arbitrary radius such that the angle of intersection between any two lines on the ellipsoid is the same as the corresponding angle on the sphere (so that the shape of small elements is well preserved). A further conformal transformation from the sphere to the plane gives a conformal double projection from the ellipsoid to the plane. This is not the only way of generating such a conformal projection. For example, the 'exact' version of the Transverse Mercator projection on the ellipsoid is not a double projection. (It does, however, involve a generalisation of the conformal latitude to the complex plane). Isometric latitude The isometric latitude, , is used in the development of the ellipsoidal versions of the normal Mercator projection and the Transverse Mercator projection. The name "isometric" arises from the fact that at any point on the ellipsoid equal increments of and longitude give rise to equal distance displacements along the meridians and parallels respectively. The graticule defined by the lines of constant and constant , divides the surface of the ellipsoid into a mesh of squares (of varying size). The isometric latitude is zero at the equator but rapidly diverges from the geodetic latitude, tending to infinity at the poles. The conventional notation is given in Snyder (page 15): For the normal Mercator projection (on the ellipsoid) this function defines the spacing of the parallels: if the length of the equator on the projection is (units of length or pixels) then the distance, , of a parallel of latitude from the equator is The isometric latitude is closely related to the conformal latitude : Inverse formulae and series The formulae in the previous sections give the auxiliary latitude in terms of the geodetic latitude. The expressions for the geocentric and parametric latitudes may be inverted directly but this is impossible in the four remaining cases: the rectifying, authalic, conformal, and isometric latitudes. There are two methods of proceeding. The first is a numerical inversion of the defining equation for each and every particular value of the auxiliary latitude. The methods available are fixed-point iteration and Newton–Raphson root finding. When converting from isometric or conformal to geodetic, two iterations of Newton-Raphson gives double precision accuracy. The other, more useful, approach is to express the auxiliary latitude as a series in terms of the geodetic latitude and then invert the series by the method of Lagrange reversion. Such series are presented by Adams who uses Taylor series expansions and gives coefficients in terms of the eccentricity. Osborne derives series to arbitrary order by using the computer algebra package Maxima and expresses the coefficients in terms of both eccentricity and flattening. The series method is not applicable to the isometric latitude and one must find the conformal latitude in an intermediate step. Numerical comparison of auxiliary latitudes The plot to the right shows the difference between the geodetic latitude and the auxiliary latitudes other than the isometric latitude (which diverges to infinity at the poles) for the case of the WGS84 ellipsoid. The differences shown on the plot are in arc minutes. In the Northern hemisphere (positive latitudes), θ ≤ χ ≤ μ ≤ ξ ≤ β ≤ ϕ; in the Southern hemisphere (negative latitudes), the inequalities are reversed, with equality at the equator and the poles. Although the graph appears symmetric about 45°, the minima of the curves actually lie between 45° 2′ and 45° 6′. Some representative data points are given in the table below. The conformal and geocentric latitudes are nearly indistinguishable, a fact that was exploited in the days of hand calculators to expedite the construction of map projections. To first order in the flattening f, the auxiliary latitudes can be expressed as ζ = ϕ − Cf sin 2ϕ where the constant C takes on the values [, , , 1, 1] for ζ = [β, ξ, μ, χ, θ]. Latitude and coordinate systems The geodetic latitude, or any of the auxiliary latitudes defined on the reference ellipsoid, constitutes with longitude a two-dimensional coordinate system on that ellipsoid. To define the position of an arbitrary point it is necessary to extend such a coordinate system into three dimensions. Three latitudes are used in this way: the geodetic, geocentric and parametric latitudes are used in geodetic coordinates, spherical polar coordinates and ellipsoidal coordinates respectively. Geodetic coordinates At an arbitrary point consider the line which is normal to the reference ellipsoid. The geodetic coordinates are the latitude and longitude of the point on the ellipsoid and the distance . This height differs from the height above the geoid or a reference height such as that above mean sea level at a specified location. The direction of will also differ from the direction of a vertical plumb line. The relation of these different heights requires knowledge of the shape of the geoid and also the gravity field of the Earth. Spherical polar coordinates The geocentric latitude is the complement of the polar angle or colatitude in conventional spherical polar coordinates in which the coordinates of a point are where is the distance of from the centre , is the angle between the radius vector and the polar axis and is longitude. Since the normal at a general point on the ellipsoid does not pass through the centre it is clear that points on the normal, which all have the same geodetic latitude, will have differing geocentric latitudes. Spherical polar coordinate systems are used in the analysis of the gravity field. Ellipsoidal-harmonic coordinates The parametric latitude can also be extended to a three-dimensional coordinate system. For a point not on the reference ellipsoid (semi-axes and ) construct an auxiliary ellipsoid which is confocal (same foci , ) with the reference ellipsoid: the necessary condition is that the product of semi-major axis and eccentricity is the same for both ellipsoids. Let be the semi-minor axis () of the auxiliary ellipsoid. Further let be the parametric latitude of on the auxiliary ellipsoid. The set define the ellipsoidal-harmonic coordinates or simply ellipsoidal coordinates (although that term is also used to refer to geodetic coordinate). These coordinates are the natural choice in models of the gravity field for a rotating ellipsoidal body. The above applies to a biaxial ellipsoid (a spheroid, as in oblate spheroidal coordinates); for a generalization, see triaxial ellipsoidal coordinates. Coordinate conversions The relations between the above coordinate systems, and also Cartesian coordinates are not presented here. The transformation between geodetic and Cartesian coordinates may be found in Geographic coordinate conversion. The relation of Cartesian and spherical polars is given in Spherical coordinate system. The relation of Cartesian and ellipsoidal coordinates is discussed in Torge. Astronomical latitude Astronomical latitude () is the angle between the equatorial plane and the true vertical direction at a point on the surface. The true vertical, the direction of a plumb line, is also the gravity direction (the resultant of the gravitational acceleration (mass-based) and the centrifugal acceleration) at that latitude. Astronomic latitude is calculated from angles measured between the zenith and stars whose declination is accurately known. In general the true vertical at a point on the surface does not exactly coincide with either the normal to the reference ellipsoid or the normal to the geoid. The angle between the astronomic and geodetic normals is called vertical deflection and is usually a few seconds of arc but it is important in geodesy. The reason why it differs from the normal to the geoid is, because the geoid is an idealized, theoretical shape "at mean sea level". Points on the real surface of the earth are usually above or below this idealized geoid surface and here the true vertical can vary slightly. Also, the true vertical at a point at a specific time is influenced by tidal forces, which the theoretical geoid averages out. Astronomical latitude is not to be confused with declination, the coordinate astronomers use in a similar way to specify the angular position of stars north/south of the celestial equator (see equatorial coordinates), nor with ecliptic latitude, the coordinate that astronomers use to specify the angular position of stars north/south of the ecliptic (see ecliptic coordinates). See also Altitude (mean sea level) Bowditch's American Practical Navigator Cardinal direction Circle of latitude Colatitude Declination on celestial sphere Degree Confluence Project Geodesy Geodetic datum Geographic coordinate system Geographical distance Geomagnetic latitude Geotagging Great-circle distance History of latitude Horse latitudes International Latitude Service List of countries by latitude Longitude Natural Area Code Navigation Orders of magnitude (length) World Geodetic System References Footnotes Citations External links GEONets Names Server, access to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) database of foreign geographic feature names. Resources for determining your latitude and longitude Convert decimal degrees into degrees, minutes, seconds - Info about decimal to sexagesimal conversion Convert decimal degrees into degrees, minutes, seconds Distance calculation based on latitude and longitude - JavaScript version 16th Century Latitude Survey Determination of Latitude by Francis Drake on the Coast of California in 1579 Geodesy Navigation	[ -0.15799762308597565, 0.10961232334375381, 0.46086156368255615, 0.12071618437767029, 0.0888969823718071, 0.12483192980289459, 0.09125115722417831, 0.22882258892059326, 0.00705820694565773, -0.8607156276702881, -0.3796142637729645, -0.030096277594566345, 0.12160640209913254, 0.8687972426414...
17617	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude	Longitude	Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the Earth's surface, or the surface of a celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter lambda (λ). Meridians (lines running from pole to pole) connect points with the same longitude. The prime meridian, which passes near the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England, is defined as 0° longitude by convention. Positive longitudes are east of the prime meridian, and negative ones are west. Because of the Earth's rotation, there is a close connection between longitude and time. Local time (for example from the position of the Sun) varies with longitude: a difference of 15° longitude corresponds to a one-hour difference in local time. Comparing local time to an absolute measure of time allows longitude to be determined. Depending on the era, the absolute time might be obtained from a celestial event visible from both locations, such as a lunar eclipse, or from a time signal transmitted by telegraph or radio. The principle is straightforward, but in practice finding a reliable method of determining longitude took centuries and required the effort of some of the greatest scientific minds. A location's north–south position along a meridian is given by its latitude, which is approximately the angle between the local vertical and the equatorial plane. Longitude is generally given using the geodetic normal or the gravity direction. The astronomical longitude can differ slightly from the ordinary longitude because of vertical deflection, small variations in Earth's gravitational field (see also: astronomical latitude). History The concept of longitude was first developed by ancient Greek astronomers. Hipparchus (2nd century BCE) used a coordinate system that assumed a spherical Earth, and divided it into 360° as we still do today. His prime meridian passed through Alexandria. He also proposed a method of determining longitude by comparing the local time of a lunar eclipse at two different places, thus demonstrating an understanding of the relationship between longitude and time.. Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century CE) developed a mapping system using curved parallels that reduced distortion. He also collected data for many locations, from Britain to the Middle East. He used a prime meridian through the Canary Islands, so that all longitude values would be positive. While Ptolemy's system was sound, the data he used were often poor, leading to a gross over-estimate (by about 70%) of the length of the Mediterranean. After the fall of the Roman Empire, interest in geography greatly declined in Europe. Hindu and Muslim astronomers continued to develop these ideas, adding many new locations and often improving on Ptolemy's data. For example al-Battānī used simultaneous observations of two lunar eclipses to determine the difference in longitude between Antakya and Raqqa with an error of less than 1°. This is considered to be the best that can be achieved with the methods then available: observation of the eclipse with the naked eye, and determination of local time using an astrolabe to measure the altitude of a suitable "clock star". In the later Middle Ages, interest in geography revived in the west, as travel increased, and Arab scholarship began to be known through contact with Spain and North Africa. In the 12th century, astronomical tables were prepared for a number of European cities, based on the work of al-Zarqālī in Toledo. The lunar eclipse of September 12, 1178 was used to establish the longitude differences between Toledo, Marseilles, and Hereford. Christopher Columbus made two attempts to use lunar eclipses to discover his longitude, the first in Saona Island, on 14 September 1494 (second voyage), and the second in Jamaica on 29 February 1504 (fourth voyage). It is assumed that he used astronomical tables for reference. His determinations of longitude showed large errors of 13° and 38° W respectively. Randles (1985) documents longitude measurement by the Portuguese and Spanish between 1514 and 1627 both in the Americas and Asia. Errors ranged from 2° to 25°. The telescope was invented in the early 17th century. Initially an observation device, developments over the next half century transformed it into an accurate measurement tool. The pendulum clock was patented by Christiaan Huygens in 1657 and gave an increase in accuracy of about 30 fold over previous mechanical clocks. These two inventions would revolutionise observational astronomy and cartography. On land, the period from the development of telescopes and pendulum clocks until the mid-18th century saw a steady increase in the number of places whose longitude had been determined with reasonable accuracy, often with errors of less than a degree, and nearly always within 2° to 3°. By the 1720s errors were consistently less than 1°. At sea during the same period, the situation was very different. Two problems proved intractable. The first was the need of a navigator for immediate results. The second was the marine environment. Making accurate observations in an ocean swell is much harder than on land, and pendulum clocks do not work well in these conditions. The chronometer In response to the problems of navigation, a number of European maritime powers offered prizes for a method to determine longitude at sea. The best-known of these is the Longitude Act passed by the British parliament in 1714. It offered two levels of rewards, for solutions within 1° and 0.5°. Rewards were given for two solutions: lunar distances, made practicable by the tables of Tobias Mayer developed into an nautical almanac by the Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne; and for the chronometers developed by the Yorkshire carpenter and clock-maker John Harrison. Harrison built five chronometers over more than three decades. This work was supported and rewarded with thousands of pounds from the Board of Longitude, but he fought to receive money up to the top reward of £20,000, finally receiving an additional payment in 1773 after the intervention of parliament. It was some while before either method became widely used in navigation. In the early years, chronometers were very expensive, and the calculations required for lunar distances were still complex and time-consuming. Lunar distances came into general use after 1790. Chronometers had the advantages that both the observations and the calculations were simpler, and as they became cheaper in the early 19th century they started to replace lunars, which were seldom used after 1850. The first working telegraphs were established in Britain by Wheatstone and Cooke in 1839, and in the US by Morse in 1844. It was quickly realised that the telegraph could be used to transmit a time signal for longitude determination. The method was soon in practical use for longitude determination, especially in North America, and over longer and longer distances as the telegraph network expanded, including western Europe with the completion of transatlantic cables. The US Coast Survey was particularly active in this development, and not just in the United States. The Survey established chains of mapped locations through Central and South America, and the West Indies, and as far as Japan and China in the years 1874–90. This contributed greatly to the accurate mapping of these areas. While mariners benefited from the accurate charts, they could not receive telegraph signals while under way, and so could not use the method for navigation. This changed when wireless telegraphy (radio) became available in the early 20th century. Wireless time signals for the use of ships were transmitted from Halifax, Nova Scotia, starting in 1907 and from the Eiffel Tower in Paris from 1910. These signals allowed navigators to check and adjust their chronometers frequently. Radio navigation systems came into general use after World War II. The systems all depended on transmissions from fixed navigational beacons. A ship-board receiver calculated the vessel's position from these transmissions. They allowed accurate navigation when poor visibility prevented astronomical observations, and became the established method for commercial shipping until replaced by GPS in the early 1990s. Determination The main methods for determining longitude are listed below. With one exception (magnetic declination) they all depend on a common principle, which was to determine an absolute time from an event or measurement and to compare the corresponding local time at two different locations. Lunar distances. In its orbit around the Earth, the Moon moves relative to the stars at a rate of just over 0.5°/hour. The angle between the Moon and a suitable star is measured with a sextant, and (after consulting tables and lengthy calculations) gives a value for absolute time. Satellites of Jupiter. Galileo proposed that with sufficiently accurate knowledge of the orbits of the satellites, their positions could provide a measure of absolute time. The method requires a telescope, as the moons are not visible to the naked eye. Appulses, occultations, and eclipses. An appulse is the least apparent distance between two objects (the Moon, a star or a planet); an occultation occurs when a star or planet passes behind the Moon — essentially a type of eclipse. Lunar eclipses continued to be used. The times of any of these events can be used as the measure of absolute time. Chronometers. A clock is set to the local time of a starting point whose longitude is known, and the longitude of any other place can be determined by comparing its local time with the clock time. Magnetic declination. A compass needle does not in general point exactly north. The variation from true north varies with location, and it was suggested that this could provide a basis for determination of longitude. With the exception of magnetic declination, all proved practicable methods. Developments on land and sea, however, were very different. There is no other physical principle determining longitude directly but with time. Longitude at a point may be determined by calculating the time difference between that at its location and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Since there are 24 hours in a day and 360 degrees in a circle, the sun moves across the sky at a rate of 15 degrees per hour (360° ÷ 24 hours = 15° per hour). So if a location's time zone is three hours ahead of UTC then that location is near 45° longitude (3 hours × 15° per hour = 45°). The word near is used because the point might not be at the centre of the time zone; also the time zones are defined politically, so their centres and boundaries often do not lie on meridians at multiples of 15°. In order to perform this calculation, however, one needs a chronometer (watch) set to UTC and needs to determine local time by solar or astronomical observation. The details are more complex than described here: see the articles on Universal Time and on the equation of time for more details. Values Longitude is given as an angular measurement ranging from 0° at the Prime Meridian to +180° eastward and −180° westward. The Greek letter λ (lambda) is used to denote the location of a place on Earth east or west of the Prime Meridian. Each degree of longitude is sub-divided into 60 minutes, each of which is divided into 60 seconds. A longitude is thus specified in sexagesimal notation as, for example, 23° 27′ 30″ E. For higher precision, the seconds are specified with a decimal fraction. An alternative representation uses degrees and minutes, and parts of a minute are expressed in decimal notation, thus: 23° 27.5′ E. Degrees may also be expressed as a decimal fraction: 23.45833° E. For calculations, the angular measure may be converted to radians, so longitude may also be expressed in this manner as a signed fraction of (pi), or an unsigned fraction of 2. For calculations, the West/East suffix is replaced by a negative sign in the western hemisphere. The international standard convention (ISO 6709)—that East is positive—is consistent with a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system, with the North Pole up. A specific longitude may then be combined with a specific latitude (positive in the northern hemisphere) to give a precise position on the Earth's surface. Confusingly, the convention of negative for East is also sometimes seen, most commonly in the United States; the Earth System Research Laboratory used it on an older version of one of their pages, in order "to make coordinate entry less awkward" for applications confined to the Western Hemisphere. They have since shifted to the standard approach. Note that the longitude is singular at the Poles and calculations that are sufficiently accurate for other positions may be inaccurate at or near the Poles. Also the discontinuity at the ±180° meridian must be handled with care in calculations. An example is a calculation of east displacement by subtracting two longitudes, which gives the wrong answer if the two positions are on either side of this meridian. To avoid these complexities, consider replacing latitude and longitude with another horizontal position representation in calculation. Length of a degree of longitude The length of a degree of longitude (east–west distance) depends only on the radius of a circle of latitude. For a sphere of radius that radius at latitude is , and the length of a one-degree (or radian) arc along a circle of latitude is When the Earth is modelled by an ellipsoid this arc length becomes where , the eccentricity of the ellipsoid, is related to the major and minor axes (the equatorial and polar radii respectively) by An alternative formula is ; here is the so-called parametric or reduced latitude. cos decreases from 1 at the equator to 0 at the poles, which measures how circles of latitude shrink from the equator to a point at the pole, so the length of a degree of longitude decreases likewise. This contrasts with the small (1%) increase in the length of a degree of latitude (north–south distance), equator to pole. The table shows both for the WGS84 ellipsoid with = and = . Note that the distance between two points 1 degree apart on the same circle of latitude, measured along that circle of latitude, is slightly more than the shortest (geodesic) distance between those points (unless on the equator, where these are equal); the difference is less than . A geographical mile is defined to be the length of one minute of arc along the equator (one equatorial minute of longitude) therefore a degree of longitude along the equator is exactly 60 geographical miles or 111.3 kilometers, as there are 60 minutes in a degree. The length of 1 minute of longitude along the equator is 1 geographical mile or , while the length of 1 second of it is 0.016 geographical mile or . See also American Practical Navigator Cardinal direction Ecliptic longitude Geodesy Geodetic system Geographic coordinate system Geographical distance Geotagging Great-circle distance History of longitude The Island of the Day Before Latitude Meridian arc Natural Area Code Navigation Orders of magnitude Planetary coordinate system#Longitude Right ascension on celestial sphere World Geodetic System Dead Reckoning References Further reading External links Resources for determining your latitude and longitude IAU/IAG Working Group On Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements of the Planets and Satellites "Longitude forged": an essay exposing a hoax solution to the problem of calculating longitude, undetected in Dava Sobel's Longitude, from TLS, November 12, 2008. Board of Longitude Collection, Cambridge Digital Library – complete digital version of the Board's archive Longitude And Latitude Of Points of Interest Length Of A Degree Of Latitude And Longitude Calculator Esame critico intorno alla scoperta di Vespucci ... A land beyond the stars - Museo Galileo Navigation Geodesy	[ -0.1490400731563568, 0.2404574751853943, 0.5976572632789612, 0.22101625800132751, 0.008005903102457523, 0.1378297656774521, -0.19525204598903656, 0.1386537402868271, -0.03666076064109802, -0.6405619978904724, -0.7122747302055359, 0.2068895399570465, 0.1854953169822693, 0.942971408367157, ...
17618	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus%20Torvalds	Linus Torvalds	Linus Benedict Torvalds ( , ; born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish-American software engineer who is the creator and, historically, the main developer of the Linux kernel, used by Linux distributions and other operating systems such as Android. He also created the distributed version control system Git and the scuba dive logging and planning software Subsurface. He was honored, along with Shinya Yamanaka, with the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize by the Technology Academy Finland "in recognition of his creation of a new open source operating system for computers leading to the widely used Linux kernel." He is also the recipient of the 2014 IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award and the 2018 IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award. Life and career Early years Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland, on 28 December 1969. He is the son of journalists Anna and Nils Torvalds, the grandson of statistician Leo Törnqvist and of poet Ole Torvalds and the great-grandson of journalist and soldier Toivo Karanko. His parents were campus radicals at the University of Helsinki in the 1960s. His family belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. Torvalds was named after Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize-winning American chemist, although in the book Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, Torvalds is quoted as saying, "I think I was named equally for Linus the Peanuts cartoon character", noting that this makes him half "Nobel Prize-winning chemist" and half "blanket-carrying cartoon character". Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki between 1988 and 1996, graduating with a master's degree in computer science from the NODES research group. His academic career was interrupted after his first year of study when he joined the Finnish Navy Nyland Brigade in the summer of 1989, selecting the 11-month officer training program to fulfill the mandatory military service of Finland. He gained the rank of second lieutenant, with the role of an artillery observer. Torvalds bought computer science professor Andrew Tanenbaum's book Operating Systems: Design and Implementation, in which Tanenbaum describes MINIX, an educational stripped-down version of Unix. In 1990, he resumed his university studies, and was exposed to Unix for the first time, in the form of a DEC MicroVAX running ULTRIX. His MSc thesis was titled Linux: A Portable Operating System. His interest in computers began with a Commodore VIC-20, at the age of 11 in 1981, initially programming in BASIC, but later by directly accessing the 6502 CPU in machine code. He did not make use of assembly language. After the VIC-20 he purchased a Sinclair QL, which he modified extensively, especially its operating system. "Because it was so hard to get software for it in Finland, Linus wrote his own assembler and editor (in addition to Pac-Man graphics libraries)" for the QL, as well as a few games. He wrote a Pac-Man clone named Cool Man. On 5 January 1991 he purchased an Intel 80386-based clone of IBM PC before receiving his MINIX copy, which in turn enabled him to begin work on Linux. Linux The first prototypes of Linux were publicly released later in 1991. Version 1.0 was released on 14 March 1994. Torvalds first encountered the GNU Project in 1991, after another Swedish-speaking computer science student, Lars Wirzenius, took him to the University of Technology to listen to free software guru Richard Stallman's speech. Torvalds used Stallman's GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2) for his Linux kernel. After a visit to Transmeta in late 1996, Torvalds accepted a position at the company in California, where he would work from February 1997 until June 2003. He then moved to the Open Source Development Labs, which has since merged with the Free Standards Group to become the Linux Foundation, under whose auspices he continues to work. In June 2004, Torvalds and his family moved to Dunthorpe, Oregon, to be closer to the OSDL's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. From 1997 to 1999, he was involved in 86open, helping to choose the standard binary format for Linux and Unix. In 1999, he was named by the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the world's top 100 innovators under age 35. In 1999, Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation. That same year both companies went public and Torvalds's share value temporarily shot up to roughly US$20 million. His personal mascot is a penguin nicknamed Tux, which has been widely adopted by the Linux community as the mascot of the Linux kernel. Although Torvalds believes "open source is the only right way to do software", he also has said that he uses the "best tool for the job", even if that includes proprietary software. He was criticized for his use and alleged advocacy of the proprietary BitKeeper software for version control in the Linux kernel. Torvalds subsequently wrote a free-software replacement for BitKeeper called Git. In 2008, Torvalds stated that he used the Fedora Linux distribution because it had fairly good support for the PowerPC processor architecture, which he had favored at the time. His usage of Fedora was confirmed in a later 2012 interview. He has also posted updates about his choice of desktop environment, often in response to perceived feature regressions. Currently, the Linux Foundation sponsors Torvalds so he can work full-time on improving Linux. Linus Torvalds is known for vocally disagreeing with other developers on the Linux kernel mailing list. Calling himself a "really unpleasant person", he later explained "I'd like to be a nice person and curse less and encourage people to grow rather than telling them they are idiots. I'm sorry – I tried, it's just not in me." His attitude, which Torvalds considers necessary for making his point clear, has drawn criticism from Intel programmer Sage Sharp and systemd developer Lennart Poettering, among others. On Sunday, 16 September 2018 the Linux Kernel Code of Conflict was suddenly replaced by a new Code of Conduct based on the Contributor Covenant. Shortly thereafter, in the release notes for Linux 4.19-rc4, Torvalds apologized for his behavior, calling the personal attacks of the past "unprofessional and uncalled for" and announced a period of "time off" to "get some assistance on how to understand people's emotions and respond appropriately". It soon transpired that these events followed The New Yorker approaching Torvalds with a series of questions critical of his conduct. Following the release of Linux 4.19 on 22 October 2018, Linus went back to maintaining the kernel. The Linus/Linux connection Initially, Torvalds wanted to call the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak", and the letter X to indicate that it is a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted for download, named Torvalds's directory linux. Authority and trademark As of 2006, approximately two percent of the Linux kernel was written by Torvalds himself. Because thousands have contributed to the Linux kernel, this percentage is one of the largest contributions to it. However, he stated in 2012 that his own personal contribution is now mostly merging code written by others, with little programming. Torvalds retains the highest authority to decide which new code is incorporated into the standard Linux kernel. Torvalds holds the "Linux" trademark and monitors the use of it, chiefly through the Linux Mark Institute. Other software Git Torvalds began development on Git, a piece of version control software that would later become commonly used, on 3 April 2005. On 26 July 2005, Torvalds turned over maintenance of Git to Junio Hamano, a major contributor to the project. Subsurface Subsurface is a piece of software for logging and planning scuba dives. Torvalds started the project in late 2011, and Dirk Hohndel became the head maintainer in late 2012. Subsurface is free and open-source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2. Personal life Linus Torvalds is married to Tove Torvalds (née Monni)—a six-time Finnish national karate champion—whom he first met in late 1993. Linus was running introductory computer laboratory exercises for students and instructed the course attendees to send him an e-mail as a test, to which Tove responded with an e-mail asking for a date. Tove and Linus were later married and have three daughters, two of whom were born in the United States. The Linux kernel's reboot system call accepts their dates of birth (written in hexadecimal) as magic values. Torvalds has described himself as "completely a-religious—atheist", adding that "I find that people seem to think religion brings morals and appreciation of nature. I actually think it detracts from both. It gives people the excuse to say, 'Oh, nature was just created,' and so the act of creation is seen to be something miraculous. I appreciate the fact that, 'Wow, it's incredible that something like this could have happened in the first place. He later added that while in Europe religion is mostly a personal issue, in the United States it has become very politicized. When discussing the issue of church and state separation, Torvalds also said, "Yeah, it's kind of ironic that in many European countries, there is actually a kind of legal binding between the state and the state religion." In a story about the March LinuxWorld Conference titled "Linus the Liberator", Torvalds is quoted as saying "There are like two golden rules in life. One is 'Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.' For some reason, people associate this with Christianity. I'm not a Christian. I'm agnostic. The other rule is 'Be proud of what you do. In 2010, Torvalds became a United States citizen and registered to vote in the United States. He is unaffiliated with any U.S. political party, saying, "I have way too much personal pride to want to be associated with any of them, quite frankly." Linus developed an interest in scuba diving in the early 2000s and went on to achieve numerous certifications, which later led to him creating the Subsurface project. Awards and achievements Media recognition Time magazine has recognized Torvalds multiple times: In 2000, he was 17th in their Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century poll. In 2004, he was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In 2006, the magazine's Europe edition named him one of the revolutionary heroes of the past 60 years. InfoWorld presented him with the 2000 Award for Industry Achievement. In 2005, Torvalds appeared as one of "the best managers" in a survey by BusinessWeek. In 2006, Business 2.0 magazine named him one of "10 people who don't matter" because the growth of Linux has shrunk Torvalds's individual impact. In summer 2004, viewers of YLE (the Finnish Broadcasting Company) placed Torvalds 16th in the network's 100 Greatest Finns. In 2010, as part of a series called The Britannica Guide to the World's Most Influential People, Torvalds was listed among The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time (). On 11 October 2017, the Linux company SUSE made a song titled "Linus Said". Bibliography Moody, Glyn: Rebel Code. Engl. the beginning of work: Rebel Code. Eng. Riikka Toivanen and Heikki Karjalainen. In January 2001. . Nikkanen, Tuula: The Linux story. Satku, 2000. . See also Linus's law Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate Tux List of computer pioneers References Further reading External links Linus' blog at Blogger (last post in 2011) Linus Torvalds and His Five Entrepreneurial Lessons at AllBusiness.com Ten years of NODES Linus Torvalds: Linux succeeded thanks to selfishness and trust Torvalds interview 1969 births Academics of the University of Helsinki American agnostics American atheists American bloggers American computer programmers American software engineers Finnish agnostics Finnish atheists Finnish bloggers Finnish computer programmers Finnish emigrants to the United States Free software programmers Linux kernel programmers Linux people Living people Open source people People from Dunthorpe, Oregon People in information technology Swedish-speaking Finns University of Helsinki alumni Writers from Helsinki Open source advocates Finnish software engineers Linus People with acquired American citizenship	[ -0.0824543833732605, 0.34055665135383606, -0.0867784172296524, 0.30030500888824463, 0.2407037764787674, 0.7887437343597412, -0.13714931905269623, 0.5632358193397522, -0.026760447770357132, -0.09439097344875336, -0.4071352779865265, 0.3726274073123932, -0.3956509530544281, 0.124555438756942...
17626	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade%20union	Trade union	A trade union (or a labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals, such as protecting the integrity of their trade, improving safety standards, and attaining better wages, benefits (such as vacation, health care, and retirement), and working conditions through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers. Trade unions typically fund the formal organization, head office, and legal team functions of the trade union through regular fees or union dues. The delegate staff of the trade union representation in the workforce are made up of workplace volunteers who are appointed by members in democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, occupational health and safety standards, complaint procedures, rules governing status of employees including promotions, just cause conditions for termination, and employment benefits. Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism). The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on the industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning. Originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution. Trade unions may be composed of individual workers, professionals, past workers, students, apprentices or the unemployed. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union, is highest in the Nordic countries. Definition Since the publication of the History of Trade Unionism (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, the predominant historical view is that a trade union "is a continuous association on wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment." Karl Marx described trade unions thus: "The value of labour -power constitutes the conscious and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the ... working class can scarcely be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour -power from falling below its value" (Capital V1, 1867, p. 1069). Early socialists and Marxists also saw trade unions as a way to democratize the workplace. Through this democratization, they argued, the capture of political power would be possible. A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "an organization consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members." Yet historian R. A. Lesson, in United we Stand (1971), said: Recent historical research by Bob James in Craft, Trade or Mystery (2001) puts forward the view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies, which includes medieval guilds, Freemasons, Oddfellows, friendly societies, and other fraternal organizations. The 18th-century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners (or "masters"). In The Wealth of Nations, Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote: As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries, although Smith argued that it should remain illegal to fix wages or prices by employees or employers. There were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. Despite this, unions were formed and began to acquire political power, eventually resulting in a body of labour law that not only legalized organizing efforts, but codified the relationship between employers and those employees organized into unions. History Trade Guilds Following the unification of the city-states in Assyria and Sumer by Sargon of Akkad into a single empire ruled from his home city circa 2334 BC, common Mesopotamian standards for length, area, volume, weight, and time used by artisan guilds in each city was promulgated by Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2254–2218 BC), Sargon's grandson, including for shekels. Codex Hammurabi Law 234 (c. 1755–1750 BC) stipulated a 2-shekel prevailing wage for each 60-gur (300-bushel) vessel constructed in an employment contract between a shipbuilder and a ship-owner. Law 275 stipulated a ferry rate of 3-gerah per day on a charterparty between a ship charterer and a shipmaster. Law 276 stipulated a 2-gerah per day freight rate on a contract of affreightment between a charterer and shipmaster, while Law 277 stipulated a -shekel per day freight rate for a 60-gur vessel. In 1816, an archeological excavation in Minya, Egypt (under an Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire) produced a Nerva–Antonine dynasty-era tablet from the ruins of the Temple of Antinous in Antinoöpolis, Aegyptus that prescribed the rules and membership dues of a burial society collegium established in Lanuvium, Italia in approximately 133 AD during the reign of Hadrian (117–138) of the Roman Empire. A collegium was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the Lex Julia during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during the reign of Caesar Augustus as Princeps senatus and Imperator of the Roman Army (27 BC–14 AD), collegia required the approval of the Roman Senate or the Emperor in order to be authorized as legal bodies. Ruins at Lambaesis date the formation of burial societies among Roman Army soldiers and Roman Navy mariners to the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211) in 198 AD. In September 2011, archeological investigations done at the site of the artificial harbor Portus in Rome revealed inscriptions in a shipyard constructed during the reign of Trajan (98–117) indicating the existence of a shipbuilders guild. Rome's La Ostia port was home to a guildhall for a corpus naviculariorum, a collegium of merchant mariners. Collegium also included fraternities of Roman priests overseeing ritual sacrifices, practicing augury, keeping scriptures, arranging festivals, and maintaining specific religious cults. Modern trade unions While a commonly held mistaken view holds modern trade unionism to be a product of Marxism, the earliest modern trade unions predate Marx's Communist Manifesto (1848) by almost a century, with the first recorded labour strike in the United States by the Philadelphia printers in 1786. The origins of modern trade unions can be traced back to 18th century Britain, where the rapid expansion of industrial society then taking place drew masses of people, including women, children, peasants and immigrants into cities. Britain had ended the practice of serfdom in 1574, but vast majority of people remained as tenant-farmers on estates owned by landed aristocracy. This transition was not merely one of relocation from rural to urban environs; rather, the nature of industrial work created a new class of "worker". A farmer worked the land, raised animals and grew crop, and either owned the land or paid rent, but ultimately sold a product and had control over his life and work. As industrial workers, however, the workers sold themselves as labour and took directions from employers, giving up their freedom and self-agency in the service of a master. The critics of the new arrangement would call this "wage slavery,", but the term that persisted was a new form of human relations: employment. Unlike farmers, workers were completely dependent on their employers, without job security or a promise of an on-going relationship with their employers, lacking control over the work they performed or how it impacted their health and life. It is in this context, then, that modern trade unions emerge. In the cities, trade unions encountered a large hostility in their early existence from employers and government groups; at the time, unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint of trade and conspiracy statutes. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions. Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe, though the relationship between the two is disputed, as the masters of the guilds employed workers (apprentices and journeymen) who were not allowed to organize. Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century, when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England, but their way of thinking was the one that endured down the centuries, inspiring evolutions and advances in thinking which eventually gave workers their necessary rights. As collective bargaining and early worker unions grew with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the government began to clamp down on what it saw as the danger of popular unrest at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. Although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Workplace militancy had also manifested itself as Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as the 1820 Rising in Scotland, in which 60,000 workers went on a general strike, which was soon crushed. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, although the Combination Act 1825 severely restricted their activity. By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester. The latter name was to hide the organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal. National general unions The first attempts at setting up a national general union were made in the 1820s and 30s. The National Association for the Protection of Labour was established in 1830 by John Doherty, after an apparently unsuccessful attempt to create a similar national presence with the National Union of Cotton-spinners. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions, but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others. Membership rose to between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals spread across the five counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire within a year. To establish awareness and legitimacy, the union started the weekly Voice of the People publication, having the declared intention "to unite the productive classes of the community in one common bond of union." In 1834, the Welsh socialist Robert Owen established the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union. The organization attracted a range of socialists from Owenites to revolutionaries and played a part in the protests after the Tolpuddle Martyrs' case, but soon collapsed. More permanent trade unions were established from the 1850s, better resourced but often less radical. The London Trades Council was founded in 1860, and the Sheffield Outrages spurred the establishment of the Trades Union Congress in 1868, the first long-lived national trade union center. By this time, the existence and the demands of the trade unions were becoming accepted by liberal middle class opinion. In Principles of Political Economy (1871) John Stuart Mill wrote: If it were possible for the working classes, by combining among themselves, to raise or keep up the general rate of wages, it needs hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished, but to be welcomed and rejoiced at. Unfortunately the effect is quite beyond attainment by such means. The multitudes who compose the working class are too numerous and too widely scattered to combine at all, much more to combine effectually. If they could do so, they might doubtless succeed in diminishing the hours of labour, and obtaining the same wages for less work. They would also have a limited power of obtaining, by combination, an increase of general wages at the expense of profits.Beyond this claim Mill also argued that, because individual workers have no basis for assessing the wages for a particular task, labor unions would lead to greater efficiency of the market system. Legalization and expansion British trade unions were finally legalized in 1872, after a Royal Commission on Trade Unions in 1867 agreed that the establishment of the organizations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. This period also saw the growth of trade unions in other industrializing countries, especially the United States, Germany and France. In the United States, the first effective nationwide labour organization was the Knights of Labor, in 1869, which began to grow after 1880. Legalization occurred slowly as a result of a series of court decisions. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions began in 1881 as a federation of different unions that did not directly enrol workers. In 1886, it became known as the American Federation of Labor or AFL. In Germany the Free Association of German Trade Unions was formed in 1897 after the conservative Anti-Socialist Laws of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck were repealed. In France, labour organization was illegal until 1884. The Bourse du Travail was founded in 1887 and merged with the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions) in 1895 to form the General Confederation of Labour (France). Prevalence worldwide OECD Union density The prevalence of labor unions can be measured by "union density", which is expressed as a percentage of the total number of workers in a given location who are trade union members. The below table shows the percentage across OECD members. Source: OECD The union density is especially high for Nordic countries with the average being 67% as of 2018. Development The union density has been steadily declining from the OECD average of 35.93% in 1998 to 27.91% in the year 2018. The main reasons for these developments are a decline in manufacturing, increased globalization, and governmental policies. The decline in manufacturing is the most direct one as it generally have been low- or unskilled workers who have benefited the most from labor unions. On the other hand, there might an increase in developing nations as OECD nations exported manufacturing industries to these markets. The second reason is globalization, which makes it harder for unions to maintain standards across countries. The last reason is governmental policies. These come from both sides of the political spectrum. In the UK and US, it has been mostly right-wing proposals that make it harder for unions to form or that limit their power. On the other side, there are many policies such as minimum wage, paid vacation, maternity/paternity leave, etc., that decrease the need to be in a union. Worldwide The prevalence of trade unions across the world is tracked by International Labor Organization. The data might differ from the ones provided by the OECD. Source: ILO Trade unions by country Australia The Australian labour movement generally sought to end child labour practices, improve worker safety, increase wages for both union workers and non-union workers, raise the entire society's standard of living, reduce the hours in a work week, provide public education for children, and bring other benefits to working class families. Melbourne Trades Hall was opened in 1859 with Trades and Labour Councils and Trades Halls opening in all cities and most regional towns in the next forty years. During the 1880s Trade unions developed among shearers, miners, and stevedores (wharf workers), but soon spread to cover almost all blue-collar jobs. Shortages of labour led to high wages for a prosperous skilled working class, whose unions demanded and got an eight-hour day and other benefits unheard of in Europe. Australia gained a reputation as "the working man's paradise." Some employers tried to undercut the unions by importing Chinese labour. This produced a reaction which led to all the colonies restricting Chinese and other Asian immigration. This was the foundation of the White Australia Policy. The "Australian compact", based around centralised industrial arbitration, a degree of government assistance particularly for primary industries, and White Australia, was to continue for many years before gradually dissolving in the second half of the 20th century. In the 1870s and 1880s, the growing trade union movement began a series of protests against foreign labour. Their arguments were that Asians and Chinese took jobs away from white men, worked for "substandard" wages, lowered working conditions and refused unionisation. Objections to these arguments came largely from wealthy land owners in rural areas. It was argued that without Asiatics to work in the tropical areas of the Northern Territory and Queensland, the area would have to be abandoned. Despite these objections to restricting immigration, between 1875 and 1888 all Australian colonies enacted legislation which excluded all further Chinese immigration. Asian immigrants already residing in the Australian colonies were not expelled and retained the same rights as their Anglo and Southern compatriots. The Barton Government which came to power after the first elections to the Commonwealth parliament in 1901 was formed by the Protectionist Party with the support of the Australian Labor Party. The support of the Labor Party was contingent upon restricting non-white immigration, reflecting the attitudes of the Australian Workers Union and other labour organisations at the time, upon whose support the Labor Party was founded. Belgium With 65% of the workers belonging to a union, Belgium is a country with one of the highest percentages of trade union membership. Only the Scandinavian countries have a higher trade union density. The biggest union with around 1.7 million members is the Christian democrat Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ACV-CSC) which was founded in 1904. The origins of the union can be traced back to the "Anti-Socialist Cotton Workers Union" that was founded in 1886. The second biggest union is the socialist General Federation of Belgian Labour (ABVV-FGTB) which has a membership of more than 1.5 million. The ABVV-FGTB traces its origins to 1857, when the first Belgian union was founded in Ghent by a group of weavers. This and other socialist unions became unified around 1898. The ABVV-FGTB in its current form dates back to 1945. The third major multi-sector union in Belgium is the liberal (classical liberal) union General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (ACLVB-CGSLB) which is relatively small in comparison to the first two with a little under 290 thousand members. The ACLVB-CGSLB was founded in 1920 in an effort to unite the many small liberal unions. Back then the liberal union was known as the "Nationale Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België". In 1930, the ACLVB-CGSLB adopted its current name. Besides these "big three" there are a number of smaller unions, some more influential than others. These smaller unions tend to specialize in one profession or economic sector. Next to these specialized unions there is also the Neutral and Independent Union that rejects the pillarization of the "big three" trade unions (their affiliation with political parties). There is also a small Flemish nationalist union that exists only in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, called the Vlaamse Solidaire Vakbond. The last Belgian union worth mentioning is the very small, but highly active anarchist union called the Vrije Bond. Canada Canada's first trade union, the Labourers' Benevolent Association (now International Longshoremen's Association Local 273), formed in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1849. The union was formed when Saint John's longshoremen banded together to lobby for regular pay and a shorter workday. Canadian unionism had early ties with Britain and Ireland. Tradesmen who came from Britain brought traditions of the British trade union movement, and many British unions had branches in Canada. Canadian unionism's ties with the United States eventually replaced those with Britain. Collective bargaining was first recognized in 1945, after the strike by the United Auto Workers at the General Motors' plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Justice Ivan Rand issued a landmark legal decision after the strike in Windsor, Ontario, involving 17,000 Ford workers. He granted the union the compulsory check-off of union dues. Rand ruled that all workers in a bargaining unit benefit from a union-negotiated contract. Therefore, he reasoned they must pay union dues, although they do not have to join the union. The post-World War II era also saw an increased pattern of unionization in the public service. Teachers, nurses, social workers, professors and cultural workers (those employed in museums, orchestras and art galleries) all sought private-sector collective bargaining rights. The Canadian Labour Congress was founded in 1956 as the national trade union center for Canada. In the 1970s the federal government came under intense pressures to curtail labour cost and inflation. In 1975, the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau introduced mandatory price and wage controls. Under the new law, wages increases were monitored and those ruled to be unacceptably high were rolled back by the government. Pressures on unions continued into the 1980s and '90s. Private sector unions faced plant closures in many manufacturing industries and demands to reduce wages and increase productivity. Public sector unions came under attack by federal and provincial governments as they attempted to reduce spending, reduce taxes and balance budgets. Legislation was introduced in many jurisdictions reversing union collective bargaining rights, and many jobs were lost to contractors. Prominent domestic unions in Canada include ACTRA, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the National Union of Public and General Employees, and Unifor. International unions active in Canada include the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, United Automobile Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and United Steelworkers. Colombia Until around 1990 Colombian trade unions were among the strongest in Latin America. However, the 1980s expansion of paramilitarism in Colombia saw trade union leaders and members increasingly targeted for assassination, and as a result Colombia has been the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists for several decades. Between 2000 and 2010 Colombia accounted for 63.12% of trade unionists murdered globally. According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) there were 2832 murders of trade unionists between 1 January 1986 and 30 April 2010, meaning that "on average, men and women trade unionists in Colombia have been killed at the rate of one every three days over the last 23 years." Costa Rica In Costa Rica, trade unions first appeared in the late 1800s to support workers in a variety of urban and industrial jobs, such as railroad builders and craft tradesmen. After facing violent repression, such as during the 1934 United Fruit Strike, unions gained more power after the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War. Today, Costa Rican unions are strongest in the public sector, including the fields of education and medicine, but also have a strong presence in the agricultural sector. In general, Costa Rican unions support government regulation of the banking, medical, and education fields, as well as improved wages and working conditions. Germany Trade unions in Germany have a history reaching back to the German revolution in 1848, and still play an important role in the German economy and society. In 1875 the SPD, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which is one of the biggest political parties in Germany, supported the forming of unions in Germany. The most important labour organisation is the German Confederation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund – DGB), which represents more than 6 million people (31 December 2011) and is the umbrella association of several single trade unions for special economic sectors. The DGB is not the only Union Organization that represents the working trade. There are smaller organizations, such as the CGB, which is a Christian-based confederation, that represent over 1.5 million people. India In India, the Trade Union movement is generally divided on political lines. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, trade unions had a combined membership of 24,601,589 in 2002. As of 2008, there are 12 Central Trade Union Organisations (CTUO) recognized by the Ministry of Labour. The forming of these unions was a big deal in India. It led to a big push for more regulatory laws which gave workers a lot more power. AITUC is the oldest trade union in India. It is a left supported organization. A trade union with nearly 2,000,000 members is the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) which protects the rights of Indian women working in the informal economy. In addition to the protection of rights, SEWA educates, mobilizes, finances, and exalts their members' trades. Multiple other organizations represent workers. These organizations are formed upon different political groups. These different groups allow different groups of people with different political views to join a Union. Japan Trade unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the Meiji period as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organised factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the US Occupation authorities initially encouraged the formation of independent unions. Legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organise, and membership rapidly rose to 5 million by February 1947. The organisation rate, however, peaked at 55.8% in 1949 and subsequently declined to 18.2% (2006). The labour movement went through a process of reorganisation from 1987 to 1991 from which emerged the present configuration of three major trade union federations, Rengo, Zenroren, and Zenrokyo, along with other smaller national union organisations. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia In the three Baltic countries the independent trade unions existed only in name during the period of Soviet occupation 1944–1991, the trade union system was closely integrated with that of the totalitarian Communist party, and industrial actions were not allowed. After the regaining of national independence in 1990-1991 the trade unions in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have experienced rapid loss of membership and economic power, while employers’ organisations have increased both in power and membership. Low financial and organisational capacity caused by declining membership adds to the problem of interest definition, aggregation and protection in negotiations with employers’ and state organisations. Even the difference exists in the way of organization trade union and density. Starting from 2008 the union density slightly decrease in Latvia and Lithuania. In case of Estonia this indicator is lower than in Latvia and Lithuania but stays stable average 7 percent from total number of employment. Historical legitimacy is one of the negative factors that determine low associational power. Mexico Before the 1990s, unions in Mexico had been historically part of a state institutional system. From 1940 until the 1980s, during the worldwide spread of neoliberalism through the Washington Consensus, the Mexican unions did not operate independently, but instead as part of a state institutional system, largely controlled by the ruling party. During these 40 years, the primary aim of the trade unions was not to benefit the workers, but to carry out the state's economic policy under their cosy relationship with the ruling party. This economic policy, which peaked in the 1950s and 60s with the so-called "Mexican Miracle", saw rising incomes and improved standards of living but the primary beneficiaries were the wealthy. In the 1980s, Mexico began adhering to Washington Consensus policies, selling off state industries such as railroad and telecommunications to private industries. The new owners had an antagonistic attitude towards unions, which, accustomed to comfortable relationships with the state, were not prepared to fight back. A movement of new unions began to emerge under a more independent model, while the former institutionalized unions had become very corrupt, violent, and led by gangsters. From the 1990s onwards, this new model of independent unions prevailed, a number of them represented by the National Union of Workers / Unión Nacional de Trabajadores. Current old institutions like the Oil Workers Union and the National Education Workers' Union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, or SNTE) are examples of how the use of government benefits are not being applied to improve the quality in the investigation of the use of oil or the basic education in Mexico as long as their leaders show publicly that they are living wealthily. With 1.4 million members, the teachers' union is Latin America's largest; half of Mexico's government employees are teachers. It controls school curriculums, and all teacher appointments. Until recently, retiring teachers routinely "gave" their lifelong appointment to a relative or "sell" it for anywhere in between $4,700 and $11,800. In 2022, Sindicato independiente nacional de trabajadores trabajadoras de la industria automotriz, SINTTIA, a union backed by American and Canadian unions won a union representation election at a General Motors plant in the city of Silao. The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), a union affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which had negotiated sweet-heart contracts with GM since the opening of the plant in 1995, and an allied "independent" union received only small percentages of the vote. A worker at the plant with 10 years service reported wages of 480 pesos ($23.27) for a 12-hour shift. At Volkswagen's plant in Puebla state, the union has negotiated average pay of 600 pesos ($29.15) a day for an eight-hour shift. Nordic countries Trade unions (Danish: Fagforeninger, Norwegian: Fagforeninger/Fagforeiningar, Swedish: Fackföreningar, Finnish: Ammattiliitot) have a long tradition in Scandinavian and Nordic society. Beginning in the mid-19th century, they today have a large impact on the nature of employment and workers' rights in many of the Nordic countries. One of the largest trade unions in Sweden is the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions, (LO, Landsorganisationen), incorporating unions such as the Swedish Metal Workers' Union (IF Metall = Industrifacket Metall), the Swedish Electricians' Union (Svenska Elektrikerförbundet) and the Swedish Municipality Workers' Union (Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet, abbreviated Kommunal).<ref>Anders Kjellberg (2020) Den svenska modellen i en oviss tid. Fack, arbetsgivare och kollektivavtal på en föränderlig arbetsmarknad – Statistik och analyser: facklig medlemsutveckling, organisationsgrad och kollektivavtalstäckning 2000–2029"]. Stockholm: Arena Idé 2020</ref> One of the aims of IF Metall is to transform jobs into "good jobs", also called "developing jobs". Swedish system is strongly based on the so-called Swedish model, which argues the importance of collective agreements between trade unions and employers. Today, the world's highest rates of union membership are in the Nordic countries. As of 2018 or latest year, the percentage of workers belonging to a union (trade union density) was 90.4% in Iceland, 67.2% in Denmark, 66.1% in Sweden, 64.4 in Finland and 52.5% in Norway, while it is unknown in Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland. Excluding full-time students working part-time, Swedish union density was 68% in 2019. In all the Nordic countries with a Ghent system—Sweden, Denmark and Finland—union density is about 70%. The considerably raised membership fees of Swedish union unemployment funds implemented by the new center-right government in January 2007 caused large drops in membership in both unemployment funds and trade unions. From 2006 to 2008, union density declined by six percentage points: from 77% to 71%. Spain During the Spanish civil war anarchists, and syndicalists took control over much of Spain. Implementing worker control through a system of libertarian socialism with organizations like the anarcho-syndicalist CNT organizing throughout Spain. Unions were particularly present in Revolutionary Catalonia, in which anarchists were already the basis for most of society with over 90% of industries being organized through work cooperatives. The republicans, anarchists and leftists would later lose control over Spain, with Francisco Franco becoming dictator of Spain. During the fascist regime of Spain the Francoist regime saw the worker movement and union movement as a threat, Franco banned all existing trade unions and set up the government controlled Spanish Syndical Organization as the only legal Spanish trade union, with the organization existing to maintain Franco's power. Many anarchists, communists and leftists turned towards insurgent tactics as Franco implemented wide reaching authoritarian policies, with the CNT and other unions being forced underground. Anarchists would operate covertly setting up local organizations and underground movements to challenge Franco. On the 20 of December the ETA assassinated Luis Carrero. The death of Carrero Blanco had numerous political implications. By the end of 1973, the physical health of Francisco Franco had declined significantly, and it epitomized the final crisis of the Francoist regime. After his death, the most conservative sector of the Francoist State, known as the búnker, wanted to influence Franco so that he would choose an ultraconservative as Prime Minister. Finally, he chose Carlos Arias Navarro, who originally announced a partial relaxation of the most rigid aspects of the Francoist State, but quickly retreated under pressure from the búnker. After Franco's death Arias Navarro began relaxing Spanish authoritarianism. During the Spanish transition to democracy, leftist organizations became legal once again. In modern Spain trade unions now contribute massively towards Spanish society, being again the main catalyst for political change in Spain, with cooperatives employing large parts of the Spanish population such as the Mondragon Corporation. Trade unions today lead mass protests against the Spanish government, and are one of the main vectors of political change. United Kingdom Moderate New Model Unions dominated the union movement from the mid-19th century and where trade unionism was stronger than the political labour movement until the formation and growth of the Labour Party in the early years of the 20th century. Trade unionism in the United Kingdom was a major factor in some of the economic crises during the 1960s and the 1970s, culminating in the "Winter of Discontent" of late-1978 and early-1979, when a significant percentage of the nation's public sector workers went on strike. By this stage, some 12,000,000 workers in the United Kingdom were trade union members. However, the election victory of the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher at the 1979 general election, at the expense of Labour's James Callaghan, saw substantial trade union reform which saw the level of strikes fall. The level of trade union membership also fell sharply in the 1980s, and continued falling for most of the 1990s. The long decline of most of the industries in which manual trade unions were strong – e.g. steel, coal, printing, the docks – was one of the causes of this loss of trade union members. In 2011, there were 6,135,126 members in TUC-affiliated unions, down from a peak of 12,172,508 in 1980. Trade union density was 14.1% in the private sector and 56.5% in the public sector. United States Labor unions are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries in the United States. In the United States, unions were formed based on power with the people, not over the people like the government at the time. Their activity today centres on collective bargaining over wages, benefits and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and supporting endorsed candidates at the state and federal level. Most unions in America are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL-CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues. In 2010, the percentage of workers belonging to a union in the United States (or total labor union "density") was 11.4%, compared to 18.3% in Japan, 27.5% in Canada and 70% in Finland. The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers, police and other non-managerial or non-executive federal, state, county and municipal employees. Members of unions are disproportionately older, male and residents of the Northeast, the Midwest, and California. The majority of union members come from the public sector. Nearly 34.8% of public sector employees are union members. In the private sector, just 6.3% of employees are union members. – levels not seen since 1932 . Union workers in the private sector average 10–30% higher pay than non-union in America after controlling for individual, job, and labour market characteristics. Because of their inherently governmental function, public sector workers are paid the same regardless of union affiliation or non-affiliation after controlling for individual, job, and labour market characteristics. Vatican (Holy See) The Association of Vatican Lay Workers represents lay employees in the Vatican. Structure and politics Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism, traditionally found in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism, traditionally found in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, the UK and the US), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism, found in Australia, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US). These unions are often divided into "locals", and united in national federations. These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals, such as the International Trade Union Confederation. However, in Japan, union organization is slightly different due to the presence of enterprise unions, i.e. unions that are specific to a plant or company. These enterprise unions, however, join industry-wide federations which in turn are members of Rengo, the Japanese national trade union confederation. In Western Europe, professional associations often carry out the functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar or professional workers, such as physicians, engineers or teachers. Typically such trade unions refrain from politics or pursue a more liberal politics than their blue-collar counterparts. A union may acquire the status of a "juristic person" (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action, culminating in either strike action or management lockout, or binding arbitration. In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events. In other circumstances, unions may not have the legal right to represent workers, or the right may be in question. This lack of status can range from non-recognition of a union to political or criminal prosecution of union activists and members, with many cases of violence and deaths having been recorded historically. Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle. Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favourable to their members or to workers in general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties. Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model. The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers, who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. Many unions are a blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated. In Britain, the perceived left-leaning nature of trade unions has resulted in the formation of a reactionary right-wing trade union called Solidarity which is supported by the far-right BNP. In Denmark, there are some newer apolitical "discount" unions who offer a very basic level of services, as opposed to the dominating Danish pattern of extensive services and organizing. In contrast, in several European countries (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland), religious unions have existed for decades. These unions typically distanced themselves from some of the doctrines of orthodox Marxism, such as the preference of atheism and from rhetoric suggesting that employees' interests always are in conflict with those of employers. Some of these Christian unions have had some ties to centrist or conservative political movements and some do not regard strikes as acceptable political means for achieving employees' goals. In Poland, the biggest trade union Solidarity emerged as an anti-communist movement with religious nationalist overtones and today it supports the right-wing Law and Justice party. Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections. Some research, such as that conducted by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized. Shop types Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models: A closed shop (US) or a "pre-entry closed shop" (UK) employs only people who are already union members. The compulsory hiring hall is an example of a closed shop – in this case the employer must recruit directly from the union, as well as the employee working strictly for unionized employers. A union shop (US) or a "post-entry closed shop" (UK) employs non-union workers as well, but sets a time limit within which new employees must join a union. An agency shop requires non-union workers to pay a fee to the union for its services in negotiating their contract. This is sometimes called the Rand formula. An open shop does not require union membership in employing or keeping workers. Where a union is active, workers who do not contribute to a union may include those who approve of the union contract (free riders) and those who do not. In the United States, state level right-to-work laws mandate the open shop in some states. In Germany only open shops are legal; that is, all discrimination based on union membership is forbidden. This affects the function and services of the union. An EU case concerning Italy stated that, "The principle of trade union freedom in the Italian system implies recognition of the right of the individual not to belong to any trade union ("negative" freedom of association/trade union freedom), and the unlawfulness of discrimination liable to cause harm to non-unionized employees." In Britain, previous to this EU jurisprudence, a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop. In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found Danish closed-shop agreements to be in breach of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It was stressed that Denmark and Iceland were among a limited number of contracting states that continue to permit the conclusion of closed-shop agreements. Diversity of international unions Union law varies from country to country, as does the function of unions. For example, German and Dutch unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in corporate boards and co-determination than have unions in the United States. Moreover, in the United States, collective bargaining is most commonly undertaken by unions directly with employers, whereas in Austria, Denmark, Germany or Sweden, unions most often negotiate with employers associations. Concerning labour market regulation in the EU, Gold (1993) and Hall (1994) have identified three distinct systems of labour market regulation, which also influence the role that unions play: "In the Continental European System of labour market regulation, the government plays an important role as there is a strong legislative core of employee rights, which provides the basis for agreements as well as a framework for discord between unions on one side and employers or employers' associations on the other. This model was said to be found in EU core countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, and it is also mirrored and emulated to some extent in the institutions of the EU, due to the relative weight that these countries had in the EU until the EU expansion by the inclusion of 10 new Eastern European member states in 2004. In the Anglo-Saxon System of labour market regulation, the government's legislative role is much more limited, which allows for more issues to be decided between employers and employees and any union or employers' associations which might represent these parties in the decision-making process. However, in these countries, collective agreements are not widespread; only a few businesses and a few sectors of the economy have a strong tradition of finding collective solutions in labour relations. Ireland and the UK belong to this category, and in contrast to the EU core countries above, these countries first joined the EU in 1973. In the Nordic System of labour market regulation, the government's legislative role is limited in the same way as in the Anglo-Saxon system. However, in contrast to the countries in the Anglo-Saxon system category, this is a much more widespread network of collective agreements, which covers most industries and most firms. This model was said to encompass Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Here, Denmark joined the EU in 1973, whereas Finland and Sweden joined in 1995." The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Thus, it comes closest to the above Anglo-Saxon model. Also, the Eastern European countries that have recently entered into the EU come closest to the Anglo-Saxon model. In contrast, in Germany, the relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to the narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employees association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in a court trial. In Germany, only very few professional associations obtained the right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctors association Marburger Bund and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit. The engineers association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses. Beyond the classification listed above, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with a political party intended to represent the interests of the working class. Typically this is a left-wing, socialist, or social democratic party, but many exceptions exist, including some of the aforementioned Christian unions. In the United States, trade unions are almost always aligned with the Democratic Party with a few exceptions. For example, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on a number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980. In Britain trade union movement's relationship with the Labour Party frayed as party leadership embarked on privatization plans at odds with what unions see as the worker's interests. However, it has strengthened once more after the Labour party's election of Ed Miliband, who beat his brother David Miliband to become leader of the party after Ed secured the trade union votes. Additionally, in the past, there was a group known as the Conservative Trade Unionists, or CTU, formed of people who sympathized with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists. Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate, but collective bargaining has only been legal if held in sessions before the lunar new year. International unionization The oldest global trade union organizations include the World Federation of Trade Unions created in 1945. The largest trade union federation in the world is the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), created in 2006, which has approximately 309 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. The ITUC is a federation of national trade union centres, such as the AFL-CIO in the United States and the Trades Union Congress in the United Kingdom. National and regional trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations, such as Union Network International, the International Transport Workers Federation, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance or Public Services International. Impact Economics The academic literature shows substantial evidence that labor unions reduce economic inequality. The economist Joseph Stiglitz has asserted that, "Strong unions have helped to reduce inequality, whereas weaker unions have made it easier for CEOs, sometimes working with market forces that they have helped shape, to increase it." The decline in unionization since the Second World War in the United States has been associated with a pronounced rise in income and wealth inequality and, since 1967, with loss of middle class income.Keith Naughton, Lynn Doan and Jeffrey Green (20 February 2015). As the Rich Get Richer, Unions Are Poised for Comeback. Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 March 2015. "A 2011 study drew a link between the decline in union membership since 1973 and expanding wage disparity. Those trends have since continued, said Bruce Western, a professor of sociology at Harvard University who co-authored the study."Barry T. Hirsch, David A. Macpherson, and Wayne G. Vroman, "Estimates of Union Density by State," Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 124, No. 7, July 2001. Right-to-work laws have been linked to greater economic inequality in the United States. Research from Norway has found that high unionization rates lead to substantial increases in firm productivity, as well as increases in workers' wages. Research from Belgium also found productivity gains, although smaller. Other research in the United States finds that unions can harm profitability, employment and business growth rates.Vedder, Richard, and Lowell Gallaway. "The economic effects of labor unions revisited." Journal of labor research 23, no. 1 (2002): 105-130. Research from the Anglosphere indicates that unions can provide wage premiums and reduce inequality while reducing employment growth and restricting employment flexibility. Milton Friedman, economist and advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, sought to show that unionization produces higher wages (for the union members) at the expense of fewer jobs, and that, if some industries are unionized while others are not, wages will tend to decline in non-unionized industries. Politics In the United States, the weakening of unions has been linked to more favorable electoral outcomes for the Republican Party. Legislators in areas with high unionization rates are more responsive to the interests of the poor, whereas areas with lower unionization rates are more responsive to the interests of the rich. Higher unionization rates increase the likelihood of parental leave policies being adopted. Republican-controlled states are less likely to adopt more restrictive labor policies when unions are strong in the state. Research in the United States found that American congressional representatives were more responsive to the interests of the poor in districts with higher unionization rates. Another 2020 American study found an association between US state level adoption of parental leave legislation and labor union strength. In the United States, unions have been linked to lower racial resentment among whites. Membership in unions increases political knowledge, in particular among those with less formal education. Health In the United States, higher union density has been associated with lower suicide/overdose deaths. Decreased unionization rates in the United States have been linked to an increase in occupational fatalities. Union publications Several sources of current news exist about the trade union movement in the world. These include LabourStart and the official website of the international trade union movement Global Unions. A source of international news about unions is RadioLabour which provides daily (Monday to Friday) news reports.Labor Notes is the largest circulation cross-union publication remaining in the United States. It reports news and analysis about union activity or problems facing the labour movement. Another source of union news is the Workers Independent News, a news organization providing radio articles to independent and syndicated radio shows in the United States. Film The 2010 British film Made in Dagenham, starring Sally Hawkins, dramatizes the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women. Trade unions were often portrayed in the scripts of Jim Allen. Examples include The Big Flame, The Rank and File and Days of Hope. These films all depict union leaders as untrustworthy and prone to betraying the striking workers. The British National Union of Mineworkers has been portrayed in numerous films such as Brassed Off, Billy Elliot and Pride. Bastard Boys, a 2007 dramatization of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute. The 2000 film Bread and Roses deals with the struggle of poorly paid janitorial workers in Los Angeles and their fight for better working conditions and the right to unionize. Hoffa, a 1992 American biographical film directed by Danny DeVito and based on the life of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Matewan is a 1987 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles that dramatizes the events of the Battle of Matewan, a coal miners' strike in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. Haskell Wexler was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The 1985 documentary film Final Offer by Sturla Gunnarsson and Robert Collision shows the 1984 union contract negotiations with General Motors. The 1979 film Norma Rae, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Sally Field, is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Jordan's successful attempt to unionize her textile factory. The 1978 film F.I.S.T., directed by Norman Jewison and starring Sylvester Stallone, is loosely based on the Teamsters Union and their former President Jimmy Hoffa. The 1959 film I'm All Right Jack, a comedy with Peter Sellers playing the shop steward Fred Kite. The 1954 film On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan, concerns union violence among longshoremen. Other documentaries: Made in L.A. (2007); American Standoff (2002); The Fight in the Fields (1997); With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade (1979); Harlan County, USA (1976); The Inheritance (1964) Other dramatizations: 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002); Matewan (1987); American Playhouse – "The Killing Floor" (1985); Salt of the Earth (1954); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); Black Fury (1935); Metello (1970). The 2018 film Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley, depicts the struggle of telemarketers in a dystopian version of Oakland to set up a workers union. The 2019 film The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, based on the 2004 non-fiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. See also Digital Product Passport Eight-hour day Labor federation competition in the United States Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act Labour inspectorate List of trade unions New Unionism Project Labor Agreement Professional association Salt (union organizing) Smart contract: can be used in employment contracts Textile and clothing trade unions Union busting Workplace politics Notes and references Further reading Britain Aldcroft, D. H. and Oliver, M. J., eds. Trade Unions and the Economy, 1870–2000. (2000). Campbell, A., Fishman, N., and McIlroy, J. eds. British Trade Unions and Industrial Politics: The Post-War Compromise 1945–64 (1999). Clegg, H.A. et al. A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889 (1964); A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: vol. 2 1911–1933. (1985); A History of British Trade Unionism Since 1889, vol. 3: 1934–51 (1994), The major scholarly history; highly detailed. Davies, A. J. To Build a New Jerusalem: Labour Movement from the 1890s to the 1990s (1996). Laybourn, Keith. A history of British trade unionism c. 1770–1990 (1992). Minkin, Lewis. The Contentious Alliance: Trade Unions and the Labour Party (1991) 708 pp online Pelling, Henry. A history of British trade unionism (1987). Wrigley, Chris, ed. British Trade Unions, 1945–1995 (Manchester University Press, 1997) Zeitlin, Jonathan. "From labour history to the history of industrial relations." Economic History Review 40.2 (1987): 159–184. Historiography Directory of Employer's Associations, Trade unions, Joint Organisations, published by HMSO (Her Majesty's Stationery Office) on 1986 United States Arnesen, Eric, ed. Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (2006), 3 vol; 2064pp; 650 articles by experts excerpt and text search Beik, Millie, ed. Labor Relations: Major Issues in American History (2005) over 100 annotated primary documents excerpt and text search Boris, Eileen, and Nelson Lichtenstein, eds. Major Problems In The History Of American Workers: Documents and Essays (2002) Brody, David. In Labor's Cause: Main Themes on the History of the American Worker (1993) excerpt and text search Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Foster Rhea Dulles. Labor in America: A History (2004), textbook, based on earlier textbooks by Dulles. Taylor, Paul F. The ABC-CLIO Companion to the American Labor Movement (1993) 237pp; short encyclopedia Zieger, Robert H., and Gilbert J. Gall, American Workers, American Unions: The Twentieth Century(3rd ed. 2002) excerpt and text search Other Berghahn, Volker R., and Detlev Karsten. Industrial Relations in West Germany (Bloomsbury Academic, 1988). European Commission, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion: Industrial Relations in Europe 2010. Gumbrell-McCormick, Rebecca, and Richard Hyman. Trade unions in western Europe: Hard times, hard choices (Oxford UP, 2013). Hodder, A. and L. Kretsos, eds. Young Workers and Trade Unions: A Global View (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2015). review Kester, Gérard. Trade unions and workplace democracy in Africa (Routledge, 2016). Kjellberg, Anders. "The Decline in Swedish Union Density since 2007", Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies (NJWLS) Vol. 1. No 1 (August 2011), pp. 67–93. Kjellberg, Anders (2017) The Membership Development of Swedish Trade Unions and Union Confederations Since the End of the Nineteenth Century (Studies in Social Policy, Industrial Relations, Working Life and Mobility). Research Reports 2017:2. Lund: Department of Sociology, Lund University. Lipton, Charles (1967). The Trade Union Movement of Canada: 1827–1959. (3rd ed. Toronto, Ont.: New Canada Publications, 1973). Markovits, Andrei. The Politics of West German Trade Unions: Strategies of Class and Interest Representation in Growth and Crisis (Routledge, 2016). McGaughey, Ewan, 'Democracy or Oligarchy? Models of Union Governance in the UK, Germany and US' (2017) ssrn.com Misner, Paul. Catholic Labor Movements in Europe. Social Thought and Action, 1914–1965 (2015). online review Mommsen, Wolfgang J., and Hans-Gerhard Husung, eds. The development of trade unionism in Great Britain and Germany, 1880–1914 (Taylor & Francis, 1985). Orr, Charles A. "Trade Unionism in Colonial Africa" Journal of Modern African Studies, 4 (1966), pp. 65–81 Panitch, Leo & Swartz, Donald (2003). From consent to coercion: The assault on trade union freedoms, third edition. Ontario: Garamound Press. Ribeiro, Ana Teresa. "Recent Trends in Collective Bargaining in Europe." E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies 5.1 (2016). online Taylor, Andrew. Trade Unions and Politics: A Comparative Introduction (Macmillan, 1989). Upchurch, Martin, and Graham Taylor. The Crisis of Social Democratic Trade Unionism in Western Europe: The Search for Alternatives (Routledge, 2016). Visser, Jelle. "Union membership statistics in 24 countries." Monthly Labor Review''. 129 (2006): 38+ [http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1276&context=key_workplace online Visser, Jelle. "ICTWSS: Database on institutional characteristics of trade unions, wage setting, state intervention and social pacts in 34 countries between 1960 and 2007." Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, AIAS, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam (2011). online External links LabourStart international trade union news service RadioLabour New Unionism Network Younionize Global Union Directory Australia Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) – Australian Council of Trade Unions Europe Trade union membership 1993–2003 – European Industrial Relations Observatory report on membership trends in 26 European countries Trade union membership 2003–2008 – European Industrial Relations Observatory report on membership trends in 28 European countries Trade Union Ancestors – Listing of 5,000 UK trade unions with histories of main organizations, trade union "family trees" and details of union membership and strikes since 1900. TUC History online – History of the British union movement Trade EU – European Trade Directory Short history of the UGT in Catalonia United States Labor rights in the USA Labor Notes magazine Jewish Law (Halakhah) Benjamin Brown, "Trade Unions, Strikes, and the Renewal of Halakhic Labor Law: Ideologies in the Rulings of Rabbis Kook, Uziel, and Feinstein" Labor relations	[ 0.6228824257850647, -0.0758090615272522, -0.08593585342168808, -0.02790229581296444, 0.060230109840631485, 0.0925978422164917, 0.2605958878993988, 0.2993064522743225, -0.5717456936836243, -0.5399894714355469, -0.5042170882225037, 0.13084550201892853, -0.31995946168899536, 0.333446323871612...
17627	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal	Liberal	Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics a supporter of liberalism, a political and moral philosophy Liberalism by country an adherent of a Liberal Party Liberalism (international relations) Arts, entertainment and media El Liberal, a Spanish newspaper published 1879–1936 The Liberal, a British political magazine published 2004–2012 Liberalism (book), a 1927 book by Ludwig von Mises "Liberal", a song by Band-Maid from the 2019 album Conqueror Places in the United States Liberal, Indiana Liberal, Kansas Liberal, Missouri Liberal, Oregon Religion Religious liberalism Liberal Christianity Liberalism and progressivism within Islam Liberal Judaism (disambiguation) See also Liberal arts (disambiguation) Neoliberalism, a political-economic philosophy The Liberal Wars, a civil war in Portugal in the early 19th century	[ 0.24379011988639832, -0.034215837717056274, -0.2554085850715637, 0.19543178379535675, -0.4298045337200165, 0.14391686022281647, 0.13678935170173645, 0.6880223155021667, -0.2561928629875183, -0.3477426767349243, -0.5922334790229797, 0.40598294138908386, -0.07842669636011124, 0.6768845915794...
17628	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana%20Purchase	Louisiana Purchase	The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from Napoleonic France in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of . However, France only controlled a small fraction of this area, most of it inhabited by Native Americans; for the majority of the area, what the United States bought was the "preemptive" right to obtain "Indian" lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers. The total cost of all subsequent treaties and financial settlements over the land has been estimated to be around 2.6 billion dollars. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. In 1800, Napoleon, the First Consul of the French Republic, regained ownership of Louisiana as part of a broader project to re-establish a French colonial empire in North America. However, France's failure to put down a revolt in Saint-Domingue, coupled with the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom, prompted Napoleon to consider selling Louisiana to the United States. Acquisition of Louisiana was a long-term goal of President Thomas Jefferson, who was especially eager to gain control of the crucial Mississippi River port of New Orleans. Jefferson tasked James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston with purchasing New Orleans. Negotiating with French Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois (who was acting on behalf of Napoleon), the American representatives quickly agreed to purchase the entire territory of Louisiana after it was offered. Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party, Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison persuaded Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase extended United States sovereignty across the Mississippi River, nearly doubling the nominal size of the country. The purchase included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, including the entirety of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; large portions of North Dakota and South Dakota; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; the northeastern section of New Mexico; northern portions of Texas; New Orleans and the portions of the present state of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River; and small portions of land within Alberta and Saskatchewan. At the time of the purchase, the territory of Louisiana's non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were enslaved Africans. The western borders of the purchase were later settled by the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain, while the northern borders of the purchase were adjusted by the Treaty of 1818 with Britain. Background Throughout the second half of the 18th century, the French colony of Louisiana became a pawn for European political intrigue. The colony was the most substantial presence of France's overseas empire, with other possessions consisting of a few small settlements along the Mississippi and other main rivers. France ceded the territory to Spain in 1762 in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau. Following French defeat in the Seven Years' War, Spain gained control of the territory west of the Mississippi, and the British received the territory to the east of the river. Following the establishment of the United States, the Americans controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi to the sea. As the lands were being gradually settled by American migrants, many Americans, including Jefferson, assumed that the territory would be acquired "piece by piece." The risk of another power taking it from a weakened Spain made a "profound reconsideration" of this policy necessary. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the areas of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. Pinckney's Treaty, signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, granting them use of the port to store goods for export. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi, which had become vital to the growing trade of the western territories. In 1798, Spain revoked the treaty allowing American use of New Orleans, greatly upsetting Americans. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo, and restored the American right to deposit goods. However, in 1800 Spain had ceded the Louisiana territory back to France as part of Napoleon's secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. The territory nominally remained under Spanish control, until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the formal cession of the territory to the United States on December 20, 1803. Negotiation While the transfer of the territory by Spain back to France in 1800 went largely unnoticed, fear of an eventual French invasion spread across America when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to secure New Orleans. Southerners feared that Napoleon would free all the slaves in Louisiana, which could trigger slave uprisings elsewhere. Though Jefferson urged moderation, Federalists sought to use this against Jefferson and called for hostilities against France. Undercutting them, Jefferson threatened an alliance with the United Kingdom, although relations were uneasy in that direction. In 1801, Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), which was then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion. Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris in 1801 with the authorization to purchase New Orleans. In January 1802, France sent General Charles Leclerc on an expedition to Saint-Domingue to reassert French control over a colony that had become essentially autonomous under Louverture. Louverture, as a French general, had fended off incursions from other European powers, but had also begun to consolidate power for himself on the island. Before the revolution, France had derived enormous wealth from St. Domingue at the cost of the lives and freedom of the slaves. Napoleon wanted its revenues and productivity for France restored. Alarmed over the French actions and its intention to re-establish an empire in North America, Jefferson declared neutrality in relation to the Caribbean, refusing credit and other assistance to the French, but allowing war contraband to get through to the rebels to prevent France from regaining a foothold. In 1803, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French nobleman, began to help negotiate with France at the request of Jefferson. Du Pont was living in the United States at the time and had close ties to Jefferson as well as the prominent politicians in France. He engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Napoleon on Jefferson's behalf during a visit to France and originated the idea of the much larger Louisiana Purchase as a way to defuse potential conflict between the United States and Napoleon over North America. Throughout this time, Jefferson had up-to-date intelligence on Napoleon's military activities and intentions in North America. Part of his evolving strategy involved giving du Pont some information that was withheld from Livingston. Desperate to avoid possible war with France, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris in 1803 to negotiate a settlement, with instructions to go to London to negotiate an alliance if the talks in Paris failed. Spain procrastinated until late 1802 in executing the treaty to transfer Louisiana to France, which allowed American hostility to build. Also, Spain's refusal to cede Florida to France meant that Louisiana would be indefensible. Monroe had been formally expelled from France on his last diplomatic mission, and the choice to send him again conveyed a sense of seriousness. Napoleon needed peace with the United Kingdom to take possession of Louisiana. Otherwise, Louisiana would be an easy prey for a potential invasion from Britain or the U.S. But in early 1803, continuing war between France and the UK seemed unavoidable. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade Great Britain. In Saint-Domingue, Leclerc's forces took Louverture prisoner, but their expedition soon faltered in the face of fierce resistance and disease. By early 1803, Napoleon decided to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, Louisiana had little value to him. Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France, and war between France and the UK was imminent. Out of anger towards Spain and the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory. Although the foreign minister Talleyrand opposed the plan, on April 10, 1803, Napoleon told the Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois that he was considering selling the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States. On April 11, 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, Barbé-Marbois offered Livingston all of Louisiana for $15 million, which averages to less than three cents per acre (7¢/ha). The total of $15 million is equivalent to about $ million in dollars, or cents per acre. The American representatives were prepared to pay up to $10 million for New Orleans and its environs but were dumbfounded when the vastly larger territory was offered for $15 million. Jefferson had authorized Livingston only to purchase New Orleans. However, Livingston was certain that the United States would accept the offer. The Americans thought that Napoleon might withdraw the offer at any time, preventing the United States from acquiring New Orleans, so they agreed and signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on April 30, 1803, at the Hôtel Tubeuf in Paris. The signers were Robert Livingston, James Monroe, and François Barbé-Marbois. After the signing Livingston famously stated, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives... From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank." On July 4, 1803, the treaty was announced, but the documents did not arrive in Washington, D.C. until July 14. The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. Acquiring the territory doubled the size of the United States. In November 1803, France withdrew its 7,000 surviving troops from Saint-Domingue (more than two-thirds of its troops died there) and gave up its ambitions in the Western Hemisphere. In 1804 Haiti declared its independence; but fearing a slave revolt at home, Jefferson and the rest of Congress refused to recognize the new republic, the second in the Western Hemisphere, and imposed a trade embargo against it. This, together with the successful French demand for an indemnity of 150 million francs in 1825, severely hampered Haiti's ability to repair its economy after decades of war. Domestic opposition and constitutionality After Monroe and Livingston had returned from France with news of the purchase, an official announcement of the purchase was made on July 4, 1803. This gave Jefferson and his cabinet until October, when the treaty had to be ratified, to discuss the constitutionality of the purchase. Jefferson considered a constitutional amendment to justify the purchase; however, his cabinet convinced him otherwise. Jefferson justified the purchase by rationalizing, "it is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good." Jefferson ultimately came to the conclusion before the ratification of the treaty that the purchase was to protect the citizens of the United States therefore making it constitutional. Henry Adams and other historians have argued that Jefferson acted hypocritically with the Louisiana Purchase, because of his position as a strict constructionist regarding the Constitution since he stretched the intent of that document to justify his purchase. The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. Jefferson's philosophical consistency was in question because of his strict interpretation of the Constitution. Many people believed that he and others, including James Madison, were doing something they surely would have argued against with Alexander Hamilton. The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon. Both Federalists and Jeffersonians were concerned over the purchase's constitutionality. Many members of the House of Representatives opposed the purchase. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 59–57. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. The Federalists also feared that the power of the Atlantic seaboard states would be threatened by the new citizens in the West, whose political and economic priorities were bound to conflict with those of the merchants and bankers of New England. There was also concern that an increase in the number of slave-holding states created out of the new territory would exacerbate divisions between North and South as well. A group of Northern Federalists led by Senator Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts went so far as to explore the idea of a separate northern confederacy. Another concern was whether it was proper to grant citizenship to the French, Spanish, and free black people living in New Orleans, as the treaty would dictate. Critics in Congress worried whether these "foreigners", unacquainted with democracy, could or should become citizens. The U.S. Government had to use English common law to make them citizens to collect taxes. Spain protested the transfer on two grounds: First, France had previously promised in a note not to alienate Louisiana to a third party and second, France had not fulfilled the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso by having the King of Etruria recognized by all European powers. The French government replied that these objections were baseless since the promise not to alienate Louisiana was not in the treaty of San Ildefonso itself and therefore had no legal force, and the Spanish government had ordered Louisiana to be transferred in October 1802 despite knowing for months that Britain had not recognized the King of Etruria in the Treaty of Amiens. Henry Adams claimed "The sale of Louisiana to the United States was trebly invalid; if it were French property, Bonaparte could not constitutionally alienate it without the consent of the French Chambers; if it were Spanish property, he could not alienate it at all; if Spain had a right of reclamation, his sale was worthless." The sale of course was not "worthless"—the U.S. actually did take possession. Furthermore, the Spanish prime minister had authorized the U.S. to negotiate with the French government "the acquisition of territories which may suit their interests." Spain turned the territory over to France in a ceremony in New Orleans on November 30, a month before France turned it over to American officials. Other historians counter the above arguments regarding Jefferson's alleged hypocrisy by asserting that countries change their borders in two ways: (1) conquest, or (2) an agreement between nations, otherwise known as a treaty. The Louisiana Purchase was the latter, a treaty. The Constitution specifically grants the president the power to negotiate treaties (Art. II, Sec. 2), which is just what Jefferson did. Madison (the "Father of the Constitution") assured Jefferson that the Louisiana Purchase was well within even the strictest interpretation of the Constitution. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin added that since the power to negotiate treaties was specifically granted to the president, the only way extending the country's territory by treaty could not be a presidential power would be if it were specifically excluded by the Constitution (which it was not). Jefferson, as a strict constructionist, was right to be concerned about staying within the bounds of the Constitution, but felt the power of these arguments and was willing to "acquiesce with satisfaction" if the Congress approved the treaty. The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House, with equal alacrity, authorized the required funding, as the Constitution specifies. The fledgling United States did not have $15 million in its treasury; it borrowed the sum from Great Britain, at an annual interest rate of six percent. The United States Senate advised and consented to ratification of the treaty with a vote of twenty-four to seven on October 20. On the following day, October 21, 1803, the Senate authorized Jefferson to take possession of the territory and establish a temporary military government. In legislation enacted on October 31, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order. Plans were also set forth for several missions to explore and chart the territory, the most famous being the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The opposition of New England Federalists to the Louisiana Purchase was primarily economic self-interest, not any legitimate concern over constitutionality or whether France indeed owned Louisiana or was required to sell it back to Spain should it desire to dispose of the territory. The Northerners were not enthusiastic about Western farmers gaining another outlet for their crops that did not require the use of New England ports. Also, many Federalists were speculators in lands in upstate New York and New England and were hoping to sell these lands to farmers, who might go west instead, if the Louisiana Purchase went through. They also feared that this would lead to Western states being formed, which would likely be Republican, and dilute the political power of New England Federalists. When Spain later objected to the United States purchasing Louisiana from France, Madison responded that America had first approached Spain about purchasing the property but had been told by Spain itself that America would have to treat with France for the territory. Formal transfers and initial organization France turned over New Orleans, the historic colonial capital, on December 20, 1803, at the Cabildo, with a flag-raising ceremony in the Plaza de Armas, now Jackson Square. Just three weeks earlier, on November 30, 1803, Spanish officials had formally conveyed the colonial lands and their administration to France. On March 9 and 10, 1804, another ceremony, commemorated as Three Flags Day, was conducted in St. Louis, to transfer ownership of Upper Louisiana from Spain to France, and then from France to the United States. From March 10 to September 30, 1804, Upper Louisiana was supervised as a military district, under its first civil commandant, Amos Stoddard, who was appointed by the War Department. Effective October 1, 1804, the purchased territory was organized into the Territory of Orleans (most of which would become the state of Louisiana) and the District of Louisiana, which was temporarily under control of the governor and judicial system of the Indiana Territory. The following year, the District of Louisiana was renamed the Territory of Louisiana. New Orleans was the administrative capital of the Orleans Territory, and St. Louis was the capital of the Louisiana Territory. Financing The American government used $3 million in gold as a down payment and issued bonds for the balance to pay France for the purchase. Earlier that year, Francis Baring and Company of London had become the U.S. government's official banking agent in London following the failure of Bird, Savage & Bird. Because of this favored position, the U.S. asked the Baring firm to handle the transaction. Francis Baring's son Alexander was in Paris at the time and helped in the negotiations. Another Baring advantage was a close relationship with Hope and Company of Amsterdam. The two banking houses worked together to facilitate and underwrite the purchase. Although the War of the Third Coalition, which brought France into a war with the United Kingdom, began before the purchase was completed, the UK allowed the deal to proceed as it was better for the neutral Americans to own the territory than the hostile French. Because Napoleon wanted to receive his money as quickly as possible, the two firms received the American bonds and shipped the gold to France. Napoleon used the money to finance his planned invasion of England, which never took place. Boundaries A dispute soon arose between Spain and the United States regarding the extent of Louisiana. The territory's boundaries had not been defined in the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau that ceded it from France to Spain, nor in the 1801 Third Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding it back to France, nor the 1803 Louisiana Purchase agreement ceding it to the United States. The U.S. claimed that Louisiana included the entire western portion of the Mississippi River drainage basin to the crest of the Rocky Mountains and land extending to the Rio Grande and West Florida. Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis. The dispute was ultimately resolved by the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, with the United States gaining most of what it had claimed in the west. The relatively narrow Louisiana of New Spain had been a special province under the jurisdiction of the Captaincy General of Cuba, while the vast region to the west was in 1803 still considered part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas. Louisiana had never been considered one of New Spain's internal provinces. If the territory included all the tributaries of the Mississippi on its western bank, the northern reaches of the purchase extended into the equally ill-defined British possession—Rupert's Land of British North America, now part of Canada. The purchase originally extended just beyond the 50th parallel. However, the territory north of the 49th parallel (including the Milk River and Poplar River watersheds) was ceded to the UK in exchange for parts of the Red River Basin south of 49th parallel in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. The eastern boundary of the Louisiana purchase was the Mississippi River, from its source to the 31st parallel, though the source of the Mississippi was, at the time, unknown. The eastern boundary below the 31st parallel was unclear. The U.S. claimed the land as far as the Perdido River, and Spain claimed that the border of its Florida Colony remained the Mississippi River. The Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain resolved the issue upon ratification in 1821. Today, the 31st parallel is the northern boundary of the western half of the Florida Panhandle, and the Perdido is the western boundary of Florida. Because the western boundary was contested at the time of the purchase, President Jefferson immediately began to organize three missions to explore and map the new territory. All three started from the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804) traveled up the Missouri River; the Red River Expedition (1806) explored the Red River basin; the Pike Expedition (1806) also started up the Missouri but turned south to explore the Arkansas River watershed. The maps and journals of the explorers helped to define the boundaries during the negotiations leading to the Adams–Onís Treaty, which set the western boundary as follows: north up the Sabine River from the Gulf of Mexico to its intersection with the 32nd parallel, due north to the Red River, up the Red River to the 100th meridian, north to the Arkansas River, up the Arkansas River to its headwaters, due north to the 42nd parallel and due west to its previous boundary. Slavery Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. Its European peoples, of ethnic French, Spanish and Mexican descent, were largely Catholic; in addition, there was a large population of enslaved Africans made up of a high proportion of recent arrivals, as Spain had continued the transatlantic slave trade. This was particularly true in the area of the present-day state of Louisiana, which also contained a large number of free people of color. Both present-day Arkansas and Missouri already had some slaveholders in the 18th and early 19th century. During this period, south Louisiana received an influx of French-speaking refugee planters, who were permitted to bring their slaves with them, and other refugees fleeing the large slave revolt in Saint-Domingue. Many Southern slaveholders feared that acquisition of the new territory might inspire American-held slaves to follow the example of those in Saint-Domingue and revolt. They wanted the U.S. government to establish laws allowing slavery in the newly acquired territory so they could be supported in taking their slaves there to undertake new agricultural enterprises, as well as to reduce the threat of future slave rebellions. The Louisiana Territory was broken into smaller portions for administration, and the territories passed slavery laws similar to those in the southern states but incorporating provisions from the preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African-Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis in Upper Louisiana when the U.S. took over). In a freedom suit that went from Missouri to the U.S. Supreme Court, slavery of Native Americans was finally ended in 1836. The institutionalization of slavery under U.S. law in the Louisiana Territory contributed to the American Civil War a half century later. As states organized within the territory, the status of slavery in each state became a matter of contention in Congress, as southern states wanted slavery extended to the west, and northern states just as strongly opposed new states being admitted as "slave states." The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a temporary solution. Asserting U.S. possession After the early explorations, the U.S. government sought to establish control of the region, since trade along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers was still dominated by British and French traders from Canada and allied Indians, especially the Sauk and Fox. The U.S. adapted the former Spanish facility at Fort Bellefontaine as a fur trading post near St. Louis in 1804 for business with the Sauk and Fox. In 1808 two military forts with trading factories were built, Fort Osage along the Missouri River in western present-day Missouri and Fort Madison along the Upper Mississippi River in eastern present-day Iowa. With tensions increasing with Great Britain, in 1809 Fort Bellefontaine was converted to a U.S. military fort and was used for that purpose until 1826. During the War of 1812, Great Britain hoped to annex all or at least portions of the Louisiana Purchase should they successfully defeat the U.S. Aided by their Indian allies, the British defeated U.S. forces in the Upper Mississippi; the U.S. abandoned Forts Osage and Madison, as well as several other U.S. forts built during the war, including Fort Johnson and Fort Shelby. U.S. ownership of the whole Louisiana Purchase region was confirmed in the Treaty of Ghent (ratified in February 1815) and guaranteed on the battlefield at the decisive Battle of New Orleans when the British sent over 10,000 of the best British Army soldiers to try to take New Orleans in a 5 month long campaign starting from September 1814 (First Battle of Fort Bowyer) to February 1815 (Second Battle of Fort Bowyer). Nobody really knows what post-victory plans for New Orleans and Upper Louisiana were given by the British government to Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and his second-in-command Major General Samuel Gibbs because both generals were killed in action at the Battle of New Orleans. Pakenham was ordered to conduct the New Orleans/Mobile campaign even in the middle of the peace negotiations in late 1814. The British would have likely garrisoned New Orleans and would have occupied it for a very long time because they and their ally Spain did not recognize any treaties and land deals conducted by Napoleon since 1800, especially the Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. later built or expanded forts along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, including adding to Fort Bellefontaine, and constructing Fort Armstrong (1816) and Fort Edwards (1816) in Illinois, Fort Crawford (1816) in Wisconsin, Fort Snelling (1819) in Minnesota, and Fort Atkinson (1819) in Nebraska. Impact on Native Americans The Louisiana Purchase was negotiated between France and the United States, without consulting the various Indian tribes who lived on the land and who had not ceded the land to any colonial power. The four decades following the Louisiana Purchase was an era of court decisions removing many tribes from their lands east of the Mississippi, culminating in the Trail of Tears. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory led to the debate over the idea of indigenous land rights leading all the way into the mid 20th century. The many court cases and tribal suits for historical damages following the Louisiana Purchase in the 1930s led to the Indian Claims Commission Act (ICCA) in 1946. Felix S. Cohen, Interior Department Lawyer who helped pass ICCA, is often quoted as saying, "practically all of the real estate acquired by the United States since 1776 was purchased not from Napoleon or any other emperor or czar but from its original Indian owners", roughly estimating that Indians had received twenty times as much as France had for the territory bought by the United States, "somewhat in excess of 800 million dollars". The cost has been more recently estimated as 2.6 billion dollars, but this is nonetheless far lower than the true value of the land. See also Alaska Purchase Corps of Discovery Florida Purchase Foreign affairs of the Jefferson administration Franco-American alliance Historic regions of the United States List of French possessions and colonies Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park Territorial evolution of the United States Territories of the United States on stamps Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Notes References Further reading External links Case and Controversies in U.S. History, Page 42 Senator Pickering explains his opposition to the Louisiana Purchase, 1803. 1803 in France 1803 in New France 1803 in the United States 1803 treaties Great Plains History of St. Louis History of United States expansionism Louisiana (New France) Midwestern United States Pre-statehood history of Arkansas Pre-statehood history of Iowa Pre-statehood history of Kansas Pre-statehood history of Louisiana Pre-statehood history of Missouri Pre-statehood history of Montana Pre-statehood history of Nebraska Pre-statehood history of North Dakota Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma Pre-statehood history of South Dakota Pre-statehood history of Wyoming Treaties involving territorial changes	[ -0.3356480598449707, -0.040264543145895004, -0.5193142890930176, 0.3315272331237793, 0.3467783033847809, 0.2118907868862152, -0.05717708542943001, 0.6341313719749451, -0.13217812776565552, -0.33353191614151, -0.0618913471698761, 0.3137637972831726, -0.23335886001586914, 1.0380184650421143,...
17629	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor%20theory%20of%20value	Labor theory of value	The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory of value that argues that the economic value of a good or service is determined by the total amount of "socially necessary labor" required to produce it. The LTV is usually associated with Marxian economics, although it originally appeared in the theories of earlier classical economics such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and later in anarchist economics. Smith saw the price of a commodity in terms of the labor that the purchaser must expend to buy it, which embodies the concept of how much labor a commodity, a tool for example, can save the purchaser. The LTV is central to Marxist theory, which holds that the working class is exploited under capitalism, and dissociates price and value. However, Marx did not refer to his own theory of value as a "labour theory of value". Orthodox neoclassical economics rejects the LTV, using a theory of value based on subjective preferences. The revival in interpretation of Marx known as the also rejects Marxian economics and the LTV, calling them "substantialist". This reading claims that the LTV is a misinterpretation of the concept of fetishism in relation to value, and that this understanding never appears in Marx's work. The school heavily emphasizes works such as Capital as explicitly being a critique of political economy, instead of a "more correct" theory. Definitions of value and labor When speaking in terms of a labor theory of value, "value", without any qualifying adjective should theoretically refer to the amount of labor necessary to produce a marketable commodity, including the labor necessary to develop any real capital used in the production. Both David Ricardo and Karl Marx tried to quantify and embody all labor components in order to develop a theory of the real price, or natural price of a commodity. The labor theory of value as presented by Adam Smith did not require the quantification of past labor, nor did it deal with the labor needed to create the tools (capital) that might be used in producing a commodity. Smith's theory of value was very similar to the later utility theories in that Smith proclaimed that a commodity was worth whatever labor it would command in others (value in trade) or whatever labor it would "save" the self (value in use), or both. However, this "value" is subject to supply and demand at a particular time: The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What every thing is really worth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it or exchange it for something else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself, and which it can impose upon other people. (Wealth of Nations Book 1, chapter V) Smith's theory of price has nothing to do with the past labor spent in producing a commodity. It speaks only of the labor that can be "commanded" or "saved" at present. If there is no use for a buggy whip, then the item is economically worthless in trade or in use, regardless of all the labor spent in creating it. Distinctions of economically pertinent labor Value "in use" is the usefulness of this commodity, its utility. A classical paradox often comes up when considering this type of value. In the words of Adam Smith: The word value, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes expresses the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. The one may be called "value in use"; the other, "value in exchange." The things which have the greatest value in use have frequently little or no value in exchange; and, on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce anything; scarce anything can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarce any value in use; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it (Wealth of Nations Book 1, chapter IV). Value "in exchange" is the relative proportion with which this commodity exchanges for another commodity (in other words, its price in the case of money). It is relative to labor as explained by Adam Smith: The value of any commodity, [...] to the person who possesses it, and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labour which it enables him to purchase or command. Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities (Wealth of Nations Book 1, chapter V). Value (without qualification) is the labor embodied in a commodity under a given structure of production. Marx defined the value of the commodity by this third definition. In his terms, value is the 'socially necessary abstract labor' embodied in a commodity. To David Ricardo and other classical economists, this definition serves as a measure of "real cost", "absolute value", or a "measure of value" invariable under changes in distribution and technology. Ricardo, other classical economists and Marx began their expositions with the assumption that value in exchange was equal to or proportional to this labor value. They thought this was a good assumption from which to explore the dynamics of development in capitalist societies. Other supporters of the labor theory of value used the word "value" in the second sense to represent "exchange value". Labor process Since the term "value" is understood in the LTV as denoting something created by labor, and its "magnitude" as something proportional to the quantity of labor performed, it is important to explain how the labor process both preserves value and adds new value in the commodities it creates. The value of a commodity increases in proportion to the duration and intensity of labor performed on average for its production. Part of what the LTV means by "socially necessary" is that the value only increases in proportion to this labor as it is performed with average skill and average productivity. So though workers may labor with greater skill or more productivity than others, these more skillful and more productive workers thus produce more value through the production of greater quantities of the finished commodity. Each unit still bears the same value as all the others of the same class of commodity. By working sloppily, unskilled workers may drag down the average skill of labor, thus increasing the average labor time necessary for the production of each unit commodity. But these unskillful workers cannot hope to sell the result of their labor process at a higher price (as opposed to value) simply because they have spent more time than other workers producing the same kind of commodities. However, production not only involves labor, but also certain means of labor: tools, materials, power plants and so on. These means of labor—also known as means of production—are often the product of another labor process as well. So the labor process inevitably involves these means of production that already enter the process with a certain amount of value. Labor also requires other means of production that are not produced with labor and therefore bear no value: such as sunlight, air, uncultivated land, unextracted minerals, etc. While useful, even crucial to the production process, these bring no value to that process. In terms of means of production resulting from another labor process, LTV treats the magnitude of value of these produced means of production as constant throughout the labor process. Due to the constancy of their value, these means of production are referred to, in this light, as constant capital. Consider for example workers who take coffee beans, use a roaster to roast them, and then use a brewer to brew and dispense a fresh cup of coffee. In performing this labor, these workers add value to the coffee beans and water that comprise the material ingredients of a cup of coffee. The worker also transfers the value of constant capital—the value of the beans; some specific depreciated value of the roaster and the brewer; and the value of the cup—to the value of the final cup of coffee. Again, on average, the worker can transfer no more than the value of these means of labor previously possessed to the finished cup of coffee. So the value of coffee produced in a day equals the sum of both the value of the means of labor—this constant capital—and the value newly added by the worker in proportion to the duration and intensity of their work. Often this is expressed mathematically as: where is the constant capital of materials used in a period plus the depreciated portion of tools and plant used in the process. (A period is typically a day, week, year, or a single turnover: meaning the time required to complete one batch of coffee, for example.) is the quantity of labor time (average skill and productivity) performed in producing the finished commodities during the period is the value (or think "worth") of the product of the period ( comes from the German word for value: wert) Note: if the product resulting from the labor process is homogeneous (all similar in quality and traits, for example, all cups of coffee) then the value of the period's product can be divided by the total number of items (use-values or ) produced to derive the unit value of each item. where is the total items produced. The LTV further divides the value added during the period of production, , into two parts. The first part is the portion of the process when the workers add value equivalent to the wages they are paid. For example, if the period in question is one week and these workers collectively are paid $1,000, then the time necessary to add $1,000 to—while preserving the value of—constant capital is considered the necessary labor portion of the period (or week): denoted . The remaining period is considered the surplus labor portion of the week: or . The value used to purchase labor-power, for example, the $1,000 paid in wages to these workers for the week, is called variable capital (). This is because in contrast to the constant capital expended on means of production, variable capital can add value in the labor process. The amount it adds depends on the duration, intensity, productivity and skill of the labor-power purchased: in this sense, the buyer of labor-power has purchased a commodity of variable use. Finally, the value added during the portion of the period when surplus labor is performed is called surplus value (). From the variables defined above, we find two other common expressions for the value produced during a given period: and The first form of the equation expresses the value resulting from production, focusing on the costs and the surplus value appropriated in the process of production, . The second form of the equation focuses on the value of production in terms of the values added by the labor performed during the process . Relation between values and prices One issue facing the LTV is the relationship between value quantities on one hand and prices on the other. If a commodity's value is not the same as its price, and therefore the magnitudes of each likely differ, then what is the relation between the two, if any? Various LTV schools of thought provide different answers to this question. For example, some argue that value in the sense of the amount of labor embodied in a good acts as a center of gravity for price. However, most economists would say that cases where pricing is given as approximately equal to the value of the labour embodied, are in fact only special cases. In General Theory pricing most usually fluctuates. The standard formulation is that prices normally include a level of income for "capital" and "land". These incomes are known as "profit" and "rent" respectively. Yet Marx made the point that value cannot be placed upon labour as a commodity, because capital is a constant, whereas profit is a variable, not an income; thus explaining the importance of profit in relation to pricing variables. In Book 1, chapter VI, Adam Smith writes: The real value of all the different component parts of price, it must be observed, is measured by the quantity of labour which they can, each of them, purchase or command. Labour measures the value not only of that part of price which resolves itself into labour, but of that which resolves itself into rent, and of that which resolves itself into profit. The final sentence explains how Smith sees value of a product as relative to labor of buyer or consumer, as opposite to Marx who sees the value of a product being proportional to labor of laborer or producer. And we value things, price them, based on how much labor we can avoid or command, and we can command labor not only in a simple way but also by trading things for a profit. The demonstration of the relation between commodities' unit values and their respective prices is known in Marxian terminology as the transformation problem or the transformation of values into prices of production. The transformation problem has probably generated the greatest bulk of debate about the LTV. The problem with transformation is to find an algorithm where the magnitude of value added by labor, in proportion to its duration and intensity, is sufficiently accounted for after this value is distributed through prices that reflect an equal rate of return on capital advanced. If there is an additional magnitude of value or a loss of value after transformation, then the relation between values (proportional to labor) and prices (proportional to total capital advanced) is incomplete. Various solutions and impossibility theorems have been offered for the transformation, but the debate has not reached any clear resolution. LTV does not deny the role of supply and demand influencing price, since the price of a commodity is something other than its value. In Value, Price and Profit (1865), Karl Marx quotes Adam Smith and sums up: It suffices to say that if supply and demand equilibrate each other, the market prices of commodities will correspond with their natural prices, that is to say, with their values as determined by the respective quantities of labor required for their production. The LTV seeks to explain the level of this equilibrium. This could be explained by a cost of production argument—pointing out that all costs are ultimately labor costs, but this does not account for profit, and it is vulnerable to the charge of tautology in that it explains prices by prices. Marx later called this "Smith's adding up theory of value". Smith argues that labor values are the natural measure of exchange for direct producers like hunters and fishermen. Marx, on the other hand, uses a measurement analogy, arguing that for commodities to be comparable they must have a common element or substance by which to measure them, and that labor is a common substance of what Marx eventually calls commodity-values. History Origins The labor theory of value has developed over many centuries. It had no single originator, but rather many different thinkers arrived at the same conclusion independently. Aristotle is claimed to hold to this view. Some writers trace its origin to Thomas Aquinas. In his Summa Theologiae (1265–1274) he expresses the view that "value can, does and should increase in relation to the amount of labor which has been expended in the improvement of commodities." Scholars such as Joseph Schumpeter have cited Ibn Khaldun, who in his Muqaddimah (1377), described labor as the source of value, necessary for all earnings and capital accumulation. He argued that even if earning "results from something other than a craft, the value of the resulting profit and acquired (capital) must (also) include the value of the labor by which it was obtained. Without labor, it would not have been acquired." Scholars have also pointed to Sir William Petty's Treatise of Taxes of 1662 and to John Locke's labor theory of property, set out in the Second Treatise on Government (1689), which sees labor as the ultimate source of economic value. Karl Marx himself credited Benjamin Franklin in his 1729 essay entitled "A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency" as being "one of the first" to advance the theory. Adam Smith accepted the theory for pre-capitalist societies but saw a flaw in its application to contemporary capitalism. He pointed out that if the "labor embodied" in a product equaled the "labor commanded" (i.e. the amount of labor that could be purchased by selling it), then profit was impossible. David Ricardo (seconded by Marx) responded to this paradox by arguing that Smith had confused labor with wages. "Labor commanded", he argued, would always be more than the labor needed to sustain itself (wages). The value of labor, in this view, covered not just the value of wages (what Marx called the value of labor power), but the value of the entire product created by labor. Ricardo's theory was a predecessor of the modern theory that equilibrium prices are determined solely by production costs associated with Neo-Ricardianism. Based on the discrepancy between the wages of labor and the value of the product, the "Ricardian socialists"—Charles Hall, Thomas Hodgskin, John Gray, and John Francis Bray, and Percy Ravenstone—applied Ricardo's theory to develop theories of exploitation. Marx expanded on these ideas, arguing that workers work for a part of each day adding the value required to cover their wages, while the remainder of their labor is performed for the enrichment of the capitalist. The LTV and the accompanying theory of exploitation became central to his economic thought. 19th century American individualist anarchists based their economics on the LTV, with their particular interpretation of it being called "Cost the limit of price". They, as well as contemporary individualist anarchists in that tradition, hold that it is unethical to charge a higher price for a commodity than the amount of labor required to produce it. Hence, they propose that trade should be facilitated by using notes backed by labor. Adam Smith and David Ricardo Adam Smith held that, in a primitive society, the amount of labor put into producing a good determined its exchange value, with exchange value meaning, in this case, the amount of labor a good can purchase. However, according to Smith, in a more advanced society the market price is no longer proportional to labor cost since the value of the good now includes compensation for the owner of the means of production: "The whole produce of labour does not always belong to the labourer. He must in most cases share it with the owner of the stock which employs him." According to Whitaker, Smith is claiming that the 'real value' of such a commodity produced in advanced society is measured by the labor which that commodity will command in exchange but "[Smith] disowns what is naturally thought of as the genuine classical labor theory of value, that labor-cost regulates market-value. This theory was Ricardo's, and really his alone." Classical economist David Ricardo's labor theory of value holds that the value of a good (how much of another good or service it exchanges for in the market) is proportional to how much labor was required to produce it, including the labor required to produce the raw materials and machinery used in the process. David Ricardo stated it as, "The value of a commodity, or the quantity of any other commodity for which it will exchange, depends on the relative quantity of labour which is necessary for its production, and not on the greater or less compensation which is paid for that labour." In this connection Ricardo seeks to differentiate the quantity of labour necessary to produce a commodity from the wages paid to the laborers for its production. Therefore, wages did not always increase with the price of a commodity. However, Ricardo was troubled with some deviations in prices from proportionality with the labor required to produce them. For example, he said "I cannot get over the difficulty of the wine, which is kept in the cellar for three or four years [i.e., while constantly increasing in exchange value], or that of the oak tree, which perhaps originally had not 2 s. expended on it in the way of labour, and yet comes to be worth £100." (Quoted in Whitaker) Of course, a capitalist economy stabilizes this discrepancy until the value added to aged wine is equal to the cost of storage. If anyone can hold onto a bottle for four years and become rich, that would make it hard to find freshly corked wine. There is also the theory that adding to the price of a luxury product increases its exchange-value by mere prestige. The labor theory as an explanation for value contrasts with the subjective theory of value, which says that value of a good is not determined by how much labor was put into it but by its usefulness in satisfying a want and its scarcity. Ricardo's labor theory of value is not a normative theory, as are some later forms of the labor theory, such as claims that it is immoral for an individual to be paid less for his labor than the total revenue that comes from the sales of all the goods he produces. It is arguable to what extent these classical theorists held the labor theory of value as it is commonly defined. For instance, David Ricardo theorized that prices are determined by the amount of labor but found exceptions for which the labor theory could not account. In a letter, he wrote: "I am not satisfied with the explanation I have given of the principles which regulate value." Adam Smith theorized that the labor theory of value holds true only in the "early and rude state of society" but not in a modern economy where owners of capital are compensated by profit. As a result, "Smith ends up making little use of a labor theory of value." Anarchism Pierre Joseph Proudhon's mutualism and American individualist anarchists such as Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker adopted the labor theory of value of classical economics and used it to criticize capitalism while favoring a non-capitalist market system. Warren is widely regarded as the first American anarchist, and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833, The Peaceful Revolutionist, was the first anarchist periodical published. Cost the limit of price was a maxim coined by Warren, indicating a (prescriptive) version of the labor theory of value. Warren maintained that the just compensation for labor (or for its product) could only be an equivalent amount of labor (or a product embodying an equivalent amount). Thus, profit, rent, and interest were considered unjust economic arrangements. In keeping with the tradition of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, the "cost" of labor is considered to be the subjective cost; i.e., the amount of suffering involved in it. He put his theories to the test by establishing an experimental "labor for labor store" called the Cincinnati Time Store at the corner of 5th and Elm Streets in what is now downtown Cincinnati, where trade was facilitated by notes backed by a promise to perform labor. "All the goods offered for sale in Warren's store were offered at the same price the merchant himself had paid for them, plus a small surcharge, in the neighborhood of 4 to 7 percent, to cover store overhead." The store stayed open for three years; after it closed, Warren could pursue establishing colonies based on Mutualism. These included "Utopia" and "Modern Times". Warren said that Stephen Pearl Andrews' The Science of Society, published in 1852, was the most lucid and complete exposition of Warren's own theories. Mutualism is an economic theory and anarchist school of thought that advocates a society where each person might possess a means of production, either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market. Integral to the scheme was the establishment of a mutual-credit bank that would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate, just high enough to cover administration. Mutualism is based on a labor theory of value that holds that when labor or its product is sold, in exchange, it ought to receive goods or services embodying "the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility". Mutualism originated from the writings of philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Collectivist anarchism as defended by Mikhail Bakunin defended a form of labor theory of value when it advocated a system where "all necessaries for production are owned in common by the labour groups and the free communes ... based on the distribution of goods according to the labour contributed". Karl Marx Contrary to popular belief Marx never used the term "Labor theory of value" in any of his works but used the term Law of value, Marx opposed "ascribing a supernatural creative power to labor", arguing as such: Labor is not the source of all wealth. Nature is just as much a source of use values (and it is surely of such that material wealth consists!) as labor, which is itself only the manifestation of a force of nature, human labor power. Here, Marx was distinguishing between exchange value (the subject of the LTV) and use value. Marx used the concept of "socially necessary labor time" to introduce a social perspective distinct from his predecessors and neoclassical economics. Whereas most economists start with the individual's perspective, Marx started with the perspective of society as a whole. "Social production" involves a complicated and interconnected division of labor of a wide variety of people who depend on each other for their survival and prosperity. "Abstract" labor refers to a characteristic of commodity-producing labor that is shared by all different kinds of heterogeneous (concrete) types of labor. That is, the concept abstracts from the particular characteristics of all of the labor and is akin to average labor. "Socially necessary" labor refers to the quantity required to produce a commodity "in a given state of society, under certain social average conditions or production, with a given social average intensity, and average skill of the labor employed." That is, the value of a product is determined more by societal standards than by individual conditions. This explains why technological breakthroughs lower the price of commodities and put less advanced producers out of business. Finally, it is not labor per se that creates value, but labor power sold by free wage workers to capitalists. Another distinction is between productive and unproductive labor. Only wage workers of productive sectors of the economy produce value. According to Marx an increase in productiveness of the laborer does not affect the value of a commodity, but rather, increases the surplus value realized by the capitalist. Therefore, decreasing the cost of production does not decrease the value of a commodity, but allows the capitalist to produce more and increases the opportunity to earn a greater profit or surplus value, as long as there is demand for the additional units of production. Criticism The Marxist labor theory of value has been criticised on several counts. Some argue that it predicts that profits will be higher in labor-intensive industries than in capital-intensive industries, which would be contradicted by measured empirical data inherent in quantitative analysis. This is sometimes referred to as the "Great Contradiction". In volume 3 of Capital, Marx explains why profits are not distributed according to which industries are the most labor-intensive and why this is consistent with his theory. Whether or not this is consistent with the labor theory of value as presented in volume 1 has been a topic of debate. According to Marx, surplus value is extracted by the capitalist class as a whole and then distributed according to the amount of total capital, not just the variable component. In the example given earlier, of making a cup of coffee, the constant capital involved in production is the coffee beans themselves, and the variable capital is the value added by the coffee maker. The value added by the coffee maker is dependent on its technological capabilities, and the coffee maker can only add so much total value to cups of coffee over its lifespan. The amount of value added to the product is thus the amortization of the value of the coffeemaker. We can also note that not all products have equal proportions of value added by amortized capital. Capital intensive industries such as finance may have a large contribution of capital, while labor-intensive industries like traditional agriculture would have a relatively small one. Critics argue that this turns the LTV into a macroeconomic theory, when it was supposed to explain the exchange ratios of individual commodities in terms of their relation to their labour ratios (making it a microeconomic theory), yet Marx was now maintaining that these ratios must diverge from their labour ratios. Critics thus held that Marx's proposed solution to the "great contradiction" was not so much a solution as it was sidestepping the issue. Steve Keen argues that Marx's idea that only labor can produce value rests on the idea that as capital depreciates over its use, then this is transferring its exchange-value to the product. Keen argues that it is not clear why the value of the machine should depreciate at the same rate it is lost. Keen uses an analogy with labor: If workers receive a subsistence wage and the working day exhausts the capacity to labor, it could be argued that the worker has "depreciated" by the amount equivalent to the subsistence wage. However this depreciation is not the limit of value a worker can add in a day (indeed this is critical to Marx's idea that labor is fundamentally exploited). If it were, then the production of a surplus would be impossible. According to Keen, a machine could have a use-value greater than its exchange-value, meaning it could, along with labor, be a source of surplus. Keen claims that Marx almost reached such a conclusion in the Grundrisse but never developed it any further. Keen further observes that while Marx insisted that the contribution of machines to production is solely their use-value and not their exchange-value, he routinely treated the use-value and exchange-value of a machine as identical, despite the fact that this would contradict his claim that the two were unrelated. Marxists respond by arguing that use-value and exchange-value are incommensurable magnitudes; to claim that a machine can add "more use-value" than it is worth in value-terms is a category error. According to Marx, a machine by definition cannot be a source of human labor. Keen responds by arguing that the labor theory of value only works if the use-value and exchange-value of a machine are identical, as Marx argued that machines cannot create surplus value since as their use-value depreciates along with their exchange-value; they simply transfer it to the new product but create no new value in the process. Keen's machinery argument can also be applied to slavery based modes of production, which also profit from extracting more use value from the laborers than they return to laborers. In their work Capital as Power, Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan argue that while Marxists have claimed to produce empirical evidence of the labor theory of value via numerous studies which show consistent correlations between values and prices, these studies do not actually provide evidence for it and are inadequate. According to the authors, these studies attempt to prove the LTV by showing that there is a positive correlation between market prices and labor values. However, the authors argue that these studies measure prices by looking at the price of total output (the unit price of a commodity multiplied by its total quantity) and do these for several sectors of the economy, estimate their total price and value from official statistics and measured for several years. However, Bichler and Nitzan argue that this method has statistical implications as correlations measured this way also reflect the co-variations of the associated quantities of unit values and prices. This means that the unit price and unit value of each sector are multiplied by the same value, which means that the greater the variability of output across different sectors, the tighter the correlation. This means that the overall correlation is substantially larger than the underlying correlation between unit values and unit prices; when sectors are controlled for their size, the correlations often drop to insignificant levels. Furthermore, the authors argue that the studies do not seem to actually attempt to measure the correlation between value and price. The authors argue that, according to Marx, the value of a commodity indicates the abstract labor time required for its production; however Marxists have been unable to identify a way to measure a unit (elementary particle) of abstract labor (indeed the authors argue that most have given up and little progress has been made beyond Marx's original work) due to numerous difficulties. This means assumptions must be made and according to the authors, these involve circular reasoning: Bichler and Nitzan argue that this amounts to converting prices into values and then determining if they correlate, which the authors argue proves nothing since the studies are simply correlating prices with themselves. Paul Cockshott disagreed with Bichler and Nitzan's arguments, arguing that it was possible to measure abstract labour time using wage bills and data on working hours, while also arguing Bichler and Nitzan's claims that the true value-price correlations should be much lower actually relied on poor statistical analysis itself. Most Marxists, however, reject Bichler and Nitzan's interpretation of Marx, arguing that their assertion that individual commodities can have values, rather than prices of production, misunderstands Marx's work. For example, Fred Moseley argues Marx understood "value" to be a "macro-monetary" variable (the total amount of labor added in a given year plus the depreciation of fixed capital in that year), which is then concretized at the level of individual prices of production, meaning that "individual values" of commodities do not exist. The theory can also be sometimes found in non-Marxist traditions. For instance, mutualist theorist Kevin Carson's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy opens with an attempt to integrate marginalist critiques into the labor theory of value. Some post-Keynesian economists have been highly critical of the labor theory of value. Joan Robinson, who herself was considered an expert on the writings of Karl Marx, wrote that the labor theory of value was largely a tautology and "a typical example of the way metaphysical ideas operate". The well-known Marxian economist Roman Rosdolsky replied to Robinson's claims at length, arguing that Robinson failed to understand key components of Marx's theory; for instance, Robinson argued that "Marx's theory, as we have seen, rests on the assumption of a constant rate of exploitation", but as Rosdolsky points out, there is a great deal of contrary evidence. In ecological economics, the labor theory of value has been criticized, where it is argued that labor is in fact energy over time. Such arguments generally fail to recognize that Marx is inquiring into social relations among human beings, which cannot be reduced to the expenditure of energy, just as democracy cannot be reduced to the expenditure of energy that a voter makes in getting to the polling place. However, echoing Joan Robinson, Alf Hornborg, an environmental historian, argues that both the reliance on "energy theory of value" and "labor theory of value" are problematic as they propose that use-values (or material wealth) are more "real" than exchange-values (or cultural wealth)--yet, use-values are culturally determined. For Hornborg, any Marxist argument that claims uneven wealth is due to the "exploitation" or "underpayment" of use-values is actually a tautological contradiction, since it must necessarily quantify "underpayment" in terms of exchange-value. The alternative would be to conceptualize unequal exchange as "an asymmetric net transfer of material inputs in production (e.g., embodied labor, energy, land, and water), rather than in terms of an underpayment of material inputs or an asymmetric transfer of 'value'". In other words, uneven exchange is characterised by incommensurability, namely: the unequal transfer of material inputs; competing value-judgements of the worth of labor, fuel, and raw materials; differing availability of industrial technologies; and the off-loading of environmental burdens on those with less resources. A generalization Some authors proposed to reconsider the role of production equipment (constant capital) in production of value, following hints in Das Kapital, where Marx described in Chapter XV (Machinery and Modern Industry) the functional role of machinery, driven by external energy sources, in production processes as the substitute for labour. See also Abstract labor and concrete labor Cost the limit of price Division of labor Labor notes (currency) Law of value Prices of production Producerism Productive and unproductive labor Social division of labor Surplus labor Surplus product Surplus value Transformation problem Value-form Anarchy of Production Competing theories Anarcho-communism Entitlement theory Marginalism Neo-Ricardianism Subjective theory of value Notes References Further reading Bhaduri, Amit. 1969. "On the Significance of Recent Controversies on Capital Theory: A Marxian View." Economic Journal. 79(315) September: 532–539. von Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen Karl Marx and the Close of His System (Classic criticism of Marxist economic theory). G.A. Cohen 'The Labour Theory of Value and the Concept of Exploitation', in his History Labour and Freedom. Duncan, Colin A.M. 1996. The Centrality of Agriculture: Between Humankind and The Rest of Nature. McGill–Queen's University Press, Montreal. ——2000. The Centrality of Agriculture: History, Ecology and Feasible Socialism. Socialist Register, pp. 187–205. ——2004. Adam Smith's green vision and the future of global socialism. In Albritton, R; Shannon Bell; John R. Bell; and R. Westra [Eds.] New Socialisms: Futures Beyond Globalization. New York/London, Routledge. pp. 90–104. Eldred, Michael (1984). Critique of Competitive Freedom and the Bourgeois-Democratic State: Outline of a Form-analytic Extension of Marx's Uncompleted System. With an Appendix 'Value-form Analytic Reconstruction of the Capital-Analysis' by Michael Eldred, Marnie Hanlon, Lucia Kleiber and Mike Roth, Kurasje, Copenhagen. Emended, digitized edition 2010 with a new Preface, lxxiii + 466 pp. . Ellerman, David P. (1992) Property & Contract in Economics: The Case for Economic Democracy. Blackwell. Chapters 4,5, and 13 critiques of LTV in favor of the labor theory of property. Engels, F. (1880). Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. Freeman, Alan: Price, value and profit – a continuous, general treatment. In: Alan Freeman, Guglielmo Carchedi (editors): Marx and Non-equilibrium Economics. Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheltenham, UK, Brookfield, US 1996. . Hagendorf, Klaus: The Labour Theory of Value. A Historical-Logical Analysis. Paris: EURODOS; 2008. Hagendorf, Klaus: Labour Values and the Theory of the Firm. Part I: The Competitive Firm. Paris: EURODOS; 2009. Hansen, Bue Rübner. (2011). "Review of Capital as Power by Jonathan Nitzan and Shimson Bichler". Historical Materialism 19, no. 2: 144–159. Henderson, James M.; Quandt, Richard E. 1971: Microeconomic Theory – A Mathematical Approach. Second Edition/International Student Edition. McGraw-Hill Kogakusha, Ltd. Keen, Steven Use, Value, and Exchange: The Misinterpretation of Marx. ([Internet edition: 1999] [1887 English edition]). Moseley, Fred. (2016). Money and Totality Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. Murray, Patrick. (2016). The Mismeasure of Wealth : Essays on Marx and Social Form Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. Ormazabal, Kepa M. (2004). Smith On Labour Value Bilbo, Biscay, Spain: University of the Basque Country Working Paper. Parrington, Vernon Louis. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Pokrovskii, Vladimir (2011). Econodynamics. The Theory of Social Production. Springer, Dordrecht-Heidelberg-London-New York. Rubin, Isaak Illich (1928). Essays on Marx's Theory of Value Shaikh, Anwar (1998). "The Empirical Strength of the Labour Theory of Value" in Conference Proceedings of Marxian Economics: A Centenary Appraisal, Riccardo Bellofiore (ed.), Macmillan, London. Vianello, F. (1987). "Labour theory of value", in: Eatwell, J. and Milgate, M. and Newman, P. (eds.): The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, Macmillan e Stockton, London e New York, . Wolff, Jonathan (2003). " Karl Marx in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Labour economics Marxian economics Classical economics Theory of value (economics)	[ 0.2840407192707062, 0.23527510464191437, -0.30613115429878235, 0.19153372943401337, 0.09461497515439987, 0.6469650864601135, 0.012927749194204807, 0.18757016956806183, 0.01394254807382822, -0.371542751789093, -0.12184129655361176, 0.823681652545929, -0.5986894965171814, 0.6828734278678894,...
17630	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar%20Society%20of%20Birmingham	Lunar Society of Birmingham	The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham. At first called the Lunar Circle, "Lunar Society" became the formal name by 1775. The name arose because the society would meet during the full moon, as the extra light made the journey home easier and safer in the absence of street lighting. The members cheerfully referred to themselves as "lunaticks", a pun on lunatics. Venues included Erasmus Darwin's home in Lichfield, Matthew Boulton's home, Soho House, Bowbridge House in Derbyshire, and Great Barr Hall. Membership and status The Lunar Society evolved through various degrees of organisation over a period of up to fifty years, but was only ever an informal group. No constitution, minutes, publications or membership lists survive from any period, and evidence of its existence and activities is found only in the correspondence and notes of those associated with it. Historians therefore disagree on what qualifies as membership of the Lunar Society, who can be considered to have been members, and even when the society can be said to have existed. Josiah Wedgwood, for example, is described by some commentators as being one of five "principal members" of the society, while others consider that he "cannot be recognized as [a] full member" at all. Dates given for the establishment of the society range from "sometime before 1760" to 1775. Some historians argue that it had ceased to exist by 1791; others that it was still operating as late as 1813. Despite this uncertainty, fourteen individuals have been identified as having verifiably attended Lunar Society meetings regularly over a long period during its most productive eras: these are Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Thomas Day, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Samuel Galton, Jr., Robert Augustus Johnson, James Keir, Joseph Priestley, William Small, Jonathan Stokes, James Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, John Whitehurst and William Withering. While the society's meetings provided its name and social focus, however, they were relatively unimportant in its activities, and far more activity and communication took place outside the meetings themselves – members local to Birmingham were in almost daily contact, more distant ones in correspondence at least weekly. A more loosely defined group has therefore been identified over a wider geographical area and longer time period, who attended meetings occasionally and who corresponded or co-operated regularly with multiple other members on group activities. These include Richard Kirwan, John Smeaton, Henry Moyes, John Michell, Pieter Camper, R. E. Raspe, John Baskerville, Thomas Beddoes, John Wyatt, William Thomson, Cyril Jackson, Jean-André Deluc, John Wilkinson, John Ash, Samuel More, Robert Bage, James Brindley, Ralph Griffiths, John Roebuck, Thomas Percival, Joseph Black, James Hutton, Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Banks, James Lind, William Herschel, Daniel Solander, John Warltire, George Fordyce, Alexander Blair, Samuel Parr, Louis Joseph d'Albert d'Ailly, William Emes, the seventh Duke of Chaulnes, Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond, Grossart de Virly, Johann Gottling. and Joseph Wright. This lack of a defined membership has led some historians to criticise a Lunar Society "legend", leading people to "confuse it and its efforts with the general growth of intellectual and economic activities in the provinces of eighteenth century Britain". Others have seen this both as real and as one of the society's main strengths: a paper read at the Science Museum in London in 1963 claimed that Development Origins 1755–1765 The origins of the Lunar Society lie in a pattern of friendships that emerged in the late 1750s. Matthew Boulton and Erasmus Darwin met some time between 1757 and 1758, possibly through family connections, as Boulton's mother's family were patients of Darwin; or possibly though shared friendships, as both were admirers of the printer John Baskerville and friends of the astronomer and geologist John Michell, a regular visitor to Darwin's house in Lichfield. Darwin was a physician and poet who had studied at Cambridge and Edinburgh; Boulton had left school at fourteen and started work in his father's business making metal goods in Birmingham at the age of 21. Despite their different backgrounds they shared a common interest in experiment and invention, and their activities would show Darwin's theoretical understanding and Boulton's practical experience to be complementary. Soon they were visiting each other regularly and conducting investigations into scientific subjects such as electricity, meteorology and geology. Around the same time the Derby-based clockmaker John Whitehurst became a friend, first of Boulton and subsequently of Darwin, through his business supplying clock movements to Boulton's ormolu manufacturing operation. Although older than both Boulton and Darwin, by 1758 Whitehurst was writing to Boulton telling excitedly of a pyrometer he had built, and looking forward to visiting Birmingham "to spend one day with you in trying all necessary experiments". Boulton, Darwin and Whitehurst were in turn introduced by Michell to Benjamin Franklin when he travelled to Birmingham in July 1758 "to improve and increase Acquaintance among Persons of Influence", and Franklin returned in 1760 to conduct experiments with Boulton on electricity and sound. Although Michell seems to have withdrawn slightly from the group when he moved to Thornhill (near Dewsbury) in 1767, Franklin was to remain a common link among many of the early members. The Lunar Circle 1765–1775 The nature of the group was to change significantly with the move to Birmingham in 1765 of the Scottish physician William Small, who had been Professor of Natural Philosophy at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. There he had taught and been a major influence over Thomas Jefferson, and had formed the focus of a local group of intellectuals. His arrival with a letter of introduction to Matthew Boulton from Benjamin Franklin was to have a galvanising effect on the existing circle, which began to explicitly identify itself as a group and actively started to attract new members. The first of these was Josiah Wedgwood, who became a close friend of Darwin in 1765 while campaigning for the building of the Trent and Mersey Canal and subsequently closely modelled his large new pottery factory at Etruria, Staffordshire on Boulton's Soho Manufactory. Another new recruit, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, met Darwin, Small and Boulton in 1766 through a shared interest in carriage design, and he in turn introduced his friend and fellow Rousseau-admirer Thomas Day, with whom he had studied at Corpus Christi, Oxford. In 1767 James Keir visited Darwin in Lichfield, where he was introduced to Boulton, Small, Wedgwood and Whitehurst and subsequently decided to move to Birmingham. The Lunar Circle also attracted more distant involvement. Joseph Priestley, then living in Leeds and a close friend of John Mitchell, became associated with the Society in 1767 when Darwin and Wedgwood became involved with his work on electricity. In the same year James Watt visited Birmingham on the recommendation of his business patron John Roebuck, being shown around the Soho Manufactory by Small and Darwin in Boulton's absence. Although neither Priestley nor Watt were to move to Birmingham for several years, both were to be in constant communication with the Birmingham members and central to the circle's activities from 1767. By 1768 the core group of nine individuals who would form the nucleus of the Lunar Society had come together with Small at their heart. The group at this time is sometimes referred to as the "Lunar circle", though this is a later description used by historians, and the group themselves used a variety of less specific descriptions, including "Birmingham Philosophers" or simply "fellow-schemers". The Lunar Society 1775–1780 If William Small's arrival in 1765 had been the catalyst to the development of the Lunar Circle as a cohesive group, his death – probably from malaria – in 1775 was to mark another change in its structure. Small had been the key link between the members, and in his absence those remaining moved to place the group on a more organised footing. Meetings were to be held on the Sunday nearest the full moon, lasting from two o'clock in the afternoon until eight o'clock in the evening. The first was probably that held on 31 December 1775, and the "Lunar" name is first recorded in 1776. The era also saw significant changes in membership. William Withering – like Small, a physician – was already an acquaintance of Darwin, Boulton and Wedgwood when he moved from Stafford to Birmingham and became a member of the Society in 1776. John Whitehurst's move to London in 1775 had a less dramatic effect: he kept in regular contact with other members of the society and remained an occasional attender of meetings. The leading figure behind the establishment of the society as a more organised body during this early period seems to have been Matthew Boulton: his home at Soho House in Handsworth was the principal venue for meetings, and in 1776 he is recorded as planning "to make many Motions to the Members respecting new Laws, and regulations, such as will tend to prevent the decline of a society which I hope will be lasting." This reliance on Boulton was also to prove a weakness, however, as the period coincided with the peak of his work building up his steam engine business and he was frequently absent. Although the 1770s was one of the society's richest eras in terms of its collaborative achievements, the society's meetings declined from regular occurrences in 1775 to infrequent ones by the end of the decade. Heyday of the Society 1780–1789 In late 1780 the nature of the society was to change again with the move to Birmingham of Joseph Priestley. Priestley had been closely associated with the group's activities for over a decade and was a strong advocate of the benefits of scientific societies. Shortly after his arrival Lunar meetings moved from Sunday afternoons to Mondays to accommodate Priestley's duties as a clergyman, while the society's dependence on Matthew Boulton was lessened by holding meetings at other members' houses in addition to Soho House. The result was to be the society's most productive era. Several other major new figures became associated with the society during this period. Samuel Galton, Jr., unusual as a Quaker who was also a gun-manufacturer, appears in the letters of other Lunar members as attending meetings from July 1781, and his daughter Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck was to provide one of the few first-hand accounts of the Lunar Society's activities. The botanist and physician Jonathan Stokes, who had known William Withering as a child, moved to Stourbridge and started attending Lunar Society meetings from 1783. His contribution to the society was significant but short-lived: after collaborating with Withering on his Botanical Arrangement of British Plants the two quarrelled bitterly and Stokes severed his relations with the main Lunar members by 1788. The society also lost several major figures over the period: Richard Lovell Edgeworth ceased regular involvement in the society's activities when he returned to Ireland in 1782, John Whitehurst died in London in 1788, and Thomas Day died the following year. Most significantly, Erasmus Darwin moved to Derby in 1781, but although he complained of being "cut off from the milk of science", he continued to attend Lunar Society meetings at least until 1788. Decline 1789–1813 The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 caused political strains between members of the society, but it was the Priestley riots of 1791 in Birmingham itself that saw a decisive falling off of the society's spirit and activities. Joseph Priestley himself was driven from the town, leaving England entirely for the United States in 1794, William Withering's house was invaded by rioters and Matthew Boulton and James Watt had to arm their employees to protect the Soho Manufactory. Lunar meetings were continued by the younger generation of the families of earlier Lunar members, including Gregory Watt, Matthew Robinson Boulton, Thomas Wedgwood and James Watt junior, and possibly Samuel Tertius Galton. Regular meetings are recorded into the nineteenth century – eight in 1800, five or six before August 1801 and at least one in 1802, while as late as 1809 Leonard Horner was describing "the remnant of the Lunar Society" as being "very interesting". While individual members continued to produce work of importance, however, the collaborative activity that marked the heyday of the society was noticeably absent. The society had definitely collapsed by 1813, however: in August of that year Samuel Galton, Jr. is recorded as having won a ballot for possession of the scientific books from the society's library. Modern Lunar Societies Among memorials to the Society and its members are the Moonstones; two statues of Watt and a statue of Boulton, Watt and Murdoch by William Bloye; and the museum at Soho House – all in Birmingham. In more recent times a new Lunar Society was formed in Birmingham by a group led by Dame Rachel Waterhouse. Its aim is to play a leading part in the development of the city and the wider region. Its current Chair, appointed for a two-year term in 2019,is Deirdre LaBassiere Outside Birmingham In Australia, The Lunaticks Society of Newcastle was formed by leading digital entrepreneurs, software developers, educators, film producers, creatives, investors to encourage creative thinking and new ideas in a digital age. University of Birmingham Lunar Society In the latter part of the 20th century, the University of Birmingham Lunar Society met every Thursday to debate and discuss all manner of topics in the Guild bar. In 2011, steps were undertaken to reform the discussion society as an alternative to the more regulated debate options available at the university. This was agreed by the University's Guild of Students in autumn 2012. The society now hosts symposiums every two weeks. Any member has always been welcome to suggest a topic for discussion. These meetings occur in a variety of environments from University rooms to local bars. In 2013 the society attempted to change the name of one of the rooms in the Guild of Students to 'The Lunar Room' in honour of the original Birmingham Lunar Society. Like the Oxford Union, the society has always traditionally put a huge emphasis on freedom of speech. The society has similar aims to The Speculative Society of Edinburgh University. In 2019, the society was rebranded as the Devil's Advocate Society, and retained the goals of the Lunar Society whilst changing much of its branding. Today, the society is an informal academic association open to both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professional academics, from the University of Birmingham. It has obtained a reputation for the variety of the topics discussed at its meetings. The Lunar Society puts itself forward as being committed to providing an open forum for academic discussion, which it does by hosting regular symposiums on a range of topics from current affairs to philosophy, science and art. The format for these symposiums is a round table style discussion. The society agrees to debate a series of topics in advance of the meeting, and every member is given an opportunity to participate in the discussion. To ensure the discussion retains order they are presided over by a chairperson. In keeping with the tradition of the society and to help with identification, the chairperson wears The Connor Clarke Academic Robe, donated to the society by a previous Lunar Society President and re-founder. Freedom of speech has played an integral part of the society's history – the society was founded as a resistance to the more regulated debate societies on campus. To ensure this freedom of speech the society follows the Chatham House Rule: those who attend are free to use the content discussed at meetings but must not identify the speaker. The society is supported by a committee, who help coordinate topics, organise and publicise events, ensure a rotating chair and undertake fundraising. A number of noted University of Birmingham alumni have been involved with this societies committee. Former members of the society have gone on to senior positions in the media and business. Past presidents of the society have been published in academic journals, and featured on the University of Birmingham University Challenge team. Archives Historical material related to the Lunar Society is held in multiple collections. The University of Birmingham's Cadbury Research Library holds a series of portraits of the original Lunar Society members. The Library of Birmingham holds a large collection of Joseph Priestley's publications. Both archives also hold various letters of society members. See also Scottish Enlightenment Science and invention in Birmingham Erasmus Darwin House References Bibliography External links Erasmus Darwin House, Lichfield Article in Science The Lunar Men who shaped the future (from the Birmingham Stories website) Soho House The modern Lunar Society Revolutionary Players website BBC Radio 4 In Our Time discussion The Lunar Society Italia The Lunaticks Society of Newcastle Clubs and societies in the West Midlands (county) History of Birmingham, West Midlands Industrial Revolution in England Dining clubs 1765 establishments in England 1813 disestablishments in England Organizations established in 1765 Organizations disestablished in 1813	[ 0.18218615651130676, 0.2910260260105133, 0.24293069541454315, -0.45996612310409546, -0.6089518070220947, 0.4889260232448578, 0.1432170420885086, 0.3119398355484009, -0.6158938407897949, -0.07275459170341492, -0.35900619626045227, -0.04785868152976036, -0.06849007308483124, 0.20203213393688...
17633	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya	Libya	Libya (; ), officially the State of Libya (), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. Libya is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 700,000 square miles (1.8 million km2), it is the fourth-largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and the 16th-largest in the world. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over three million of Libya's seven million people. Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age as descendants from Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures. In ancient times the Phoenicians established city-states and trading posts in western Libya while more recently the Ottoman Empire controlled the northern coastline of Libya. Parts of Libya were variously ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Macedonians before the entire region becoming a part of the Roman Empire. Libya was an early center of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century when invasions brought Islam to the region. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ottoman rule continued until the Italo-Turkish War which resulted in the Italian occupation of Libya and the establishment of two colonies, Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica (1911–1934), later unified in the Italian Libya colony from 1934 to 1947. During the Second World War, Libya was an area of warfare in the North African Campaign. The Italian population then went into decline. Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A bloodless military coup in 1969, initiated by a coalition led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King Idris I and created a republic. Gaddafi was often described by critics as a dictator, and was one of the world's longest serving non-royal leaders, ruling for 42 years. He ruled until being overthrown and killed in the 2011 Libyan Civil War, with authority transferred to the General National Congress. By 2014 two rival authorities claimed to govern Libya, destabilizing the country and leading to a second civil war, with parts of Libya split between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based governments as well as various tribal and Islamist militias. The two main warring sides signed a permanent ceasefire on 23 October 2020 and a unity government took authority. Libya is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Arab League, the OIC and OPEC. The country's official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni Muslims. Etymology The origin of the name "Libya" first appeared in an inscription of Ramesses II, written as rbw in hieroglyphic. The name derives from a generalized identity given to a large confederacy of ancient east "Libyan" berbers, African people(s) and tribes who lived around the lush regions of Cyrenaica and Marmarica. An army of 40,000 men and a confederacy of tribes known as "Great Chiefs of the Libu" were led by King Meryey who fought a war against pharaoh Merneptah in year 5 (1208 BCE). This conflict was mentioned in the Great Karnak Inscription in the western delta during the 5th and 6th years of his reign and resulted in a defeat for Meryey. According to the Great Karnak Inscription, the military alliance comprised the Meshwesh, the Lukka, and the "Sea Peoples" known as the Ekwesh, Teresh, Shekelesh, and the Sherden. The Great karnak inscription reads: The modern name of "Libya" is an evolution of the "Libu" or "Libúē" name (from Greek Λιβύη, Libyē), generally encompassing the people of Cyrenaica and Marmarica. The "Libúē" or "libu" name likely came to be used in the classical world as an identity for the natives of the North African region. The name was revived in 1934 for Italian Libya from the ancient Greek (). It was intended to supplant terms applied to Ottoman Tripolitania, the coastal region of what is today Libya, having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911 as the Eyalet of Tripolitania. The name "Libya" was brought back into use in 1903 by Italian geographer Federico Minutilli. Libya gained independence in 1951 as the United Libyan Kingdom ( ), changing its name to the Kingdom of Libya ( ), literally "Libyan Kingdom", in 1963. Following a coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi in 1969, the name of the state was changed to the Libyan Arab Republic ( ). The official name was "Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" from 1977 to 1986 (), and "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" (, ) from 1986 to 2011. The National Transitional Council, established in 2011, referred to the state as simply "Libya". The UN formally recognized the country as "Libya" in September 2011 based on a request from the Permanent Mission of Libya citing the Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration of 3 August 2011. In November 2011, the ISO 3166-1 was altered to reflect the new country name "Libya" in English, "Libye (la)" in French. In December 2017 the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations informed the United Nations that the country's official name was henceforth the "State of Libya"; "Libya" remained the official short form, and the country continued to be listed under "L" in alphabetical lists. History Ancient Libya The coastal plain of Libya was inhabited by Neolithic peoples from as early as 8000 BC. The Afroasiatic ancestors of the Berber people are assumed to have spread into the area by the Late Bronze Age. The earliest known name of such a tribe was the Garamantes, based in Germa. The Phoenicians were the first to establish trading posts in Libya. By the 5th century BC, the greatest of the Phoenician colonies, Carthage, had extended its hegemony across much of North Africa, where a distinctive civilization, known as Punic, came into being. In 630 BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the area around Barca in Eastern Libya and founded the city of Cyrene. Within 200 years, four more important Greek cities were established in the area that became known as Cyrenaica. In 525 BC the Persian army of Cambyses II overran Cyrenaica, which for the next two centuries remained under Persian or Egyptian rule. Alexander the Great was greeted by the Greeks when he entered Cyrenaica in 331 BC, and Eastern Libya again fell under the control of the Greeks, this time as part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. After the fall of Carthage the Romans did not immediately occupy Tripolitania (the region around Tripoli), but left it instead under control of the kings of Numidia, until the coastal cities asked and obtained its protection. Ptolemy Apion, the last Greek ruler, bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome, which formally annexed the region in 74 BC and joined it to Crete as a Roman province. As part of the Africa Nova province, Tripolitania was prosperous, and reached a golden age in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when the city of Leptis Magna, home to the Severan dynasty, was at its height. On the Eastern side, Cyrenaica's first Christian communities were established by the time of the Emperor Claudius. It was heavily devastated during the Kitos War and almost depopulated of Greeks and Jews alike. Although repopulated by Trajan with military colonies, from then started its decline. Libya was early to convert to Nicene Christianity and was the home of Pope Victor I; however, Libya was also home to many non-Nicene varieties of early Christianity, such as Arianism and Donatism. Islamic Libya Under the command of 'Amr ibn al-'As, the Rashidun army conquered Cyrenaica. In 647 an army led by Abdullah ibn Saad took Tripoli from the Byzantines definitively. The Fezzan was conquered by Uqba ibn Nafi in 663. The Berber tribes of the hinterland accepted Islam, however they resisted Arab political rule. For the next several decades, Libya was under the purview of the Umayyad Caliph of Damascus until the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads in 750, and Libya came under the rule of Baghdad. When Caliph Harun al-Rashid appointed Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab as his governor of Ifriqiya in 800, Libya enjoyed considerable local autonomy under the Aghlabid dynasty. By the 10th century, the Shiite Fatimids controlled Western Libya, and ruled the entire region in 972 and appointed Bologhine ibn Ziri as governor. Ibn Ziri's Berber Zirid dynasty ultimately broke away from the Shiite Fatimids, and recognised the Sunni Abbasids of Baghdad as rightful Caliphs. In retaliation, the Fatimids brought about the migration of thousands from mainly two Arab Qaisi tribes, the Banu Sulaym and Banu Hilal to North Africa. This act drastically altered the fabric of the Libyan countryside, and cemented the cultural and linguistic Arabisation of the region. Zirid rule in Tripolitania was short-lived though, and already in 1001 the Berbers of the Banu Khazrun broke away. Tripolitania remained under their control until 1146, when the region was overtaken by the Normans of Sicily. It was not until 1159 that the Moroccan Almohad leader Abd al-Mu'min reconquered Tripoli from European rule. For the next 50 years, Tripolitania was the scene of numerous battles among Ayyubids, the Almohad rulers and insurgents of the Banu Ghaniya. Later, a general of the Almohads, Muhammad ibn Abu Hafs, ruled Libya from 1207 to 1221 before the later establishment of a Tunisian Hafsid dynasty independent from the Almohads. The Hafsids ruled Tripolitania for nearly 300 years. By the 16th century the Hafsids became increasingly caught up in the power struggle between Spain and the Ottoman Empire. After weakening control of Abbasids, Cyrenaica was under Egypt based states such as Tulunids, Ikhshidids, Ayyubids and Mamluks before Ottoman conquest in 1517. Finally Fezzan acquired independence under Awlad Muhammad dynasty after Kanem rule. Ottomans finally conquered Fezzan between 1556 and 1577. Ottoman Tripolitania (1551–1911) After a successful invasion of Tripoli by Habsburg Spain in 1510, and its handover to the Knights of St. John, the Ottoman admiral Sinan Pasha took control of Libya in 1551. His successor Turgut Reis was named the Bey of Tripoli and later Pasha of Tripoli in 1556. By 1565, administrative authority as regent in Tripoli was vested in a pasha appointed directly by the sultan in Constantinople/Istanbul. In the 1580s, the rulers of Fezzan gave their allegiance to the sultan, and although Ottoman authority was absent in Cyrenaica, a bey was stationed in Benghazi late in the next century to act as agent of the government in Tripoli. European slaves and large numbers of enslaved Blacks transported from Sudan were also a feature of everyday life in Tripoli. In 1551, Turgut Reis enslaved almost the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo, some 5,000 people, sending them to Libya. In time, real power came to rest with the pasha's corps of janissaries. In 1611 the deys staged a coup against the pasha, and Dey Sulayman Safar was appointed as head of government. For the next hundred years, a series of deys effectively ruled Tripolitania. The two most important Deys were Mehmed Saqizli (r. 1631–49) and Osman Saqizli (r. 1649–72), both also Pasha, who ruled effectively the region. The latter conquered also Cyrenaica. Lacking direction from the Ottoman government, Tripoli lapsed into a period of military anarchy during which coup followed coup and few deys survived in office more than a year. One such coup was led by Turkish officer Ahmed Karamanli. The Karamanlis ruled from 1711 until 1835 mainly in Tripolitania, and had influence in Cyrenaica and Fezzan as well by the mid-18th century. Ahmed's successors proved to be less capable than himself, however, the region's delicate balance of power allowed the Karamanli. The 1793–95 Tripolitanian civil war occurred in those years. In 1793, Turkish officer Ali Pasha deposed Hamet Karamanli and briefly restored Tripolitania to Ottoman rule. Hamet's brother Yusuf (r. 1795–1832) re-established Tripolitania's independence. In the early 19th century war broke out between the United States and Tripolitania, and a series of battles ensued in what came to be known as the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War. By 1819, the various treaties of the Napoleonic Wars had forced the Barbary states to give up piracy almost entirely, and Tripolitania's economy began to crumble. As Yusuf weakened, factions sprung up around his three sons. Civil war soon resulted. Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II sent in troops ostensibly to restore order, marking the end of both the Karamanli dynasty and an independent Tripolitania. Order was not recovered easily, and the revolt of the Libyan under Abd-El-Gelil and Gûma ben Khalifa lasted until the death of the latter in 1858. The second period of direct Ottoman rule saw administrative changes, and greater order in the governance of the three provinces of Libya. Ottoman rule finally reasserted to Fezzan between 1850 and 1875 for earning income from Saharan commerce. Italian colonization and Allied occupation (1911–1951) After the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912), Italy simultaneously turned the three regions into colonies. From 1912 to 1927, the territory of Libya was known as Italian North Africa. From 1927 to 1934, the territory was split into two colonies, Italian Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitania, run by Italian governors. Some 150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting roughly 20% of the total population. Omar Mukhtar rose to prominence as a resistance leader against Italian colonization and became a national hero despite his capture and execution on 16 September 1931. His face is currently printed on the Libyan ten dinar note in memory and recognition of his patriotism. Another prominent resistance leader, Idris al-Mahdi as-Senussi (later King Idris I), Emir of Cyrenaica, continued to lead the Libyan resistance until the outbreak of the Second World War. The so-called "pacification of Libya" by the Italians resulted in mass deaths of the indigenous people in Cyrenaica, killing approximately one quarter of Cyrenaica's population of 225,000. Ilan Pappé estimates that between 1928 and 1932 the Italian military "killed half the Bedouin population (directly or through disease and starvation in Italian concentration camps in Libya)." In 1934, Italy combined Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan and adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Ancient Greeks for all of North Africa except Egypt) for the unified colony, with Tripoli as its capital. The Italians emphasized infrastructure improvements and public works. In particular, they greatly expanded Libyan railway and road networks from 1934 to 1940, building hundreds of kilometers of new roads and railways and encouraging the establishment of new industries and dozens of new agricultural villages. In June 1940, Italy entered World War II. Libya became the setting for the hard-fought North African Campaign that ultimately ended in defeat for Italy and its German ally in 1943. From 1943 to 1951, Libya was under Allied occupation. The British military administered the two former Italian Libyan provinces of Tripolitana and Cyrenaïca, while the French administered the province of Fezzan. In 1944, Idris returned from exile in Cairo but declined to resume permanent residence in Cyrenaica until the removal of some aspects of foreign control in 1947. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya. Independence, Kingdom and Libya under Gaddafi (1951–2011) On 24 December 1951, Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris, Libya's only monarch. The discovery of significant oil reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income from petroleum sales enabled one of the world's poorest nations to establish an extremely wealthy state. Although oil drastically improved the Libyan government's finances, resentment among some factions began to build over the increased concentration of the nation's wealth in the hands of King Idris. On 1 September 1969, a group of rebel military officers led by Muammar Gaddafi launched a coup d'état against King Idris, which became known as the Al Fateh Revolution. Gaddafi was referred to as the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution" in government statements and the official Libyan press. Moving to reduce Italian influence, in October 1970 all Italian-owned assets were expropriated and the 12,000-strong Italian community was expelled from Libya alongside the smaller community of Libyan Jews. The day became a national holiday known as "Vengeance Day". Libya's increase in prosperity was accompanied by increased internal political repression, and political dissent was made illegal under Law 75 of 1973. Widespread surveillance of the population was carried out through Gaddafi's Revolutionary Committees. Gaddafi also wanted to combat the strict social restrictions that had been imposed on women by the previous regime, establishing the Revolutionary Women's Formation to encourage reform. In 1970, a law was introduced affirming equality of the sexes and insisting on wage parity. In 1971, Gaddafi sponsored the creation of a Libyan General Women's Federation. In 1972, a law was passed criminalizing the marriage of any females under the age of sixteen and ensuring that a woman's consent was a necessary prerequisite for a marriage. On 25 October 1975, a coup attempt was launched by some 20 military officers, mostly from the city of Misrata. This resulted in the arrest and executions of the coup plotters. On 2 March 1977, Libya officially became the "Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya". Gaddafi officially passed power to the General People's Committees and henceforth claimed to be no more than a symbolic figurehead. The new jamahiriya (Arab for "republic") governance structure he established was officially referred to as "direct democracy". In February 1977, Libya started delivering military supplies to Goukouni Oueddei and the People's Armed Forces in Chad. The Chadian–Libyan conflict began in earnest when Libya's support of rebel forces in northern Chad escalated into an invasion. Later that same year, Libya and Egypt fought a four-day border war that came to be known as the Libyan-Egyptian War. Both nations agreed to a ceasefire under the mediation of the Algerian president Houari Boumediène. Hundreds of Libyans lost their lives in the country's support for Idi Amin's Uganda in its war against Tanzania. Gaddafi financed various other groups from anti-nuclear movements to Australian trade unions. From 1977 onward, per capita income in the country rose to more than US$11,000, the fifth-highest in Africa, while the Human Development Index became the highest in Africa and greater than that of Saudi Arabia. This was achieved without borrowing any foreign loans, keeping Libya debt-free. The Great Manmade River was also built to allow free access to fresh water across large parts of the country. In addition, financial support was provided for university scholarships and employment programs. Much of Libya's income from oil, which soared in the 1970s, was spent on arms purchases and on sponsoring dozens of paramilitaries and terrorist groups around the world. An American airstrike intended to kill Gaddafi failed in 1986. Libya was finally put under sanctions by the United Nations after the bombing of a commercial flight killed 270 people. First Libyan Civil War (2011) The first civil war came during the Arab Spring movements which overturned the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt. Libya first experienced protests against Gaddafi's regime on 15 February 2011, with a full-scale revolt beginning on 17 February. Libya's authoritarian regime led by Muammar Gaddafi put up much more of a resistance compared to the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia. While overthrowing the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was a relatively quick process, Gaddafi's campaign posed significant stalls on the uprising in Libya. The first announcement of a competing political authority appeared online and declared the Interim Transitional National Council as an alternative government. One of Gaddafi's senior advisors responded by posting a tweet, wherein he resigned, defected, and advised Gaddafi to flee. By 20 February, the unrest had spread to Tripoli. On 27 February 2011, the National Transitional Council was established to administer the areas of Libya under rebel control. On 10 March 2011, America and many other nations recognised the council headed by Mahmoud Jibril as acting prime minister and as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and withdrawing the recognition of Gaddafi's regime. Pro-Gaddafi forces were able to respond militarily to rebel pushes in Western Libya and launched a counterattack along the coast toward Benghazi, the de facto centre of the uprising. The town of Zawiya, from Tripoli, was bombarded by air force planes and army tanks and seized by Jamahiriya troops, "exercising a level of brutality not yet seen in the conflict." Organizations of the United Nations, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Human Rights Council, condemned the crackdown as violating international law, with the latter body expelling Libya outright in an unprecedented action. On 17 March 2011 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973, with a 10–0 vote and five abstentions including Russia, China, India, Brazil and Germany. The resolution sanctioned the establishment of a no-fly zone and the use of "all means necessary" to protect civilians within Libya. On 19 March, the first act of NATO allies to secure the no-fly zone began by destroying Libyan air defenses when French military jets entered Libyan airspace on a reconnaissance mission heralding attacks on enemy targets. In the weeks that followed, American forces were in the forefront of NATO operations against Libya. More than 8,000 American personnel in warships and aircraft were deployed in the area. At least 3,000 targets were struck in 14,202 strike sorties, 716 of them in Tripoli and 492 in Brega. The American air offensive included flights of B-2 Stealth bombers, each bomber armed with sixteen 2000-pound bombs, flying out of and returning to their base in Missouri in the continental United States. The support provided by the NATO air forces contributed to the ultimate success of the revolution. By 22 August 2011, rebel fighters had entered Tripoli and occupied Green Square, which they renamed Martyrs' Square in honour of those killed since 17 February 2011. On 20 October 2011, the last heavy fighting of the uprising came to an end in the city of Sirte. The Battle of Sirte was both the last decisive battle and the last one in general of the First Libyan Civil War where Gaddafi was captured and killed by NATO backed forces on 20 October 2011. Sirte was the last Gaddafi loyalist stronghold and his place of birth. The defeat of loyalist forces was celebrated on 23 October 2011, three days after the fall of Sirte. At least 30,000 Libyans died in the civil war. In addition, the National Transitional Council estimated 50,000 wounded. Interwar period and the Second Libyan Civil War (2011-2020) Following the defeat of loyalist forces, Libya was torn among numerous rival, armed militias affiliated with distinct regions, cities and tribes, while the central government had been weak and unable to effectively exert its authority over the country. Competing militias pitted themselves against each other in a political struggle between Islamist politicians and their opponents. On 7 July 2012, Libyans held their first parliamentary elections since the end of the former regime. On 8 August, the National Transitional Council officially handed power over to the wholly-elected General National Congress, which was then tasked with the formation of an interim government and the drafting of a new Libyan Constitution to be approved in a general referendum. On 25 August 2012, in what Reuters reported as "the most blatant sectarian attack" since the end of the civil war, unnamed organized assailants bulldozed a Sufi mosque with graves, in broad daylight in the center of the Libyan capital Tripoli. It was the second such razing of a Sufi site in two days. Numerous acts of vandalism and destruction of heritage were carried out by suspected Islamist militias, including the removal of the Nude Gazelle Statue and the destruction and desecration of World War II-era British grave sites near Benghazi. Many other cases of heritage vandalism were carried out and were reported to be carried out by Islamist-related radical militias and mobs that either destroyed, robbed, or looted a number of historic sites, which remain in danger at present. On 11 September 2012, Islamist militants mounted an attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others. The incident generated outrage in the United States and Libya. On 7 October 2012, Libya's Prime Minister-elect Mustafa A.G. Abushagur was ousted after failing a second time to win parliamentary approval for a new cabinet. On 14 October 2012, the General National Congress elected former GNC member and human rights lawyer Ali Zeidan as prime minister-designate. Zeidan was sworn in after his cabinet was approved by the GNC. On 11 March 2014, after having been ousted by the GNC for his inability to halt a rogue oil shipment, Prime Minister Zeiden stepped down, and was replaced by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani. Libya was riven by conflict between the rival parliaments starting in May 2014. Tribal militias and jihadist groups took advantage of the power vacuum. Most notably, radical Islamist fighters seized Derna in 2014 and Sirte in 2015 in the name of the Islamic State. In February 2015, neighbouring Egypt launched airstrikes against IS in support of the Tobruk government. In June 2014, elections were held to the House of Representatives, a new legislative body intended to take over from the General National Congress. The elections were marred by violence and low turnout, with voting stations closed in some areas. Secularists and liberals did well in the elections, to the consternation of Islamist lawmakers in the GNC, who reconvened and declared a continuing mandate for the GNC, refusing to recognise the new House of Representatives. Armed supporters of the General National Congress occupied Tripoli, forcing the newly elected parliament to flee to Tobruk. In January 2015, meetings were held with the aim to find a peaceful agreement between the rival parties in Libya. The so-called Geneva-Ghadames talks were supposed to bring the GNC and the Tobruk government together at one table to find a solution of the internal conflict. However, the GNC actually never participated, a sign that internal division not only affected the "Tobruk Camp", but also the "Tripoli Camp". Meanwhile, terrorism within Libya has steadily increased, affecting also neighbouring countries. The terrorist attack against the Bardo Museum on 18 March 2015, was reportedly carried on by two Libyan-trained militants. During 2015 an extended series of diplomatic meetings and peace negotiations were supported by the United Nations, as conducted by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Spanish diplomat Bernardino Leon. UN support for the SRSG-led process of dialogue carried on in addition to the usual work of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). In July 2015 SRSG Leon reported to the UN Security Council on the progress of the negotiations, which at that point had just achieved a political agreement on 11 July setting out "a comprehensive framework... includ[ing] guiding principles... institutions and decision-making mechanisms to guide the transition until the adoption of a permanent constitution." The stated purpose of that process was "...intended to culminate in the creation of a modern, democratic state based on the principle of inclusion, the rule of law, separation of powers and respect for human rights." The SRSG praised the participants for achieving agreement, stating that "The Libyan people have unequivocally expressed themselves in favour of peace." The SRSG then informed the Security Council that "Libya is at a critical stage" and urging "all parties in Libya to continue to engage constructively in the dialogue process", stating that "only through dialogue and political compromise, can a peaceful resolution of the conflict be achieved. A peaceful transition will only succeed in Libya through a significant and coordinated effort in supporting a future Government of National Accord...". Talks, negotiations and dialogue continued on during mid-2015 at various international locations, culminating at Skhirat in Morocco in early September. Also in 2015, as part of the ongoing support from the international community, the UN Human Rights Council requested a report about the Libyan situation and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, established an investigative body (OIOL) to report on human rights and rebuilding the Libyan justice system. Chaos-ridden Libya emerged as a major transit point for people trying to reach Europe. Between 2013 and 2018, nearly 700,000 migrants reached Italy by boat, many of them from Libya. In May 2018 Libya's rival leaders agreed to hold parliamentary and presidential elections following a meeting in Paris. In April 2019, Khalifa Haftar launched Operation Flood of Dignity, in an offensive by the Libyan National Army aimed to seize Western territories from the Government of National Accord (GNA). In June 2019, forces allied to Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord successfully captured Gharyan, a strategic town where military commander Khalifa Haftar and his fighters were based. According to a spokesman for GNA forces, Mustafa al-Mejii, dozens of LNA fighters under Haftar were killed, while at least 18 were taken prisoner. In March 2020, UN-backed government of Fayez Al-Sarraj commenced Operation Peace Storm. The government initiated the bid in response to the state of assaults carried by Haftar’s LNA. “We are a legitimate, civilian government that respects its obligations to the international community, but is committed primarily to its people and has an obligation to protect its citizens,” Sarraj said in line with his decision. On 28 August 2020, the BBC Africa Eye and BBC Arabic Documentaries revealed that a drone operated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) killed 26 young cadets at a military academy in Tripoli, on 4 January. Most of the cadets were teenagers and none of them were armed. The Chinese drone Wing Loong II fired Blue Arrow 7 missile, which was operated from UAE-run Al-Khadim Libyan air base. In February, these drones stationed in Libya were moved to an air base near Siwa in the western Egyptian desert. The Guardian probed and discovered the blatant violation of UN arms embargo by the UAE and Turkey on 7 October 2020. As per the reporting, both the nations sent large-scale military cargo planes to Libya in support of their respective parties. On 23 October 2020, a permanent ceasefire was signed to end the war. Post-civil war years In December 2021, the country's first presidential election was scheduled but has been indefinitely delayed. Geography Libya extends over , making it the 16th largest nation in the world by size. Libya is bound to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, the west by Tunisia and Algeria, the southwest by Niger, the south by Chad, the southeast by Sudan, and the east by Egypt. Libya lies between latitudes 19° and 34°N, and longitudes 9° and 26°E. At , Libya's coastline is the longest of any African country bordering the Mediterranean. The portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya is often called the Libyan Sea. The climate is mostly extremely dry and desertlike in nature. However, the northern regions enjoy a milder Mediterranean climate. Six ecoregions lie within Libya's borders: Saharan halophytics, Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe, Mediterranean woodlands and forests, North Saharan steppe and woodlands, Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric woodlands. Natural hazards come in the form of hot, dry, dust-laden sirocco (known in Libya as the gibli). This is a southern wind blowing from one to four days in spring and autumn. There are also dust storms and sandstorms. Oases can also be found scattered throughout Libya, the most important of which are Ghadames and Kufra. Libya is one of the sunniest and driest countries in the world due to prevailing presence of desert environment. Libya was a pioneer state in North Africa in species protection, with the creation in 1975 of the El Kouf protected area. The fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime favoured intense poaching: "Before the fall of Gaddafi even hunting rifles were forbidden. But since 2011, poaching has been carried out with weapons of war and sophisticated vehicles in which one can find up to 200 gazelle heads killed by militiamen who hunt to pass the time. We are also witnessing the emergence of hunters with no connection to the tribes that traditionally practice hunting. They shoot everything they find, even during the breeding season. More than 500,000 birds are killed in this way each year, when protected areas have been seized by tribal chiefs who have appropriated them. The animals that used to live there have all disappeared, hunted when they are edible or released when they are not," explains zoologist Khaled Ettaieb. Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert, which covers much of Libya, is one of the most arid and sun-baked places on earth. In places, decades may pass without seeing any rainfall at all, and even in the highlands rainfall seldom happens, once every 5–10 years. At Uweinat, the last recorded rainfall was in September 1998. Likewise, the temperature in the Libyan Desert can be extreme; on 13 September 1922, the town of 'Aziziya, which is located southwest of Tripoli, recorded an air temperature of , considered to be a world record. In September 2012, however, the world record figure of 58 °C was overturned by the World Meteorological Organization. There are a few scattered uninhabited small oases, usually linked to the major depressions, where water can be found by digging to a few feet in depth. In the west there is a widely dispersed group of oases in unconnected shallow depressions, the Kufra group, consisting of Tazerbo, Rebianae and Kufra. Aside from the scarps, the general flatness is only interrupted by a series of plateaus and massifs near the centre of the Libyan Desert, around the convergence of the Egyptian-Sudanese-Libyan borders. Slightly further to the south are the massifs of Arkenu, Uweinat, and Kissu. These granite mountains are ancient, having formed long before the sandstones surrounding them. Arkenu and Western Uweinat are ring complexes very similar to those in the Aïr Mountains. Eastern Uweinat (the highest point in the Libyan Desert) is a raised sandstone plateau adjacent to the granite part further west. The plain to the north of Uweinat is dotted with eroded volcanic features. With the discovery of oil in the 1950s also came the discovery of a massive aquifer underneath much of Libya. The water in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System pre-dates the last Ice ages and the Sahara Desert itself. This area also contains the Arkenu structures, which were once thought to be two impact craters. Politics The politics of Libya is in a tumultuous state since the start of the Arab Spring-related Libyan Crisis in 2011; the crisis resulted in the collapse of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, amidst the First Civil War and the foreign military intervention. The crisis was deepened by the factional violence in the aftermath of the First Civil War, resulting in the outbreak of the Second Civil War in 2014. The control over the country is currently split between the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk and the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli and their respective supporters, as well as various jihadist groups and tribal elements controlling parts of the country. The former legislature was the General National Congress, which had 200 seats. The General National Congress (2014), a largely unrecognised rival parliament based in the de jure capital of Tripoli, claims to be a legal continuation of the GNC. On 7 July 2012, Libyans voted in parliamentary elections, the first free elections in almost 40 years. Around thirty women were elected to become members of parliament. Early results of the vote showed the National Forces Alliance, led by former interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, as front runner. The Justice and Construction Party, affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, has done less well than similar parties in Egypt and Tunisia. It won 17 out of 80 seats that were contested by parties, but about 60 independents have since joined its caucus. As of January 2013, there was mounting public pressure on the National Congress to set up a drafting body to create a new constitution. Congress had not yet decided whether the members of the body would be elected or appointed. On 30 March 2014, the General National Congress voted to replace itself with a new House of Representatives. The new legislature allocates 30 seats for women, will have 200 seats overall (with individuals able to run as members of political parties) and allows Libyans of foreign nationalities to run for office. Following the 2012 elections, Freedom House improved Libya's rating from Not Free to Partly Free, and now considers the country to be an electoral democracy. Gaddafi merged civil and sharia courts in 1973. Civil courts now employ sharia judges who sit in regular courts of appeal and specialise in sharia appellate cases. Laws regarding personal status are derived from Islamic law. At a meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs on 2 December 2014, UN Special Representative Bernardino León described Libya as a non-state. An agreement to form a national unity government was signed on 17 December 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, a nine-member Presidency Council and a seventeen-member interim Government of National Accord would be formed, with a view to holding new elections within two years. The House of Representatives would continue to exist as a legislature and an advisory body, to be known as the State Council, will be formed with members nominated by the General National Congress (2014). The formation of an interim unity government was announced on 5 February 2021, after its members were elected by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF). Seventy four members of the LPDF cast ballots for four-member slates which would fill positions including the Prime Minister and the head of the Presidential Council. After no slates reached a 60% vote threshold, the two leading teams competed in a run-off election. Mohamed al-Menfi, a former ambassador to Greece, became head of the Presidential Council. Meanwhile, the LPDF confirmed that Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, a businessman, would be the transitional Prime Minister. All of the candidates who ran in this election, including the members of the winning slate, promised to appoint women to 30% of all senior government positions. The politicians elected to lead the interim government initially agreed not to stand in the national elections scheduled for 24 December 2021. However, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh announced his candidature for president despite the ban in November 2021. The Appeals Court in Tripoli rejected appeals for his disqualification, and allowed Dbeibeh back on the candidates' list, along with a number of other disqualified candidates, originally scheduled for December 24. Even more controversially, the court also reinstated Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of the former dictator, as a presidential candidate. On 22 December 202, Libya's Election Commission called for the postponement of the election until 24 January 2021. Earlier, a parliamentary commission said it would be "impossible" to hold the election on 24 December 2021. The UN called on Libya's interim leaders to "expeditiously address all legal and political obstacles to hold elections, including finalising the list of presidential candidates". However, at the last minute, the election was postponed indefinitely and the international community agreed to continue its support and recognition of the interim government headed by Mr Dbeibeh. According to new election rules, a new prime minister has 21 days to form a cabinet that must be endorsed by the various governing bodies within Libya. After this cabinet is agreed upon, the unity government will replace all "parallel authorities" within Libya, including the Government of National Accord in Tripoli and the administration led by General Haftar. Foreign relations Libya's foreign policies have fluctuated since 1951. As a Kingdom, Libya maintained a definitively pro-Western stance, and was recognized as belonging to the conservative traditionalist bloc in the League of Arab States (the present-day Arab League), of which it became a member in 1953. The government was also friendly towards Western countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, France, Italy, Greece, and established full diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1955. Although the government supported Arab causes, including the Moroccan and Algerian independence movements, it took little active part in the Arab-Israeli dispute or the tumultuous inter-Arab politics of the 1950s and early 1960s. The Kingdom was noted for its close association with the West, while it steered a conservative course at home. After the 1969 coup, Muammar Gaddafi closed American and British bases and partly nationalized foreign oil and commercial interests in Libya. Gaddafi was known for backing a number of leaders viewed as anathema to Westernization and political liberalism, including Ugandan President Idi Amin, Central African Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Ethiopian strongman Haile Mariam Mengistu, Liberian President Charles Taylor, and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević. Relations with the West were strained by a series of incidents for most of Gaddafi's rule, including the killing of London policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub frequented by U.S. servicemen, and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which led to UN sanctions in the 1990s, though by the late 2000s, the United States and other Western powers had normalised relations with Libya. Gaddafi's decision to abandon the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction after the Iraq War saw Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein overthrown and put on trial led to Libya being hailed as a success for Western soft power initiatives in the War on Terror. In October 2010, Gaddafi apologized to African leaders on behalf of Arab nations for their involvement in the trans-Saharan slave trade. Libya is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer. Libyan authorities rejected European Union's plans aimed at stopping migration from Libya. In 2017, Libya signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Military Libya's previous national army was defeated in the Libyan Civil War and disbanded. The Tobruk based House of Representatives who claim to be the legitimate government of Libya have attempted to reestablish a military known as the Libyan National Army. Led by Khalifa Haftar, they control much of eastern Libya. In May 2012, an estimated 35,000 personnel had joined its ranks. The internationally recognised Government of National Accord established in 2015 has its own army that replaced the LNA, but it consists largely of undisciplined and disorganised militia groups. As of November 2012, it was deemed to be still in the embryonic stage of development. President Mohammed el-Megarif promised that empowering the army and police force is the government's biggest priority. President el-Megarif also ordered that all of the country's militias must come under government authority or disband. Militias have so far refused to be integrated into a central security force. Many of these militias are disciplined, but the most powerful of them answer only to the executive councils of various Libyan cities. These militias make up the so-called Libyan Shield, a parallel national force, which operates at the request, rather than at the order, of the defence ministry. Administrative divisions Historically, the area of Libya was considered three provinces (or states), Tripolitania in the northwest, Barka (Cyrenaica) in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest. It was the conquest by Italy in the Italo-Turkish War that united them in a single political unit. Since 2007, Libya has been divided into 22 districts (Shabiyat): Human rights According to Human Rights Watch annual report 2016, journalists are still being targeted by the armed groups in Libya. The organization added that Libya ranked very low in the 2015 Press Freedom Index, 154th out of 180 countries. Homosexuality is illegal in Libya. For the 2019 Press Freedom Index its score dropped to 162nd out of 180 countries. Economy The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which account for over half of GDP and 97% of exports. Libya holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa and is an important contributor to the global supply of light, sweet crude. During 2010, when oil averaged at $80 a barrel, oil production accounted for 54% of GDP. Apart from petroleum, the other natural resources are natural gas and gypsum. The International Monetary Fund estimated Libya's real GDP growth at 122% in 2012 and 16.7% in 2013, after a 60% plunge in 2011. The World Bank defines Libya as an 'Upper Middle Income Economy', along with only seven other African countries. Substantial revenues from the energy sector, coupled with a small population, give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa. This allowed the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya state to provide an extensive level of social security, particularly in the fields of housing and education. Libya faces many structural problems including a lack of institutions, weak governance, and chronic structural unemployment. The economy displays a lack of economic diversification and significant reliance on immigrant labour. Libya has traditionally relied on unsustainably high levels of public sector hiring to create employment. In the mid-2000s, the government employed about 70% of all national employees. Unemployment rose from 8% in 2008 to 21% in 2009, according to the census figures. According to an Arab League report, based on data from 2010, unemployment for women stands at 18% while for the figure for men is 21%, making Libya the only Arab country where there are more unemployed men than women. Libya has high levels of social inequality, high rates of youth unemployment and regional economic disparities. Water supply is also a problem, with some 28% of the population not having access to safe drinking water in 2000. Libya imports up to 90% of its cereal consumption requirements, and imports of wheat in 2012/13 was estimated at 1 million tonnes. The 2012 wheat production was estimated at 200,000 tonnes. The government hopes to increase food production to 800,000 tonnes of cereals by 2020. However, natural and environmental conditions limit Libya's agricultural production potential. Before 1958, agriculture was the country's main source of revenue, making up about 30% of GDP. With the discovery of oil in 1958, the size of the agriculture sector declined rapidly, comprising less than 5% GDP by 2005. The country joined OPEC in 1962. Libya is not a WTO member, but negotiations for its accession started in 2004. In the early 1980s, Libya was one of the wealthiest countries in the world; its GDP per capita was higher than some developed countries. In the early 2000s officials of the Jamahiriya era carried out economic reforms to reintegrate Libya into the global economy. UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003, and Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. Other steps have included applying for membership of the World Trade Organization, reducing subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization. Authorities privatized more than 100 government owned companies after 2003 in industries including oil refining, tourism and real estate, of which 29 were 100% foreign owned. Many international oil companies returned to the country, including oil giants Shell and ExxonMobil. After sanctions were lifted there was a gradual increase of air traffic, and by 2005 there were 1.5 million yearly air travellers. Libya had long been a notoriously difficult country for Western tourists to visit due to stringent visa requirements. In 2007 Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second-eldest son of Muammar Gaddafi, was involved in a green development project called the Green Mountain Sustainable Development Area, which sought to bring tourism to Cyrene and to preserve Greek ruins in the area. In August 2011 it was estimated that it would take at least 10 years to rebuild Libya's infrastructure. Even before the 2011 war, Libya's infrastructure was in a poor state due to "utter neglect" by Gaddafi's administration, according to the NTC. By October 2012, the economy had recovered from the 2011 conflict, with oil production returning to near normal levels. Oil production was more than 1.6 million barrels per day before the war. By October 2012, the average oil production has surpassed 1.4 million bpd. The resumption of production was made possible due to the quick return of major Western companies, like Total, Eni, Repsol, Wintershall and Occidental. In 2016, an announcement from the company said the company aims 900,000 barrel per day in the next year. Oil production has fallen from 1.6 million barrel per day to 900,000 in four years of war. The Great Man-Made River is the world's largest irrigation project. The project utilizes a pipeline system that pumps fossil water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System from down south in Libya to cities in the populous Libyan northern Mediterranean coast including Tripoli and Benghazi. The water provides 70% of all freshwater used in Libya. During the second Libyan civil war, lasting from 2014 to 2020, the water infrastructure suffered neglect and occasional breakdowns. By 2017, 60% of the Libyan population were malnourished. Since then, 1.3 million people are waiting for emergency humanitarian aid, out of a total population of 6.4 million. Demographics Libya is a large country with a relatively small population, and the population is concentrated very narrowly along the coast. Population density is about in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, but falls to less than elsewhere. Ninety percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area, primarily along the coast. About 88% of the population is urban, mostly concentrated in the three largest cities, Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata. Libya has a population of about million, 27.7% of whom are under the age of 15. In 1984 the population was 3.6 million, an increase from the 1.54 million reported in 1964. The majority of the Libyan population today identifies as Arab, that is, Arabic-speaking and Arab-cultured. Berber Libyans, those who retain Berber language and Berber culture, represent the second largest ethnic group and are found primarily in Nafusa Mountains and Zuwarah. Additionally, the South of Libya, primarily Sebha, Kufra, Ghat, Ghadamis and Murzuk, are also inhabited by two additional Libyan ethnicities: the Tuareg and Toubou. There are about 140 tribes and clans in Libya. Family life is important for Libyan families, the majority of which live in apartment blocks and other independent housing units, with precise modes of housing depending on their income and wealth. Although the Arab Libyans traditionally lived nomadic lifestyles in tents, they have now settled in various towns and cities. Because of this, their old ways of life are gradually fading out. An unknown small number of Libyans still live in the desert as their families have done for centuries. Most of the population has occupations in industry and services, and a small percentage is in agriculture. According to the UNHCR, there were around 8,000 registered refugees, 5,500 unregistered refugees, and 7,000 asylum seekers of various origins in Libya in January 2013. Additionally, 47,000 Libyan nationals were internally displaced and 46,570 were internally displaced returnees. Health In 2010, spending on healthcare accounted for 3.88% of the country's GDP. In 2009, there were 18.71 physicians and 66.95 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants. The life expectancy at birth was 74.95 years in 2011, or 72.44 years for males and 77.59 years for females. Education Libya's population includes 1.7 million students, over 270,000 of whom study at the tertiary level. Basic education in Libya is free for all citizens, and is compulsory up to the secondary level. The adult literacy rate in 2010 was 89.2%. After Libya's independence in 1951, its first university – the University of Libya – was established in Benghazi by royal decree. In the 1975–76 academic year the number of university students was estimated to be 13,418. , this number has increased to more than 200,000, with an extra 70,000 enrolled in the higher technical and vocational sector. The rapid increase in the number of students in the higher education sector has been mirrored by an increase in the number of institutions of higher education. Since 1975 the number of universities has grown from two to nine and after their introduction in 1980, the number of higher technical and vocational institutes currently stands at 84 (with 12 public universities). Since 2007 some new private universities such as the Libyan International Medical University have been established. Although before 2011 a small number of private institutions were given accreditation, the majority of Libya's higher education has always been financed by the public budget. In 1998 the budget allocation for education represented 38.2% of Libya's total national budget. Ethnicity The original inhabitants of Libya belonged predominantly to various Berber ethnic groups; however, the long series of foreign invasions and migrations – particularly by Arabs and Turks – have had a profound and lasting linguistic, cultural, and identity influence on Libya's demographics. Today, the great majority of Libya's inhabitants are Arabic-speaking Muslims of mixed descent, with many claiming ancestry tracing to Bedouin Arab tribes like Banu Sulaym and Banu Hilal, beside Turkish and Berber ethnicities. The Turkish minority are often called "Kouloughlis" and are concentrated in and around villages and towns. Additionally, there are some Libyan ethnic minorities, such as the Berber Tuareg and the Tebou. Most Italian settlers, at their height numbering over half a million, left after Italian Libya's independence in 1947. More repatriated in 1970 after the accession of Muammar Gaddafi, but a few hundred of them returned in the 2000s. Immigrant labour , the UN estimates that around 12% of Libya's population (upwards of 740,000 people) was made up of foreign migrants. Prior to the 2011 revolution official and unofficial figures of migrant labour range from 25% to 40% of the population (between 1.5 and 2.4 million people). Historically, Libya has been a host state for millions of low- and high-skilled Egyptian migrants, in particular. It is difficult to estimate the total number of immigrants in Libya as there are often differences between census figures, official counts and usually more accurate unofficial estimates. In the 2006 census, around 359,540 foreign nationals were resident in Libya out of a population of over 5.5 million (6.35% of the population). Almost half of these were Egyptians, followed by Sudanese and Palestinian immigrants. During the 2011 revolution, 768,362 immigrants fled Libya as calculated by the IOM, around 13% of the population at the time, although many more stayed on in the country. If consular records prior to the revolution are used to estimate the immigrant population, as many as 2 million Egyptian migrants were recorded by the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli in 2009, followed by 87,200 Tunisians, and 68,200 Moroccans by their respective embassies. Turkey recorded the evacuation of 25,000 workers during the 2011 uprising. The number of Asian migrants before the revolution were just over 100,000 (60,000 Bangladeshis, 20,000 Filipinos, 18,000 Indians, 10,000 Pakistanis, as well as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and other workers). This would put the immigrant population at almost 40% before the revolution and is a figure more consistent with government estimates in 2004 which put the regular and irregular migrant numbers at 1.35 to 1.8 million (25–33% of the population at the time). Libya's native population of Arabs-Berbers as well as Arab migrants of various nationalities collectively make up 97% of the population . Languages According to the CIA, the official language of Libya is Arabic. The local Libyan Arabic variety is spoken alongside Modern Standard Arabic. Various Berber languages are also spoken, including Tamasheq, Ghadamis, Nafusi, Suknah and Awjilah. The Libyan Amazigh High Council (LAHC) has declared the Amazigh (Berber or Tamazight) language as an official language in the cities and districts inhabited by the Berbers in Libya. In addition, English is widely understood in the major cities, while the former colonial language of Italian is also used in commerce and by remaining Italian population. Religion About 97% of the population in Libya are Muslims, most of whom belong to the Sunni branch. Small numbers of Ibadi Muslims live in the country. Before the 1930s, the Senussi Sunni Sufi movement was the primary Islamic movement in Libya. This was a religious revival adapted to desert life. Its zawaaya (lodges) were found in Tripolitania and Fezzan, but Senussi influence was strongest in Cyrenaica. Rescuing the region from unrest and anarchy, the Senussi movement gave the Cyrenaican tribal people a religious attachment and feelings of unity and purpose. This Islamic movement was eventually destroyed by the Italian invasion. Gaddafi asserted that he was a devout Muslim, and his government was taking a role in supporting Islamic institutions and in worldwide proselytising on behalf of Islam. Since the fall of Gaddafi, ultra-conservative strains of Islam have reasserted themselves in places. Derna in eastern Libya, historically a hotbed of jihadist thought, came under the control of militants aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014. Jihadist elements have also spread to Sirte and Benghazi, among other areas, as a result of the Second Libyan Civil War. There are small foreign communities of Christians. Coptic Orthodox Christianity, which is the Christian Church of Egypt, is the largest and most historical Christian denomination in Libya. There are about 60,000 Egyptian Copts in Libya. There are three Coptic Churches in Libya, one in Tripoli, one in Benghazi, and one in Misurata. The Coptic Church has grown in recent years in Libya, due to the growing immigration of Egyptian Copts to Libya. There are an estimated 40,000 Roman Catholics in Libya who are served by two Bishops, one in Tripoli (serving the Italian community) and one in Benghazi (serving the Maltese community). There is also a small Anglican community, made up mostly of African immigrant workers in Tripoli; it is part of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt. People have been arrested on suspicion of being Christian missionaries, as proselytising is illegal. Christians have also faced the threat of violence from radical Islamists in some parts of the country, with a well-publicised video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in February 2015 depicting the mass beheading of Christian Copts. Libya was once the home of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, dating back to at least 300 BC. In 1942, the Italian Fascist authorities set up forced labor camps south of Tripoli for the Jews, including Giado (about 3,000 Jews), Gharyan, Jeren, and Tigrinna. In Giado some 500 Jews died of weakness, hunger, and disease. In 1942, Jews who were not in the concentration camps were heavily restricted in their economic activity and all men between 18 and 45 years were drafted for forced labor. In August 1942, Jews from Tripolitania were interned in a concentration camp at Sidi Azaz. In the three years after November 1945, more than 140 Jews were murdered, and hundreds more wounded, in a series of pogroms. By 1948, about 38,000 Jews remained in the country. Upon Libya's independence in 1951, most of the Jewish community emigrated. Largest cities Culture Many Arabic speaking Libyans consider themselves as part of a wider Arab community. This was strengthened by the spread of Pan-Arabism in the mid-20th century, and their reach to power in Libya where they instituted Arabic as the only official language of the state. Under Gaddafi's rule, the teaching and even use of indigenous Berber language was strictly forbidden. In addition to banning foreign languages previously taught in academic institutions, leaving entire generations of Libyans with limitations in their comprehension of the English language. Both the spoken Arabic dialects and Berber, still retain words from Italian, that were acquired before and during the Libia Italiana period. Libyans have a heritage in the traditions of the previously nomadic Bedouin Arabic speakers and sedentary Amazigh tribes. Most Libyans associate themselves with a particular family name originating from tribal or conquest based heritage. Reflecting the "nature of giving" ( , Berber languages: ⴰⵏⴰⴽⴽⴰⴼ Anakkaf ), amongst the Libyan people as well as the sense of hospitality, recently the state of Libya made it to the top 20 on the world giving index in 2013. According to CAF, in a typical month, almost three-quarters (72%) of all Libyans helped somebody they did not know – the third highest level across all 135 countries surveyed. There are few theaters or art galleries due to the decades of cultural repression under the Qaddafi regime and lack of infrastructure development under the regime of dictatorship. For many years there have been no public theaters, and only very few cinemas showing foreign films. The tradition of folk culture is still alive and well, with troupes performing music and dance at frequent festivals, both in Libya and abroad. A large number of Libyan television stations are devoted to political review, Islamic topics and cultural phenomena. A number of TV stations air various styles of traditional Libyan music. Tuareg music and dance are popular in Ghadames and the south. Libyan television broadcasts air programs mostly in Arabic though usually have time slots for English and French programs. A 1996 analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists found Libya's media was the most tightly controlled in the Arab world during the country's dictatorship. hundreds of TV stations have begun to air due to the collapse of censorship from the old regime and the initiation of "free media". Many Libyans frequent the country's beach and they also visit Libya's archaeological sites—especially Leptis Magna, which is widely considered to be one of the best preserved Roman archaeological sites in the world. The most common form of public transport between cities is the bus, though many people travel by automobile. There are no railway services in Libya, but these are planned for construction in the near future (see rail transport in Libya). Libya's capital, Tripoli, has many museums and archives. These include the Government Library, the Ethnographic Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the National Archives, the Epigraphy Museum and the Islamic Museum. The Red Castle Museum located in the capital near the coast and right in the city center, built in consultation with UNESCO, may be the country's most famous. Cuisine Libyan cuisine is a mixture of the different Italian, Bedouin and traditional Arab culinary influences. Pasta is the staple food in the Western side of Libya, whereas rice is generally the staple food in the east. Common Libyan foods include several variations of red (tomato) sauce based pasta dishes (similar to the Italian Sugo all'arrabbiata dish); rice, usually served with lamb or chicken (typically stewed, fried, grilled, or boiled in-sauce); and couscous, which is steam cooked whilst held over boiling red (tomato) sauce and meat (sometimes also containing courgettes/zucchini and chickpeas), which is typically served along with cucumber slices, lettuce and olives. Bazeen, a dish made from barley flour and served with red tomato sauce, is customarily eaten communally, with several people sharing the same dish, usually by hand. This dish is commonly served at traditional weddings or festivities. Asida is a sweet version of Bazeen, made from white flour and served with a mix of honey, ghee or butter. Another favorite way to serve Asida is with rub (fresh date syrup) and olive oil. Usban is animal tripe stitched and stuffed with rice and vegetables cooked in tomato based soup or steamed. Shurba is a red tomato sauce-based soup, usually served with small grains of pasta. A very common snack eaten by Libyans is known as khubs bi' tun, literally meaning "bread with tuna fish", usually served as a baked baguette or pita bread stuffed with tuna fish that has been mixed with harissa (chili sauce) and olive oil. Many snack vendors prepare these sandwiches and they can be found all over Libya. Libyan restaurants may serve international cuisine, or may serve simpler fare such as lamb, chicken, vegetable stew, potatoes and macaroni. Due to severe lack of infrastructure, many under-developed areas and small towns do not have restaurants and instead food stores may be the only source to obtain food products. Alcohol consumption is illegal in the entire country. There are four main ingredients of traditional Libyan food: olives (and olive oil), dates, grains and milk. Grains are roasted, ground, sieved and used for making bread, cakes, soups and bazeen. Dates are harvested, dried and can be eaten as they are, made into syrup or slightly fried and eaten with bsisa and milk. After eating, Libyans often drink black tea. This is normally repeated a second time (for the second glass of tea), and in the third round of tea, it is served with roasted peanuts or roasted almonds known as shay bi'l-luz (mixed with the tea in the same glass). Sport Football is the most popular sport in Libya. The country hosted the 1982 African Cup of Nations and almost qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The national team almost won the 1982 AFCON; they barely lost to Ghana on penalties 7–6. In 2014, Libya won the African Nations Championship after beating Ghana in the finals. Although the national team has never won a major competition or qualified for a World Cup, there is still lots of passion for the sport and the quality of football is improving. Horse racing is also a popular sport in Libya. It is a tradition of many special occasions and holidays. See also Outline of Libya Index of Libya-related articles Telephone numbers in Libya Notes References Bibliography External links Libya . The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Libya profile from the BBC News. North African countries Maghrebi countries Saharan countries Eastern Mediterranean Arabic-speaking countries and territories Berber-speaking countries and territories Member states of the African Union Member states of the Arab League Member states of OPEC Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Current member states of the United Nations States and territories established in 1951 1951 establishments in Africa Countries in Africa Italian-speaking countries and territories	[ 0.03447859734296799, 0.298028826713562, -0.40579724311828613, -0.12499438226222992, 0.23769083619117737, 0.3270309269428253, -0.26822352409362793, 0.4704146981239319, -0.4326673746109009, -0.1993817389011383, -0.6888496279716492, 0.358913779258728, -0.7077287435531616, 0.39464566111564636,...
17636	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law%20of%20noncontradiction	Law of noncontradiction	In logic, the law of non-contradiction (LNC) (also known as the law of contradiction, principle of non-contradiction (PNC), or the principle of contradiction) states that contradictory propositions cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time, e. g. the two propositions "p is the case" and "p is not the case" are mutually exclusive. Formally this is expressed as the tautology ¬(p ∧ ¬p). The law is not to be confused with the law of excluded middle which states that at least one, "p is the case" or "p is not the case" holds. One reason to have this law is the principle of explosion, which states that anything follows from a contradiction. The law is employed in a reductio ad absurdum proof. To express the fact that the law is tenseless and to avoid equivocation, sometimes the law is amended to say "contradictory propositions cannot both be true 'at the same time and in the same sense'". It is one of the so called three laws of thought, along with its complement, the law of excluded middle, and the law of identity. However, no system of logic is built on just these laws, and none of these laws provide inference rules, such as modus ponens or De Morgan's laws. The law of non contradiction and the law of excluded middle create a dichotomy in "logical space", wherein the two parts are "mutually exclusive" and "jointly exhaustive". The law of non-contradiction is merely an expression of the mutually exclusive aspect of that dichotomy, and the law of excluded middle, an expression of its jointly exhaustive aspect. Interpretations One difficulty in applying the law of non-contradiction is ambiguity in the propositions. For instance, if is not explicitly specified as part of the propositions A and B, then A may be B at one time, and not at another. A and B may in some cases be made to sound mutually exclusive linguistically even though A may be partly B and partly not B at the same time. However, it is impossible to predicate of the same thing, at the same time, and in the same sense, the absence and the presence of the same fixed quality. Heraclitus According to both Plato and Aristotle, Heraclitus was said to have denied the law of non-contradiction. This is quite likely if, as Plato pointed out, the law of non-contradiction does not hold for changing things in the world. If a philosophy of Becoming is not possible without change, then (the potential of) what is to become must already exist in the present object. In "We step and do not step into the same rivers; we are and we are not", both Heraclitus's and Plato's object simultaneously must, in some sense, be both what it now is and have the potential (dynamic) of what it might become. Unfortunately, so little remains of Heraclitus' aphorisms that not much about his philosophy can be said with certainty. He seems to have held that strife of opposites is universal both within and without, therefore both opposite existents or qualities must simultaneously exist, although in some instances in different respects. "The road up and down are one and the same" implies either the road leads both ways, or there can be no road at all. This is the logical complement of the law of non-contradiction. According to Heraclitus, change, and the constant conflict of opposites is the universal logos of nature. Protagoras Personal subjective perceptions or judgments can only be said to be true at the same time in the same respect, in which case, the law of non-contradiction must be applicable to personal judgments. The most famous saying of Protagoras is: "Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not". However, Protagoras was referring to things that are used by or in some way related to humans. This makes a great difference in the meaning of his aphorism. Properties, social entities, ideas, feelings, judgments, etc. originate in the human mind. However, Protagoras has never suggested that man must be the measure of stars or the motion of the stars. Parmenides Parmenides employed an ontological version of the law of non-contradiction to prove that being is and to deny the void, change, and motion. He also similarly disproved contrary propositions. In his poem On Nature, he said, The nature of the ‘is’ or what-is in Parmenides is a highly contentious subject. Some have taken it to be whatever exists, some to be whatever is or can be the object of scientific inquiry. Socrates In Plato's early dialogues, Socrates uses the elenctic method to investigate the nature or definition of ethical concepts such as justice or virtue. Elenctic refutation depends on a dichotomous thesis, one that may be divided into exactly two mutually exclusive parts, only one of which may be true. Then Socrates goes on to demonstrate the contrary of the commonly accepted part using the law of non-contradiction. According to Gregory Vlastos, the method has the following steps: Socrates' interlocutor asserts a thesis, for example, "Courage is endurance of the soul", which Socrates considers false and targets for refutation. Socrates secures his interlocutor's agreement to further premises, for example, "Courage is a fine thing" and "Ignorant endurance is not a fine thing". Socrates then argues, and the interlocutor agrees, that these further premises imply the contrary of the original thesis, in this case, it leads to: "courage is not endurance of the soul". Socrates then claims that he has shown that his interlocutor's thesis is false and that its negation is true. Plato's synthesis Plato's version of the law of non-contradiction states that "The same thing clearly cannot act or be acted upon in the same part or in relation to the same thing at the same time, in contrary ways" (The Republic (436b)). In this, Plato carefully phrases three axiomatic restrictions on action or reaction: 1) in the same part, 2) in the same relation, 3) at the same time. The effect is to momentarily create a frozen, timeless state, somewhat like figures frozen in action on the frieze of the Parthenon. This way, he accomplishes two essential goals for his philosophy. First, he logically separates the Platonic world of constant change from the formally knowable world of momentarily fixed physical objects. Second, he provides the conditions for the dialectic method to be used in finding definitions, as for example in the Sophist. So Plato's law of non-contradiction is the empirically derived necessary starting point for all else he has to say. In contrast, Aristotle reverses Plato's order of derivation. Rather than starting with experience, Aristotle begins a priori with the law of non-contradiction as the fundamental axiom of an analytic philosophical system. This axiom then necessitates the fixed, realist model. Now, he starts with much stronger logical foundations than Plato's non-contrariety of action in reaction to conflicting demands from the three parts of the soul. Aristotle's contribution The traditional source of the law of non-contradiction is Aristotle's Metaphysics where he gives three different versions. ontological: "It is impossible that the same thing belong and not belong to the same thing at the same time and in the same respect." (1005b19-20) psychological: "No one can believe that the same thing can (at the same time) be and not be." (1005b23-24) logical (aka the medieval Lex Contradictoriarum): "The most certain of all basic principles is that contradictory propositions are not true simultaneously." (1011b13-14) Aristotle attempts several proofs of this law. He first argues that every expression has a single meaning (otherwise we could not communicate with one another). This rules out the possibility that by "to be a man", "not to be a man" is meant. But "man" means "two-footed animal" (for example), and so if anything is a man, it is necessary (by virtue of the meaning of "man") that it must be a two-footed animal, and so it is impossible at the same time for it not to be a two-footed animal. Thus "it is not possible to say truly at the same time that the same thing is and is not a man" (Metaphysics 1006b 35). Another argument is that anyone who believes something cannot believe its contradiction (1008b). Why does he not just get up first thing and walk into a well or, if he finds one, over a cliff? In fact, he seems rather careful about cliffs and wells. Avicenna Avicenna's commentary on the Metaphysics illustrates the common view that the law of non-contradiction "and their like are among the things that do not require our elaboration." Avicenna’s words for "the obdurate" are quite facetious: "he must be subjected to the conflagration of fire, since 'fire' and 'not fire' are one. Pain must be inflicted on him through beating, since 'pain' and 'no pain' are one. And he must be denied food and drink, since eating and drinking and the abstention from both are one [and the same]." Eastern philosophy The law of non-contradiction is found in ancient Indian logic as a meta-rule in the Shrauta Sutras, the grammar of Pāṇini, and the Brahma Sutras attributed to Vyasa. It was later elaborated on by medieval commentators such as Madhvacharya. Leibniz and Kant Leibniz and Kant both used the law of non contradiction to define the difference between analytic and synthetic propositions. For Leibniz, analytic statements follow from the law of non contradiction, and synthetic ones from the principle of sufficient reason. Russell The principle was stated as a theorem of propositional logic by Russell and Whitehead in Principia Mathematica as: Dialetheism Graham Priest advocates the view that under some conditions, some statements can be both true and false simultaneously, or may be true and false at different times. Dialetheism arises from formal logical paradoxes, such as the Liar's paradox and Russell's paradox. See dialetheism. Alleged impossibility of its proof or denial The law of non-contradiction is alleged to be neither verifiable nor falsifiable, on the grounds that any proof or disproof must use the law itself prior to reaching the conclusion. In other words, in order to verify or falsify the laws of logic one must resort to logic as a weapon, an act which is argued to be self-defeating. Since the early 20th century, certain logicians have proposed logics that deny the validity of the law. Logics known as "paraconsistent" are inconsistency-tolerant logics in that there, from P together with ¬P, it doesn't imply that any proposition follows. Nevertheless, not all paraconsistent logics deny the law of non-contradiction and some such logics even prove it. Some, such as David Lewis, have objected to paraconsistent logic on the ground that it is simply impossible for a statement and its negation to be jointly true. A related objection is that "negation" in paraconsistent logic is not really negation; it is merely a subcontrary-forming operator. In popular culture The Fargo episode "The Law of Non-Contradiction", which takes its name from the law, was noted for its several elements relating to the law of non-contradiction, as the episode's main character faces several paradoxes. For example, she is still the acting chief of police while having been demoted from the position, and tries to investigate a man that both was and was not named Ennis Stussy, and who both was and was not her stepfather. It also features the story of a robot who, after having spent millions of years unable to help humanity, is told that he greatly helped mankind all along by observing history. See also Contradiction First principle Oxymoron Peirce's law Principle of bivalence Principle of sufficient reason Trivialism References Bibliography Béziau (2000). Lewis (1982). . Slater (1995). Further reading External links S. M. Cohen, "Aristotle on the Principle of Non-Contradiction", Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 16, No. 3. James Danaher (2004), "The Laws of Thought", The Philosopher, Vol. LXXXXII No. 1. Paula Gottlieb, "Aristotle on Non-contradiction" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Laurence Horn, "Contradiction" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Graham Priest and Francesco Berto, "Dialetheism" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Graham Priest and Koji Tanaka, "Paraconsistent logic" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Orestes J. Gonzalez, Actus Essendi and the Habit of the First Principle in Thomas Aquinas (New York: Einsiedler Press, 2019). Peter Suber, "Non-Contradiction and Excluded Middle", Earlham College. Classical logic Theorems in propositional logic	[ -0.09985671937465668, 0.23277133703231812, -0.21985763311386108, 0.38385170698165894, 0.06802268326282501, -0.14256957173347473, 0.5118893980979919, -0.16955351829528809, -0.23934893310070038, 0.10738756507635117, -0.4388446509838104, 0.7185156345367432, -0.2780373990535736, 0.672019302845...
17637	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law%20of%20excluded%20middle	Law of excluded middle	In logic, the law of excluded middle (or the principle of excluded middle) states that for every proposition, either this proposition or its negation is true. It is one of the so called three laws of thought, along with the law of noncontradiction, and the law of identity. However, no system of logic is built on just these laws, and none of these laws provides inference rules, such as modus ponens or De Morgan's laws. The law is also known as the law (or principle) of the excluded third, in Latin principium tertii exclusi. Another Latin designation for this law is tertium non datur: "no third [possibility] is given". It is a tautology. The principle should not be confused with the semantical principle of bivalence, which states that every proposition is either true or false. The principle of bivalence always implies the law of excluded middle, while the converse is not always true. A commonly cited counterexample uses statements unprovable now, but provable in the future to show that the law of excluded middle may apply when the principle of bivalence fails. History Aristotle The earliest known formulation is in Aristotle's discussion of the principle of non-contradiction, first proposed in On Interpretation, where he says that of two contradictory propositions (i.e. where one proposition is the negation of the other) one must be true, and the other false. He also states it as a principle in the Metaphysics book 3, saying that it is necessary in every case to affirm or deny, and that it is impossible that there should be anything between the two parts of a contradiction. Aristotle wrote that ambiguity can arise from the use of ambiguous names, but cannot exist in the facts themselves: Aristotle's assertion that "it will not be possible to be and not to be the same thing", which would be written in propositional logic as ¬(P ∧ ¬P), is a statement modern logicians could call the law of excluded middle (P ∨ ¬P), as distribution of the negation of Aristotle's assertion makes them equivalent, regardless that the former claims that no statement is both true and false, while the latter requires that any statement is either true or false. But Aristotle also writes, "since it is impossible that contradictories should be at the same time true of the same thing, obviously contraries also cannot belong at the same time to the same thing" (Book IV, CH 6, p. 531). He then proposes that "there cannot be an intermediate between contradictories, but of one subject we must either affirm or deny any one predicate" (Book IV, CH 7, p. 531). In the context of Aristotle's traditional logic, this is a remarkably precise statement of the law of excluded middle, P ∨ ¬P. Also in On Interpretation, Aristotle seems to deny the law of excluded middle in the case of future contingents, in his discussion on the sea battle. Leibniz Bertrand Russell and Principia Mathematica The principle was stated as a theorem of propositional logic by Russell and Whitehead in Principia Mathematica as: . So just what is "truth" and "falsehood"? At the opening PM quickly announces some definitions: This is not much help. But later, in a much deeper discussion ("Definition and systematic ambiguity of Truth and Falsehood" Chapter II part III, p. 41 ff), PM defines truth and falsehood in terms of a relationship between the "a" and the "b" and the "percipient". For example "This 'a' is 'b'" (e.g. "This 'object a' is 'red'") really means "'object a' is a sense-datum" and "'red' is a sense-datum", and they "stand in relation" to one another and in relation to "I". Thus what we really mean is: "I perceive that 'This object a is red'" and this is an undeniable-by-3rd-party "truth". PM further defines a distinction between a "sense-datum" and a "sensation": Russell reiterated his distinction between "sense-datum" and "sensation" in his book The Problems of Philosophy (1912), published at the same time as PM (1910–1913): Russell further described his reasoning behind his definitions of "truth" and "falsehood" in the same book (Chapter XII, Truth and Falsehood). Consequences of the law of excluded middle in Principia Mathematica From the law of excluded middle, formula ✸2.1 in Principia Mathematica, Whitehead and Russell derive some of the most powerful tools in the logician's argumentation toolkit. (In Principia Mathematica, formulas and propositions are identified by a leading asterisk and two numbers, such as "✸2.1".) ✸2.1 ~p ∨ p "This is the Law of excluded middle" (PM, p. 101). The proof of ✸2.1 is roughly as follows: "primitive idea" 1.08 defines p → q = ~p ∨ q. Substituting p for q in this rule yields p → p = ~p ∨ p. Since p → p is true (this is Theorem 2.08, which is proved separately), then ~p ∨ p must be true. ✸2.11 p ∨ ~p (Permutation of the assertions is allowed by axiom 1.4) ✸2.12 p → ~(~p) (Principle of double negation, part 1: if "this rose is red" is true then it's not true that "'this rose is not-red' is true".) ✸2.13 p ∨ ~{~(~p)} (Lemma together with 2.12 used to derive 2.14) ✸2.14 ~(~p) → p (Principle of double negation, part 2) ✸2.15 (~p → q) → (~q → p) (One of the four "Principles of transposition". Similar to 1.03, 1.16 and 1.17. A very long demonstration was required here.) ✸2.16 (p → q) → (~q → ~p) (If it's true that "If this rose is red then this pig flies" then it's true that "If this pig doesn't fly then this rose isn't red.") ✸2.17 ( ~p → ~q ) → (q → p) (Another of the "Principles of transposition".) ✸2.18 (~p → p) → p (Called "The complement of reductio ad absurdum. It states that a proposition which follows from the hypothesis of its own falsehood is true" (PM, pp. 103–104).) Most of these theorems—in particular ✸2.1, ✸2.11, and ✸2.14—are rejected by intuitionism. These tools are recast into another form that Kolmogorov cites as "Hilbert's four axioms of implication" and "Hilbert's two axioms of negation" (Kolmogorov in van Heijenoort, p. 335). Propositions ✸2.12 and ✸2.14, "double negation": The intuitionist writings of L. E. J. Brouwer refer to what he calls "the principle of the reciprocity of the multiple species, that is, the principle that for every system the correctness of a property follows from the impossibility of the impossibility of this property" (Brouwer, ibid, p. 335). This principle is commonly called "the principle of double negation" (PM, pp. 101–102). From the law of excluded middle (✸2.1 and ✸2.11), PM derives principle ✸2.12 immediately. We substitute ~p for p in 2.11 to yield ~p ∨ ~(~p), and by the definition of implication (i.e. 1.01 p → q = ~p ∨ q) then ~p ∨ ~(~p)= p → ~(~p). QED (The derivation of 2.14 is a bit more involved.) Reichenbach It is correct, at least for bivalent logic—i.e. it can be seen with a Karnaugh map—that this law removes "the middle" of the inclusive-or used in his law (3). And this is the point of Reichenbach's demonstration that some believe the exclusive-or should take the place of the inclusive-or. About this issue (in admittedly very technical terms) Reichenbach observes: The tertium non datur 29. (x)[f(x) ∨ ~f(x)] is not exhaustive in its major terms and is therefore an inflated formula. This fact may perhaps explain why some people consider it unreasonable to write (29) with the inclusive-'or', and want to have it written with the sign of the exclusive-'or' 30. (x)[f(x) ⊕ ~f(x)], where the symbol "⊕" signifies exclusive-or in which form it would be fully exhaustive and therefore nomological in the narrower sense. (Reichenbach, p. 376) In line (30) the "(x)" means "for all" or "for every", a form used by Russell and Reichenbach; today the symbolism is usually x. Thus an example of the expression would look like this: (pig): (Flies(pig) ⊕ ~Flies(pig)) (For all instances of "pig" seen and unseen): ("Pig does fly" or "Pig does not fly" but not both simultaneously) Formalists versus Intuitionists From the late 1800s through the 1930s, a bitter, persistent debate raged between Hilbert and his followers versus Hermann Weyl and L. E. J. Brouwer. Brouwer's philosophy, called intuitionism, started in earnest with Leopold Kronecker in the late 1800s. Hilbert intensely disliked Kronecker's ideas: The debate had a profound effect on Hilbert. Reid indicates that Hilbert's second problem (one of Hilbert's problems from the Second International Conference in Paris in 1900) evolved from this debate (italics in the original): In his second problem [Hilbert] had asked for a mathematical proof of the consistency of the axioms of the arithmetic of real numbers. To show the significance of this problem, he added the following observation: "If contradictory attributes be assigned to a concept, I say that mathematically the concept does not exist" (Reid p. 71) Thus Hilbert was saying: "If p and ~p are both shown to be true, then p does not exist", and was thereby invoking the law of excluded middle cast into the form of the law of contradiction. The rancorous debate continued through the early 1900s into the 1920s; in 1927 Brouwer complained about "polemicizing against it [intuitionism] in sneering tones" (Brouwer in van Heijenoort, p. 492). But the debate was fertile: it resulted in Principia Mathematica (1910–1913), and that work gave a precise definition to the law of excluded middle, and all this provided an intellectual setting and the tools necessary for the mathematicians of the early 20th century: Brouwer reduced the debate to the use of proofs designed from "negative" or "non-existence" versus "constructive" proof: According to Brouwer, a statement that an object exists having a given property means that, and is only proved, when a method is known which in principle at least will enable such an object to be found or constructed... Hilbert naturally disagreed. "pure existence proofs have been the most important landmarks in the historical development of our science," he maintained. (Reid p. 155) Brouwer ... refused to accept the logical principle of the excluded middle... His argument was the following: "Suppose that A is the statement "There exists a member of the set S having the property P." If the set is finite, it is possible—in principle—to examine each member of S and determine whether there is a member of S with the property P or that every member of S lacks the property P. For finite sets, therefore, Brouwer accepted the principle of the excluded middle as valid. He refused to accept it for infinite sets because if the set S is infinite, we cannot—even in principle—examine each member of the set. If, during the course of our examination, we find a member of the set with the property P, the first alternative is substantiated; but if we never find such a member, the second alternative is still not substantiated. Since mathematical theorems are often proved by establishing that the negation would involve us in a contradiction, this third possibility which Brouwer suggested would throw into question many of the mathematical statements currently accepted. "Taking the Principle of the Excluded Middle from the mathematician," Hilbert said, "is the same as ... prohibiting the boxer the use of his fists." "The possible loss did not seem to bother Weyl... Brouwer's program was the coming thing, he insisted to his friends in Zürich." (Reid, p. 149)}} In his lecture in 1941 at Yale and the subsequent paper Gödel proposed a solution: "that the negation of a universal proposition was to be understood as asserting the existence ... of a counterexample" (Dawson, p. 157)) Gödel's approach to the law of excluded middle was to assert that objections against "the use of 'impredicative definitions'" "carried more weight" than "the law of excluded middle and related theorems of the propositional calculus" (Dawson p. 156). He proposed his "system Σ ... and he concluded by mentioning several applications of his interpretation. Among them were a proof of the consistency with intuitionistic logic of the principle ~ (∀A: (A ∨ ~A)) (despite the inconsistency of the assumption ∃ A: ~ (A ∨ ~A)" (Dawson, p. 157) The debate seemed to weaken: mathematicians, logicians and engineers continue to use the law of excluded middle (and double negation) in their daily work. Intuitionist definitions of the law (principle) of excluded middle The following highlights the deep mathematical and philosophic problem behind what it means to "know", and also helps elucidate what the "law" implies (i.e. what the law really means). Their difficulties with the law emerge: that they do not want to accept as true implications drawn from that which is unverifiable (untestable, unknowable) or from the impossible or the false. (All quotes are from van Heijenoort, italics added). Brouwer offers his definition of "principle of excluded middle"; we see here also the issue of "testability": On the basis of the testability just mentioned, there hold, for properties conceived within a specific finite main system, the "principle of excluded middle", that is, the principle that for every system every property is either correct [richtig] or impossible, and in particular the principle of the reciprocity of the complementary species, that is, the principle that for every system the correctness of a property follows from the impossibility of the impossibility of this property. (335) Kolmogorov'''s definition cites Hilbert's two axioms of negation A → (~A → B) (A → B) → { (~A → B) → B} Hilbert's first axiom of negation, "anything follows from the false", made its appearance only with the rise of symbolic logic, as did the first axiom of implication.... while... the axiom under consideration [axiom 5] asserts something about the consequences of something impossible: we have to accept B if the true judgment A is regarded as false... Hilbert's second axiom of negation expresses the principle of excluded middle. The principle is expressed here in the form in which is it used for derivations: if B follows from A as well as from ~A, then B is true. Its usual form, "every judgment is either true or false" is equivalent to that given above". From the first interpretation of negation, that is, the interdiction from regarding the judgment as true, it is impossible to obtain the certitude that the principle of excluded middle is true... Brouwer showed that in the case of such transfinite judgments the principle of excluded middle cannot be considered obvious footnote 9: "This is Leibniz's very simple formulation (see Nouveaux Essais, IV,2). The formulation "A is either B or not-B" has nothing to do with the logic of judgments. footnote 10: "Symbolically the second form is expressed thusA ∨ ~Awhere ∨ means "or". The equivalence of the two forms is easily proved (p. 421) Examples For example, if P is the proposition:Socrates is mortal.then the law of excluded middle holds that the logical disjunction:Either Socrates is mortal, or it is not the case that Socrates is mortal.is true by virtue of its form alone. That is, the "middle" position, that Socrates is neither mortal nor not-mortal, is excluded by logic, and therefore either the first possibility (Socrates is mortal) or its negation (it is not the case that Socrates is mortal) must be true. An example of an argument that depends on the law of excluded middle follows. We seek to prove that there exist two irrational numbers and such that is rational. It is known that is irrational (see proof). Consider the number . Clearly (excluded middle) this number is either rational or irrational. If it is rational, the proof is complete, and and . But if is irrational, then let and . Then , and 2 is certainly rational. This concludes the proof. In the above argument, the assertion "this number is either rational or irrational" invokes the law of excluded middle. An intuitionist, for example, would not accept this argument without further support for that statement. This might come in the form of a proof that the number in question is in fact irrational (or rational, as the case may be); or a finite algorithm that could determine whether the number is rational. Non-constructive proofs over the infinite The above proof is an example of a non-constructive proof disallowed by intuitionists: (Constructive proofs of the specific example above are not hard to produce; for example and are both easily shown to be irrational, and ; a proof allowed by intuitionists). By non-constructive Davis means that "a proof that there actually are mathematic entities satisfying certain conditions would not have to provide a method to exhibit explicitly the entities in question." (p. 85). Such proofs presume the existence of a totality that is complete, a notion disallowed by intuitionists when extended to the infinite—for them the infinite can never be completed: David Hilbert and Luitzen E. J. Brouwer both give examples of the law of excluded middle extended to the infinite. Hilbert's example: "the assertion that either there are only finitely many prime numbers or there are infinitely many" (quoted in Davis 2000:97); and Brouwer's: "Every mathematical species is either finite or infinite." (Brouwer 1923 in van Heijenoort 1967:336). In general, intuitionists allow the use of the law of excluded middle when it is confined to discourse over finite collections (sets), but not when it is used in discourse over infinite sets (e.g. the natural numbers). Thus intuitionists absolutely disallow the blanket assertion: "For all propositions P concerning infinite sets D: P or ~P" (Kleene 1952:48). Putative counterexamples to the law of excluded middle include the liar paradox or Quine's paradox. Certain resolutions of these paradoxes, particularly Graham Priest's dialetheism as formalised in LP, have the law of excluded middle as a theorem, but resolve out the Liar as both true and false. In this way, the law of excluded middle is true, but because truth itself, and therefore disjunction, is not exclusive, it says next to nothing if one of the disjuncts is paradoxical, or both true and false. Criticisms Many modern logic systems replace the law of excluded middle with the concept of negation as failure. Instead of a proposition's being either true or false, a proposition is either true or not able to be proved true. These two dichotomies only differ in logical systems that are not complete. The principle of negation as failure is used as a foundation for autoepistemic logic, and is widely used in logic programming. In these systems, the programmer is free to assert the law of excluded middle as a true fact, but it is not built-in a priori into these systems. Mathematicians such as L. E. J. Brouwer and Arend Heyting have also contested the usefulness of the law of excluded middle in the context of modern mathematics. In mathematical logic In modern mathematical logic, the excluded middle has been argued to result in possible self-contradiction. It is possible in logic to make well-constructed propositions that can be neither true nor false; a common example of this is the "Liar's paradox", the statement "this statement is false", which is argued to itself be neither true nor false. The law of excluded middle still holds here as the negation of this statement "This statement is not false", can be assigned true. In set theory, such a self-referential paradox can be constructed by examining the set "the set of all sets that do not contain themselves". This set is unambiguously defined, but leads to a Russell's paradox: does the set contain, as one of its elements, itself? However, in the modern Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, this type of contradiction is no longer admitted. Furthermore, paradoxes of self reference can be constructed without even invoking negation at all, as in Curry's paradox. Analogous laws Some systems of logic have different but analogous laws. For some finite n-valued logics, there is an analogous law called the law of excluded n+1th. If negation is cyclic and "∨" is a "max operator", then the law can be expressed in the object language by (P ∨ ~P ∨ ~~P ∨ ... ∨ ~...~P), where "~...~" represents n−1 negation signs and "∨ ... ∨" n−1 disjunction signs. It is easy to check that the sentence must receive at least one of the n truth values (and not a value that is not one of the n). Other systems reject the law entirely. See also : an account on the formalist-intuitionist divide around the Law of the excluded middle Law of excluded middle is untrue in s such as and s: a graphical syntax for propositional logic : another way of turning intuition classical : the application excluded middle to propositions Non-affirming negation in the school of Buddhism, another system in which the law of excluded middle is untrue Mathematical constructivism Constructive set theory Footnotes References Aquinas, Thomas, "Summa Theologica", Fathers of the English Dominican Province (trans.), Daniel J. Sullivan (ed.), vols. 19–20 in Robert Maynard Hutchins (ed.), Great Books of the Western World, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Chicago, IL, 1952. Cited as GB 19–20. Aristotle, "Metaphysics", W.D. Ross (trans.), vol. 8 in Robert Maynard Hutchins (ed.), Great Books of the Western World, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Chicago, IL, 1952. Cited as GB 8. 1st published, W.D. Ross (trans.), The Works of Aristotle, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Martin Davis 2000, Engines of Logic: Mathematicians and the Origin of the Computer, W. W. Norton & Company, NY, pbk. Dawson, J., Logical Dilemmas, The Life and Work of Kurt Gödel, A.K. Peters, Wellesley, MA, 1997. van Heijenoort, J., From Frege to Gödel, A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879–1931, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1967. Reprinted with corrections, 1977. Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer, 1923, On the significance of the principle of excluded middle in mathematics, especially in function theory [reprinted with commentary, p. 334, van Heijenoort] Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, 1925, On the principle of excluded middle, [reprinted with commentary, p. 414, van Heijenoort] Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer, 1927, On the domains of definitions of functions,[reprinted with commentary, p. 446, van Heijenoort] Although not directly germane, in his (1923) Brouwer uses certain words defined in this paper. Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer, 1927(2), Intuitionistic reflections on formalism,[reprinted with commentary, p. 490, van Heijenoort] Stephen C. Kleene 1952 original printing, 1971 6th printing with corrections, 10th printing 1991, Introduction to Metamathematics, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam NY, . Kneale, W. and Kneale, M., The Development of Logic, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1962. Reprinted with corrections, 1975. Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell, Principia Mathematica to *56, Cambridge at the University Press 1962 (Second Edition of 1927, reprinted). Extremely difficult because of arcane symbolism, but a must-have for serious logicians. Bertrand Russell, An Inquiry Into Meaning and Truth. The William James Lectures for 1940 Delivered at Harvard University. Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy, With a New Introduction by John Perry, Oxford University Press, New York, 1997 edition (first published 1912). Very easy to read: Russell was a wonderful writer. Bertrand Russell, The Art of Philosophizing and Other Essays, Littlefield, Adams & Co., Totowa, NJ, 1974 edition (first published 1968). Includes a wonderful essay on "The Art of drawing Inferences". Hans Reichenbach, Elements of Symbolic Logic, Dover, New York, 1947, 1975. Tom Mitchell, Machine Learning, WCB McGraw-Hill, 1997. Constance Reid, Hilbert, Copernicus: Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. 1996, first published 1969. Contains a wealth of biographical information, much derived from interviews. Bart Kosko, Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic, Hyperion, New York, 1993. Fuzzy thinking at its finest. But a good introduction to the concepts. David Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, reprinted in Great Books of the Western World Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 35, 1952, p. 449 ff. This work was published by Hume in 1758 as his rewrite of his "juvenile" Treatise of Human Nature: Being An attempt to introduce the experimental method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects Vol. I, Of The Understanding first published 1739, reprinted as: David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Penguin Classics, 1985. Also see: David Applebaum, The Vision of Hume, Vega, London, 2001: a reprint of a portion of An Inquiry'' starts on p. 94 ff External links "Contradiction" entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Classical logic Articles containing proofs Theorems in propositional logic	[ -0.27599504590034485, 0.21483588218688965, -0.2835620641708374, 0.04419254884123802, 0.22022315859794617, -0.16754275560379028, 0.22283129394054413, -0.30833908915519714, 0.37928181886672974, -0.3639851212501526, -0.5387242436408997, 0.49096953868865967, -0.07838083058595657, 0.31685400009...
17639	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowball	Lowball	Lowball can refer to: Low-ball, a persuasion, negotiation, and selling technique Lowball (poker), a variant of the card game poker, in which hand values are reversed so that the lowest-valued hand wins Lowball glass, a short drinking glass typically used for serving liquor See also Highball	[ -0.06481879204511642, -0.08650759607553482, -0.15200725197792053, 0.2760521173477173, 0.08124156296253204, 0.04120182245969772, -0.2546502351760864, 0.5852535963058472, -0.040732935070991516, -0.21231681108474731, -0.1805921345949173, 0.8363741636276245, -0.3401128649711609, -0.30881446599...
17640	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line%20of%20scrimmage	Line of scrimmage	In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end of the most recent play and following the assessment of any penalty yards. History The line of scrimmage first came into use in 1880. Developed by Walter Camp (who introduced many innovations that are part of the modern game of American football), it replaced a contested scrimmage that had descended from the game's rugby roots. This uncontested line of scrimmage would set into motion many more rules that led to the formation of the modern form of gridiron football (although the Canadian rules were developed independently of the American game, despite their similarities). Dimensions A line of scrimmage is parallel to the goal lines and touches one edge of the ball where it sits on the ground prior to the snap. In American football, the set distance of the line of scrimmage between the offense and defense is , the length of the ball. In Canadian football, the set distance of the line of scrimmage is , more than three times as long as the American line. Under NCAA, and NFHS rules, there are two lines of scrimmage at the outset of each play: one that restricts the offense and one that restricts the defense. The area between the two lines (representing the length of the ball as extended to both sidelines) is called the neutral zone. Rules regarding the line of scrimmage Only the offensive player who snaps the ball (usually the center or long snapper) is allowed to have any part of his body in the neutral zone. For there to be a legal beginning of a play, at least seven players on the offensive team, including two eligible receivers, must be at, on, or within a few inches of their line of scrimmage. Beginning in 2019, high school football will allow as few as five players on a line of scrimmage, but in practice, the limits will remain the same since teams will still be limited to four persons behind the line of scrimmage; the difference would only come into play if a team plays offense with fewer than 11 players. Presentation during broadcasts Modern video techniques enable broadcasts of American football to display a visible line on the screen representing the line of scrimmage. The line is tapered according to the camera angle and gets occluded by players and other objects as if the line were painted on the field. The line may represent the line of scrimmage or the minimum distance that the ball must be moved for the offensive team to achieve a first down. Misnomers Many fans and commentators refer colloquially to the entire neutral zone as the "line of scrimmage," although this is technically incorrect. In the NFL rulebook, only the defensive-side restraining line is officially considered a line of scrimmage. Referees, when explaining a penalty, will refer to "the previous spot" instead of the "line of scrimmage" to avoid confusion. See also Scrummage Glossary of American football Walter Camp, formal creator of the line of scrimmage in 1880 Comparison of Canadian and American football Footnotes American football terminology Canadian football terminology	[ 0.0019720043055713177, -0.14345276355743408, -0.01599433831870556, 0.12125803530216217, 0.008699564263224602, 0.14868681132793427, 0.18961234390735626, 0.25409233570098877, -0.2749963104724884, -0.6685200333595276, -0.5202473998069763, 0.2948630452156067, -0.2978649437427521, -0.0729799196...
17641	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral%20pass	Lateral pass	In gridiron football, a lateral pass or lateral (officially backward pass in American football and onside pass in Canadian football) occurs when the ball carrier throws the football to a teammate in a direction parallel to or away from the opponents' goal line. A lateral pass is distinguished from a forward pass, in which the ball is thrown forward, towards the opposition's end zone. In a lateral pass the ball is not advanced, but unlike a forward pass a lateral may be attempted from anywhere on the field by any player to any player at any time. While the forward pass is an invention of the North American games, the lateral and backward pass is also a part of rugby union and rugby league, where such passes are the norm. Compared to its use in rugby, laterals and backward passes are less common in North American football, due to a much greater focus on ball control in American football strategy; they are most commonly used by the quarterback, after taking the snap, to quickly transfer ("pitch") the ball a short distance to a nearby running back (or, rarely, wide receiver) on a rushing play. Laterals are also often seen as part of a last-minute desperation strategy or as part of a trick play. Examples of plays utilizing the lateral pass are the toss, flea flicker, hook and lateral, and buck-lateral. Rules While a forward pass may only be thrown once per down by the team on offense from within or behind the neutral zone, there are no restrictions on the use of lateral passes; any player legally carrying the ball may throw a lateral pass from any position on the field at any time, any player may receive such a pass, and any number of lateral passes may be thrown on a single play. Additionally, a player receiving a lateral pass may throw a forward pass if he is still behind the neutral zone, subject to the forward pass rules. A lateral is the only type of pass that can be legally thrown following a change of possession during a play. Unlike a forward pass, if a backward pass hits the ground or an official, play continues and, as with a fumble, a backward pass that has hit the ground may be recovered and advanced by either team. Backward passes can also be intercepted. A lateral may be underhand or overhand as long as the ball is not advanced in the pass. A ball that is passed exactly sideways is considered a backwards pass. If it hits the ground, the person throwing or "pitching" the lateral pass will be subjected to the fumble designation in the statistics in the NFL, even if the ball is dropped or muffed by a teammate, although in college football this can be credited to whichever player the statistician feels is most responsible. If the ball hits the ground after traveling even slightly forward, however, it is then incomplete instead of a fumble. The snap is legally considered to be a backward pass, although a blown snap is not scored as a fumble. Alternate uses The oxymoron "forward lateral" is used to describe an attempted "lateral" (backward pass) that actually goes forward. In most cases, it is illegal. A variant, the hook and lateral, where a forward pass is immediately passed backward to a second receiver to fool the defense, is used on occasion. Famous plays in history The lateral pass rule, or rather the lack of restrictions contained therein, has given rise to some of the most memorable and incredible plays in football history. Both collegiate and NFL football have certain examples of football lore which involve laterals. One famous college play involving the backward passes is simply known as The Play. In the 1982 Big Game between Stanford and California, with four seconds left and trailing by one point, Cal ran the ball back on a kickoff all the way for the walk-off touchdown using five backward passes, eventually running through the Stanford Band, who had already taken the field (believing the game was over after Stanford players appeared to have tackled a Cal ball-carrier). The game remains controversial because of Stanford's contention that the Cal player's knee was down before he passed the ball during the third lateral and that the fifth lateral was an illegal forward pass. A well-known and controversial NFL lateral pass occurred during the Music City Miracle play at the end of the 2000 playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills. The play was a true lateral (the ball did not move forward or backward in the pass), but the receiver was a step ahead of the passer and reached back to catch the ball, so it gave the appearance of an illegal forward pass. Another well known backward pass in the NFL was the River City Relay in a game between the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 21, 2003. With time running out, the Saints threw backward passes and brought the ball down the length of the field for a touchdown. However, kicker John Carney missed the extra point, which would have tied the game, so the Saints lost by one point, 20–19. Another well known play was executed in a college football game by Presbyterian against Wake Forest in 2010. In this trick play, three lateral pass rules were used in combination. First the quarterback passed the ball sideways while intentionally bouncing the ball on the ground (a so-called "fake fumble pass"). The pass-receiver faked the end of the play, suggesting that it was an incomplete pass, but then passed the ball forward to a wide-receiver, who successfully ran for a touchdown. Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe described the play "as well executed as anything I’ve ever seen". In a Division III college football game on October 27, 2007, Trinity University was trailing by two points with two seconds left in a game against conference rival Millsaps College. Starting from their own 39-yard line, Trinity called a play for a short pass across the middle. The receiver pitched the ball backward, with a sequence of additional backward passes as players were in danger of being tackled. The "Mississippi Miracle" ultimately included 15 backward passes as it covered 61 yards for the walk-off touchdown. On October 31, 2015, the Miami Hurricanes threw eight lateral passes over the course of 45 seconds to score a touchdown and upset the 22nd-ranked Duke Blue Devils 30–27. The play stirred controversy amid a number of missed calls by the Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew. On December 9, 2018, the Miami Dolphins pulled off the only walk-off touchdown to involve multiple lateral passes in NFL history, completing two laterals for a 69-yard touchdown to beat the New England Patriots 34–33. References American football plays	[ -0.28981614112854004, -0.3925604820251465, -0.44563600420951843, 0.01898953691124916, -0.31004947423934937, 0.3520989716053009, 0.28817710280418396, 0.5310537219047546, -0.2273719310760498, -0.5534224510192871, -0.3425541818141937, -0.023373696953058243, -0.32089534401893616, -0.2894216179...
17643	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavandula	Lavandula	Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia to India. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. The most widely cultivated species, Lavandula angustifolia, is often referred to as lavender, and there is a color named for the shade of the flowers of this species. Lavender has been used over centuries in traditional medicine and cosmetics, and "limited clinical trials support therapeutic use of lavender for pain, hot flushes, and postnatal perineal discomfort." Description The genus includes annual or short-lived herbaceous perennial plants, and shrub-like perennials, subshrubs or small shrubs. Leaf shape is diverse across the genus. They are simple in some commonly cultivated species; in other species, they are pinnately toothed, or pinnate, sometimes multiple pinnate and dissected. In most species the leaves are covered in fine hairs or indumentum, which normally contain the essential oils. Flowers are borne in whorls, held on spikes rising above the foliage, the spikes being branched in some species. Some species produce colored bracts at the tips of the inflorescences. The flowers may be blue, violet or lilac in the wild species, occasionally blackish purple or yellowish. The calyx is tubular. The corolla is also tubular, usually with five lobes (the upper lip often cleft, and the lower lip has two clefts). Nomenclature and taxonomy Lavandula stoechas, L. pedunculata, and L. dentata were known in Roman times. From the Middle Ages onwards, the European species were considered two separate groups or genera, Stoechas (L. stoechas, L. pedunculata, L. dentata) and Lavandula (L. spica and L. latifolia), until Linnaeus combined them. He only recognised five species in Species Plantarum (1753), L. multifida and L. dentata (Spain) and L. stoechas and L. spica from Southern Europe. L. pedunculata was included within L. stoechas. By 1790, L. pinnata and L. carnosa were recognised. The latter was subsequently transferred to Anisochilus. By 1826 Frédéric Charles Jean Gingins de la Sarraz listed 12 species in three sections, and by 1848 eighteen species were known. One of the first modern major classifications was that of Dorothy Chaytor in 1937 at Kew. The six sections she proposed for 28 species still left many intermediates that could not easily be assigned. Her sections included Stoechas, Spica, Subnudae, Pterostoechas, Chaetostachys, and Dentatae. However all the major cultivated and commercial forms resided in the Stoechas and Spica sections. There were four species within Stoechas (Lavandula stoechas, L. dentata, L. viridis, and L. pedunculata) while Spica had three (L. officinalis (now L. angustifolia), L. latifolia and L. lanata). She believed that the garden varieties were hybrids between true lavender L. angustifolia and spike lavender (L. latifolia). Lavandula has three subgenera: Subgenus Lavandula is mainly of woody shrubs with entire leaves. It contains the principal species grown as ornamental plants and for oils. They are found across the Mediterranean region to northeast Africa and western Arabia. Subgenus Fabricia consists of shrubs and herbs, and it has a wide distribution from the Atlantic to India. It contains some ornamental plants. Subgenus Sabaudia constitutes two species in the southwest Arabian peninsula and Eritrea, which are rather distinct from the other species, and are sometimes placed in their own genus Sabaudia. In addition, there are numerous hybrids and cultivars in commercial and horticultural usage. The first major clade corresponds to subgenus Lavandula, and the second Fabricia. The Sabaudia group is less clearly defined. Within the Lavandula clade, the subclades correspond to the existing sections, but place Dentatae separately from Stoechas, not within it. Within the Fabricia clade, the subclades correspond to Pterostoechas, Subnudae, and Chaetostachys. Thus the current classification includes 39 species distributed across 8 sections (the original 6 of Chaytor and the two new sections of Upson and Andrews), in three subgenera (see table below). However, since lavender cross-pollinates easily, countless variations present difficulties in classification. Etymology The English word lavender is generally thought to be derived from Old French lavandre, ultimately from the Latin lavare (to wash), referring to the use of infusions of the plants. The botanic name Lavandula as used by Linnaeus is considered to be derived from this and other European vernacular names for the plants. However it is suggested that this explanation may be apocryphal, and that the name may be derived from Latin livere, "blueish". The names widely used for some of the species, "English lavender", "French lavender" and "Spanish lavender" are all imprecisely applied. "English lavender" is commonly used for L. angustifolia, though some references say the proper term is "Old English Lavender". The name "French lavender" may refer to either L. stoechas or to L. dentata. "Spanish lavender" may refer to L. stoechas, L. lanata or L. dentata. Cultivation The most common form in cultivation is the common or English lavender Lavandula angustifolia (formerly named L. officinalis). A wide range of cultivars can be found. Other commonly grown ornamental species are L. stoechas, L. dentata, and L. multifida (Egyptian lavender). Because the cultivated forms are planted in gardens worldwide, they are occasionally found growing wild as garden escapes, well beyond their natural range. Such spontaneous growth is usually harmless, but in some cases Lavandula species have become invasive. For example, in Australia, Lavandula stoechas has become a cause for concern; it occurs widely throughout the continent, and has been declared a noxious weed in Victoria since 1920. It is regarded as a weed in parts of Spain. Lavenders flourish best in dry, well-drained, sandy or gravelly soils in full sun. English Lavender has a long germination process (14–28 days) and matures within 100–110 days. All types need little or no fertilizer and good air circulation. In areas of high humidity, root rot due to fungus infection can be a problem. Organic mulches can trap moisture around the plants' bases, encouraging root rot. Gravelly materials such as crushed rocks give better results. It grows best in soils with a pH between 6 and 8. Most lavender is hand-harvested, and harvest times vary depending on intended use. Lavender oil Commercially, the plant is grown mainly for the production of lavender essential oil of lavender. English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) yields an oil with sweet overtones, and can be used in balms, salves, perfumes, cosmetics, and topical applications. Lavandula × intermedia, also known as lavandin or Dutch lavender, yields a similar essential oil, but with higher levels of terpenes including camphor, which add a sharper overtone to the fragrance. The lavandins Lavandula × intermedia are a class of hybrids of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. The lavandins are widely cultivated for commercial use, since their flowers tend to be bigger than those of English lavender and the plants tend to be easier to harvest, but lavandin oil is regarded by some to be of a lower quality than that of English lavender, with a perfume less sweet. The US Food and Drug Administration considers lavender as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for human consumption. The essential oil was used in hospitals during World War I. Phytochemicals Some 100 individual phytochemicals have been extracted from lavender oil, including major contents of linalyl acetate (30-55%), linalool (20-35%), tannins (5-10%), and caryophyllene (8%), with lesser amounts of sesquiterpenoids, perillyl alcohols, esters, oxides, ketones, cineole, camphor, beta-ocimene, limonene, caproic acid, and caryophyllene oxide. The relative amounts of these compounds vary considerably among lavender species. Culinary use Culinary lavender is usually English lavender, the most commonly used species in cooking (L. angustifolia 'Munstead'). As an aromatic, it has a sweet fragrance with lemon or citrus notes. It is used as a spice or condiment in pastas, salads and dressings, and desserts. Their buds and greens are used in teas, and their buds, processed by bees, are the essential ingredient of monofloral honey. Use of buds For most cooking applications the dried buds, which are also referred to as flowers, are used. Lavender greens have a more subtle flavor when compared to rosemary. The potency of the lavender flowers increases with drying which necessitates more sparing use to avoid a heavy, soapy aftertaste. Chefs note to reduce by two-thirds the dry amount in recipes which call for fresh lavender buds. Lavender buds can amplify both sweet and savory flavors in dishes, and are sometimes paired with sheep's-milk and goat's-milk cheeses. Lavender flowers are occasionally blended with black, green, or herbal teas. Lavender flavors baked goods and desserts, pairing especially well with chocolate. In the United States, both lavender syrup and dried lavender buds are used to make lavender scones and marshmallows. Lavender buds are put into sugar for two weeks to allow the essential oils and fragrance to transfer; then the sugar itself is used in baking. Lavender can be used in breads where recipes call for rosemary. Lavender can be used decoratively in dishes or spirits, or as a decorative and aromatic in a glass of champagne. Lavender is used in savory dishes, giving stews and reduced sauces aromatic flair. It is also used to scent flans, custards, and sorbets. Use of greens The greens are used similarly to rosemary or combined with rosemary to flavor meat and vegetables in savory dishes. They can also be used to make a tea that is milder than teas made with the flowers. In honey The flowers yield abundant nectar, from which bees make a high-quality honey. Monofloral honey is produced primarily around the Mediterranean, and is marketed worldwide as a premium product. Flowers can be candied and are sometimes used as cake decorations. It is also used to make "lavender sugar". Other uses Flower spikes are used for dried flower arrangements. The fragrant, pale purple flowers and flower buds are used in potpourris. Lavender is also used as herbal filler inside sachets used to freshen linens. Dried and sealed in pouches, lavender flowers are placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh fragrance and to deter moths. Dried lavender flowers may be used for wedding confetti. Lavender is also used in scented waters and sachets. In history and culture The ancient Greeks called the lavender herb : nárdos, Latinized as nardus, after the Syrian city of Naarda (possibly the modern town of Dohuk, Iraq). It was also commonly called nard. The species originally grown was L. stoechas. During Roman times, flowers were sold for 100 denarii per pound, which was about the same as a month's wages for a farm laborer, or fifty haircuts from the local barber. Its late Latin name was lavandārius, from lavanda (things to be washed), from the verb lavāre (to wash). Culinary history Spanish nard (), referring to L. stoechas, is listed as an ingredient in making a spiced wine, namely hippocras, in The Forme of Cury. Lavender was introduced into England in the 1600s. It is said that Queen Elizabeth prized a lavender conserve (jam) at her table, so lavender was produced as a jam at that time, as well as used in teas both medicinally and for its taste. Lavender was not used in traditional southern French cooking at the turn of the 20th century. It does not appear at all in the best-known compendium of Provençal cooking, J.-B. Reboul's Cuisinière Provençale. French lambs have been allowed to graze on lavender as it is alleged to make their meat more tender and fragrant. In the 1970s, a blend of herbs called herbes de Provence was invented by spice wholesalers. Culinary lavender is added to the mixture in the North American version. In the 21st century, lavender is used in many world regions to flavor tea, vinegar, jellies, baked goods, and beverages. Research Most preliminary clinical studies on the potential for lavender oil or other lavender plant components to affect human diseases have yet to confirm anti-disease or health effects as of 2018, largely due to the poor quality of study design and conduct. Limited clinical trials support therapeutic use of lavender for pain, hot flushes, and postnatal perineal discomfort. Lavender oil has been studied by preliminary research for its possible effect in alleviating anxiety and sleep disturbances, but no conclusions about the effects on anxiety were possible. Herbalism The German scientific committee on traditional medicine, Commission E, reported uses of lavender flower in practices of herbalism, including its use for restlessness or insomnia, Roehmheld's syndrome, intestinal discomfort, and cardiovascular diseases, among others. Health precautions The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that lavender is considered likely safe in food amounts and may be safe for medicinal purposes such as anxiety. NIH does not recommend the use of lavender while pregnant or breast-feeding because of lack of knowledge of its effects. It recommends caution if young boys use lavender oil because of possible hormonal effects leading to gynecomastia caused by a genetic anomaly and tainted lavender via pesticides, and states that lavender oil may cause skin irritation and could be poisonous if consumed by mouth. A 2007 study examined the relationship between various fragrances and photosensitivity, stating that lavender is known "to elicit cutaneous photo-toxic reactions", but does not induce photohaemolysis. Adverse effects Some people experience contact dermatitis, allergic eczema, or facial dermatitis from topical use of lavender oil on skin. Taxonomic table This is based on the classification of Upson and Andrews, 2004. Gallery References Further reading Upson T, Andrews S. The Genus Lavandula. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2004 United States Department of Agriculture GRIN: Lavandula External links Lamiaceae genera Herbs Medicinal plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Melliferous flowers Subshrubs	[ -0.466779500246048, 0.20923706889152527, -0.5200240015983582, -0.15176941454410553, -0.7020918726921082, 0.6018002033233643, 0.6599626541137695, 0.6973280310630798, -0.18743397295475006, 0.37393900752067566, 0.045075904577970505, -0.05661531165242195, -0.024792717769742012, 0.7449337840080...
17644	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon%20balm	Lemon balm	Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the mint family and native to south-central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, Iran, and Central Asia, but now naturalized elsewhere. It grows to a maximum height of . The leaves have a mild lemon scent. During summer, small white flowers full of nectar appear. It is not to be confused with bee balm (genus Monarda), although the white flowers attract bees, hence the genus Melissa (Greek for "honey bee"). The leaves are used as an herb, in teas, and also as a flavouring. The plant is used to attract bees for honey production. It is grown as an ornamental plant and for its oil (to use in perfumery). Lemon balm has been cultivated at least since the 16th century. Description Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, and native to south-central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, Iran, and Central Asia, but now naturalized in the Americas and elsewhere. The second name, officinalis (Latin, 'of the shop'), originates from the use of the herb by apothecaries, who sold herbal remedies directly to their customers. Lemon balm plants grow bushy and upright to a maximum height of . The heart-shaped leaves are long, and have a rough, veined surface. They are soft and hairy with scalloped edges, and have a mild lemon scent. During summer, small white or pale pink flowers appear. The plants live for ten years; the crop plant is replaced after five years to allow the ground to rejuvenate. Historical uses The use of lemon balm can be dated to over 2000 years ago through the Greeks and the Romans. It is mentioned by the Greek polymath Theophrastus in his Historia Plantarum, written in 300 BC, as "honey-leaf" (μελισσόφυλλον). Lemon balm was formally introduced into Spain in the 7th century, from which its use and domestication spread throughout Europe. Its use in the Middle Ages is noted by herbalists, writers, philosophers, and scientists. Lemon balm was a favourite plant of the Tudors, who scattered the leaves across their floors. It was in the herbal garden of the English botanist John Gerard in the 1590s, who considered it especially good for feeding and attracting honeybees. Especially cultivated for honey production, according to the authors Janet Dampney and Elizabeth Pomeroy, "bees were thought never to leave a garden in which it was grown". It was introduced to North America by the first colonists from Europe; it was cultivated in the Gardens of Monticello, designed by the American statesman Thomas Jefferson. The English botanist Nicholas Culpeper considered lemon balm to be ruled by the planet Jupiter in Cancer, and suggested it to be used for "weak stomachs", to cause the heart to become "merry", to help digestion, to open "obstructions of the brain", and to expel "melancholy vapors" from the heart and arteries. In traditional Austrian medicine, M. officinalis leaves have been prescribed as a herbal tea, or as an external application in the form of an essential oil. Current uses Lemon balm is the main ingredient of carmelite water, which is sold in German pharmacies. The plant is grown and sold as an ornamental plant, and for attracting bees. The essential oil is used as a perfume ingredient. It is used in toothpastes. Lemon balm is used as a flavouring in ice cream and herbal teas, often in combination with other herbs such as spearmint. It is a common addition to peppermint tea, mostly because of its complementing flavor. Lemon balm is also used with fruit dishes or candies. It can be used in fish dishes and is the main ingredient in lemon balm pesto. Its flavour comes from geraniol (3–40%), neral (3–35%), geranial (4–85%) (both isomers of citral), (E)-caryophyllene (0–14%), and citronellal (1–44%). It is also one of the ingredients in Spreewald gherkins. Cultivation Melissa officinalis is native to Europe, central Asia and Iran, but is now naturalized around the world. It grows easily from seed, preferring rich, moist soil. Lemon balm seeds require light and a minimum temperature of to germinate. The plant grows in clumps and spreads vegetatively (a new plant can grow from a fragment of the parent plant), as well as by seed. In mild temperate zones, the plant stems die off at the start of the winter, but shoot up again in spring. Lemon balm grows vigorously. , Hungary, Egypt, and Italy are the major producing countries of lemon balm. The leaves are harvested by hand in June and August in the northern hemisphere, on a day when the weather is dry, to prevent the crop from turning black if damp. The cultivars of M. officinalis include: M. officinalis 'Citronella' M. officinalis 'Lemonella' M. officinalis 'Quedlinburger' M. officinalis 'Lime' M. officinalis 'Mandarina' M. officinalis 'Variegata' M. officinalis 'Aurea' M. officinalis 'Quedlinburger Niederliegende', an improved variety bred for high essential oil content. Essential oil production Ireland is a major producer of lemon balm essential oil, which has a pale yellow colour and a lemon scent. The essential oil is commonly co-distilled with lemon oil, citronella oil or other essential oils. Yields are low; 0.014% for fresh leaves and 0.112% for dried leaves. Chemistry Lemon balm contains eugenol, tannins, and terpenes. Notes References Further reading Lamiaceae Herbs Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Flora of North Africa Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus	[ -0.16635572910308838, -0.05860908702015877, 0.2793998122215271, -0.07972043007612228, -0.18391168117523193, 0.368065744638443, 0.136208176612854, 0.8715546727180481, -0.09355729818344116, 0.1353454887866974, -0.4532615542411804, -0.04307807236909866, -0.515844464302063, 0.3326222896575928,...
17646	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliales	Liliales	Liliales is an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group and Angiosperm Phylogeny Web system, within the lilioid monocots. This order of necessity includes the family Liliaceae. The APG III system (2009) places this order in the monocot clade. In APG III, the family Luzuriagaceae is combined with the family Alstroemeriaceae and the family Petermanniaceae is recognized. Both the order Lililiales and the family Liliaceae have had a widely disputed history, with the circumscription varying greatly from one taxonomist to another. Previous members of this order, which at one stage included most monocots with conspicuous tepals and lacking starch in the endosperm are now distributed over three orders, Liliales, Dioscoreales and Asparagales, using predominantly molecular phylogenetics. The newly delimited Liliales is monophyletic, with ten families. Well known plants from the order include Lilium (lily), tulip, the North American wildflower Trillium, and greenbrier. Thus circumscribed, this order consists mostly of herbaceous plants, but lianas and shrubs also occur. They are mostly perennial plants, with food storage organs such as corms or rhizomes. The family Corsiaceae is notable for being heterotrophic. The order has worldwide distribution. The larger families (with more than 100 species) are roughly confined to the Northern Hemisphere, or are distributed worldwide, centering on the north. On the other hand, the smaller families (with up to 10 species) are confined to the Southern Hemisphere, or sometimes just to Australia or South America. The total number of species in the order is now about 1768. As with any herbaceous group, the fossil record of the Liliales is rather scarce. There are several species from the Eocene, such as Petermanniopsis anglesaensis or Smilax, but their identification is not definite. Another known fossil is Ripogonum scandens from the Miocene. Due to the scarcity of data, it seems impossible to determine precisely the age and the initial distribution of the order. It is assumed that the Liliales originate from the Lower Cretaceous, over 100 million years ago. Fossil aquatic plants from the Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil and a new terrestrial species placed in the new genus Cratosmilax suggest that the first species have appeared around 120 million years ago when the continents formed Pangea, before dispersing as Asia, Africa and America. The initial diversification to the current families took place between 82 and 48 million years ago. The order consists of 10 families, 67 genera and about 1,768 species. Description The Liliales are a diverse order of predominantly perennial erect or twining herbaceous and climbing plants. Climbers, such as the herbaceous Gloriosa (Colchicaceae) and Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae), are common in the Americas in temperate and tropical zones, while most species of the subtropical and tropical genus Smilax (Smilacaceae) are herbaceous or woody climbers and comprise much of the vegetation within the Liliales range. They also include woody shrubs, which have fleshy stems and underground storage or perennating organs, mainly bulbous geophytes, sometimes rhizomatous or cormous. Leaves are elliptical and straplike with parallel venation or ovate with palmate veins and reticulate minor venation (Smilacaceae). In Alstroemeria and Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) the leaves are resupinate (twisted). The flowers are highly variable, ranging in size from the small green actinomorphic (radially symmetric) blooms of Smilax to the large showy ones found in Lilium, Tulipa and Calochortus (Liliaceae) and Lapageria (Philesiaceae). Sepals and petals are undifferentiated from each other, and known as tepals, forming a perianth. They are usually large and pointed and may be variegated in Fritillaria (Liliaceae). Nectaries may be perigonal (at base of tepals) but not septal (on ovaries). Perigonal nectaries may be a simple secretory epidermal region at the tepal bases (Lapageria) or small, depressed regions fringed with hairs, often with glandular surface protuberances, at the bases of the inner tepals (Calochortus), while in Tricyrtis the tepals become bulbous or spur-like at the base, forming a nectar-containing sac. Ovaries may be inferior or superior, the style often long and stigma capitate (pin headed). In a number of taxa there are three separate styles, particularly some Melanthiaceae s.l. (e.g. Helonias, Trillium, Veratrum) and Chionographis. The outer integument epidermis of the seed coat is cellular, and the phytomelanin pigment is lacking. The inner integument is also cellular and these features are plesiomorphic. The Liliales are characterised by (synapomorphies) the presence of nectaries at the base of the tepals (perigonal nectaries) or stamen filaments (Colchicum, Androcymbium) most taxa but the absence of septal nectaries, together with extrorse (outward opening) anthers. This distinguishes them from the septal nectaries and introrse anthers that are the features of most other monocots. Exceptions are some Melanthiaceae in which nectaries are absent or septal and anthers that are introrse (dehiscence directed inwards) in Campynemataceae, Colchicaceae, and some Alstroemeriaceae, Melanthiaceae, Philesiaceae, Ripogonaceae and Smilacaceae. Tepals are largely three-traced in net-veined taxa of Liliales (e.g. Clintonia, Disporum), distinguishing them from the single-traced Asparagales, and is associated with the presence of tepal nectaries, presumably to supply them. The presence of separate styles is also a distinguishing feature from Asparagales, where it is rare. Phytomelan is completely absent in Liliales seed coats, unlike Asparagales, which nearly all contain it. Phytochemistry The stems contain fructans, the plants also contain Chelidonic acid, saponins, while some species contain Velamen. The epicuticular wax is of the Convallaria type, consisting of parallel orientated platelets. Genome The order includes taxa with some of the largest genomes among Angiosperms, particularly Melanthiaceae, Alstroemeriaceae and Liliaceae. Taxonomy With 11 families, about 67 genera and about 1,558 species, Liliales is a relatively small angiosperm order, but a large group within the monocotyledons. History Origins The botanical authority for Liliales is given to Perleb (1826), who grouped eleven families (Asparageae, Pontederiaceae, Asphodeleae, Coronariae, Colchicaceae, Dioscoreaceae, Hypoxideae, Amaryllideae, Haemodoraceae, Burmanniaceae, Irideae) into an order he called Liliaceae. In Perleb's system, he divided the vascular plants into seven classes, of which the Phanerogamicae or seed plants he called his class IV, or Ternariae. The latter, he divided into five orders (ordo), including the Liliaceae. A number of later taxonomists, such as Endlicher (1836) substitituted the term Coronarieae for this higher order, including six subordinate taxa. Endlicher divided the Cormophyta into five sections, of which Amphibrya contained eleven classes, including Coronarieae. The term Liliales was introduced by Lindley (1853), referring to these higher orders as Alliances. Lindley included four families in this alliance. Lindley called the monocots class Endogenae, with eleven alliances including Liliales. Although Bentham (1877) restored Coronariae as one of seven Series making up the monocotyledons, it was replaced by Liliiflorae and then Liliales in subsequent publications (see Table for history). Phyletic systems Subsequent authors, now adopting a phylogenetic (phyletic) or evolutionary approach over the natural method, did not follow Bentham's nomenclature. Eichler (1886) used Liliiflorae for the higher order including Liliaceae, placing it as the first order (Reihe) in his class monocotyledons, as did Engler (1903), Lotsy (1911), and Wettstein in 1924, in class Monocotyledones, subdivision Angiospermae. Hutchinson (1973) restored Liliales for the higher rank, an approach that has been adopted by most major classification systems onwards, reserving Liliiflorae for higher ranks. These include Cronquist (1981), Dahlgren (1985), Takhtajan (1997) as well as Thorne and Reveal (2007). Hutchinson (1973) derived a more elaborate hierarchy, placing order Liliales as one of 14 in division Corolliferae, one of three divisions of subphylum monocotyledons. Cronquist (1981) placed the order Liliales as one of two in subclass Liliidae, one of five in the class Liliopsida (monocotyledons) of division Magnoliophyta (angiosperms). Dahlgren (1985) made Liliales one of six orders in Superorder Liliiflorae, one of ten divisions of the monocots. Takhtajan (1997) had a more complex system of higher taxonomic ranks, placing Liliales as one of 15 orders within superorder Lilianae, one of four within subclass Liliidae. Liliidae in turn was one of four subclasses in class Liliopsida (monocots). In contrast Thorne and Reveal (2007) abandoned the use of monocotyledons as a distinct taxon, replacing it with 3 separate subclasses of Magnoliopsida (angiosperms), of which Liliidae consists of 3 superorders, placing Liliales in superorder Lilianae. In all these systems, Liliales (or Liliiflorae) were visualised as either a direct division of the monocots (or equivalent) or were placed in an intermediate division of the monocots, such as superorder Lilianae. Molecular phylogenetic systems The development of molecular phylogenetic methods for determining taxonomic circumscription and phylogeny led to considerable revision of angiosperm classification, and establishment of Liliales as a monophyletic group. It was clear by 1996, that the most useful system to date, that of Dahlgren, required urgent revision. The new classification was formalised with the creation of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) system (1998–2016), based on monophyletic clades, which continued the use of Liliales as the name for the taxon. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group APG system (1998) established a structure of monocot classification with ten orders. Notable was the separation of asparagids, as suggested by Dahlgren, into Asparagales, with other taxa placed in Dioscoreales, resulting in a much reduced order. Phylogeny The position of Liliales within the monocots (Lilianae) is shown in the following cladogram. The monocot orders form three grades, the alismatid monocots, lilioid monocots and the commelinid monocots by order of branching, from early to late. These have alternatively been referred to as Alismatanae, Lilianae and Commelinanae. The alismatid monocots form the basal group, while the remaining grades (lilioid and commelinid monocots) have been referred to as the "core monocots". The relationship between the orders (with the exception of the two sister orders) is pectinate, that is diverging in succession from the line that leads to the commelinids. The lilioid monocot orders constitute a paraphyletic assemblage, that is groups with a common ancestor that do not include all direct descendants (in this case commelinids which are a sister group to Asparagales); to form a clade, all the groups joined by thick lines would need to be included. In the cladogram the numbers indicate crown group (most recent common ancestor of the sampled species of the clade of interest) divergence times in mya (million years ago). {\| \|Cladogram 1: The phylogenetic composition of the monocots Biogeography and evolution The crown group of Liliales has been dated to ca. 117 Myr (million years ago) in the Early Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era. Subdivision The circumscription of Liliales has varied greatly since Perleb's original construction with 11 families in 1826. Many of these families are now considered to be in Asparagales, with the remainder in commelinids and Dioscoreales, as shown in this table. The availability of molecular phylogenetic methods suggested four main lineages within Liliales, and seven families; Liliaceae group: Liliaceae (including some former Uvulariaceae and Calochortaceae), and Smilacaceae (including Ripogonaceae and Philesiaceae) Campynemataceae Colchicaceae group: Colchicaceae (including Petermannia and Uvularia), Alstroemeriaceae and Luzuriaga Melanthiaceae (including Trilliaceae) The first Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification (APG I) in 1998 had the following circumscription, with 9 families, having separated Philesiaceae and Ripogonaceae from Smilacaceae: order Liliales family Alstroemeriaceae family Campynemataceae family Colchicaceae family Liliaceae family Luzuriagaceae family Melanthiaceae family Philesiaceae family Ripogonaceae family Smilacaceae The APG II system (2003) added Corsiaceae to the Liliales, while APG III (2009) added Petermanniaceae and merged Luzuriagaceae into Alstroemeriaceae. The subsequent revision of APG IV (2016) left this unchanged, with 10 families. The exact phylogenetic relationship between the families of Liliales has been subject to revision. This cladogram shows that of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (2020): The bulk of the Liliales species are found in the very diverse family Liliaceae (16 genera, 610 species). Of the remaining nine families, three are referred to as the vine families (Ripogonaceae, Philesiaceae and Smilacaceae) and form a cluster. Families Distribution and habitat Widely distributed but most commonly found in subtropical and temperate regions, especially herbaceous taxa in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and subtropical regions of the Southern hemisphere, including vines. Since many species are cultivated they have been introduced in many regions and consequently worldwide, and a number have subsequently escaped and naturalised. Uses Liliales form important sources of food and pharmaceuticals as well as playing a significant role in horticulture and floriculture as ornamental plants. Pharmaceutical products include colchicine from Colchicum and Gloriosa (Colchicaceae) and veratrine and related compounds from Veratrum (Melanthiaceae) and Zigadenus (Melanthiaceae). Notes References Bibliography Books and symposia Excerpts Taxonomic systems Additional excerpts , (additional excerpts) Historical sources , see also Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien Chapters , In , In , in Articles APG Websites (see also Angiosperm Phylogeny Website) (see also Angiosperm Phylogeny Website) Further reading Books and symposia Historical sources Articles Websites Angiosperm orders Extant Aptian first appearances	[ -0.4255167245864868, -0.15153402090072632, 0.07304539531469345, 0.04359149932861328, -0.37319907546043396, 0.2509252429008484, 0.5358952879905701, 0.5376006364822388, -0.11535343527793884, -0.3517533540725708, -0.24725891649723053, 0.22458042204380035, -0.8174856901168823, 0.27778020501136...
17647	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurales	Laurales	The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales. The order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few genera reach the temperate zone. The best known species in this order are those of the Lauraceae (for example bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, and Sassafras), and the ornamental shrub Calycanthus of the Calycanthaceae. The earliest lauraceous fossils are from the early Cretaceous. It is possible that the ancient origin of this order is one of the reasons for its highly diverged morphology. Presently no single morphological property is known, which would unify all the members of Laurales. The presently accepted classification is based on molecular and genetic analysis. Classification The first botanist to think of the Laurales as a natural group was H. Hallier in 1905. He viewed them as being derived from the Magnoliales. During some or all of the 20th century, the Laurales generally included Amborella and the plants now classified in Austrobaileyales and Chloranthaceae. They were not removed until the advent of molecular data in the late 20th century; their previous inclusion made it harder to determine the relationships within the Laurales and between the Laurales and other groups. The following families are included in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system (APG III): Under the older Cronquist system, the Laurales included a slightly different set of families (current placement, where different, in brackets): Family Amborellaceae (Family Amborellaceae, unplaced) Family Calycanthaceae Family Gomortegaceae Family Hernandiaceae Family Idiospermaceae (= Calycanthaceae pro parte) Family Lauraceae Family Monimiaceae (Cronquist included Atherospermataceae and Siparunaceae in Monimiaceae) Family Trimeniaceae (Austrobaileyales) References K.J. Perleb (1826). Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreichs p. 174. Magner, Freiburg im Breisgau, Deutschland. Renner, Susanne S. (May 2001) Laurales. In: Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. London: Nature Publishing Group. , Full text (pdf). Angiosperm orders	[ -0.2969118654727936, -0.06196506693959236, -0.44149842858314514, 0.03672381117939949, -0.22417402267456055, 0.5273581743240356, 0.30318745970726013, 0.7431024312973022, -0.45247408747673035, 0.24019815027713776, -0.1971178650856018, 0.5311892628669739, -0.13536112010478973, 0.2910875380039...
17648	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick%20%28disambiguation%29	Limerick (disambiguation)	Limerick is a city in Ireland. Limerick may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Limerick (poetry), a form of verse, often humorous and sometimes rude, in five-line, predominantly anapestic meter, with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA Limerick (song), a traditional humorous drinking song with many obscene verses Places Ireland County Limerick, Ireland, the county where the city Limerick is located Canada Limerick, Ontario Limerick, Saskatchewan United States Limerick, Georgia Limerick, Louisville, Kentucky Limerick, Maine Camanche, California, formerly Limerick Limerick Township, Pennsylvania Limerick Nuclear Power Plant New Limerick, Maine San Ramon, California, formerly Limerick Constituencies Before 1801 Askeaton (Parliament of Ireland constituency) Kilmallock (Parliament of Ireland constituency) Limerick City (Parliament of Ireland constituency) Limerick County (Parliament of Ireland constituency) 1801–1885 Limerick City (UK Parliament constituency) County Limerick (UK Parliament constituency) 1885–1922 Limerick City (UK Parliament constituency) East Limerick (UK Parliament constituency) West Limerick (UK Parliament constituency) 1921–1923 Kerry–Limerick West (Dáil constituency) Limerick City–Limerick East (Dáil constituency) 1923–1948 Limerick (Dáil constituency) 1948–2011 Limerick East (Dáil constituency) Limerick West (Dáil constituency) 2011–2016 Limerick (Dáil constituency) 2011– Limerick City (Dáil constituency) 2016– Limerick County (Dáil constituency) People Alison Limerick, British singer Earl of Limerick, a British noble title Patricia Nelson Limerick, American historian Other uses Limerick F.C., an Irish soccer team Limerick (horse), a New Zealand Thoroughbred race horse Limerick lace, a variety of needle lace	[ -0.17170350253582, 0.06971076130867004, -0.20751413702964783, -0.6267003417015076, -0.375570684671402, 0.218681201338768, 0.3478550314903259, 0.6804789304733276, -0.22739115357398987, -0.4893054962158203, -0.45401471853256226, 0.20085649192333221, -0.451966792345047, 0.3014354407787323, ...
17651	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamiales	Lamiales	The Lamiales are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, and is divided into about 24 families. Being one of the largest orders of flowering plants, Lamiales have representatives found all over the world. Well-known or economically important members of this order include lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, the ash tree, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, and a number of table herbs such as mint, basil, and rosemary. Lamiales and Orobanchaceae are both the largest populated parasitic angiosperms of flowering plants. Description Although exceptions often occur, species in this order typically have the following characteristics: superior ovary composed of two fused carpels five petals fused into a tube bilaterally symmetrical, often bilabiate corollas four (or fewer) fertile stamens opposite leaves Taxonomy The Lamiales previously had a restricted circumscription (e.g., by Arthur Cronquist) that included the major families Lamiaceae (Labiatae), Verbenaceae, and Boraginaceae, plus a few smaller families. In the classification system of Dahlgren the Lamiales were in the superorder Lamiiflorae (also called Lamianae). Recent phylogenetic work has shown the Lamiales are polyphyletic with respect to order Scrophulariales and the two groups are now usually combined in a single order that also includes the former orders Hippuridales and Plantaginales. Lamiales has become the preferred name for this much larger combined group. The placement of the Boraginaceae is unclear, but phylogenetic work shows this family does not belong in Lamiales. Also, the circumscription of family Scrophulariaceae, formerly a paraphyletic group defined primarily by plesiomorphic characters and from within which numerous other families of the Lamiales were derived, has been radically altered to create a number of smaller, better-defined, and putatively monophyletic families. Dating Much research has been conducted in recent years regarding the dating the Lamiales lineage, although there still remains some ambiguity. A 2004 study, on the molecular phylogenetic dating of asterid flowering plants, estimated 106 million years (MY) for the stem lineage of Lamiales. A 2009 study on angiosperm diversification through time, concluded an inferred age of lower Eocene, ca. 50 MY, for Lamiales. References External links Lamiales A parsimony analysis of the Asteridae sensu lato based on rbcL sequences Disintegration of the Scrophulariaceae (deals with relationships throughout Lamiales) L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. http://delta-intkey.com https://web.archive.org/web/20070609093942/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/vascular/acanth.htm 2002-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20070630151231/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/d52/52e.htm 2002-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20070609093206/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/d52/52efam.htm 2002-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20050914001131/http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/Relation-Scroph.html https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032641/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/web.dbs/genlist.html 2002-09-06 Angiosperm orders	[ -0.4544784128665924, 0.14653733372688293, -0.2697470188140869, -0.026429355144500732, -0.45893770456314087, 0.3618047535419464, 0.4519253075122833, 0.4862420856952667, -0.08597919344902039, -0.25559836626052856, -0.3030458092689514, 0.3893986642360687, -0.32784923911094666, 0.2871611714363...
17652	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee%20Harvey%20Oswald	Lee Harvey Oswald	Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, then president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 for truancy, during which time he was assessed by a psychiatrist as "emotionally disturbed", due to a lack of normal family life. After attending 22 schools in his youth, he quit repeatedly, and finally when he was 17, joined the Marines. Oswald was court-martialed twice while in the Marines, and jailed. He was honorably released from active duty in the Marine Corps into the reserve, then promptly flew to Europe and defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959. He lived in Minsk, Byelorussia, married a Russian woman named Marina, and had a daughter. In June 1962, he returned to the United States with his wife, and eventually settled in Dallas, where their second daughter was also born. Oswald shot and killed Kennedy on November 22, 1963, from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository as the President traveled by motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. About 45 minutes after assassinating Kennedy, Oswald shot and killed Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit on a local street. He then slipped into a movie theater, where he was arrested for Tippit's murder. Oswald was charged with the assassination of Kennedy, but he denied responsibility for the killing, claiming that he was a "patsy". Two days later, Oswald was fatally shot by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters. In September 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone when assassinating Kennedy. This conclusion, though controversial, was supported by investigations from the Dallas Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Secret Service, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Despite forensic, ballistic, and eyewitness evidence supporting the official findings, public opinion polls have shown that most Americans still do not believe that the official version tells the whole truth of the events, and the assassination spawned numerous conspiracy theories. Early life Oswald was born at the old French Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1939, to Robert Edward Lee Oswald Sr. (1896–1939) and Marguerite Frances Claverie (1907–1981). Robert Oswald was a distant cousin of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and served in the Marines during World War I. Robert died of a heart attack two months before Lee was born. Lee's elder brother Robert Jr. (1934–2017) was also a former Marine. Through Marguerite's first marriage to Edward John Pic Jr., Lee and Robert Jr. were the half-brothers of Air Force veteran John Edward Pic (1932–2000). In 1944, Marguerite moved the family from New Orleans to Dallas, Texas. Oswald entered the first grade in 1945 and over the next half-dozen years attended several different schools in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas through the sixth grade. Oswald took an IQ test in the fourth grade and scored 103; "on achievement tests in [grades 4 to 6], he twice did best in reading and twice did worst in spelling". As a child, Oswald was described as withdrawn and temperamental by several people who knew him. When Oswald was 12 in August 1952, his mother took him to New York City where they lived for a short time with Oswald's half-brother, John. Oswald and his mother were later asked to leave after an argument in which Oswald allegedly struck his mother and threatened John's wife with a pocket knife. Oswald attended seventh grade in the Bronx, New York, but was often truant, which led to a psychiatric assessment at a juvenile reformatory. The reformatory psychiatrist, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, described Oswald as immersed in a "vivid fantasy life, turning around the topics of omnipotence and power, through which [Oswald] tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations". Dr. Hartogs concluded: Lee has to be diagnosed as "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies". Lee has to be seen as an emotionally, quite disturbed youngster who suffers under the impact of really existing emotional isolation and deprivation, lack of affection, absence of family life and rejection by a self involved and conflicted mother. Hartogs recommended that Lee be placed on probation on condition that he seek help and guidance through a child guidance clinic, and that Oswald seek "psychotherapeutic guidance through contact with a family agency". Evelyn D Siegel, a social worker who interviewed both Lee and Oswald at Youth House, while describing "a rather pleasant, appealing quality about this emotionally starved, affectionless youngster which grows as one speaks to him", found that he had detached himself from the world around him because "no one in it ever met any of his needs for love". Hartogs and Sigel indicated that Oswald's mother gave Lee very little affection, with Siegel concluding that Lee "just felt that his mother never gave a damn for him. He always felt like a burden that she simply just had to tolerate." Furthermore, his mother did not apparently indicate an awareness of the relationship between her conduct and Lee's psychological problems, with Siegel describing Marguerite Oswald as a "defensive, rigid, self-involved person who had real difficulty in accepting and relating to people" and who had "little understanding" of Lee's behavior and of the "protective shell he has drawn around himself". Hartogs reported that she did not understand that Lee's withdrawal was a form of "violent but silent protest against his neglect by her and represents his reaction to a complete absence of any real family life". When Lee returned to school for the 1953 Fall semester, his disciplinary problems continued. When Oswald failed to cooperate with school authorities, they sought a court order to remove him from his mother's care so he could be placed into a home for boys to complete his education. This was postponed, perhaps partially because his behavior abruptly improved. Before the New York family court system could address their case, the Oswalds left New York in January 1954, and returned to New Orleans. Oswald completed the eighth and ninth grades in New Orleans. He entered the 10th grade in 1955 but quit school after one month. After leaving school, Oswald worked for several months as an office clerk and messenger in New Orleans. In July 1956, Oswald's mother moved the family to Fort Worth, Texas, and Oswald re-enrolled in the 10th grade for the September session at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth. A few weeks later in October, Oswald quit school at age 17 to join the Marines; he never earned a high school diploma. By this point, he had resided at 22 locations and attended 12 schools. Though Oswald had trouble spelling in his youth and may have had a "reading-spelling disability", he read voraciously. By age 15, he considered himself a socialist according to his diary: "I was looking for a key to my environment, and then I discovered socialist literature. I had to dig for my books in the back dusty shelves of libraries." At 16, he wrote to the Socialist Party of America for information on their Young People's Socialist League, saying he had been studying socialist principles for "well over fifteen months". However, Edward Voebel, "whom the Warren Commission had established was Oswald's closest friend during his teenage years in New Orleans ... said that reports that Oswald was already 'studying Communism' were a 'lot of baloney. Voebel said that "Oswald commonly read 'paperback trash. As a teenager in 1955, Oswald attended Civil Air Patrol meetings in New Orleans. Fellow cadets recalled him attending C.A.P. meetings "three or four" times, or "10 or 12 times" over a one- or two-month period. Marine Corps Oswald enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on October 24, 1956, just a week after his seventeenth birthday; because of his age, his brother Robert Jr. was required to sign as his legal guardian. Oswald also named his mother and his half-brother John as beneficiaries. Oswald idolized his older brother Robert Jr., and wore his Marine Corps ring. John Pic (Oswald's half-brother) testified to the Warren Commission that Oswald's enlistment was motivated by wanting "to get from out and under ... the yoke of oppression from my mother". Oswald's enlistment papers recite that he was tall and weighed , with hazel eyes and brown hair. His primary training was in radar operation, which required a security clearance. A May 1957 document stated that he was "granted final clearance to handle classified matter up to and including confidential after careful check of local records had disclosed no derogatory data". At Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, Oswald finished seventh in a class of thirty in the Aircraft Control and Warning Operator Course, which "included instruction in aircraft surveillance and the use of radar". He was given the military occupational specialty of Aviation Electronics Operator. On July 9, he reported to the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in California then departed for Japan the following month, where he was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron 1 at Naval Air Facility Atsugi near Tokyo. Like all marines, Oswald was trained and tested in shooting. In December 1956, he scored 212, which was slightly above the requirements for the designation of sharpshooter. In May 1959 he scored 191, which reduced his rating to marksman. Oswald was court-martialed after he accidentally shot himself in the elbow with an unauthorized .22 caliber handgun. He was court-martialed a second time for fighting with a sergeant who he thought was responsible for his punishment in the shooting matter. He was demoted from private first class to private and briefly imprisoned. Oswald was later punished for a third incident: while he was on a night-time sentry duty in the Philippines, he inexplicably fired his rifle into the jungle. Slightly built, Oswald was nicknamed Ozzie Rabbit after the cartoon character; he was also called Oswaldskovich because he espoused pro-Soviet sentiments. In November 1958, Oswald transferred back to El Toro where his unit's function "was to serveil for aircraft, but basically to train both enlisted men and officers for later assignment overseas". An officer there said that Oswald was a "very competent" crew chief and was "brighter than most people". While Oswald was in the Marines, he taught himself rudimentary Russian. Although this was an unusual endeavor, on February 25, 1959, he was invited to take a Marine proficiency exam in written and spoken Russian. His level at the time was rated "poor" in understanding spoken Russian, though he fared rather reasonably for a Marine private at the time in reading and writing. On September 11, 1959, he received a hardship discharge from active service, claiming his mother needed care. He was placed on the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Defection to the Soviet Union Oswald traveled to the Soviet Union just before he turned 20 in October 1959. He had taught himself Russian and saved $1,500 of his Marine Corps salary (). Oswald spent two days with his mother in Fort Worth, then embarked by ship on September 20 from New Orleans to Le Havre, France, and immediately traveled to the United Kingdom. Arriving in Southampton on October 9, he told officials he had $700 and planned to stay for one week before proceeding to a school in Switzerland. However, on the same day, he flew to Helsinki. In Helsinki, he checked-in at the Hotel Torni, room 309, then moved to Hotel Klaus Kurki, room 429. He was issued a Soviet visa on October 14. Oswald left Helsinki by train on the following day, crossed the Soviet border at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow on October 16. His visa, valid only for a week, was due to expire on October 21. Almost immediately after arriving, Oswald informed his Intourist guide of his desire to become a Soviet citizen. When asked why by the various Soviet officials he encountered – all of whom, by Oswald's account, found his wish incomprehensible – he said that he was a communist, and gave what he described in his diary as "vauge [sic] answers about 'Great Soviet Union'". On October 21, the day his visa was due to expire, he was told that his citizenship application had been refused, and that he had to leave the Soviet Union that evening. Distraught, Oswald inflicted a minor but bloody wound to his left wrist in his hotel room bathtub soon before his Intourist guide was due to arrive to escort him from the country, according to his diary because he wished to kill himself in a way that would shock her. Delaying Oswald's departure because of his self-inflicted injury, the Soviets kept him in a Moscow hospital under psychiatric observation for a week, until October 28, 1959. According to Oswald, he met with four more Soviet officials that same day, who asked if he wanted to return to the United States. Oswald replied by insisting that he wanted to live in the Soviet Union as a Soviet national. When pressed for identification papers, he provided his Marine Corps discharge papers. On October 31, Oswald appeared at the United States embassy in Moscow and declared a desire to renounce his U.S. citizenship. "I have made up my mind", he said; "I'm through." He told the U.S. embassy interviewing officer, Richard Edward Snyder, that "he had been a radar operator in the Marine Corps and that he had voluntarily stated to unnamed Soviet officials that as a Soviet citizen he would make known to them such information concerning the Marine Corps and his specialty as he possessed. He intimated that he might know something of special interest." Such statements led to Oswald's hardship/honorable military reserve discharge being changed to undesirable. The story of the defection of a former U.S. Marine to the Soviet Union was reported by both the Associated Press and United Press International. Though Oswald had wanted to attend Moscow State University, he was sent to Minsk, Belarus, to work as a lathe operator at the Gorizont Electronics Factory, which produced radios, televisions, and military and space electronics. Stanislau Shushkevich, who later became independent Belarus's first head of state, also worked at Gorizont at the time, and was assigned to teach Oswald Russian. Oswald received a government-subsidized, fully furnished studio apartment in a prestigious building and an additional supplement to his factory pay, which allowed him to have a comfortable standard of living by working-class Soviet standards, though he was kept under constant surveillance. Ella German From approximately June 1960 to February 1961, Oswald was in a relationship with a Belarusian woman, Ella German (), a co-worker at the factory. Early life German was born to a Jewish family in Minsk in 1937. Her mother worked in a chorus line to earn money. Following her father's death when quite young, her grandmother took care of her. In June 1941, she was with her grandparents in Mogilev, southeast of Minsk, for the summer when German military forces invaded. Fleeing the occupation, German and her grandparents eventually ended up in Mordovia, southeast of Moscow. After Minsk was liberated in 1944, the family returned. German described her childhood in hindsight as a miserable life, but stated that she never felt unhappy. She was nineteen before she first dated. German reported that theater was important to her family and that she enjoyed dancing the waltz and foxtrot as she got older, and frequently performed in public theater and thought she might become an actress. She tried for several years to gain admission to Minsk University, but received very low marks for the language criterion in Belarusian. Time with Oswald During the mid-1950s, German was hired as a fitter in the Gorizont (Horizon) radio and television factory in Minsk. Sometime between April and June 1960, she was working in the Experimental Department on the first floor of the factory when she met Oswald, a co-worker in the factory. According to Oswald's diary: "I noticed her, and perhaps fell in love with her, the first minute I saw her". German would later describe him as "a pleasant-looking guy with a good sense of humor. He was not as rough and rude as the men here were back then". She said, "We went to the movies, the theater, symphonies. He was easy to be with. He didn't demand anything of me". The couple ate in the cafeteria together every day and dated about twice each week. She said that it was difficult to trust him completely as he seemed to compartmentalize the relationships in his life. The relationship became more serious to Oswald during the summer and fall of 1960. German stated in an interview that he was probably aware from their first meeting that she was Jewish, but that he mentioned it to her only once, when he broached the subject of marriage by remarking it did not matter to him that she was Jewish. German reported that she had rejected at least two marriage proposals prior to her relationship with Oswald, and that he was someone she did not love or like enough to marry. She wrote that she perceived Oswald as a lonely person and continued to date him out of pity, concerned that rejecting him would make him lonelier. German was invited to Oswald's apartment for the first time on October 18, 1960, his twenty-first birthday. According to German, a quarrel ensued when a friend of Oswald brought another woman to the gathering, making it apparent to her that he had been intimate with other women. Oswald's writings indicate that he had four to five sexual encounters with the woman over the following two weeks. German said she began to stop trusting Oswald after she learned in October 1960 that he had been seeing other women. According to German, Oswald showed up with a gift of chocolates at her family's house on the evening of December 31, 1960, and spent New Year's Eve with them. She stated that they had earlier quarreled about New Year's Eve plans. Oswald's diary entry for January 1, 1961 indicated that he had an enjoyable time at the gathering and decided on the way home that he would propose to German. On January 2, Oswald wrote that he had proposed to her and had been refused because she did not love him and because he was an American. He concluded that German was more interested in arousing the envy of other women by having an American escort. She has stated that she did not understand why Oswald cared so deeply for her and that she was surprised by the proposal. Some authors, including Peter Savodnik and Priscilla Johnson McMillan, believe German's rejection of Oswald's marriage proposal had much to do with his disillusionment with life in the Soviet Union and his decision to return to the United States. Oswald formally dated German for the last time in January or February 1961. According to German, he ignored her at their workplace. She was reported to have been surprised when learning Oswald had returned to the United States. Following the assassination of United States president John F. Kennedy, German was worried that the KGB would come for her, but has stated that they never did. According to novelist Norman Mailer, she said that Oswald was "so gentle" and that she could not believe he was Kennedy's assassin. Later life German was still a resident of Minsk in 1993. She was interviewed by Mailer for his 1995 biography, Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery. Mailer reported that German was a teacher at that time, living with and caring for her daughter and granddaughter. Savodnik also interviewed her for his 2013 book, The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside the Soviet Union. As of 2015, German lived in Acre, Israel. Return to the U.S. Oswald wrote in his diary in January 1961: "I am starting to reconsider my desire about staying. The work is drab, the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No nightclubs or bowling alleys, no places of recreation except the trade union dances. I have had enough." Shortly afterwards, Oswald (who had never formally renounced his U.S. citizenship) wrote to the Embassy of the United States, Moscow requesting the return of his American passport, and proposing to return to the U.S. if any charges against him would be dropped. In March 1961, Oswald met Marina Prusakova (b. 1941), a 19-year-old pharmacology student; they married six weeks later. The Oswalds' first child, June, was born on February 15, 1962. On May 24, 1962, Oswald and Marina applied at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for documents that enabled her to immigrate to the U.S. On June 1, the U.S. Embassy gave Oswald a repatriation loan of $435.71. Oswald, Marina, and their infant daughter left for the United States, where they received less attention from the press than Oswald expected. Dallas–Fort Worth The Oswalds soon settled in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where Lee's mother and brother lived. Lee began a manuscript on Soviet life, though he eventually gave up the project. The Oswalds also became acquainted with a number of anti-Communist Russian and East European émigrés in the area. In testimony to the Warren Commission, Alexander Kleinlerer said that the Russian émigrés sympathized with Marina, while merely tolerating Oswald, whom they regarded as rude and arrogant. Although the Russian émigrés eventually abandoned Marina when she made no sign of leaving her husband, Oswald found an unlikely friend in 51-year-old Russian émigré George de Mohrenschildt, a well-educated petroleum geologist with international business connections. A native of Russia, Mohrenschildt later told the Warren Commission that Oswald had a "remarkable fluency in Russian". Marina, meanwhile, befriended Ruth Paine, a Quaker trying to learn Russian, and her husband Michael Paine, who worked for Bell Helicopter. In July 1962, Oswald was hired by the Leslie Welding Company in Dallas; he disliked the work and quit after three months. On October 12, he started working for the graphic-arts firm of Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall as a photoprint trainee. A fellow employee at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall testified that Oswald's rudeness at his new job was such that fights threatened to break out, and that he once saw Oswald reading a Russian-language publication. Oswald was fired in the first week of April 1963. Edwin Walker assassination attempt In March 1963, Oswald used the alias "A. Hidell" to make a mail-order purchase of a secondhand 6.5 mm caliber Carcano rifle for $29.95. He also purchased a .38 Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver by the same method. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald attempted to kill retired U.S. Major General Edwin Walker on April 10, 1963, and that Oswald fired the Carcano rifle at Walker through a window from less than away as Walker sat at a desk in his Dallas home. The bullet struck the window-frame and Walker's only injuries were bullet fragments to the forearm. The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations stated that the "evidence strongly suggested" that Oswald carried out the shooting. General Walker was an outspoken anti-communist, segregationist, and member of the John Birch Society. In 1961, Walker had been relieved of his command of the 24th Division of the U.S. Army in West Germany for distributing right-wing literature to his troops. Walker's later actions in opposition to racial integration at the University of Mississippi led to his arrest on insurrection, seditious conspiracy, and other charges. He was temporarily held in a mental institution on orders from President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, but a grand jury declined to indict him. Marina Oswald testified that her husband told her that he traveled by bus to General Walker's house and shot at Walker with his rifle. She said that Oswald considered Walker to be the leader of a "fascist organization". A note Oswald left for Marina on the night of the attempt, telling her what to do if he did not return, was found ten days after the Kennedy assassination. Before the Kennedy assassination, Dallas police had no suspects in the Walker shooting, but Oswald's involvement was suspected within hours of his arrest following the assassination. The Walker bullet was too damaged to run conclusive ballistics studies on it, but neutron activation analysis later showed that it was "extremely likely" that it was made by the same manufacturer and for the same rifle make as the two bullets which later struck Kennedy. George de Mohrenschildt testified that he "knew that Oswald disliked General Walker". Regarding this, de Mohrenschildt and his wife Jeanne recalled an incident that occurred the weekend following the Walker assassination attempt. The de Mohrenschildts testified that on April 14, 1963, just before Easter Sunday, they were visiting the Oswalds at their new apartment and had brought them a toy Easter bunny to give to their child. As Oswald's wife Marina was showing Jeanne around the apartment, they discovered Oswald's rifle standing upright, leaning against the wall inside a closet. Jeanne told George that Oswald had a rifle, and George joked to Oswald, "Were you the one who took a pot-shot at General Walker?" When asked about Oswald's reaction to this question, George de Mohrenschildt told the Warren Commission that Oswald "smiled at that". When de Mohrenschildt's wife Jeanne was asked about Oswald's reaction, she said, "I didn't notice anything"; she continued, "we started laughing our heads off, big joke, big George's joke". Jeanne de Mohrenschildt testified that this was the last time she or her husband ever saw the Oswalds. New Orleans Oswald returned to New Orleans on April 24, 1963. Marina's friend Ruth Paine drove her by car from Dallas to join Oswald in New Orleans the following month. On May 10, Oswald was hired by the Reily Coffee Company as a machinery greaser. He was fired in July "because his work was not satisfactory and because he spent too much time loitering in Adrian Alba's garage next door, where he read rifle and hunting magazines". In his 1988 book, On the Trail of the Assassins, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison claimed that Oswald really spent that time across the street at 544 Camp Street. These were the law offices of Guy Banister, a former FBI agent, an avid segregationist, and a local politician. Garrison added that Guy Banister during the summer of 1963 in New Orleans, was most interested in infiltrating the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and used Oswald as his spy. On May 26, Oswald wrote to the New York City headquarters of the pro-Fidel Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee, proposing to rent "a small office at my own expense for the purpose of forming a FPCC branch here in New Orleans". Three days later, the FPCC responded to Oswald's letter advising against opening a New Orleans office "at least not ... at the very beginning". In a follow-up letter, Oswald replied, "Against your advice, I have decided to take an office from the very beginning." On May 29, Oswald ordered the following items from a local printer: 500 application forms, 300 membership cards, and 1,000 leaflets with the heading, "Hands Off Cuba". According to Marina, Lee told her to sign the name "A.J. Hidell" as chapter president on his membership card. According to anti-Castro militant Carlos Bringuier, Oswald visited him on August 5 and 6 at a store he owned in New Orleans. Bringuier was the New Orleans delegate for the anti-Castro organization Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil (DRE). Bringuier would later tell the Warren Commission that he believed Oswald's visits were an attempt by Oswald to infiltrate his group. On August 9, Oswald turned up in downtown New Orleans handing out pro-Castro leaflets. Bringuier confronted Oswald, claiming he was tipped off about Oswald's leafleting by a friend. A scuffle ensued and Oswald, Bringuier, and two of Bringuier's friends were arrested for disturbing the peace. Prior to leaving the police station, Oswald requested to speak with an FBI agent. Oswald told the agent that he was a member of the New Orleans branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee which he claimed had 35 members and was led by A. J. Hidell. In fact, Oswald was the branch's only member and it had never been chartered by the national organization. A week later, on August 16, Oswald again passed out Fair Play for Cuba leaflets with two hired helpers, this time in front of the International Trade Mart. The incident was filmed by WDSU, a local TV station. The next day, Oswald was interviewed by WDSU radio commentator William Stuckey, who probed Oswald's background. A few days later, Oswald accepted Stuckey's invitation to take part in a radio debate with Carlos Bringuier and Bringuier's associate Edward Scannell Butler, head of the right-wing Information Council of the Americas (INCA). Mexico Marina's friend Ruth Paine transported Marina and her child by car from New Orleans to the Paine home in Irving, Texas, near Dallas, on September 23, 1963. Oswald stayed in New Orleans at least two more days to collect a $33 unemployment check. It is uncertain when he left New Orleans; he is next known to have boarded a bus in Houston on September 26 – bound for the Mexican border, rather than Dallas – and to have told other bus passengers that he planned to travel to Cuba via Mexico. He arrived in Mexico City on September 27, where he applied for a transit visa at the Cuban consulate, claiming he wanted to visit Cuba on his way to the Soviet Union. The Cuban consular officials insisted Oswald would need Soviet approval, but he was unable to get prompt co-operation from the Soviet consulate. CIA documents note Oswald spoke "terrible hardly recognizable Russian" during his meetings with Cuban and Soviet officials. After five days of shuttling between consulates – and including a heated argument with an official at the Cuban consulate, impassioned pleas to KGB agents, and at least some CIA scrutiny – Oswald was told by a Cuban consular officer that he was disinclined to approve the visa, saying "a person like [Oswald] in place of aiding the Cuban Revolution, was doing it harm". Later, on October 18, the Cuban embassy approved the visa, but by this time Oswald was back in the United States and had given up on his plans to visit Cuba and the Soviet Union. Still later, eleven days before the assassination of President Kennedy, Oswald wrote to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., saying, "Had I been able to reach the Soviet Embassy in Havana, as planned, the embassy there would have had time to complete our business." While the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had visited Mexico City and the Cuban and Soviet consulates, questions regarding whether someone posing as Oswald had appeared at the embassies were serious enough to be investigated by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Later, the Committee agreed with the Warren Commission that Oswald had visited Mexico City and concluded that "the majority of evidence tends to indicate" that Oswald visited the consulates, but the Committee could not rule out the possibility that someone else had used his name in visiting the consulates. According to a CIA document released in 2017, it is possible Oswald was trying to get the necessary documents from the embassies to make a quick escape to the Soviet Union after the assassination. Return to Dallas On October 2, 1963, Oswald left Mexico City by bus and arrived in Dallas the next day. Ruth Paine said that her neighbor told her on October 14 about a job opening at the Texas School Book Depository, where her neighbor's brother, Wesley Frazier, worked. Mrs. Paine informed Oswald, who was interviewed at the depository and was hired there on October 16 as a $1.25 an hour minimum wage order filler. Oswald's supervisor, Roy S. Truly (1907–1985), said that Oswald "did a good day's work" and was an above-average employee. During the week, Oswald stayed in a Dallas rooming house under the name "O. H. Lee", but he spent his weekends with Marina at the Paine home in Irving. Oswald did not drive a car, but he commuted to and from Dallas on Mondays and Fridays with his co-worker Wesley Frazier. On October 20 (a month before the assassination), the Oswalds' second daughter, Audrey, was born. The Dallas branch of the FBI became interested in Oswald after its agent learned that the CIA had determined that Oswald had been in contact with the Soviet embassy in Mexico, making Oswald a possible espionage case. FBI agents twice visited the Paine home in early November, when Oswald was not present, and spoke to Mrs. Paine. Oswald visited the Dallas FBI office about two to three weeks before the assassination, asking to see Special Agent James P. Hosty. When he was told that Hosty was unavailable, Oswald left a note that, according to the receptionist, read: "Let this be a warning. I will blow up the FBI and the Dallas Police Department if you don't stop bothering my wife" [signed] "Lee Harvey Oswald". The note allegedly contained a threat, but accounts vary as to whether Oswald threatened to "blow up the FBI" or merely "report this to higher authorities". According to Hosty, the note said, "If you have anything you want to learn about me, come talk to me directly. If you don't cease bothering my wife, I will take the appropriate action and report this to the proper authorities." Agent Hosty said that he destroyed Oswald's note on orders from his superior, Gordon Shanklin, after Oswald was named the suspect in the Kennedy assassination. John F. Kennedy and J. D. Tippit shootings In the days before Kennedy's arrival, several local newspapers published the route of the presidential motorcade, which passed the Texas School Book Depository. On Thursday, November 21, 1963, Oswald asked Frazier for an unusual mid-week lift back to Irving, saying he had to pick up some curtain rods. The next morning (the day of the assassination), he returned to Dallas with Frazier. He left $170 and his wedding ring, but took a large paper bag with him. Frazier reported that Oswald told him the bag contained curtain rods. The Warren Commission concluded that the package of "curtain rods" actually contained the rifle that Oswald was going to use for the assassination. One of Oswald's co-workers, Charles Givens, testified to the Commission that he last saw Oswald on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) at approximately 11:55 a.m., which was 35 minutes before the motorcade entered Dealey Plaza. The Commission report stated that Oswald was not seen again "until after the shooting". However, in an FBI report taken the day after the assassination, Givens said that the encounter took place at 11:30 a.m. and that he saw Oswald reading a newspaper in the first floor domino room at 11:50 a.m, 20 minutes later. William Shelley, a foreman at the depository, also testified that he saw Oswald near the telephone on the first floor between 11:45 and 11:50 a.m. Janitor Eddie Piper also testified that he spoke to Oswald on the first floor at 12:00 p.m. Another co-worker, Bonnie Ray Williams, was eating his lunch on the sixth floor of the depository and was there until at least 12:10 p.m. He said that during that time, he did not see Oswald, or anyone else, on the sixth floor and thought that he was the only person up there. However, he also said that some boxes in the southeast corner may have prevented him from seeing deep into the "sniper's nest". Carolyn Arnold, the secretary to the Vice President of the TSBD, informed the FBI that as she left the building to watch the motorcade, she caught a glimpse of a man whom she believed to be Oswald standing in the first floor hallway of the building just prior to the assassination. As Kennedy's motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza at about 12:30 p.m. on November 22, Oswald fired three rifle shots from the sixth-floor window of the book depository, killing the President and seriously wounding Texas Governor John Connally. One shot apparently missed the presidential limousine entirely, another struck both Kennedy and Connally, and a third bullet struck Kennedy in the head, killing him. Bystander James Tague received a minor facial injury from a small piece of curbstone that had fragmented after it was struck by one of the bullets. Witness Howard Brennan was sitting across the street from the Texas School Book Depository and watching the motorcade go by. He notified police that he heard a shot come from above and looked up to see a man with a rifle fire another shot from the southeast corner window on the sixth floor. He said he had seen the same man minutes earlier looking through the window. Brennan gave a description of the shooter, and Dallas police subsequently broadcast descriptions at 12:45 p.m., 12:48 p.m., and 12:55 p.m. After the second shot was fired, Brennan recalled, "This man I saw previous[ly] was aiming for his last shot ... and maybe paused for another second as though to assure himself that he had hit his mark." Six Dallas police officers, including Lieutenant J. C. Day, found the long bag which Frazier described near the sixth floor depository window where Oswald was determined to have fired gunshots at President Kennedy, with Day writing "Found next to the sixth floor window gun fired from. May have been used to carry gun." The bag was long and had marks on the inside consistent with those of a rifle. A Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and three shell casings were found near the open sixth floor window as well. According to the investigations, Oswald hid and covered the rifle with boxes after the shooting and descended through the rear stairwell. About 90 seconds after the shots rang out, Oswald was encountered in the second-floor lunchroom by Dallas police officer Marrion L. Baker, who had his gun drawn. The patrolman was accompanied by Oswald's supervisor, Roy Truly. Baker made the mistake of letting Oswald pass after Truly identified him as an employee; Baker and Truly incorrectly assumed that Oswald was not a suspect because he was an employee of the building. According to Baker, Oswald did not appear to be "nervous" or "out of breath". Truly said that Oswald looked "startled" when Baker pointed his gun directly at him. Mrs. Robert Reid, a clerical supervisor at the depository who returned to her office within two minutes after the shooting, said that she saw Oswald "was very calm" on the second floor with a can of Coca-Cola in his hands. As they walked past each other, Mrs. Reid said to Oswald, "The President has been shot" to which he mumbled something in response, but Reid did not understand him. Oswald was believed to have left the depository through the front entrance just before police sealed it off. Truly later pointed out to officers that Oswald was the only employee that he was certain was missing. At about 12:40 p.m., 10 minutes after the shooting, Oswald boarded a city bus. Probably due to heavy traffic, he requested a transfer from the driver and got off two blocks later. Oswald then took a taxicab to his rooming house at 1026 North Beckley Avenue and entered through the front door at about 1:00 p.m. According to his housekeeper Earlene Roberts, Oswald immediately went to his room, "walking pretty fast". Roberts said that Oswald left "a very few minutes" later, zipping up a jacket he was not wearing when he had entered earlier. As Oswald left, Roberts looked out of the window of her house and last saw him standing at the northbound Beckley Avenue bus stop in front of her house. The Warren Commission concluded that at approximately 1:15 p.m., Dallas Patrolman J. D. Tippit drove up in his patrol car alongside Oswald, presumably because Oswald resembled the police broadcast description of the man seen by witness Howard Brennan who fired shots at the presidential motorcade. He encountered Oswald near the corner of East 10th Street and North Patton Avenue. This location is about nine-tenths of a mile (1.4 km) southeast of Oswald's rooming house – a distance that the Warren Commission concluded "Oswald could have easily walked". Tippit pulled alongside Oswald and "apparently exchanged words with [him] through the right front or vent window". "Shortly after 1:15 p.m.", Tippit exited his car. Oswald immediately fired his pistol and killed the policeman with four shots. Numerous witnesses heard the shots and saw Oswald flee the scene holding a revolver; nine positively identified him as the man who shot Tippit and fled. Four cartridge cases found at the scene were identified by expert witnesses before the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee as having been fired from the revolver later found in Oswald's possession, excluding all other weapons. However, the bullets taken from Tippit's body could not be positively identified as having been fired from Oswald's revolver as the bullets were too extensively damaged to make conclusive assessments. Arrest at the Texas Theatre Shoe store manager Johnny Brewer testified that he saw Oswald "ducking into" the entrance alcove of his store. Suspicious of this activity, Brewer watched Oswald continue up the street and slip without paying into the nearby Texas Theatre, where the film War Is Hell was playing. He alerted the theater's ticket clerk, who telephoned police at about 1:40 p.m. As police arrived, the house lights were brought up and Brewer pointed out Oswald sitting near the rear of the theater. Police Officer Nick McDonald testified that he was the first to reach Oswald and that Oswald seemed ready to surrender saying, "Well, it is all over now." McDonald said that Oswald pulled out a pistol tucked into the front of his pants, then pointed the pistol at him, and pulled the trigger. McDonald stated that the pistol did not fire because the pistol's hammer came down on the webbing between the thumb and index finger of his hand as he grabbed for the pistol. McDonald also said that Oswald struck him, but that he struck back and Oswald was disarmed. As he was led from the theater, Oswald shouted he was a victim of police brutality. Oswald was formally arraigned for the murder of Officer Tippit at 7:10 p.m. Soon after his arrest, Oswald encountered reporters in a hallway. Oswald declared, "I didn't shoot anybody" and, "They've taken me in because of the fact that I lived in the Soviet Union. I'm just a patsy!" Later, at an arranged press meeting, a reporter asked, "Did you kill the President?" and Oswald – who by that time had been advised of the charge of murdering Tippit, but had not yet been arraigned in Kennedy's death – answered, "No, I have not been charged with that. In fact, nobody has said that to me yet. The first thing I heard about it was when the newspaper reporters in the hall asked me that question." As he was led from the room the question was called out, "What did you do in Russia?" and, "How did you hurt your eye?"; Oswald answered, "A policeman hit me." By early the next morning (shortly after 1:30 a.m.) he had been arraigned for the assassination of President Kennedy. Police interrogation Oswald was interrogated several times during his two days at Dallas Police Headquarters. He admitted that he went to his rooming house after leaving the book depository. He also admitted that he changed his clothes and armed himself with a .38 caliber revolver before leaving his house to go to the theater. However, Oswald denied killing Kennedy and Tippit, denied owning a rifle, and said two photographs of him holding a rifle and a pistol were fakes. He denied telling his co-worker he wanted a ride to Irving to get curtain rods for his apartment (he said that the package contained his lunch). He also denied carrying a long, bulky package to work the morning of the assassination. Oswald denied knowing an "A. J. Hidell". Oswald was then shown a forged Selective Service System card bearing his photograph and the alias, "Alek James Hidell" that he had in his possession at the time of his arrest. Oswald refused to answer any questions concerning the card, saying "you have the card yourself and you know as much about it as I do". FBI Special Agent James P. Hosty and Dallas Police Captain Will Fritz (chief of homicide) conducted the first interrogation of Oswald on Friday, November 22. When Oswald was asked to account for himself at the time of the assassination, he replied that he was eating his lunch in the first-floor lounge (known as the "domino room"). He said that he then went to the second-floor lunchroom to buy a Coca-Cola from the soda machine there and was drinking it when he encountered Dallas motorcycle policeman Marrion L. Baker, who had entered the building with his gun drawn. Oswald said that while he was in the domino room, he saw two "Negro employees" walking by, one he recognized as "Junior" and a shorter man whose name he could not recall. Junior Jarman and Harold Norman confirmed to the Warren Commission that they had "walked through" the domino room around noon during their lunch break. When asked if anyone else was in the domino room, Norman testified that somebody else was there, but he could not remember who it was. Jarman testified that Oswald was not in the domino room when he was there. When homicide detective Jim Leavelle testified before the Warren Commission, he said that the first time he had ever sat in on an interrogation with Oswald was on Sunday morning, November 24, 1963. When Counsel Joseph Ball asked Leavelle if he had ever spoken to Oswald before this interrogation, he stated, "No, I had never talked to him before". Leavelle then stated during his testimony that "the only time I had connections with Oswald was this Sunday morning [November 24, 1963]. I never had [the] occasion... to talk with him at any time..." During Oswald's last interrogation on November 24, according to postal inspector Harry Holmes, Oswald was again asked where he was at the time of the shooting. Holmes (who attended the interrogation at the invitation of Captain Will Fritz) said that Oswald replied that he was working on an upper floor when the shooting occurred, then went downstairs where he encountered Dallas motorcycle policeman Marrion L. Baker. Oswald asked for legal representation several times during the interrogation, and he also asked for assistance during encounters with reporters. When H. Louis Nichols, President of the Dallas Bar Association, met with him in his cell on Saturday, he declined their services, saying he wanted to be represented by John Abt, chief counsel to the Communist Party USA, or by lawyers associated with the American Civil Liberties Union. Both Oswald and Ruth Paine tried to reach Abt by telephone several times Saturday and Sunday, but Abt was away for the weekend. Oswald also declined his brother Robert's offer on Saturday to obtain a local attorney. During an interrogation with Captain Fritz, when asked, "Are you a communist?", he replied, "No, I am not a communist. I am a Marxist." Murder On Sunday, November 24, detectives were escorting Oswald through the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters toward an armored car that was to take him from the city jail (located on the fourth floor of police headquarters) to the nearby county jail. At 11:21 a.m. CST, Dallas nightclub operator Jack Ruby approached Oswald from the side of the crowd and shot him once in the abdomen at close range. As the shot rang out, a police detective suddenly recognized Ruby and exclaimed: "Jack, you son of a bitch!" The crowd outside the headquarters burst into applause when they heard that Oswald had been shot. An unconscious Oswald was taken by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital – the same hospital where Kennedy was pronounced dead two days earlier. Oswald died at 1:07 p.m; Dallas police chief Jesse Curry announced his death on a TV news broadcast. At 2:45 p.m. the same day, an autopsy was performed on Oswald in the Office of the County Medical Examiner. Dallas County medical examiner Earl Rose announced the results of the gross autopsy: "The two things that we could determine were, first, that he died from a hemorrhage from a gunshot wound, and that otherwise he was a physically healthy male." Rose's examination found that the bullet entered Oswald's left side in the front part of the abdomen and caused damage to his spleen, stomach, aorta, vena cava, kidney, liver, diaphragm, and eleventh rib before coming to rest on his right side. A network television pool camera was broadcasting live to cover the transfer; millions of people watching on NBC witnessed the shooting as it happened and on other networks within minutes afterward. In 1964, Robert H. Jackson of the Dallas Times Herald was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Photography for his image of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. Ruby's motive Ruby later said he had been distraught over Kennedy's death and that his motive for killing Oswald was "saving Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial". Others have hypothesized that Ruby was part of a conspiracy. G. Robert Blakey, chief counsel for the House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1977 to 1979, said: "The most plausible explanation for the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby was that Ruby had stalked him on behalf of organized crime, trying to reach him on at least three occasions in the forty-eight hours before he silenced him forever." Burial Miller Funeral Home had great difficulty finding a cemetery willing to accept Oswald's remains; Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth eventually agreed. A Lutheran reverend reluctantly agreed to officiate but then failed to appear. Reverend Louis Saunders of the Fort Worth Council of Churches volunteered, saying that "someone had to help this family". He performed a brief graveside service under heavy guard on November 25. Reporters covering the burial were asked to act as pallbearers. Oswald's original tombstone, which gave his full name, birth date, and death date, was stolen four years after the assassination, and his mother replaced it with a marker simply inscribed Oswald. His mother's body was buried beside his in 1981. A claim that a look-alike Russian agent was buried in place of Oswald led to the body's exhumation on October4, 1981. Dental records confirmed it was Oswald. The remains were reburied in a new coffin because of water damage to the original. In 2010, Miller Funeral Home employed a Los Angeles auction house to sell the original coffin to an anonymous bidder for $87,468. The sale was halted after Oswald's brother Robert (19342017) sued to reclaim the coffin. In 2015, a district judge in Tarrant County, Texas ruled that the funeral home intentionally concealed the existence of the coffin from Robert Oswald, who had originally purchased it and believed that it had been discarded after the exhumation, and ordered it returned to Robert Oswald along with damages equal to the sale price. Robert Oswald's attorney stated that the coffin would likely be destroyed "as soon as possible". Official investigations Warren Commission President Lyndon B. Johnson issued an executive order that created the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination. The commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy, and the Warren Report could not ascribe any one motive or group of motives to Oswald's actions: The proceedings of the commission were closed, though not secret. Approximately three percent of its files have yet to be released to the public, which has continued to provoke speculation among researchers. Ramsey Clark Panel In 1968, the Ramsey Clark Panel examined various photographs, X-ray films, documents, and other evidence. It concluded that Kennedy was struck by two bullets fired from above and behind him: one of which traversed the base of the neck on the right side without striking bone, and the other of which entered the skull from behind and destroyed its right side. House Select Committee In 1979, after a review of the evidence and of prior investigations, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) largely concurred with the Warren Commission and was preparing to issue a finding that Oswald had acted alone in killing Kennedy. However, late in the Committee's proceedings a dictabelt recording was introduced, purportedly recording sounds heard in Dealey Plaza before, during and after the shots. After an analysis by the firm Bolt, Beranek and Newman appeared to indicate more than three gunshots, the HSCA revised its findings to assert a "high probability that two gunmen fired" at Kennedy and that Kennedy "was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy". Although the Committee was "unable to identify the other gunman or the extent of the conspiracy", it made a number of further findings regarding the likelihood that particular groups, named in the findings, were involved. Four of the twelve members of the HSCA dissented from this conclusion. The acoustical evidence has since been discredited. Officer H.B. McLain, from whose motorcycle radio the HSCA acoustic experts said the Dictabelt evidence came, has repeatedly stated that he was not yet in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. McLain asked the Committee, "'If it was my radio on my motorcycle, why did it not record the revving up at high speed plus my siren when we immediately took off for Parkland Hospital?'" In 1982, a panel of twelve scientists appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, including Nobel laureates Norman Ramsey and Luis Alvarez, unanimously concluded that the acoustic evidence submitted to the HSCA was "seriously flawed", was recorded after the shots, and did not indicate additional gunshots. Their conclusions were published in the journal Science. In a 2001 article in the journal Science & Justice, D.B. Thomas wrote that the NAS investigation was itself flawed. He concluded with a 96.3 percent certainty that at least two gunmen fired at President Kennedy and that at least one shot came from the grassy knoll. In 2005, Thomas's conclusions were rebutted in the same journal. Ralph Linsker and several members of the original NAS team reanalyzed the timings of the recordings and reaffirmed the earlier conclusion of the NAS report that the alleged shot sounds were recorded approximately one minute after the assassination. In 2010, D.B. Thomas challenged the 2005 Science & Justice article and restated his conclusion that there were at least two gunmen. Backyard photos Photos of Oswald holding the rifle that was later determined to be the murder weapon are an important piece of evidence linking Oswald to the crime. The photos were uncovered with other possessions belonging to Oswald in the garage of Ruth Paine in Irving, Texas, on November 24, 1963. Marina Oswald told the Warren Commission that around March 31, 1963, she had taken pictures of Oswald as he posed with a Carcano rifle, a holstered pistol, and two Marxist newspapers – The Militant and The Worker. Oswald had sent one of the photos to The Militant'''s New York office with an accompanying letter stating he was "prepared for anything": according to Sylvia Weinstein, who handled the newspaper's subscriptions at the time, Oswald was seen as a "kookie" and politically "dumb and totally naive", as he apparently did not know that The Militant, published by the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party, and The Worker, published by the pro-Soviet Communist Party USA, were rival publications and ideologically opposed to each other. The pictures were shown to Oswald after his arrest, but he insisted that they were forgeries. In 1964, Marina testified before the Warren Commission that she had photographed Oswald, at his request using his camera – These photos were labelled CE 133-A and CE 133-B. CE 133-A shows the rifle in Oswald's left hand and newspapers in front of his chest in the other, while the rifle is held with the right hand in CE 133-B. The Carcano in the images had markings matching those on the rifle found in the Book Depository after the assassination. Oswald's mother testified that on the day after the assassination she and Marina destroyed another photograph with Oswald holding the rifle with both hands over his head, with "To my daughter June" written on it. When shown one of the photos during his interrogation by Dallas police, Oswald stated that it was a fake. According to Dallas Police Captain Will Fritz: He said that the picture was not his, that the face was his face, but that this picture had been made by someone superimposing his face, the other part of the picture was not him at all and that he had never seen the picture before. ... He told me that he understood photography real well, and that in time, he would be able to show that it was not his picture, and that it had been made by someone else. The HSCA obtained another first-generation print (from CE 133-A) on April 1, 1977, from the widow of George de Mohrenschildt. The words "Hunter of fascists – ha ha ha!" written in block Russian were on the back. Also in English were added in script: "To my friend George, Lee Oswald, 5/IV/63 [April 5, 1963]." Handwriting experts for the HSCA concluded the English inscription and signature were by Oswald. After two original photos, one negative and one first-generation copy had been found, the Senate Intelligence Committee located (in 1976) a third backyard photo (CE 133-C) showing Oswald with newspapers held away from his body in his right hand. These photos, widely recognized as some of the most significant evidence against Oswald, have been subjected to rigorous analysis. Photographic experts consulted by the HSCA concluded they were genuine, answering twenty-one points raised by critics. Marina Oswald has always maintained she took the photos herself, and the 1963 de Mohrenschildt print bearing Oswald's signature clearly indicate they existed before the assassination. Nonetheless, some continue to contest their authenticity. In 2009, after digitally analyzing the photograph of Oswald holding the rifle and paper, computer scientist Hany Farid concluded that the photo "almost certainly was not altered". Other investigations and dissenting theories Some critics have not accepted the conclusions of the Warren Commission and have proposed several other theories, such as that Oswald conspired with others, or was not involved at all and was framed. A Gallup Poll taken in mid-November 2013, showed 61% believed that Kennedy was killed as a result of conspiracy, and only 30% thought Oswald acted alone. Oswald was never prosecuted because he was murdered two days after the assassination. In March 1967, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison arrested and charged New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw with conspiring to assassinate President Kennedy, with the help of Oswald, David Ferrie, and others. Garrison believed that the men were part of an arms smuggling ring supplying weapons to the anti-Castro Cubans in a conspiracy with elements of the CIA to kill Kennedy. The trial of Clay Shaw began in January 1969 in Orleans Parish Criminal Court. The jury acquitted Shaw. Several films have fictionalized a trial of Oswald, depicting what may have happened had Ruby not killed Oswald. The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1964); The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1977); and On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald (1986) have imagined such a trial. In 1988, a 21-hour unscripted mock trial was held on television, argued by lawyers before a judge, with unscripted testimony from surviving witnesses to the events surrounding the assassination; the jury returned a verdict of guilty. In 1992 the American Bar Association conducted two mock Oswald trials. The first trial ended in a hung jury. In the second trial the jury acquitted Oswald. See also Robert F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories Sirhan Sirhan Notes References Further reading . Gillon, Steven. Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live Sterling. 2013. Mailer, Norman. Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery. New York: Ballantine Books, (1995) . McMillan, Priscilla Johnson. Marina and Lee New York: Harper & Row, 1977. Melanson, Philip H. Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990, hardcover, Nechiporenko, Oleg M. Passport to Assassination: The Never-Before Told Story of Lee Harvey Oswald by the KGB Colonel Who Knew Him. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1993, . Roffman, Howard. Presumed Guilty''. South Brunswick and New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1976, hardcover, External links Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? American Experience: Oswald's Ghost Lee Harvey Oswald: Lone Assassin or Patsy by John C. McAdams Lee Harvey Oswald Chronology by W. Tracy Parnell 1939 births 1963 deaths 1963 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals 20th-century American military personnel American assassins American bibliophiles American communists American criminal snipers American defectors to the Soviet Union American expatriates in Japan American expatriates in the Philippines American expatriates in the Soviet Union American Marxists American murder victims American socialists American spree killers Assassins of presidents of the United States Burials in Texas Criminals from Louisiana Criminals from Texas Deaths by firearm in Texas Deaths from bleeding Deaths in police custody in the United States Extrajudicial killings Filmed assassinations Male murder victims Male murderers Military personnel from Louisiana Murdered criminals People associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy People from New Orleans People murdered in Texas People of the Civil Air Patrol United States Marines Warren Easton High School alumni People with schizoid personality disorder Prisoners who died in Texas detention United States Marine Corps personnel who were court-martialed United States Marine Corps reservists	[ -0.09154640138149261, 0.17532262206077576, -0.72274249792099, 0.20434246957302094, 0.11823789030313492, 0.20786446332931519, 0.5588400363922119, 0.27121806144714355, -0.3529856204986572, 0.010122880339622498, -0.3292441964149475, 0.2253902703523636, -0.3895754814147949, -0.0045134094543755...
17653	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%2C%20Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebraska	Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 291,082 in 2020. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United States. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area in the southeastern part of the state called the Lincoln Metropolitan and Lincoln-Beatrice Combined Statistical Areas. The statistical area is home to 361,921 people, making it the 104th-largest combined statistical area in the United States. The city was founded in 1856 as the village of Lancaster on the wild salt marshes and arroyos of what was to become Lancaster County. Renamed after President Abraham Lincoln, it became Nebraska's state capital in 1869. The Bertram G. Goodhue–designed state capitol building was completed in 1932, and is the second tallest capitol in the United States. As the city is the seat of government for the state of Nebraska, the state and the United States government are major employers. The University of Nebraska was founded in Lincoln in 1869. The university is the largest in Nebraska with 26,079 students enrolled, and is the city's third-largest employer. Other primary employers fall into the service and manufacturing industries, including a growing high-tech sector. The region makes up a part of what is known as the greater Midwest Silicon Prairie. Designated as a "refugee-friendly" city by the U.S. Department of State in the 1970s, the city was the twelfth-largest resettlement site per capita in the United States by 2000. Refugee Vietnamese, Karen (Burmese ethnic minority), Sudanese and Yazidi (Iraqi ethnic minority) people, as well as other refugees from Iraq, the Middle East and Afghanistan, have been resettled in the city. During the 2018–2019 school year, Lincoln Public Schools provided support for approximately 3,000 students from 150 countries, who spoke 125 different languages. History Pioneer Lincoln Prior to the expansion westward of settlers, the prairie was covered with buffalo grass. Plains Indians, descendants of indigenous peoples who occupied the area for thousands of years, lived in and hunted along Salt Creek. The Pawnee, which included four tribes, lived in villages along the Platte River. The Great Sioux Nation, including the Ihanktowan-Ihanktowana and the Lakota, located to the north and west, used Nebraska as a hunting and skirmish ground, although they did not have any long-term settlements in the state. An occasional buffalo could still be seen in the plat of Lincoln in the 1860s. Founding Lincoln was founded in 1856 as the village of Lancaster and became the county seat of the newly created Lancaster County in 1859. The village was sited on the east bank of Salt Creek. The first settlers were attracted to the area due to the abundance of salt. Once J. Sterling Morton developed his salt mines in Kansas, salt in the village was no longer a viable commodity. Captain W. T. Donovan, a former steamer captain, and his family settled on Salt Creek in 1856. In the fall of 1859, the village settlers met to form a county. A caucus was formed and the committee, which included Captain Donovan, selected the village of Lancaster to be the county seat. The county was named Lancaster. After the passage of the 1862 Homestead Act, homesteaders began to inhabit the area. The first plat was dated August 6, 1864. By the close of 1868, Lancaster had a population of approximately 500 people. The township of Lancaster was renamed Lincoln with the incorporation of the city of Lincoln on April 1, 1869. In 1869, the University of Nebraska was established in Lincoln by the state with a land grant of about 130,000 acres. Construction of University Hall, the first building, began the same year. State Capital Nebraska was granted statehood on March 1, 1867. The capital of the Nebraska Territory had been Omaha since the creation of the territory in 1854; however, most of the territory's population lived south of the Platte River. After much of the territory south of the Platte River considered annexation to Kansas, the territorial legislature voted to locate the capital city south of the river and as far west as possible. Prior to the vote to remove the capital city from Omaha, a last ditch effort by Omaha Senator J. N. H. Patrick attempted to derail the move by having the future capital city named after recently assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Many of the people south of the Platte River had been sympathetic to the Confederate cause in the recently concluded Civil War. It was assumed that senators south of the river would not vote to pass the measure if the future capital was named after the former president. In the end, the motion to name the future capital city Lincoln was ineffective in blocking the measure and the vote to change the capital's location south of the Platte River was successful with the passage of the Removal Act in 1867. The Removal Act called for the formation of a Capital Commission to locate a site for the capital on state-owned land. The Commission, composed of Governor David Butler, Secretary of State Thomas Kennard and State Auditor John Gillespie, began to tour sites on July 18, 1867, for the new capital city. The village of Lancaster was chosen, in part due to the salt flats and marshes. Lancaster had approximately 30 residents. Disregarding the original plat of the village of Lancaster, Thomas Kennard platted Lincoln on a broader scale. The plat of the village of Lancaster was not dissolved nor abandoned; it became Lincoln when the Lincoln plat files were finished September 6, 1867. To raise money for the construction of a capital city, a successful auction of lots was held. Newcomers began to arrive and Lincoln's population grew. The Nebraska State Capitol was completed on December 1, 1868; a two-story building constructed with native limestone with a central cupola. The Kennard house, built in 1869, is the oldest remaining building in the original plat of Lincoln. In 1888, a new capitol building was constructed on the site of the first capitol. The new building replaced the structurally unsound former capitol. The second capitol building was a classical design by architect William H. Willcox. Construction began on a third capitol building in 1922. Bertram G. Goodhue was selected in a national competition as its architect. By 1924, the first phase of construction was completed and state offices moved into the new building. In 1925, the Willcox-designed capitol building was razed. The Goodhue-designed capitol was constructed in four phases, with the completion of the fourth phase in 1932. The capitol is the second tallest capitol building in the United States. Growth and expansion The worldwide economic depression of 1890 saw Lincoln's population fall from 55,000 to 40,169 by 1900.(per 1900 census). Volga-German immigrants from Russia settled in the North Bottoms neighborhood and as Lincoln expanded with the growth in population, the city began to annex nearby towns. Normal was the first town annexed in 1919. Bethany Heights, incorporated in 1890, was annexed in 1922. In 1926, the town of University Place was annexed. College View, incorporated in 1892, was annexed in 1929. Union College, a Seventh Day Adventist institution, was founded in College View in 1891. In 1930, Lincoln annexed the town of Havelock. Havelock actively opposed annexation to Lincoln and only relented due to a strike by the Burlington railroad shop workers which halted progress and growth for the city. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad's first train arrived in Lincoln on June 26, 1870, and the Midland Pacific (1871) and the Atchison and Nebraska (1872) soon followed. The Union Pacific began service in 1877. The Chicago and North Western and Missouri Pacific began service in 1886. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific extended service to Lincoln in 1892. Lincoln became a rail hub. As automobile travel became more common, so did the need for better roads in Nebraska and throughout the U.S. In 1911, the Omaha-Denver Trans-Continental Route Association, with support from the Good Roads Movement, established the Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Highway (O-L-D) through Lincoln. The goal was to have the most efficient highway for travel throughout Nebraska, from Omaha to Denver. In 1920, the Omaha-Denver Association merged with the Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway Association. As a result, the O-L-D was renamed the Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway (D-L-D) with the goal of having a continuous highway from Detroit to Denver. The goal was eventually realized by the mid-1920s; of constantly improved highway through six states. The auto route's success in attracting tourists led entrepreneurs to build businesses and facilities in towns along the route to keep up with the demand. In 1924, the D-L-D was designated as Nebraska State Highway 6. In 1926, the highway became part of the Federal Highway System and was renumbered U.S. Route 38. In 1931, U.S. 38 was renumbered as a U.S. 6/U.S. 38 overlap and in 1933, the U.S. 38 route designation was dropped. In the early years of air travel, Lincoln had three airports and one airfield. Union Airport, was established northeast of Lincoln in 1920. The Lincoln Flying School was founded by E.J. Sias in a building he built at 2145 O Street. Charles Lindbergh was a student at the flying school in 1922. The flying school closed in 1947. Some remnants of the Union Airport are still visible between N. 56th and N. 70th Streets, north of Fletcher Avenue; mangled within a slowly developing industrial zone. Arrow Airport was established around 1925 as a manufacturing and test facility for Arrow Aircraft and Motors Corporation, primarily the Arrow Sport. The airfield was near Havelock; or to the west of where the North 48th Street Small Vehicle Transfer Station is today. Arrow Aircraft and Motors declared bankruptcy in 1939 and Arrow Airport closed roughly several decades later. An Arrow Sport is on permanent display, hanging in the Lincoln Airport's main passenger terminal. As train, automobile, and air travel increased, business flourished and the city prospered. Lincoln's population increased 38.2% from 1920 to a population of 75,933 in 1930. In 1930, the city's small municipal airfield was dedicated to Charles Lindbergh and named Lindbergh Field for a short period as another airfield was named Lindbergh in California. It was north of Salt Lake, in an area known over the years as Huskerville, Arnold Heights and Air Park; and was approximately within the western half of the West Lincoln Township. The air field was a stop for United Airlines in 1927 and a mail stop in 1928. In 1942, the Lincoln Army Airfield was established at the site. During World War II, the U.S. Army used the facility to train over 25,000 aviation mechanics and process over 40,000 troopers for combat. The Army closed the base in 1945, but the Air Force reactivated it in 1952 during the Korean War. In 1966, after the Air Force closed the base, Lincoln annexed the airfield and the base's housing units. The base became the Lincoln Municipal Airport, and later the Lincoln Airport, under the Lincoln Airport Authority's ownership. The two main airlines that served the airport were United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. The Authority shared facilities with the Nebraska National Guard, who continued to own parts of the old Air Force base. In 1966, Lincoln annexed the township of West Lincoln, incorporated in 1887. West Lincoln voters rejected Lincoln's annexation until the state legislature passed a bill in 1965 that allowed cities to annex surrounding areas without a vote. Revitalization and growth The downtown core retail district from 1959 to 1984 saw profound changes as retail shopping moved from downtown to the suburban Gateway Shopping Mall. In 1956, Bankers Life Insurance Company of Nebraska announced plans to build a $6 million shopping center next to their new campus on Lincoln's eastern outskirts. Gateway Shopping Center, now called Gateway Mall, opened at 60th and O streets in 1960. By 1984, 75% of Lincoln's revenue from retail sales tax came from within a one-mile radius of the Mall. However, the exodus of retail and service businesses led the downtown core to decline and deteriorate. In 1969, the Nebraska legislature legislated laws for urban renewal. Soon afterward, Lincoln began a program of revitalization and beautification. Most of the urban renewal projects focused on downtown and the near South areas. Many ideas were considered and not implemented. Successes included Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, designed by Philip Johnson; new branch libraries, new street lighting, the First National Bank Building and the National Bank of Commerce Building designed by I.M. Pei. In 1971, an expansion of Gateway Mall was completed. Lincoln's first woman mayor, Helen Boosalis, was elected in 1975. Mayor Boosalis was a strong supporter of the revitalization of Lincoln with the downtown beautification project being completed in 1978. In 1979, the square-block downtown Centrum was opened and connected to buildings with a skywalk. The Centrum was a two-level shopping mall with a garage for 1,038 cars. With the beautification and urban renewal projects, many historic buildings were razed in the city. In 2007 and 2009, the city of Lincoln received beautification grants for improvements on O and West O Streets, west of the Harris Overpass, commemorating the history of the D-L-D. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese refugees created a large residential and business community along the 27th Street corridor alongside Mexican eateries and African markets. Lincoln was designated as a "Refugee Friendly" city by the U.S. Department of State in the 1970s. In 2000, Lincoln was the twelfth-largest resettlement site per capita in the country. As of 2011, Lincoln had the largest Karen (Burmese ethnic minority) population in the United States (behind Omaha), with an estimated 1,500 in 2019. As of the same year, Nebraska was one of the largest resettlement sites for the people of Sudan, mostly in Lincoln and Omaha. In 2014, some social service organizations estimated that up to 10,000 Iraqi refugees had resettled in Lincoln. In recent years, Lincoln had the largest Yazidi (Iraqi ethnic minority) population in the U.S., with over 2,000–3,000 having settled within the city (as of late 2017). In a three-year period, the immigrant and refugee student population at Lincoln Public Schools increased 52% - from 1,606 students in 2014, to 2,445 in 2017. The decade from 1990 to 2000 saw a significant rise in population from 191,972 to 225,581. North 27th Street and Cornhusker Highway were redeveloped with new housing and businesses built. The boom housing market in south Lincoln created new housing developments including high end housing in areas like Cripple Creek, Willamsburg and The Ridge. The shopping center Southpointe Pavilions was completed in competition of Gateway Mall. In 2001, Westfield America Trust purchased the Gateway Mall and named it Westfield Shoppingtown Gateway. In 2005, the company renamed it the Westfield Gateway. Westfield made a $45 million makeover of the mall in 2005 including an expanded food court, a new west-side entrance and installation of an Italian carousel. In 2012, Westfield America Trust sold Westfield Gateway to Starwood Capital Group. Starwood reverted the mall's name from Westfield Gateway to Gateway Mall and has made incremental expansions and renovations. In 2015, ALLO Communications announced it would bring ultra-high speed fiber internet to the city. Speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second were available for business and households by building off of the city's existing fiber network. Construction on the citywide network began in March 2016 and was estimated to be complete by 2019, making it one of the largest infrastructure projects in the United States. Telephone and cable TV service were also included, making it the third company to compete for such services within the same Lincoln footprint. In April 2016, Windstream Communications announced that 2,300 customers in Lincoln had 1 Gigabit per second fiber internet with an expected expansion of services to 25,000 customers by 2017. On November 29, 2017, Lincoln was named a Smart Gigabit Community by U.S. Ignite Inc. and in early 2018, Spectrum joined the ranks of internet service providers providing 1 gigabit internet within the city. Geography Lincoln has an area of , of which is land and is water, according to the United States Census Bureau in 2020. Lincoln is one of the few large cities of Nebraska not along either the Platte River or the Missouri River. The city was originally laid out near Salt Creek and among the nearly flat saline wetlands of northern Lancaster County. The city's growth has led to development of the surrounding land, much of which is composed of gently rolling hills. In recent years, Lincoln's northward growth has encroached on the habitat of the endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle. Metropolitan area The Lincoln Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Lancaster County and Seward County. Seward County was added to the metropolitan area in 2003. Lincoln is also in the Lincoln-Beatrice Combined Statistical Area which consists of the Lincoln metropolitan area and the micropolitan area of Beatrice. The city of Beatrice is the county seat of Gage County. The Lincoln-Beatrice combined statistical area is home to 361,921 people (2020 Census) making it the 104th-largest combined statistical area in the United States. Neighborhoods Lincoln's neighborhoods include both old and new development. Some neighborhoods in Lincoln were formerly small towns that Lincoln later annexed, including University Place in 1926, Belmont, Bethany (Bethany Heights) in 1922, College View in 1929, Havelock in 1930, and West Lincoln in 1966. A number of Historic Districts are near downtown Lincoln, while newer neighborhoods have appeared primarily in the south and east. As of December 2013, Lincoln had 45 registered neighborhood associations within the city limits. One core neighborhood that has seen rapid residential growth in recent years is the downtown Lincoln area. In 2010, there were 1,200 downtown Lincoln residents; in 2016, there were 3,000 (an increase of 140%). Around the middle of the same decade, demand for housing and rent units began outpacing supply. With Lincoln's population expected to grow to more than 311,000 people by 2020, prices for homes and rent costs have risen. Home prices rose 10% from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016; rent prices rose 30% from 2007 to 2017 with a 5–8% increase in 2016 alone. Climate Located in the Great Plains far from the moderating influence of mountains or large bodies of water, Lincoln has a highly variable four season humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa): winters are cold and summers are hot. With little precipitation during winter, precipitation is concentrated in the warmer months, when thunderstorms frequently roll in, often producing tornadoes. Snow averages per season but seasonal accumulation has ranged from in 1967–1968 to in 2018-2019. Snow tends to fall in light amounts, though blizzards are possible. There is an average of 38 days with a snow depth of or more. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 7 thru April 25, allowing a growing season of 164 days. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July. However, the city is subject both to episodes of bitter cold in winter and heat waves during summer, with 10.1 nights of or lower lows, 41.8 days of + highs, and 3.5 days of + highs. The city straddles the boundary of USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5b and 6a. Temperature extremes have ranged from on January 12, 1974 up to on July 25, 1936. Readings as high as or as low as occur somewhat rarely; the last occurrence of each was July 22, 2012 and February 16, 2021. The second lowest temperature ever recorded in Lincoln was on February 16, 2021, which broke the monthly record of last set a day earlier. It occurred during the wider February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm, which impacted the Midwestern and Northeastern United States as a whole. Based on 30-year averages obtained from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center for the months of December, January and February, the Weather Channel ranked Lincoln the seventh-coldest major U.S. city in a 2014 article. In 2014, the Lincoln-Beatrice area was among the "Cleanest U.S. Cities for Ozone Air Pollution" in the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2014" report. Demographics Lincoln is the second-most-populous city in Nebraska. The U.S. government designated Lincoln in the 1970s as a refugee-friendly city due to its stable economy, educational institutions, and size. Since then, refugees from Vietnam settled in Lincoln, and further more refugees came from other countries. In 2013, Lincoln was named one of the "Top Ten most Welcoming Cities in America" by Welcoming America. 2020 census As of the census of 2020, the city had 291,082 people. The population density was . The city's racial makeup was 84.9% White, 4.4% African American, 0.7% Native American, 4.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.6% of the population. There were 113,551 households, of which 6.5% had children under the age of 5, 22.5% had children under the age of 18, 13.0% had someone 65 years of age or older and the city's gender makeup was 49.8% female. The average household size was 2.38. Economy Lincoln's economy is fairly typical of a mid-sized American city; most economic activity is derived from the service and manufacturing industries. Government and the University of Nebraska are both large contributors to the local economy. Other prominent industries in Lincoln include finance, insurance, publishing, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, railroads, high technology, information technology, medical, education and truck transport. For October 2021, the Lincoln Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) preliminary unemployment rate was 1.3% (not seasonally adjusted). With a tight labor market, Lincoln has seen rapid wage growth. From the summer of 2014 to the summer of 2015, the average hourly pay for both public and private employees have increased by 11%. From October 2014 to October 2015, wages were also up by 8.4%. One of the largest employers is Bryan Health, which consists of two major hospitals and several large outpatient facilities across the city. Healthcare and medical jobs account for a large portion of Lincoln's employment: as of 2009, full-time healthcare employees in the city included 9,010 healthcare practitioners in technical occupations, 4,610 workers in healthcare support positions, 780 licensed and vocational nurses, and 150 medical and clinical laboratory technicians. Several national business were originally established in Lincoln; these include student lender Nelnet, Ameritas, Assurity, Fort Western Stores, CliffsNotes and HobbyTown USA. Several regional restaurant chains began in Lincoln, including Amigos/Kings Classic, Runza Restaurants, and Valentino's. The Lincoln area makes up a part of what is known as the greater Midwest Silicon Prairie. The city is also a part of a rapidly growing craft brewing industry. In 2013, Lincoln ranked No. 4 on Forbes''' list of the Best Places for Business and Careers, No. 1 on "NerdWallet's Best Cities for Job Seekers in 2015 and No. 2 on SmartAsset's Cities with the Best Work-life Balance in 2019. Principal employers According to the City's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the principal employers of the city are: Military The Nebraska Air and Army National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters are in Lincoln along with other major units of the Nebraska National Guard. During the early years of the Cold War, the Lincoln Airport was the Lincoln Air Force Base; currently, the Nebraska Air National Guard, along with the Nebraska Army National Guard, have joint-use facilities with the Lincoln Airport. Alongside the National Guard, the 55th Wing of Offutt Air Force Base is temporarily headquartered in Lincoln through September 2022. Arts and culture Since Pinnacle Bank Arena opened in 2013, Lincoln's music scene has grown to the point where it is sometimes referred to as a "Music City." Primary venues for live music include Pinnacle Bank Arena, Bourbon Theatre, Duffy's Tavern, and the Zoo Bar. The Pla-Mor Ballroom is a classic Lincoln music and dance scene with its in-house Sandy Creek Band. Pinewood Bowl hosts a range of performances – from national music performances to local plays – during the warm summer months. The Lied Center is a venue for national tours of Broadway productions, concert music, guest lectures, and regularly features its resident orchestra Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra. Lincoln has several performing arts venues. Plays are staged by UNL students in the Temple Building; community theater productions are held at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, the Loft at The Mill, and the Haymarket Theater. Lincoln has a growing number of arts galleries, some including the Sheldon Museum of Art, Burkholder Project and Noyes Art Gallery. For movie viewing, Marcus Theatres owns 32 screens at four locations, and the University of Nebraska's Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center shows independent and foreign films. Standalone cinemas in Lincoln include the Joyo Theatre and Rococo Theater. The Rococo Theater also hosts benefits and other engagements. The downtown section of O Street is Lincoln's largest bar and nightclub district. Lincoln is the hometown of Zager and Evans, known for their international No. 1 hit record, "In the Year 2525" (1969). It is also the home town of several notable musical groups, such as Remedy Drive, VOTA, For Against, Lullaby for the Working Class, Matthew Sweet, Dirtfedd, The Show is the Rainbow and Straight. Lincoln is home to Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine. In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. Annual cultural events Annual events in Lincoln have come and gone throughout time, such as Band Day at the University of Nebraska's Lincoln campus and the Star City Holiday Parade. However, some events have never changed while new traditions have been created. Current annual cultural events in Lincoln include the Lincoln National Guard Marathon and Half-Marathon in May, Celebrate Lincoln in early June, the Uncle Sam Jam around July 3, and Boo at the Zoo in October. A locally popular event is the Haymarket Farmers' Market, running from May to October in the Historic Haymarket, one of several farmers markets throughout the city. Tourism Tourist attractions and activities include the Sunken Gardens, basketball games at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Lincoln Children's Zoo, the dairy store at UNL's East Campus, and Mueller Planetarium on the city campus. The Nebraska State Capitol, which is also the tallest building in Lincoln, offers tours. The Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed preserves, interprets, and displays physical items significant in racing and automotive history. The National Museum of Roller Skating extends public knowledge of roller skating history and seeks to preserve its legacy for future generations. In late 2016, Lincoln was ranked #3 on Lonely Planet's "Best in the U.S.," destinations to see in 2017 list. Sports Lincoln is home to the University of Nebraska's football team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In total, the university fields 22 men's and women's teams in 14 NCAA Division I sports. Nebraska football began play in 1890. Among the 128 Division I-A teams, Nebraska is one of ten football programs to win 800 or more games. Notable coaches were Tom Osborne, and Bob Devaney. Osborne coached from 1973–1997. Devaney coached from 1962–1972 and the university's indoor arena, the Bob Devaney Sports Center, was named for him. Other sports teams are the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves, an NCAA Division III University; the Lincoln Saltdogs, an American Association independent minor league baseball team; the Lincoln Stars, a USHL junior ice hockey team; and the No Coast Derby Girls, a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. Parks and recreation Lincoln has an extensive park system, with over 131 individual parks connected by a system of recreational trails, a system of bike lanes and a system of cycle tracks. The MoPac Trail is a bicycling, equestrian and walking trail built on an abandoned Missouri Pacific Railroad corridor which runs for from the University of Nebraska's Lincoln campus eastward to Wabash, Nebraska. Regional parks include Antelope Park from S. 23rd and "N" Streets to S. 33rd Street and Sheridan Boulevard, Bicentennial Cascade Fountain, Hamann Rose Garden, Lincoln Children's Zoo, Veterans Memorial Garden, and Holmes Park at S. 70th Street and Normal Boulevard. Pioneers Park includes the Pioneers Park Nature Center at S. Coddington Avenue and W. Calvert Streets. Community parks include Ballard Park, Bethany Park, Bowling Lake Park, Densmore Park, Erwin Peterson Park, Fleming Fields, Irvingdale Park, Mahoney Park, Max E. Roper Park, Oak Lake Park, Peter Pan Park, Pine Lake Park, Sawyer Snell Park, Seacrest Park, Tierra Briarhurst, University Place Park and Woods Park. Other notable parks include Iron Horse Park, Lincoln Community Foundation Tower Square, Nine Mile Prairie owned by the University of Nebraska Foundation, Sunken Gardens, Union Plaza, and Wilderness Park. Smaller neighborhood parks are scattered throughout the city. Additionally, there are five public recreation centers, nine outdoor public pools and five public golf courses not including private facilities in Lincoln. Government Lincoln has a mayor–council government. The mayor and a seven-member city council are selected in nonpartisan elections. Four members are elected from city council districts; the remaining three members are elected at-large. Lincoln's health, personnel, and planning departments are joint city/county agencies; most city and Lancaster County offices are in the County/City Building. The most recent city general election was held on May 4, 2021. Since Lincoln is the state capital, many Nebraska state and United States Government offices are in Lincoln. The city lies within the Lincoln Public Schools school district; the primary law enforcement agency for the city is the Lincoln Police Department. The Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department shoulders the city's fire fighting and emergency ambulatory services while private companies provide non-emergency medical transport and volunteer fire fighting units support the city's outlying areas. The city's public library system is Lincoln City Libraries, which has eight branches. Lincoln City Libraries circulates more than three million items per year to the residents of Lincoln and Lancaster County. Lincoln City Libraries is also home to Polley Music Library and the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska authors. Education Primary and secondary education Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) is the city's sole public school district. It includes six traditional high schools: Lincoln High, East, Northeast, North Star, Southeast, and Southwest. Two additional, smaller high schools are currently under construction: Northwest and Standing Bear. LPS is also home to special interest high school programs, including the Arts and Humanities Focus Program, the Bryan Community School, The Career Academy and the Science Focus Program (Zoo School). Other programs include the Pathfinder Education Program, the Yankee Hill Program and the Lincoln Air Force JROTC. There are several private parochial elementary and middle schools throughout the community. Like Lincoln Public Schools, these schools are broken into districts, but most will allow attendance outside of boundary lines. Lincoln's private high schools are College View Academy, Lincoln Christian, Lincoln Lutheran, Parkview Christian School and Pius X High School. English Language Learners At Lincoln Public Schools, during the 2018–19 school year, the English Language Learners (ELL) program had 2,962 students from approximately 150 countries, who spoke approximately 125 different languages. Some of the most common first-languages spoken within the program are Arabic, Chinese, French, Karen, Kurdish, Nuer, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. The top two first-language groups, as of 2018–19 school year, are Arabic and Kurdish speakers (38.4%), and Spanish speakers (25.2%). From the 2010–11 to the 2018–19 school years, LPS saw Arabic and Kurdish ELL students increase by over 196%, from 321 Arabic and 63 Kurdish speaking students to 605 Arabic and 532 Kurdish speaking students. The continually increasing influx of refugees and immigrants to Lincoln over recent years, which has included refugees/immigrants from Iraq, Mexico, Burma and refugee camps in Thailand, has caused LPS to hire additional ELL teachers at an increasingly rapid pace. However, due to recent immigration restrictions on the national level, ELL numbers have been declining somewhat since 2018. Music literacy Music literacy in Lincoln begins early with Lincoln Public School music programs that provide children with the opportunity to begin strings in 4th grade and band in the 5th grade. Collaboration between the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and LPS provides children in the 3rd grade with weekly instruction in classical strings. These programs and others are supported by music retail stores within the city. Colleges and universities Lincoln has nine colleges and universities. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Nebraska system, is the largest university in Nebraska, with 20,830 undergraduate, 4,426 postgraduate students and 564 professionals enrolled in 2018. Out of the 25,820 enrolled, 2,187 undergraduate and 1,040 postgraduate students/professionals were international. With 135 countries outside of the U.S. represented, the five countries with the highest international enrollment were China, India, Malaysia, Oman and Rwanda. Nebraska Wesleyan University, as of 2013, has 1,927 undergraduate and 222 postgraduate students. The school teaches in the tradition of a liberal arts college education. Nebraska Wesleyan was ranked the #1 liberal arts college in Nebraska by U.S. News and World Report in 2002. In 2009, Forbes ranked it 84th of America's Best Colleges. It remains affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Union College is a private Seventh-day Adventist four-year coeducational college with 911 students enrolled 2013–14. Bryan College of Health Sciences offers undergraduate degrees in nursing and other health professions; a Masters in Nursing; a Doctoral degree in nurse anesthesia practice, as well as certificate programs for ancillary health professions. Universities with satellite locations in Lincoln are Bellevue University, Concordia University (Nebraska) and Doane University. Lincoln also hosts the College of Hair Design and Joseph's College of Cosmetology. Southeast Community College is a community college system in southeastern Nebraska, with three campuses in Lincoln and an enrollment of 9,751 students as of fall 2013. The two-year Academic Transfer program is popular among students who want to complete their general education requirements before they enroll in a four-year institution. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the most popular transfer location. Media Television Lincoln has four licensed broadcast full power television stations; and one serving the city, but licensed to an area outside its limits: KSNB-TV (Channel 4; 4.1 DT) - NBC/MyNetworkTV affiliate Ion Television affiliate 4.3 KLKN (Channel 8; 8.1 DT) – ABC affiliate Grit affiliate 8.2 Escape affiliate 8.3 Laff affiliate 8.4 KOLN (Channel 10; 10.1 DT) – CBS affiliate KSNB-TV Simulcast/NBC 10.2 MeTV/MNTV 10.3 KUON (Channel 12; 12.1 DT) – PBS affiliate, Nebraska Public Media Television flagship station NET-W (World) 12.2 NET-C (Create) 12.3 NET-K (PBS Kids) 12.4 KFXL (Channel 15; 51.1 DT) – Fox affiliate The headquarters of Nebraska Public Media, which is affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, are in Lincoln. The city has two low power digital TV stations in Lincoln area: including the translator KFDY-LD (simulcast of (KOHA-LD)) owned by Flood Communications of Nebraska LLC, including for main Spanish-language network affiliate Telemundo on 27.1, NCN (Ind.) on 27.2, and religious network affiliate 3ABN on 27.3 in Lincoln area only, on virtual channel 27, digital channel 27; and another low power digital KCWH-LD on CW+ affiliate, owned by Gray on channel 18.1 included subchannels like Ion on 18.2, and CBS (Simulcast of KOLN) on 18.3. Radio There are 18 radio stations licensed in Lincoln, not including radio stations licensed outside of the city that serve the Lincoln area. Most areas of Lincoln also receive radio signals from Omaha and other surrounding communities. FM stations include: KLCV (88.5) – Religious talk KZUM (89.3) – Independent Community Radio KRNU (90.3) – Alternative / College radio UNL KUCV (91.1) – National Public Radio K220GT (91.9) – Contemporary Christian K233AN (94.5) – Top 40 KNNA-LP (95.7) – Christian K255CS (98.9) – Christian K268DF (101.5) – Sports Talk K277CA (103.3) – News/Talk KLNC (105.3) – Classic Rock KFRX (106.3) – Top-40 K294DJ (106.7) – Christian KBBK (107.3) – Hot AC KJFT-LP (107.9) – Chinese-language Christian AM stations include: KFOR (1240) – News/Talk KLIN (1400) – News/Talk KLMS (1480) – Sports Talk Print The Lincoln Journal Star is the city's major daily newspaper. The Daily Nebraskan is the official monthly magazine of the University of Nebraska's Lincoln campus and The DailyER is the university's biweekly satirical paper. Other university newspapers include the Reveille, the official periodical campus paper of Nebraska Wesleyan University and the Clocktower'', the official weekly campus paper of Union College. Infrastructure Transportation Major highways Lincoln is served by Interstate 80 via seven interchanges, connecting the city to San Francisco in the west and Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City metropolitan area in the east. Other Highways that serve the Lincoln area are Interstate 180, U.S. Route 6, U.S. Highway 34, U.S. Highway 77 and nearby Nebraska Highway 79. The eastern segment of Nebraska Highway 2 is a primary trucking route that connects the Kansas City metropolitan area (Interstate 29) to the I-80 corridor in Lincoln. A few additional minor State Highway segments are located within the city as well. Mass transit A public bus transit system, StarTran, operates in Lincoln. StarTran's fleet consists of 67 full-sized buses and 13 Handi-Vans. The transit system has 18 bus routes, with a circular bus route downtown. Annual ridership for the fiscal year 2017–18 was 2,463,799. Intercity transit The Lincoln Airport (KLNK/LNK) provides passengers with daily non-stop service to Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. General aviation support is provided through several private aviation companies. The Lincoln Airport was among the emergency landing sites for the NASA Space Shuttle. The site was chosen chiefly because of a runway; the longest of three at the airport. Lincoln is served by both Express Arrow and Burling Trailways for regional bus service between Omaha, Denver and points beyond. Megabus, in partnership with Windstar Lines, provides bus service between Lincoln and Chicago with stops in Omaha, Des Moines, Iowa City and Moline. Amtrak provides service to Lincoln, operating its California Zephyr daily in each direction between Chicago and Emeryville, California, using BNSF's Lincoln – Denver route through Nebraska. The city is an Amtrak crew-change point. Rail freight Rail freight travels coast-to-coast, to and through Lincoln via BNSF Railway, the Union Pacific Railroad, Lincoln's own Omaha, Lincoln and Beatrice Railway Company and an Omaha Public Power District rail line. Lincoln was once served by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (Rock Island), the Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac) and the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (C&NW). The abandoned right-of-way of these former railroads have since been turned into bicycle trails. Cycling modes Lincoln has a third-generation dock-based bike share program that began in mid-April 2018, called BikeLNK. The first phase of the program included 19 docks and 100 bicycles, scattered throughout downtown and around the UNL City, UNL East & Nebraska Innovation campuses. A second phase in 2019 increased the number of docks to 21, total bicycles to 105 and expanded to a location outside of downtown. Lincoln also has a fleet of commercial pedicabs that operates in the downtown area. Modal characteristics In 2016, 80.5 percent of working Lincoln residents commuted by driving alone, 9.6 percent carpooled, 1.1 percent used public transportation, and 3.1 percent walked. About 2.4 percent used all other forms of transportation, including taxis, bicycles, and motorcycles as well as ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber which entered the Lincoln market in the summer of 2014. About 3.3 percent worked at home. In 2015, 6.3 percent of city of Lincoln households were without a car, which decreased slightly to 5.8 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Lincoln averaged 1.78 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household. Utilities Power in Lincoln is provided by the Lincoln Electric System (LES). The LES service area covers , serving Lincoln and several other communities outside of the city. A public utility, LES's electric rates are the 8th lowest in the nation, according to a nationwide survey conducted by LES in 2018. Current LES power supply resources are 35% oil and gas, 34% renewable and 31% coal. Renewable resources have increased with partial help from the addition of an LES-owned five Megawatt solar energy farm put into service June, 2016. The solar farm produces enough energy to power 900 homes. LES also owns two wind turbines in the northeast part of the city. Water in Lincoln is provided through the Lincoln Water System. In the 1920s, the city of Lincoln undertook the task of building the Lincoln Municipal Lighting and Waterworks Plant (designed by Fiske & Meginnis). The building worked as the main hub for water from nearby wells and power in Lincoln for decades until it was replaced and turned into an apartment building. Most of Lincoln's water originates from wells along the Platte River near Ashland, Nebraska. Wastewater is in turn collected by the Lincoln Wastewater System. The city of Lincoln owns both systems. Natural gas is provided by Black Hills Energy. Landline telephone service has had a storied history within the regional Lincoln area with the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Company, founded in 1880. In its history, LT&T introduced the first rotary dial telephone exchange in the U.S. in 1904; the first Radiotelephone in 1946; and piloted the first 911 system in the nation in 1968. Many years later, LT&T was renamed Aliant Communications and shortly thereafter merged in 1998 with Alltel. In 2006, Windstream Communications was formed with the spinoff of Alltel and a merge with VALOR Communications Group. Windstream Communications provides telephone service both over VoIP and conventional telephone circuits to the Lincoln area. Spectrum offers telephone service over VoIP on their cable network. In addition, ALLO Communications provides telephone, television and internet service over their underground fiber network to all parts of the city. Health care Lincoln has three major hospitals within two health care systems serving the city: Bryan Health and CHI Health St. Elizabeth. Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital is a geriatric facility and a physical medicine & rehabilitation center. Lincoln has two specialty hospitals: Lincoln Surgical Hospital and the Nebraska Heart Institute. A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) is in Lincoln (Lincoln VA Clinic, part of the Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System). See also Charles Starkweather List of people from Lincoln, Nebraska List of mayors of Lincoln, Nebraska History of Lincoln, Nebraska References Notes Citations Cited works External links Official website ExploreLincoln Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development Public Art Lincoln Cities in Nebraska Cities in Lancaster County, Nebraska Populated places established in 1856 County seats in Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska metropolitan area History of Lincoln, Nebraska 1856 establishments in Nebraska Territory Ukrainian communities in the United States	[ -0.3721891939640045, 0.6799889802932739, 0.05829934775829315, -0.13951045274734497, -0.514310896396637, 0.4245510995388031, 0.5875735878944397, 0.7509304285049438, -0.02169155329465866, -0.6132569313049316, -0.3606909513473511, -0.35906416177749634, -0.34592801332473755, 1.0271704196929932...
17654	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing%20%28hobby%29	Letterboxing (hobby)	Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes contain a notebook and a rubber stamp, preferably hand carved or custom made. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp in their personal notebook, and leave an impression of their personal signature stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting other letterboxers know who has visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count". History The origin of letterboxing can be traced to Dartmoor, Devon, England in 1854. William Crossing in his Guide to Dartmoor states that a well known Dartmoor guide (James Perrott) placed a bottle for visiting cards at Cranmere Pool on the northern moor in 1854. From this hikers on the moors began to leave a letter or postcard inside a box along the trail (sometimes addressed to themselves, sometimes a friend or relative)—hence the name "letterboxing". The next person to discover the site would collect the postcards and post them. In 1938 a plaque and letterbox in Crossing's memory were placed at Duck's Pool on southern Dartmoor. The first Dartmoor letterboxes were so remote and well-hidden that only the most determined walkers would find them, allowing weeks to pass before the letter made its way home. Until the 1970s there were no more than a dozen such sites around the moor, usually in the most inaccessible locations. Increasingly, however, letterboxes have been located in relatively accessible sites and today there are thousands of letterboxes, many within easy walking distance of the road. As a result, the tradition of leaving a letter or postcard in the box has been forgotten. Membership of the "100 Club" is open to anyone who has found at least 100 letterboxes on Dartmoor. Clues to the locations of letterboxes are published by the "100 Club" in an annual catalogue. Some letterboxes however remain "word of mouth" and the clues to their location can only be obtained from the person who placed the box. Some clues may also be found in other letterboxes or on the Internet, but this is more commonly for letterboxes in places other than Dartmoor, where no "100 Club" or catalogue exist. Letterboxing has become a popular sport, with thousands of walkers gathering for 'box-hunts' and while in some areas of Dartmoor it is particularly popular amongst children, some of the more difficult to find boxes and tougher terrain are better suited to more experienced adults. Letterboxes can be found in other areas of the United Kingdom including the North York Moors and have spread all over the world. The Scottish artist Alec Finlay has placed letterboxes with rubber stamp circle poems at locations around the world, including Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Interest in letterboxing in the U.S. is generally considered to have started with a feature article in the Smithsonian magazine in April 1998. Much of the terminology below is associated with letterboxing in the US and would be unfamiliar to UK letterboxers. The growing popularity of the somewhat similar activity of geocaching during the 2000s has increased interest in letterboxing as well. Clues to American letterboxes are commonly published on several different websites. Gatherings Letterboxers organize events, usually called meets or gatherings. The first letterbox meet was held on Dartmoor, and they are now held twice yearly on "clock change days" (in March and October). Gatherings in the US are usually at parks or places with enough space for a large group of letterboxers to meet up and do exchanges (exchanging of personal stamps and/or personal travelers), as well as talk and discuss box ideas. Gatherings in the US usually have a special, one-day "Event stamp." At some gatherings, boxes are created or donated to be planted nearby specifically for the gathering attendees to find. The first gathering in North America was held in November, 1999, at The Inn at Long Trail in Killington, Vermont. Types There are now many different kinds of letterboxes, each with some specific distinction. While purists recognize only those letterboxes planted in the wild, many new variations exist. The kinds include: Traditional Box A normal letterbox, hidden and uses clue to find it. Mystery box These are usually traditional boxes, but these "mystery" boxes have either vague starting areas, no starting areas, no descriptions, no clue – any number of things to make the box extremely hard to find. Bonus Box The clues for these are usually found in a traditional box as an extra one to find. Usually planted in the same area as the traditional that hosts its clue. Clues can be distributed in any way. Word of Mouth Box (WOM) The clue is given by word of mouth, or typed up, but a letterboxer can only receive the clue from the planter. Cuckoo clue A clue without a home. The clue is hidden in another letterbox (similar to clues for a bonus boxes), but the letterboxer that finds the clue is expected to move the clue to another nearby letterbox. The cuckoo clue typically contains directions to limit how far the clue should travel to find a new home. Hitchhiker A traveling letterbox, it is placed in a traditional letterbox for another letterboxer to find. When found, it is stamped just like a traditional letterbox, but is then carried by the letterboxer to the next letterbox they find and then left in that letterbox for the next finder. The hitchhiker's stamp should also be recorded in the host letterbox's logbook, and vice versa. Personal Traveler Much like a traditional box, but instead of being planted, the box is kept with the creator at all times. If another letterboxer is met on the trail or at a meet it is attainable if requested. In the US this box is usually only attainable if the other letterboxer knows the password or passphrase which is sometimes cryptic, straightforward, almost non-existent, or silly. In the US, letterboxes have developed new forms: Cootie Much like a hitchhiker, except instead of being carried from letterbox to letterbox, a letterboxer passes it to another letterboxer. It can be passed in a Personal Traveler, or planted on another letterboxer or their unattended bags on the trails or at gatherings. Most people are subtle about planting them—but not all. Flea Like a combination of a hitchhiker and a cootie. Either put in a traditional letterbox, like a hitchhiker, or put it on a person, like a cootie. Hitchhiker Hostel This is a traditional letterbox with special qualities. Namely, it is a "hostel" for hitchhikers, sized and specially designated to hold multiple hitchhikers at one time. Normally, there are at least one or two hitchhikers in the box at all times, and any letterboxer who takes a hitchhiker out is required to leave a new one in its place. A hitchhiker hostel has its own stamp and logbook, just like a traditional letterbox, and any hitchhiker that is placed within it should be stamped and recorded within the logbook, preferably with both the date of its being added to the hostel (in order to make it easier to move the older hitchhikers out), and the date it is removed. American Parasite (these should not be confused with English Parasites) A parasite is very much like a hitchhiker except, instead of being carried by a letterboxer between letterboxes on its own, it is carried along with a hitchhiker. When a letterboxer joins a parasite to a hitchhiker ("infecting" it), it is stamped into the hitchhiker. The parasite's stamp is also recorded in the logbook of the letterbox that a hitchhiker is placed in, "infecting" the letterbox, as well. In the event of being placed in a letterbox that has multiple hitchhikers in it (such as a hitchhiker hostel), the parasite "infects" all of the hitchhikers inside. The letterboxer that has done the moving also has the choice of sending the parasite along with a different hitchhiker. (This is a relatively new variation of letterbox, and has only just recently begun to take off.) Virtual Online letterboxes; actually a scavenger hunt of sorts for an image of a letterbox through different websites, collecting answers to questions posted as the clues to the box. Answers sometimes are unscrambled or simply emailed to the creator the final answer is put in a blank in a web address, which takes the finder to an image of the letterbox online. Limited time Box A letterbox that has only been planted for a short amount of time. (A few days or a week, any time length the planter wants.) Postal (PLB) Boxes that are made just like traditional letterboxes, but instead of being planted in the wild, they are sent via postal mail to the people on sign up lists for the box, or around a "ring" of people in a postal ring, which is usually focused on a theme of some sort. Postals are also very often very well designed and organized, as well as ornate. Since the box is very unlikely to be stolen, go missing, or be damaged, creators of PLBs tend to get quite creative. Other Anything not described as any of the above listings. They could be bonus stamps inside boxes, a stamp you just have to ask for, etc. Circle poem A circle poem is a kind of 'art' letterbox developed in Britain. There are one hundred planned boxes, each of which contains a rubber stamp circle poem by the Scottish poet and artist, Alec Finlay. These are sited at locations around the world, and each has its own nominated keeper. Find counts A letterboxer's find count or PFX count is organized as follows: The P ("plants") count is the number of boxes the letterboxer has made and placed. The F ("finds") count is the number of boxes the letterboxer has found in the wild. The X ("exchanges") count is the number of exchanges the letterboxer has. Some boxers list individual types of boxes in their PFX counts (e.g.: P12 F76 X45 E4 HH21 V4 would mean 12 plants, 76 finds, 45 exchanges, four events or event stamps, 21 hitchhikers, and four virtuals). Some include virtuals, hitchhikers, and other non-traditional boxes in a single find count, while some exclude them. Many letterboxers do not bother to keep count at all. The "PFX count" is not a term associated with Dartmoor Letterboxing. Questing Questing is a game played across a community or geographic place. Originally coined in the USA, it is similar to the concept of letterboxing where clues lead to sealed boxes to be found in a type of treasure hunt. Questing originated with the placing of a treasure box at Cranmere Pool in Dartmoor, England, by James Perrott in 1854. Over time, the hobby spread, and there are now more than 5,000 treasures to be found in and around Dartmoor. Vital Communities, a non-profit organization in White River Junction, Vermont established the Valley Quest program as a sense-of-place education program in 1995. Valley quests map and share the Upper Valley region's special places. Created by school groups, scout groups, historical societies and others, there are now over 200 quests across Vermont and New Hampshire. Questing has spread to other communities, too. There is a South Shore Quests program in Hingham, Massachusetts along with programs in Keene, New Hampshire and on Martha's Vineyard. See also BookCrossing Encounter (game) Geocaching Orienteering Puzzlehunt Questing References Further reading Anne Swinscow has written several popular guide books on Dartmoor Letterboxing: Dartmoor Letterboxes ; More Dartmoor Letterboxes ; 101 Dartmoor Letterboxes: But Not How to Find Them! (with John Howard) . Janet Palmer has written a brief guide to Dartmoor Letterboxing: Let's Go Letterboxing: A Beginner's Guide (2nd revised edition) . Alan Rowland has written a specialised guide to the letterboxes on Lundy published in 2006 ( the 20th Anniversary of) Lundy Letterboxes The Letterboxer's Companion by Randy Hall was published in 2003 and focuses on letterboxing in North America; . Cranmere Pool: The First Dartmoor Letterbox by Chips Barber published by Obelisk Publications, UK (1994); . Alec Finlay has published two booklets on circle poem letterboxing: Isles, Arcs & Ways (Isle of Thanet, England, 2005), ; and Hill of Streams (Cairnhead, Scotland, 2008). External links Dartmoor letterboxing resource, information and forum site Atlas Quest: Letterboxing listing database, forums and information site Letterboxing North America listing site Valley Quest – Letterboxes for sharing natural and cultural heritage. Dartmoor Geocaching Hobbies Internet object tracking Outdoor locating games	[ 0.5339752435684204, 0.21181143820285797, -0.2112768590450287, 0.33537986874580383, 0.14795248210430145, 0.04783075675368309, 0.5240123867988586, 0.3361837863922119, -0.7537839412689209, -0.48139241337776184, -0.2793029248714447, -0.09284527599811554, -0.1723998636007309, -0.032799739390611...
17658	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal%20technicality	Legal technicality	The term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of the law from being enforced. However, as a vague term, the definition of a technicality varies from person to person, and it is often simply used to denote any portion of the law that interferes with the outcome desired by the user of the term. Some legal technicalities govern legal procedure, enable or restrict access to courts, and/or enable or limit the discretion of a court in handing down judgment. These are aspects of procedural law. Other legal technicalities deal with aspects of substantive law, that is, aspects of the law that articulate specific criteria that a court uses to assess a party's compliance with or violation of, for example, one or more criminal laws or civil laws. See also Legal abuse Legal fiction Letter and spirit of the law Loophole References Informal legal terminology Legal procedure Abuse of the legal system	[ 0.29164353013038635, 0.6320741772651672, -0.47464269399642944, 0.09584944695234299, 0.14032883942127228, 0.10107538849115372, 0.05921981856226921, 0.07521651685237885, 0.014217190444469452, -0.4019893407821655, -0.5924779772758484, 0.7350585460662842, 0.1570976972579956, 0.0365872532129287...
17659	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionhead%20Studios	Lionhead Studios	Lionhead Studios Limited was a British video game developer founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson. The company is best known for the Black & White and Fable series. Lionhead started as a breakaway from developer Bullfrog Productions, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a god game with elements of artificial life and strategy games. Black & White was published by Electronic Arts in 2001. Lionhead Studios is named after Webley's hamster, which died not long after the naming of the studio, as a result of which the studio was very briefly renamed to Redeye Studios. Black & White was followed up with the release of an expansion pack named Black & White: Creature Isle. Lionhead released Fable, from satellite developer Big Blue Box. In 2005, Lionhead released The Movies and Black & White 2. Lionhead was acquired by Microsoft Studios in April 2006 due to encountering financial difficulties. Many Lionhead developers left around this time, including co-founder Jackson and several developers who left to found Media Molecule. Molyneux left Lionhead in early 2012 (shortly after the resignation of another group of developers who were dissatisfied with the company) to found 22cans because he wanted to be more creative. After Molyneux's departure, Microsoft had Lionhead switch to developing games as a service games. As a result, there were many changes within the studio. In early March 2016, Microsoft announced that it had proposed closing Lionhead Studios and that the planned game Fable Legends would be cancelled; Lionhead was closed down almost two months later, on 29 April. A few months after Lionhead's closure, two key people (Webley and Gary Carr, who was Lionhead's creative director), founded Two Point Studios. History Founding Peter Molyneux founded Bullfrog Productions in 1987, which was later acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1995. Around 1996, Molyneux had contemplated leaving Bullfrog, as he felt limited in his creative freedom under Electronic Arts. He along with Lionhead's eventual co-founders, Mark Webley, Tim Rance and Steve Jackson, started developing plans for a new studio. In 1997, due to a series of events and from issues arising between Molyneux and Electronic Arts, he ultimately left the company in July 1997, co-founding Lionhead shortly after that, along with Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson (who co-founded Games Workshop and co-authored the Fighting Fantasy series). On his recruitment, Jackson said "It was an offer I couldn't refuse", as he wanted to get back to making games instead of writing about them (Jackson had interviewed Molyneux about Bullfrog and Dungeon Keeper, but for much of it, they discussed German board games instead. This led to them meeting frequently for an event called "Games Night"). Molyneux assured him that his lack of programming knowledge was an asset rather than a problem. Lionhead is the second Bullfrog break-off group, after Mucky Foot Productions (founded in February 1997). According to Glenn Corpes (who co-founded another: Lost Toys), Lionhead was Molyneux's "take on what Bullfrog used was". The idea of the company was to develop quality games without growing too large. On the differences between Lionhead and Bullfrog, Molyneux said: "This time round we're a professionally run company. Gone are the days of shooting work experience people with guns". He also said that Lionhead would develop only one game at a time. Early Lionhead employees included Demis Hassabis, Mark Healey (Lionhead's first artist), and Alex Evans. The name Lionhead came from Webley's pet hamster, who had died the week prior to the foundation. The hamster's death was taken as a bad sign, so other names, including Black Box, Red Rocket, Midnight, and Hurricane were considered but none had unanimous support. The name Red Eye was then suggested, and everyone liked it (the decision needed to be quick as Molyneux was to be interviewed by Edge). However, for reasons including the name being in use by many other companies, the domains redeye.com and redeye.co.uk being taken and lionhead.co.uk had already been registered by Rance, the company already having Lionhead business cards, and the possibility of the name Red Eye having drinking connotations, the name was reverted to Lionhead. By the time the name was reverted, it was too late for Edge to amend their interview, so it was published with the company being referred to as Redeye Studios. In the interview, Molyneux stated that his ambition for the company was to "make it a world-renowned software development house – known in Europe, Japan and America for top-quality games". Early years Word about Lionhead began spreading quickly. Within the first month, companies including Sega, Nintendo, Eidos, GTI, and Lego had arranged meetings. One day, "a major Japanese console manufacturer" had come to present plans for a "next generation console", but by then, Lionhead's first game had already been committed. By the end of July, Lionhead had signed a one-game contract with Electronic Arts. The studio was initially run out of Molyneux's mansion in Elstead, before relocating to the University of Surrey Research Park in 1998. According to Jackson, it was "a mere stone's throw from Bullfrog's old lily pad on the very same estate". For the staff who had come from Bullfrog, it was "a little like coming home". Six companies were competing for a space, and Lionhead won due to Molyneux and Bullfrog's reputation. Lionhead had originally intended to make their first public appearance at the E3 trade show in May 1997. This was cancelled at the last minute because there was not yet any deal with Electronic Arts, and there was the possibility of not being able to discuss Lionhead. The debut was made in September at the European Computer Trade Show instead. According to Jackson, "Everyone" was interested in Lionhead: journalists from many major European magazines frequently turned up at Lionhead's suite. By August 1998, after a placing a job advertisement in Edge which received over 100 applications, Russell Shaw had been hired as Head of Music. Lionhead's first title was Black & White, which was published by Electronic Arts under terms of Molyneux's severance package from departing Bullfrog. It was released in 2001 to widespread critical acclaim. It won BAFTA awards for Interactivity and Moving Images in 2001, and AIAS awards for Computer Innovation and Computer Game of the Year the following year. An expansion pack Black & White: Creature Isle, was released the following year. In Lionhead's early years, Jackson wrote columns about the company and the development of Black & White for magazines such as PC Zone and Génération 4. The articles were also published on Lionhead's website. According to Eurogamer, Lionhead "was a continuation of the culture and development ethic of Bullfrog", which included the playing of pranks. One such prank was one "that would go down in Lionhead history". It involved a visit from the Mayor of Guildford during the development of Black & White: Healey had inserted a couple of wires into a woollen glove with the other ends put into a floppy drive. Molyneux was forced to explain to the Mayor how the game's on-screen hand was controlled by the glove (which Healey was wearing), when it was actually being controlled by a mouse with Healey's other hand, which were hidden. The Mayor fell for the trick. By June 2002, Lionhead had established satellite companies, including Big Blue Box Studios, Intrepid Computer Entertainment (also called Intrepid Developments), and Black & White Studios. Lionhead and its satellite studios had 107 employees and were developing six games: Fable, The Movies, a project called Creation (also called Dimitri), Black & White NG (Black & White Next Generation), Black & White 2, and BC, despite Molyneux's earlier statement that Lionhead would only work on one at a time. The idea to form these satellite studios came from Jackson during the development of Black & White. Big Blue Box Studios was founded in July 1998 by Ian Lovett and Simon and Dene Carter, because of a desire to leave Electronic Arts and "the sadly ravaged corpse of Bullfrog it had left behind". Intrepid Computer Entertainment was founded by Joe Rider and Matt Chilton, and Black & White Studios was headed by Jonty Barnes, who was a programmer on Dungeon Keeper and Black & White. According to Molyneux, The Movies came about because Lionhead listened to some financial advisers after the release of Black & White, who said that the company would die if it did not float on the stock market. The company then went for initial public offering, which Molyneux said was "The most stupid thing that ever happened" because it meant having to expand quickly and develop more games. In the early 2000s, Lionhead was "growing very fast". The company was nominated for the 2002 Golden Joystick Awards British Developer of the Year award. Before Fable shipped, Lionhead purchased Big Blue Box and Intrepid. The decision to merge Big Blue Box with Lionhead was made to accelerate the completion of the game. Fable was released in 2004 for the Xbox, and won AIAS awards for Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development and Outstanding Achievement in Original Musical Composition in 2005. Dimitri was cancelled. In 2003, Gary Carr joined Lionhead. Due to the stock market crash in the aftermath of 9/11, Lionhead sought investments from venture capitalists. Deals with various firms were signed in July 2004. This came at a time when the company needed money for the development of five games to be released by different publishers. Acquisition by Microsoft In 2005, Lionhead released two titles: Black & White 2 and The Movies. Around this time, Lionhead had roughly 220 employees. These titles did not achieve a massive impact in sales (Molyneux described The Movies as "a disaster" due to lack of playtesting. However, it won a BAFTA award for Simulation in 2006.), and Lionhead soon afterwards encountered financial difficulty. Due to this, on 6 April 2006, Lionhead Studios was acquired by Microsoft. Ubisoft was another contender for the acquisition of Lionhead, but Molyneux believed Microsoft to be "perfect", and said people wanted "the safety and security of being part of something bigger". Microsoft wanted the Fable series to be an Xbox exclusive, and knew that if Ubisoft had acquired Lionhead, it would have gone to the PlayStation 3 instead, a conclusion that Webley concurred with. Lionhead were concerned with securing the company's future and protecting jobs and spent "months" preparing for the acquisition. Some, such as Andy Robson (Head of Testing), were dissatisfied with the deal. He claimed Lionhead were trying to cheat him out of money he was owed. Molyneux believed that Microsoft were pleased with the deal, and said that they made their money back due to the release of the "fantastically successful" Fable II (it won a BAFTA award for Action and Adventure in 2009) for the Xbox 360 in 2008. In late 2005, Healey left Lionhead with Evans and a couple of other developers to found Media Molecule. Jackson also left in 2006 when Microsoft took over. The general consensus amongst Lionhead was that the buyout "benefited Lionhead greatly". Microsoft purchased a lease that enabled Lionhead to expand to multiple floors, a canteen, and an office revamp. According to Fable franchise director Ted Timmins, the improvements felt like Lionhead was "a real developer". The pranks were also reduced. During the development of Fable II, Lionhead received death threats because the game featured a gay character and some of the leading characters were black. Microsoft, for the most part, left Lionhead alone during the development of Fable II, but did ask them to change the icon of a condom (the game featured a dog who was able to dig them up) to a modern one, despite the game being set in an earlier era. Lionhead and Microsoft conflicted over the game's marketing: Microsoft believed that role-playing games were about dragons and wanted to market the game as such, despite Lionhead's insistence that the game was "a Monty Python-esque comedy". According to Fable art director John McCormack, the marketing was "shit" and that dragons were Dungeons & Dragons fare and had nothing to do with Fable. Despite the row, most of the Fable II team thought highly of the relationship between Lionhead and Microsoft, and after the game's release, Lionhead won a BAFTA award for the best action adventure game. There was also a dispute over Fable IIIs box art. The game was developed and released in 18 months, but fell short of the expectations set by the previous instalment. Six months before its release, Lionhead attempted to integrate Kinect into the game, but failed. In June 2009, Molyneux became creative director of Microsoft Studios' European division, a position he held concurrently with the head of Lionhead. Another Kinect-based project, Milo & Kate was in development but was cancelled. Molyneux blamed the cancellation on Kinect's technology and Microsoft's attitude towards their target market. Its development team moved to Fable: The Journey, another Kinect game that was released in 2012 and was "disastrous". Molyneux's departure By early 2012, Lionhead were suffering what had been described as "Black Monday". Several Lionhead veterans, dissatisfied with the way the company was heading, resigned on the same day. According to McCormack, Molyneux "lost it" and ordered them to leave the premises immediately. Molyneux apologised for this outburst, and soon afterwards, in March, he too left Lionhead and founded 22cans, along with Rance, who had ceased being Lionhead's chief technology officer sometime prior. He was also joined by Paul McLaughlin, who was Lionhead's head of art. Webley then temporarily took over as head of the studio, before being replaced by Scott Henson early the following year. Molyneux said he left Lionhead because he wanted to increase his creativity. He also said that after 12 years (the series began in 2000 by Big Blue Box Studios), everyone was "tired" of the Fable series. Craig Oman, producer of Fable Anniversary, said that Molyneux's departure gave Lionhead an opportunity to reidentify itself. Molyneux's departure had a much greater impact than those of other veterans who had already left the company. Lionhead became more professional and organised according to some staff. One said that Molyneux had the power to keep Microsoft at bay, and his departure left the remaining staff vulnerable. Around this time, Microsoft insisted that Lionhead make a games as a service Fable game to reinvigorate interest in the series or face closure. Due to the switch to service based model, the idea of Fable IV was rejected, and experts in monetisation and competitive game design were hired to assist the transition. At some point, John Needham became head of Lionhead. Creative director Carr (who had played major roles in Milo & Kate, The Movies, and Fable: The Journey) left in September 2015, and a new one, David Eckelberry, was brought in. Lionhead encountered difficulty in this project, Fable Legends, because they had not done anything like it before. Closure On 7 March 2016, Microsoft announced the cancellation of Fable Legends and a proposed closure of Lionhead Studios. The closure came as a shock to some staff, who had suspected Microsoft were concerned but did not think Lionhead would be shut down: it was thought that the worst-case scenario would be that Fable Legendss assets would be used for Fable IV. Some staff put the closure down to "a string of bad decisions and mismanagement". The game was supposed to be released in summer 2015, after the release of Windows 10, and some said Lionhead had failed to meet their own targets. To comply with UK employment law, there was a consultation period and the Fable Legends servers were not shut down until mid-April so that customers could get refunds. There was a small "live operations" team that conducted this process, but for others, work was optional. An attempt to save the project was made, under the name of Project Phoenix. This would have involved developing it with a new studio under licence from Microsoft, who supported the idea but it failed due to lack of time, and the fact that many Lionhead employees had found new jobs. On 29 April 2016, Lionhead closed down. One Lionhead developer, Charlton Edwards (the only one remaining who had worked on Black & White), said there was a giveaway and he received some of the "trophies". Both current and former Lionhead developers gave the studio a send-off at a pub. On 26 July, Webley and Carr founded Two Point Studios, a studio that some former Lionhead developers later joined. In the 2021 documentary Power On: The Story of Xbox, Microsoft admitted that their handling of Lionhead Studios was a mistake. Phil Spencer, the current head of Xbox at Microsoft, admitted that forcing Lionhead to work on Kinect and the impact of that on the quality of their games was at fault. Spencer said "You acquire a studio for what they’re great at now, and your job is to help them accelerate how they do what they do, not them accelerate what you do." Games References External links Why Lionhead Studios was Shut Down? Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom First-party video game developers Defunct companies based in Surrey Companies based in Guildford Video game companies established in 1997 Video game companies disestablished in 2016 1997 establishments in England 2016 disestablishments in England Former Microsoft subsidiaries 2006 mergers and acquisitions British companies disestablished in 2016 British companies established in 1997	[ 0.48227065801620483, 0.6015990376472473, -0.4268825650215149, -0.3604879677295685, -0.009958609007298946, 0.14612403512001038, 0.19430352747440338, -0.25962013006210327, -0.053926754742860794, 0.4202864170074463, -0.2706466317176819, 0.09013371914625168, -0.17256422340869904, 0.18979021906...
17674	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading%20question	Leading question	In common law systems that rely on testimony by witnesses, a leading question is a question that suggests the particular answer or contains the information the examiner is looking to have confirmed. Their use in court to elicit testimony is restricted in order to reduce the ability of the examiner to direct or influence the evidence presented. Depending on the circumstances, leading questions can be objectionable or proper. The propriety of leading questions generally depends on the relationship of the witness to the party conducting the examination. An examiner may generally ask leading questions of a hostile witness or on cross-examination (to elicit testimony which the witness might be reluctant to volunteer), but not on direct examination (to "coach" the witness to provide a particular answer). Example Leading questions may often be answerable with a yes or no (though not all yes–no questions are leading). Leading questions are distinct from loaded questions, which are objectionable because they contain implicit assumptions (such as "Have you stopped beating your wife?" indirectly asserting that the subject both has a wife, and has beaten her at some point). Leading question: "Mr. Smith's car was traveling 20 miles over the speed limit when he lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the victim's car, right?" (Leads the witness to the conclusion that Mr. Smith was speeding, and as a result lost control of his vehicle, leading to the accident, which was clearly his fault.) Neutral question: "How fast would you estimate Mr. Smith's car was traveling before the collision?" Even neutral questions can lead witnesses to answers based on word choice, response framing, assumptions made, and form. The words "fast", "collision" and "How", for example, can alter speed estimates provided by respondents. United States While each state has its own rules of evidence, many states model their rules on the Federal Rules of Evidence, which themselves relate closely to the common-law mode of examination. Rule 611(c) of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides that: Leading questions are the primary mode of examination of witnesses who are hostile to the examining party, and are not objectionable in that context. Examination of hostile witnesses usually takes place on cross-examination. As the rule recognizes, the examination of a "hostile witness, an adverse party, or a witness identified with an adverse party" will sometimes take place on direct examination, and leading questions are permitted. In practice, judges will sometimes permit leading questions on direct examination of friendly witnesses with respect to preliminary matters that are necessary to provide background or context, and which are not in dispute; for example, a witness's employment or education. Leading questions may also be permitted on direct examination when a witness requires special handling, for example a child. However, the court must take care to be sure that the examining attorney is not coaching the witness through leading questions. Although Rule 611(c) of the Federal Rules of Evidence (and comparable rules of many states) do not prohibit leading questions on re-direct, some states have expressly limited the use of leading questions on re-direct. As a practical matter, it rests within the trial court's discretion as to what leading questions may be asked on re-direct. Generally speaking, leading questions will be more liberally permitted on re-direct in order to establish a foundation and call the attention of the witness to specific testimony elicited on cross examination. Additionally, on re-direct, an interrogator will often ask questions which specifically seek to elicit whether an inference resulting from questioning on cross examinations is accurate. Although these type of questions will likely result in a "yes" or "no" response, they are properly understood to be direct questions, not leading questions, and are permissible. Exceptions to general restrictions against leading questions may arise, Where the witness is hostile to the examiner, or reluctant or unwilling to testify, in which situation the witness is unlikely to accept being "coached" by the questioner. To bring out preliminary matters (name, occupation, and other pedigree information). Where the memory of the witness has been exhausted and there is still information to be elicited. See also Fallacy of many questions Loaded question Push polling Suggestive question, similar to leading question but manipulates the respondent to answer in a specific way. References External links Federal Rules of Evidence - Rule 611(c) Legal terminology de:Suggestivfrage sv:Ledande fråga	[ -0.0730820745229721, 0.14432354271411896, -0.3911471962928772, 0.33083635568618774, -0.08453361690044403, -0.21188165247440338, -0.03291098400950432, -0.24729087948799133, 0.07993309199810028, 0.13265854120254517, -0.23324725031852722, 0.3599241077899933, 0.35626959800720215, 0.00671495031...
17675	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuania	Lithuania	Lithuania (; ), officially the Republic of Lithuania (), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the southwest. Lithuania covers an area of , with a population of 2.8 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages. For millennia the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, founding the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. In the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were all lands of the Grand Duchy. The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were in a de facto personal union from 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Hedwig and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila, who was crowned King jure uxoris Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland. The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania was established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries dismantled it in 1772–1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. As World War I ended, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, founding the modern Republic of Lithuania. In World War II, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. Towards the end of the war in 1944, when the Germans were retreating, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania passed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, becoming the first Soviet republic to proclaim its independence. Lithuania is a developed country, with a high income advanced economy; ranking very high in the Human Development Index. It ranks favourably in terms of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance, and peacefulness. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, the Nordic Investment Bank, Schengen Agreement, NATO and OECD. It participates in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation format and is a permanent observer of Nordic Council. Etymology The first known record of the name of Lithuania () is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno in the Quedlinburg Chronicle. The Chronicle recorded a Latinized form of the name Lietuva: Litua (pronounced ). Due to the lack of reliable evidence, the true meaning of the name is unknown. Nowadays, scholars still debate the meaning of the word and there are a few plausible versions. Since Lietuva has a suffix (-uva), the original word should have no suffix. A likely candidate is Lietā. Because many Baltic ethnonyms originated from hydronyms, linguists have searched for its origin among local hydronyms. Usually, such names evolved through the following process: hydronym → toponym → ethnonym. Lietava, a small river not far from Kernavė, the core area of the early Lithuanian state and a possible first capital of the eventual Grand Duchy of Lithuania, is usually credited as the source of the name. However, the river is very small and some find it improbable that such a small and local object could have lent its name to an entire nation. On the other hand, such naming is not unprecedented in world history. Artūras Dubonis proposed another hypothesis, that Lietuva relates to the word leičiai (plural of leitis). From the middle of the 13th century, leičiai were a distinct warrior social group of the Lithuanian society subordinate to the Lithuanian ruler or the state itself. The word leičiai is used in the 14–16th century historical sources as an ethnonym for Lithuanians (but not Samogitians) and is still used, usually poetically or in historical contexts, in the Latvian language, which is closely related to Lithuanian. History The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC: Kunda, Neman and Narva cultures. They were traveling hunters and did not form stable settlements. In the 8th millennium BC, the climate became much warmer, and forests developed. The inhabitants of what is now Lithuania then travelled less and engaged in local hunting, gathering and fresh-water fishing. Agriculture did not emerge until the 3rd millennium BC due to a harsh climate and terrain and a lack of suitable tools to cultivate the land. Crafts and trade also started to form at this time. Over a millennium, the Indo-Europeans, who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population and formed various Baltic tribes. The Baltic tribes did not maintain close cultural or political contacts with the Roman Empire, but they did maintain trade contacts (see Amber Road). Tacitus, in his study Germania, described the Aesti people, inhabitants of the south-eastern Baltic Sea shores who were probably Balts, around the year 97 AD. The Western Balts differentiated and became known to outside chroniclers first. Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD knew of the Galindians and Yotvingians, and early medieval chroniclers mentioned Old Prussians, Curonians and Semigallians. The Lithuanian language is considered to be very conservative for its close connection to Indo-European roots. It is believed to have differentiated from the Latvian language, the most closely related existing language, around the 7th century. Traditional Lithuanian pagan customs and mythology, with many archaic elements, were long preserved. Rulers' bodies were cremated up until the conversion to Christianity: the descriptions of the cremation ceremonies of the grand dukes Algirdas and Kęstutis have survived. Grand Duchy of Lithuania From the 9th to the 11th centuries, coastal Balts were subjected to raids by the Vikings, and the kings of Denmark collected tribute at times. During the 10–11th centuries, Lithuanian territories were among the lands paying tribute to Kievan Rus', and Yaroslav the Wise was among the Ruthenian rulers who invaded Lithuania (from 1040). From the mid-12th century, it was the Lithuanians who were invading Ruthenian territories. In 1183, Polotsk and Pskov were ravaged, and even the distant and powerful Novgorod Republic was repeatedly threatened by the excursions from the emerging Lithuanian war machine toward the end of the 12th century. From the late 12th century, an organized Lithuanian military force existed; it was used for external raids, plundering and the gathering of slaves. Such military and pecuniary activities fostered social differentiation and triggered a struggle for power in Lithuania. This initiated the formation of early statehood, from which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania developed. The disparate Lithuanian tribes along the Nemunas were united into the Lithuanian state by 1219, at the latest. The only Lithuanian Roman Catholic king, Mindaugas, was baptised as a Roman Catholic in 1251 and crowned as King of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. After his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. Siege of Pilėnai is noted for the Lithuanians' defense against the intruders. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly, overtaking former Ruthenian principalities of Kievan Rus'. On 22 September 1236, the Battle of Saulė between Samogitians and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword took place close to Šiauliai. The Livonian Brothers were defeated during it and their further conquest of the Balts lands were stopped. The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Oeselians, tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava were lost. In 2000, the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Day of Baltic Unity. According to the legend, Grand Duke Gediminas was once hunting near the Vilnia River; tired after the successful hunt, he settled in for the night and dreamed of a huge Iron Wolf standing on top a hill and howling as strong and loud as a hundred wolves. Krivis (pagan priest) Lizdeika interpreted the dream that the Iron Wolf represents Vilnius Castles. Gediminas, obeying the will of gods, built the city and gave it the name Vilnius – from the stream of the Vilnia River. In 1362 or 1363, Grand Duke Algirdas achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Blue Waters against Golden Horde and stopped its further expansion in the present-day Ukraine. The victory brought the city of Kyiv and a large part of present-day Ukraine, including sparsely populated Podolia and Dykra, under the control of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After taking Kyiv, Lithuania became a direct neighbor and rival of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The ruling elite practised religious tolerance and Chancery Slavonic language was used as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents. In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Poland's offer to become its king. Jogaila embarked on gradual Christianization of Lithuania and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. Lithuania was one of the last pagan areas of Europe to adopt Christianity. While territories to the north had been Christianized in 1186 by Western merchants and missionaries who formed the Order of the Brothers and the Sword to spread Christianity through military organization, the Lithuanians had defeated the Order's militant efforts in 1236. After two civil wars, Vytautas the Great became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, centralization of the state began, and the Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. In the great Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399, the combined forces of Tokhtamysh and Vytautas were defeated by the Mongols. Thanks to close cooperation, the armies of Lithuania and Poland achieved a victory over the Teutonic Knights in 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald, one of the largest battles of medieval Europe. In January 1429, at the Congress of Lutsk Vytautas received the title of King of Lithuania with the backing of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, but the envoys who were transporting the crown were stopped by Polish magnates in autumn of 1430. Another crown was sent, but Vytautas died in the Trakai Island Castle several days before it reached Lithuania. He was buried in the Cathedral of Vilnius. After the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, the Lithuanian nobility attempted to break the union between Poland and Lithuania, independently selecting Grand Dukes from the Jagiellon dynasty. But, at the end of the 15th century, Lithuania was forced to seek a closer alliance with Poland when the growing power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened Lithuania's Russian principalities and sparked the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars and the Livonian War. On 8 September 1514, the Battle of Orsha between Lithuanians, commanded by the Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski, and Muscovites was fought. According to Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii by Sigismund von Herberstein, the primary source for information on the battle, the much smaller army of Poland–Lithuania (under 30,000 men) defeated a force of 80,000 Muscovite soldiers, capturing their camp and commander. The battle destroyed a military alliance against Lithuania and Poland. Thousands of Muscovites were captured as prisoners and used as labourers in the Lithuanian manors, while Konstanty Ostrogski delivered the captured Muscovite flags to the Cathedral of Vilnius. The Livonian War was ceased for ten years with a Truce of Yam-Zapolsky signed on 15 January 1582 according to which the already Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth recovered Livonia, Polotsk and Velizh, but transferred Velikiye Luki to the Tsardom of Russia. The truce was extended for twenty years in 1600, when a diplomatic mission to Moscow led by Lew Sapieha concluded negotiations with Tsar Boris Godunov. The truce was broken when the Poles invaded Muscovy in 1605. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin. As a member of the Commonwealth, Lithuania retained its institutions, including a separate army, currency, and statutory laws – the Statute of Lithuania. Eventually Polonization affected all aspects of Lithuanian life: politics, language, culture, and national identity. From the mid-16th to the mid-17th centuries, culture, arts, and education flourished, fueled by the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. From 1573, the Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania were elected by the nobility, who were granted ever-increasing Golden Liberties. These liberties, especially the liberum veto, led to anarchy and the eventual dissolution of the state. The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age in the early 17th century. Its powerful parliament was dominated by nobles who were reluctant to get involved in the Thirty Years' War; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict that devastated most of contemporary Europe. The Commonwealth held its own against Sweden, the Tsardom of Russia, and vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and even launched successful expansionist offensives against its neighbours. In several invasions during the Time of Troubles, Commonwealth troops entered Russia and managed to take Moscow and hold it from 27 September 1610 to 4 November 1612, when they were driven out after a siege. In 1655, after the extinguishing battle, for the first time in history the Lithuanian capital Vilnius was taken by a foreign army. The Russian army looted the city, splendid churches, and manors. Between 8,000 and 10,000 citizens were killed; the city burned for 17 days. Those who returned after the catastrophe could not recognise the city. The Russian occupation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lasted up to 1661. Many artefacts and cultural heritage were either lost or looted, significant parts of the state archive – Lithuanian Metrica, collected since the 13th century, were lost and the rest was moved out of the country. During the Northern Wars (1655–1661), the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Almost all territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was occupied by Swedish and Russian armies. This period is known as Tvanas (The Deluge). Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was ravaged during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). The war, a plague, and a famine caused the deaths of approximately 40% of the country's population. Foreign powers, especially Russia, became dominant in the domestic politics of the Commonwealth. Numerous fractions among the nobility used the Golden Liberties to prevent any reforms. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 was adopted by the Great Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth trying to save the state. The legislation was designed to redress the Commonwealth's political defects due to the system of Golden Liberties, also known as the "Nobles' Democracy," which had conferred disproportionate rights on the nobility (Szlachta) and over time had corrupted politics. The constitution sought to supplant the prevailing anarchy fostered by some of the country's magnates with a more democratic constitutional monarchy. It introduced elements of political equality between townspeople and nobility, and placed the peasants under the protection of the government, thus mitigating the worst abuses of serfdom. It banned parliamentary institutions such as the liberum veto, which had put the Sejm at the mercy of any deputy who could revoke all the legislation that had been passed by that Sejm. It was drafted in relation to a copy of the United States Constitution. It is regarded as the world's second-oldest codified national governmental constitution after the 1787 U.S. Constitution. Russian Empire Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned in 1772, 1792, and 1795 by the Russian Empire, Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy. The largest area of Lithuanian territory became part of the Russian Empire. After the unsuccessful uprisings in 1831 and 1863, the Tsarist authorities implemented a number of Russification policies. In 1840 the Third Statute of Lithuania was abolished. They banned the Lithuanian press, closed cultural and educational institutions and made Lithuania part of a new administrative region called Northwestern Krai. The Russification failed, owing to an extensive network of Lithuanian book smugglers and secret Lithuanian homeschooling. After the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), when German diplomats assigned what were seen as Russian spoils of war to Turkey, the relationship between Russia and the German Empire became complicated. The Russian Empire resumed the construction of fortresses at its western borders for defence against a potential invasion from Germany in the West. On 7 July 1879 the Russian Emperor Alexander II approved a proposal from the Russian military leadership to build the largest "first-class" defensive structure in the entire state – the Kaunas Fortress. Large numbers of Lithuanians went to the United States in 1867–1868 after a famine. Simonas Daukantas promoted a return to Lithuania's pre-Commonwealth traditions, which he depicted as a Golden Age of Lithuania and a renewal of the native culture, based on the Lithuanian language and customs. With those ideas in mind, he wrote already in 1822 a history of Lithuania in Lithuanian – Darbai senųjų lietuvių ir žemaičių (The Deeds of Ancient Lithuanians and Samogitians), though it was not published at that time. A colleague of S. Daukantas, Teodor Narbutt wrote in Polish a voluminous Ancient History of the Lithuanian Nation (1835–1841), where he likewise expounded and expanded further on the concept of historic Lithuania, whose days of glory had ended with the Union of Lublin in 1569. Narbutt, invoking German scholarship, pointed out the relationship between the Lithuanian and Sanskrit languages. A Lithuanian National Revival, inspired by the ancient Lithuanian history, language and culture, laid the foundations of the modern Lithuanian nation and independent Lithuania. 20th and 21st centuries 1918–1939 As a result of the Great Retreat during World War I, Germany occupied the entire territory of Lithuania and Courland by the end of 1915. A new administrative entity, Ober Ost, was established. Lithuanians lost all political rights they had gained: personal freedom was restricted, and at the beginning, the Lithuanian press was banned. However, the Lithuanian intelligentsia tried to take advantage of the existing geopolitical situation and began to look for opportunities to restore Lithuania's independence. On 18–22 September 1917, the Vilnius Conference elected the 20-member Council of Lithuania. The council adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania on 16 February 1918 which proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The state of Lithuania which had been built within the framework of the Act lasted from 1918 until 1940. Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, the first Provisional Constitution of Lithuania was adopted and the first government of Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras was organized. At the same time, the army and other state institutions began to be organized. Lithuania fought three wars of independence: against the Bolsheviks who proclaimed the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, against the Bermontians, and against Poland. As a result of the staged Żeligowski's Mutiny in October 1920, Poland took control of Vilnius Region and annexed it as Wilno Voivodeship in 1922. Lithuania continued to claim Vilnius as its de jure capital (the de facto, provisional capital being Kaunas) and relations with Poland remained particularly tense and hostile for the entire interwar period. In January 1923, Lithuania staged the Klaipėda Revolt and captured Klaipėda Region (Memel territory) which was detached from East Prussia by the Treaty of Versailles. The region became an autonomous region of Lithuania. On 15 May 1920, the first meeting of the democratically elected constituent assembly took place. The documents it adopted, i. e. the temporary (1920) and permanent (1922) constitutions of Lithuania, strove to regulate the life of the new state. Land, finance, and educational reforms started to be implemented. The currency of Lithuania, the Lithuanian litas, was introduced. The University of Lithuania was opened. All major public institutions had been established. As Lithuania began to gain stability, foreign countries started to recognize it. In 1921 Lithuania was admitted to the League of Nations. On 17 December 1926, a military coup d'état took place, resulting in the replacement of the democratically elected government with a conservative authoritarian government led by Antanas Smetona. Augustinas Voldemaras was appointed to form a government. The so-called authoritarian phase had begun strengthening the influence of one party, the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, in the country. In 1927, the Seimas was dissolved. A new constitution was adopted in 1928, which consolidated presidential powers. Gradually, opposition parties were banned, censorship was tightened, and the rights of national minorities were narrowed. On 15 July 1933, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, Lithuanian pilots, emigrants to the United States, made a significant flight in the history of world aviation. They flew across the Atlantic Ocean, covering a distance of without landing, in 37 hours and 11 minutes (). In terms of comparison, as far as the distance of non-stop flights was concerned, their result ranked second only to that of Russell Boardman and John Polando. The provisional capital Kaunas, which was nicknamed Little Paris, and the country itself had a Western standard of living with sufficiently high salaries and low prices. At the time, qualified workers there were earning very similar real wages as workers in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France, the country also had a surprisingly high natural increase in population of 9.7 and the industrial production of Lithuania increased by 160% from 1913 to 1940. The situation was aggravated by the global economic crisis. The purchase price of agricultural products had declined significantly. In 1935, farmers began strikes in Suvalkija and Dzūkija. In addition to economic ones, political demands were made. The government cruelly suppressed the unrest. In the spring of 1936, four peasants were sentenced to death for starting the riots. 1939–1944 On 20 March 1939, after years of rising tensions, Lithuania was handed an ultimatum by Nazi Germany demanding it relinquish the Klaipėda Region. Two days later, the Lithuanian government accepted the ultimatum. When Nazi Germany and Soviet Union concluded the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Lithuania was initially assigned to the German sphere of influence but was later transferred to the Soviet sphere. At the outbreak of World War II, Lithuania declared neutrality. In October 1939, Lithuania was forced to sign the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty: five Soviet military bases with 20,000 troops were established in Lithuania in exchange for Vilnius, which the Soviets had captured from Poland. Delayed by the Winter War with Finland, the Soviets issued an ultimatum to Lithuania on 14 June 1940. They demanded the replacement of the Lithuanian government and that the Red Army be allowed into the country. The government decided that, with Soviet bases already in Lithuania, armed resistance was impossible and accepted the ultimatum. President Smetona left the country, hoping to form a government in exile, while more than 200,000 Soviet Red Army soldiers crossed the Belarus–Lithuania border. The next day, identical ultimatums were presented to Latvia and Estonia. The Baltic states were occupied. The Soviets followed semi-constitutional procedures for transforming the independent countries into soviet republics and incorporating them into the Soviet Union. Vladimir Dekanozov was sent to supervise the formation of the puppet People's Government and the rigged election to the People's Seimas. The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 21 July and accepted into the Soviet Union on 3 August. Lithuania was rapidly Sovietized: political parties and various organizations (except the Communist Party of Lithuania) were outlawed, some 12,000 people, including many prominent figures, were arrested and imprisoned in Gulag as "enemies of the people", larger private property was nationalized, the Lithuanian litas was replaced by the Soviet ruble, farm taxes were increased by 50–200%, the Lithuanian Army was transformed into the 29th Rifle Corps of the Red Army. On 14–18 June 1941, less than a week before the Nazi invasion, some 17,000 Lithuanians were deported to Siberia, where many perished due to inhumane living conditions (see the June deportation). The occupation was not recognized by Western powers and the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service, based on pre-war consulates and legations, continued to represent independent Lithuania until 1990. When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Lithuanians began the anti-Soviet June Uprising, organized by the Lithuanian Activist Front. Lithuanians proclaimed independence and organized the Provisional Government of Lithuania. This government quickly self-disbanded. Lithuania became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland, German civil administration. By 1 December 1941, over 120,000 Lithuanian Jews, or 91–95% of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish community, had been killed. Nearly 100,000 Jews, Poles, Russians and Lithuanians were murdered at Paneriai. However, thousands of Lithuanian families risking their lives also protected Jews from the Holocaust. Israel has recognized 893 Lithuanians (as of 1 January 2018) as Righteous Among the Nations for risking their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Approximately 13,000 men served in the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions. 10 of the 26 Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions working with the Nazi Einsatzkommando, were involved in the mass killings. Rogue units organised by Algirdas Klimaitis and supervised by SS Brigadeführer Walter Stahlecker started the Kaunas pogrom in and around Kaunas on 25 June 1941. In 1941, the Lithuanian Security Police (Lietuvos saugumo policija), subordinate to Nazi Germany's Security Police and Nazi Germany's Criminal Police, was created. The Lietuvos saugumo policija targeted the communist underground. A new occupation had begun. Nationalized assets were not returned to the residents. Some of them were forced to fight for Nazi Germany or were taken to German territories as forced labourers. Jewish people were herded into ghettos and gradually killed by shooting or sending them out to concentration camps. 1944–1990 After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets reestablished their control of Lithuania in July–October 1944. The massive deportations to Siberia were resumed and lasted until the death of Stalin in 1953. Antanas Sniečkus, the leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 1940 to 1974, supervised the arrests and deportations. All Lithuanian national symbols were banned. Under the pretext of Lithuania's economic recovery, the Moscow authorities encouraged the migration of workers and other specialists to Lithuania with the intention to further integrate Lithuania into the Soviet Union and to develop the country's industry. At the same time, Lithuanians were lured to work in the USSR by promising them all the privileges of settling in a new place. The second Soviet occupation was accompanied by the guerrilla warfare of the Lithuanian population, which took place in 1944–1953. It sought to restore an independent state of Lithuania, to consolidate democracy by destroying communism in the country, returning national values and the freedom of religion. About 50,000 Lithuanians took to the forests and fought Soviet occupants with a gun in their hands. In the later stages of the partisan war, Lithuanians formed the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters and its leader Jonas Žemaitis (codename Vytautas) was posthumously recognized as the president of Lithuania. Despite the fact that the guerrilla warfare did not achieve its goal of liberating Lithuania and that it resulted in more than 20,000 deaths, the armed resistance de facto demonstrated that Lithuania did not voluntarily join the USSR and it also legitimized the will of the people of Lithuania to be independent. Lithuanian courts and the ECHR both treat the Soviets' annihilation of the Lithuanian partisans as a genocide. Even with the suppression of partisan resistance, the Soviet government failed to stop the movement for the independence of Lithuania. The underground dissident groups were active publishing the underground press and Catholic literature. The most active participants of the movement included Vincentas Sladkevičius, Sigitas Tamkevičius and Nijolė Sadūnaitė. In 1972, after Romas Kalanta's public self-immolation, the unrest in Kaunas lasted for several days. The Helsinki Group, which was founded in Lithuania after the international conference in Helsinki (Finland), where the post-WWII borders were acknowledged, announced a declaration for Lithuania's independence on foreign radio station. The Helsinki Group informed the Western world about the situation in the Soviet Lithuania and violations of human rights. With the beginning of the increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities (glasnost) in the Soviet Union, on 3 June 1988, the Sąjūdis was established in Lithuania. Very soon it began to seek country's independence. Vytautas Landsbergis became movement's leader. The supporters of Sąjūdis joined movement's groups all over Lithuania. On 23 August 1988 a big rally took place at the Vingis Park in Vilnius. It was attended by approx. 250,000 people. A year later, on 23 August 1989 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and aiming to draw the attention of the whole world to the occupation of the Baltic states, a political demonstration, the Baltic Way, was organized. The event, led by Sąjūdis, was a human chain spanning across Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, indicating the desire of the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to break away from the Soviet Union. 1990–present On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet-occupied state to announce the restitution of independence. On 20 April 1990, the Soviets imposed an economic blockade by ceasing to deliver supplies of raw materials (primarily oil) to Lithuania. Not only the domestic industry, but also the population started feeling the lack of fuel, essential goods, and even hot water. Although the blockade lasted for 74 days, Lithuania did not renounce the declaration of independence. Gradually, economic relations had been restored. However, tensions had peaked again in January 1991. At that time, attempts were made to carry out a coup using the Soviet Armed Forces, the Internal Army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Committee for State Security (KGB). Because of the poor economic situation in Lithuania, the forces in Moscow thought the coup d'état would receive strong public support. People from all over Lithuania flooded to Vilnius to defend their legitimately elected Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and independence. The coup ended with a few casualties of peaceful civilians and caused huge material loss. Not a single person who defended Lithuanian Parliament or other state institutions used a weapon, but the Soviet Army did. Soviet soldiers killed 14 people and injured hundreds. A large part of the Lithuanian population participated in the January Events. Shortly after, on 11 February 1991, the Icelandic parliament voted to confirm that Iceland's 1922 recognition of Lithuanian independence was still in full effect, as it never formally recognized the Soviet Union's control over Lithuania, and that full diplomatic relations should be established as soon as possible. On 31 July 1991, Soviet paramilitaries killed seven Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre. On 17 September 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations. On 25 October 1992, the citizens of Lithuania voted in a referendum to adopt the current constitution. On 14 February 1993, during the direct general elections, Algirdas Brazauskas became the first president after the restoration of independence of Lithuania. On 31 August 1993 the last units of the Soviet Army left the territory of Lithuania. On 31 May 2001, Lithuania joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since 29 March 2004, Lithuania has been part of the NATO. On 1 May 2004, it became a fully-fledged member of the European Union, and a member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007. On 1 January 2015, Lithuania joined the eurozone and adopted the European Union's single currency as the last of the Baltic states. On 4 July 2018, Lithuania officially joined OECD. Dalia Grybauskaitė (2009–2019) was the first female President of Lithuania and the first president to be re-elected for a second consecutive term. On 25 February 2022, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda extended its two-week state of emergency, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This invoked Article 4 of NATO to hold consultations over the threat of security. Geography Lithuania is located in the Baltic region of Europe and covers an area of . It lies between latitudes 53° and 57° N, and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E (part of the Curonian Spit lies west of 21°). It has around of sandy coastline, only about of which face the open Baltic Sea, less than the other two Baltic Sea countries. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port, Klaipėda, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The country's main and largest river, the Nemunas River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping. Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain. Its landscape was smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age, and is a combination of moderate lowlands and highlands. Its highest point is Aukštojas Hill at in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes (Lake Vištytis, for example) and wetlands, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country. Drūkšiai is the largest, Tauragnas is the deepest and Asveja is the longest lake in Lithuania. After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute), determined that the geographic centre of Europe was in Lithuania, at , north of Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius. Affholder accomplished this by calculating the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe. Climate Lithuania has a temperate climate with both maritime and continental influences. It is defined as humid continental (Dfb) under the Köppen climate classification (but is close to oceanic in a narrow coastal zone). Average temperatures on the coast are in January and in July. In Vilnius the average temperatures are in January and in July. During the summer, is common during the day while is common at night; in the past, temperatures have reached as high as . Some winters can be very cold. occurs almost every winter. Winter extremes are in coastal areas and in the east of Lithuania. The average annual precipitation is on the coast, in the Samogitia highlands and in the eastern part of the country. Snow occurs every year, it can snow from October to April. In some years sleet can fall in September or May. The growing season lasts 202 days in the western part of the country and 169 days in the eastern part. Severe storms are rare in the eastern part of Lithuania but common in the coastal areas. The longest records of measured temperature in the Baltic area cover about 250 years. The data show warm periods during the latter half of the 18th century, and that the 19th century was a relatively cool period. An early 20th-century warming culminated in the 1930s, followed by a smaller cooling that lasted until the 1960s. A warming trend has persisted since then. Lithuania experienced a drought in 2002, causing forest and peat bog fires. Environment After the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990, the Aplinkos apsaugos įstatymas (Environmental Protection Act) was adopted already in 1992. The law provided the foundations for regulating social relations in the field of environmental protection, established the basic rights and obligations of legal and natural persons in preserving the biodiversity inherent in Lithuania, ecological systems and the landscape. Lithuania agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 20% of 1990 levels by the year 2020 and by at least 40% by the year 2030, together with all European Union members. Also, by 2020 at least 20% (27% by 2030) of the country's total energy consumption should be from the renewable energy sources. In 2016, Lithuania introduced especially effective container deposit legislation, which resulted in collecting 92% of all packagings in 2017. Lithuania does not have high mountains and its landscape is dominated by blooming meadows, dense forests and fertile fields of cereals. However it stands out by the abundance of hillforts, which previously had castles where the ancient Lithuanians burned altars for pagan gods. Lithuania is a particularly watered region with more than 3,000 lakes, mostly in the northeast. The country is also drained by numerous rivers, most notably the longest Nemunas. Lithuania is home to two terrestrial ecoregions: Central European mixed forests and Sarmatic mixed forests. Forest has long been one of the most important natural resources in Lithuania. Forests occupy one third of the country's territory and timber-related industrial production accounts for almost 11% industrial production in the country. Lithuania has five national parks, 30 regional parks, 402 nature reserves, 668 state-protected natural heritage objects. In 2018 Lithuania was ranked fifth, second to Sweden (first 3 places were not granted) in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.62/10, ranking it 162nd globally out of 172 countries. Biodiversity Lithuanian ecosystems include natural and semi-natural (forests, bogs, wetlands and meadows), and anthropogenic (agrarian and urban) ecosystems. Among natural ecosystems, forests are particularly important to Lithuania, covering 33% of the country's territory. Wetlands (raised bogs, fens, transitional mires, etc.) cover 7.9% of the country, with 70% of wetlands having been lost due to drainage and peat extraction between 1960 and 1980. Changes in wetland plant communities resulted in the replacement of moss and grass communities by trees and shrubs, and fens not directly affected by land reclamation have become drier as a result of a drop in the water table. There are 29,000 rivers with a total length of 64,000 km in Lithuania, the Nemunas River basin occupying 74% of the territory of the country. Due to the construction of dams, approximately 70% of spawning sites of potential catadromous fish species have disappeared. In some cases, river and lake ecosystems continue to be impacted by anthropogenic eutrophication. Agricultural land comprises 54% of Lithuania's territory (roughly 70% of that is arable land and 30% meadows and pastures), approximately 400,000 ha of agricultural land is not farmed, and acts as an ecological niche for weeds and invasive plant species. Habitat deterioration is occurring in regions with very productive and expensive lands as crop areas are expanded. Currently, 18.9% of all plant species, including 1.87% of all known fungi species and 31% of all known species of lichens, are listed in the Lithuanian Red Data Book. The list also contains 8% of all fish species. The wildlife populations have rebounded as the hunting became more restricted and urbanization allowed replanting forests (forests already tripled in size since their lows). Currently, Lithuania has approximately 250,000 larger wild animals or 5 per each square kilometre. The most prolific large wild animal in every part of Lithuania is the roe deer, with 120,000 of them. They are followed by boars (55,000). Other ungulates are the deer (~22,000), fallow-deer (~21,000) and the largest one: moose (~7,000). Among the Lithuanian predators, foxes are the most common (~27,000). Wolves are, however, more ingrained into the mythology as there are just 800 in Lithuania. Even rarer are the lynxes (~200). The large animals mentioned above exclude the rabbit, ~200,000 of which may live in the Lithuanian forests. Government and politics Government Since Lithuania declared the restoration of its independence on 11 March 1990, it has maintained strong democratic traditions. It held its first independent general elections on 25 October 1992, in which 56.75% of voters supported the new constitution. There were intense debates concerning the constitution, particularly the role of the president. A separate referendum was held on 23 May 1992 to gauge public opinion on the matter, and 41% of voters supported the restoration of the President of Lithuania. Through compromise, a semi-presidential system was agreed on. The Lithuanian head of state is the president, directly elected for a five-year term and serving a maximum of two terms. The president oversees foreign affairs and national security, and is the commander-in-chief of the military. The president also appoints the prime minister and, on the latter's nomination, the rest of the cabinet, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts. The current Lithuanian head of state, Gitanas Nausėda was elected on 26 May 2019 by unanimously winning in all municipalities of Lithuania. The judges of the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas) serve nine-year terms. They are appointed by the President, the Chairman of the Seimas, and the Chairman of the Supreme Court, each of whom appoint three judges. The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members who are elected to four-year terms. 71 of the members of its members are elected in single-member constituencies, and the others in a nationwide vote by proportional representation. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be eligible for any of the 70 national seats in the Seimas. Political parties and elections Lithuania was one of the first countries in the world to grant women a right to vote in the elections. Lithuanian women were allowed to vote by the 1918 Constitution of Lithuania and used their newly granted right for the first time in 1919. By doing so, Lithuania allowed it earlier than such democratic countries as the United States (1920), France (1945), Greece (1952), Switzerland (1971). Lithuania exhibits a fragmented multi-party system, with a number of small parties in which coalition governments are common. Ordinary elections to the Seimas take place on the second Sunday of October every four years. To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 25 years old on the election day, not under allegiance to a foreign state and permanently reside in Lithuania. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the election are not eligible. Also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election. Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats won the 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary elections and gained 50 of 141 seats in the parliament. In October 2020, the prime ministerial candidate of Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) Ingrida Šimonytė formed a centre-right coalition with two liberal parties. The President of Lithuania is the head of state of the country, elected to a five-year term in a majority vote. Elections take place on the last Sunday no more than two months before the end of current presidential term. To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 40 years old on the election day and reside in Lithuania for at least three years, in addition to satisfying the eligibility criteria for a member of the parliament. Same President may serve for not more than two terms. Gitanas Nausėda has won the most recent election as an independent candidate in 2019. Each municipality in Lithuania is governed by a municipal council and a mayor, who is a member of the municipal council. The number of members, elected on a four-year term, in each municipal council depends on the size of the municipality and varies from 15 (in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents) to 51 (in municipalities with more than 500,000 residents). 1,524 municipal council members were elected in 2015. Members of the council, with the exception of the mayor, are elected using proportional representation. Starting with 2015, the mayor is elected directly by the majority of residents of the municipality. Social Democratic Party of Lithuania won most of the positions in the 2015 elections (372 municipal councils seats and 16 mayors). As of 2019, the number of seats in the European Parliament allocated to Lithuania was 11. Ordinary elections take place on a Sunday on the same day as in other EU countries. The vote is open to all citizens of Lithuania, as well as citizens of other EU countries that permanently reside in Lithuania, who are at least 18 years old on the election day. To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 21 years old on the election day, a citizen of Lithuania or a citizen of another EU country permanently residing in Lithuania. Candidates are not allowed to stand for election in more than one country. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the election are not eligible. Also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election. Six political parties and one committee representatives gained seats in the 2019 elections. Law and law enforcement The first attempt to codify the Lithuanian laws was in 1468 when the Casimir's Code was compiled and adopted by Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon. In the 16th century three editions of the Statutes of Lithuania were created with the First Statute being adopted in 1529, the Second Statute in 1566, and the Third Statute in 1588. On 3 May 1791, the Europe's first and the world's second Constitution was adopted by the Great Sejm. The Third Statute was partly in force in the territory of Lithuania even until 1840, despite the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. In 1934–1935, Lithuania held the first mass trial of the Nazis in Europe, the convicted were sentenced to imprisonment in a heavy labor prison and capital punishments. After regaining of independence in 1990, the largely modified Soviet legal codes were in force for about a decade. The current Constitution of Lithuania was adopted on 25 October 1992. In 2001, the Civil Code of Lithuania was passed in Seimas. It was succeeded by the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code in 2003. The approach to the criminal law is inquisitorial, as opposed to adversarial; it is generally characterised by an insistence on formality and rationalisation, as opposed to practicality and informality. Normative legal act enters into force on the next day after its publication in the Teisės aktų registras, unless it has a later entry into force date. The European Union law is an integral part of the Lithuanian legal system since 1 May 2004. Lithuania, after breaking away from the Soviet Union had a difficult crime situation, however, the Lithuanian law enforcement agencies eliminated many criminals over the years, making Lithuania a reasonably safe country. Crime in Lithuania has been declining rapidly. Law enforcement in Lithuania is primarily the responsibility of local Lietuvos policija (Lithuanian Police) commissariats. They are supplemented by the Lietuvos policijos antiteroristinių operacijų rinktinė Aras (Anti-Terrorist Operations Team of the Lithuanian Police Aras), Lietuvos kriminalinės policijos biuras (Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau), Lietuvos policijos kriminalistinių tyrimų centras (Lithuanian Police Forensic Research Center) and Lietuvos kelių policijos tarnyba (Lithuanian Road Police Service). In 2017, there were 63,846 crimes registered in Lithuania. Of these, thefts comprised a large part with 19,630 cases (13.2% less than in 2016). While 2,835 crimes were very hard and hard (crimes that may result in more than six years imprisonment), which is 14.5% less than in 2016. Totally, 129 homicides or attempted homicide occurred (19.9% less than in 2016), while serious bodily harm was registered 178 times (17.6% less than in 2016). Another problematic crime contraband cases also decreased by 27.2% from 2016 numbers. Meanwhile, crimes in electronic data and information technology security fields noticeably increased by 26.6%. In the 2013 Special Eurobarometer, 29% of Lithuanians said that corruption affects their daily lives (EU average 26%). Moreover, 95% of Lithuanians regarded corruption as widespread in their country (EU average 76%), and 88% agreed that bribery and the use of connections is often the easiest way of obtaining certain public services (EU average 73%). Though, according to local branch of Transparency International, corruption levels have been decreasing over the past decade. Capital punishment in Lithuania was suspended in 1996 and fully eliminated in 1998. Lithuania has the highest number of prison inmates in the EU. According to scientist Gintautas Sakalauskas, this is not because of a high criminality rate in the country, but due to Lithuania's high repression level and the lack of trust of the convicted, who are frequently sentenced to a jail imprisonment. Administrative divisions The current system of administrative division was established in 1994 and modified in 2000 to meet the requirements of the European Union. The country's 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular – apskritis, plural – apskritys) are subdivided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular – savivaldybė, plural – savivaldybės), and further divided into 500 elderships (Lithuanian: singular – seniūnija, plural – seniūnijos). Municipalities have been the most important unit of administration in Lithuania since the system of county governorship (apskrities viršininkas) was dissolved in 2010. Some municipalities are historically called "district municipalities" (often shortened to "district"), while others are called "city municipalities" (sometimes shortened to "city"). Each has its own elected government. The election of municipality councils originally occurred every three years, but now takes place every four years. The council appoints elders to govern the elderships. Mayors have been directly elected since 2015; prior to that, they were appointed by the council. Elderships, numbering over 500, are the smallest administrative units and do not play a role in national politics. They provide necessary local public services—for example, registering births and deaths in rural areas. They are most active in the social sector, identifying needy individuals or families and organizing and distributing welfare and other forms of relief. Some citizens feel that elderships have no real power and receive too little attention, and that they could otherwise become a source of local initiative for addressing rural problems. Foreign relations Lithuania became a member of the United Nations on 18 September 1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It is also a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as NATO and its adjunct North Atlantic Coordinating Council. Lithuania gained membership in the World Trade Organization on 31 May 2001, and joined the OECD on 5 July 2018, while also seeking membership in other Western organizations. Lithuania has established diplomatic relations with 149 countries. In 2011, Lithuania hosted the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Ministerial Council Meeting. During the second half of 2013, Lithuania assumed the role of the presidency of the European Union. Lithuania is also active in developing cooperation among northern European countries. It has been a member of the Baltic Council since its establishment in 1993. The Baltic Council, located in Tallinn, is a permanent organisation of international cooperation that operates through the Baltic Assembly and the Baltic Council of Ministers. Lithuania also cooperates with Nordic and the two other Baltic countries through the NB8 format. A similar format, NB6, unites Nordic and Baltic members of EU. NB6's focus is to discuss and agree on positions before presenting them to the Council of the European Union and at the meetings of EU foreign affairs ministers. The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was established in Copenhagen in 1992 as an informal regional political forum. Its main aim is to promote integration and to close contacts between the region's countries. The members of CBSS are Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia, and the European Commission. Its observer states are Belarus, France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. The Nordic Council of Ministers and Lithuania engage in political cooperation to attain mutual goals and to determine new trends and possibilities for joint cooperation. The council's information office aims to disseminate Nordic concepts and to demonstrate and promote Nordic cooperation. Lithuania, together with the five Nordic countries and the two other Baltic countries, is a member of the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and cooperates in its NORDPLUS programme, which is committed to education. The Baltic Development Forum (BDF) is an independent nonprofit organization that unites large companies, cities, business associations and institutions in the Baltic Sea region. In 2010 the BDF's 12th summit was held in Vilnius. Poland was highly supportive of Lithuanian independence, despite Lithuania's discriminatory treatment of its Polish minority. The former Solidarity leader and Polish President Lech Wałęsa criticised the government of Lithuania over discrimination against the Polish minority and rejected Lithuania's Order of Vytautas the Great. Lithuania maintains greatly warm mutual relations with Georgia and strongly supports its European Union and NATO aspirations. During the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, when the Russian troops were occupying the territory of Georgia and approaching towards the Georgian capital Tbilisi, President Valdas Adamkus, together with the Polish and Ukrainian presidents, went to Tbilisi by answering to the Georgians request of the international assistance. Shortly, Lithuanians and the Lithuanian Catholic Church also began collecting financial support for the war victims. In 2004–2009, Dalia Grybauskaitė served as European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget within the José Manuel Barroso-led Commission. In 2013, Lithuania was elected to the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term, becoming the first Baltic country elected to this post. During its membership, Lithuania actively supported Ukraine and often condemned Russia for the military intervention in Ukraine, immediately earning vast Ukrainians esteem. As the War in Donbas progressed, President Dalia Grybauskaitė has compared the Russian President Vladimir Putin to Josef Stalin and to Adolf Hitler, she has also called Russia a "terrorist state". In 2018 Lithuania, along with Latvia and Estonia were awarded the – for their exceptional model of democratic development and contribution to peace in the continent. In 2019 Lithuania condemned the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. In December 2021, Lithuania reported that in an escalation of the diplomatic spat with China over its relations with Taiwan, China had stopped all imports from Lithuania. The 2023 NATO summit will be held in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Military The Lithuanian Armed Forces is the name for the unified armed forces of Lithuanian Land Force, Lithuanian Air Force, Lithuanian Naval Force, Lithuanian Special Operations Force and other units: Logistics Command, Training and Doctrine Command, Headquarters Battalion, Military Police. Directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence are the Special Operations Forces and Military Police. The Reserve Forces are under command of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of some 20,000 active personnel, which may be supported by reserve forces. Compulsory conscription ended in 2008 but was reintroduced in 2015. The Lithuanian Armed Forces currently have deployed personnel on international missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Mali and Somalia. Lithuania became a full member of NATO in March 2004. Fighter jets of NATO members are deployed in Zokniai airport and provide safety for the Baltic airspace. Since the summer of 2005, Lithuania has been part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), leading a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the town of Chaghcharan in the province of Ghor. The PRT includes personnel from Denmark, Iceland and the US. There are also special operation forces units in Afghanistan, placed in Kandahar Province. Since joining international operations in 1994, Lithuania has lost two soldiers: Lt. Normundas Valteris fell in Bosnia, as his patrol vehicle drove over a mine. Sgt. Arūnas Jarmalavičius was fatally wounded during an attack on the camp of his Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. The Lithuanian National Defence Policy aims to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state, the integrity of its land, territorial waters and airspace, and its constitutional order. Its main strategic goals are to defend the country's interests, and to maintain and expand the capabilities of its armed forces so they may contribute to and participate in the missions of NATO and European Union member states. The defense ministry is responsible for combat forces, search and rescue, and intelligence operations. The 5,000 border guards fall under the Interior Ministry's supervision and are responsible for border protection, passport and customs duties, and share responsibility with the navy for smuggling and drug trafficking interdiction. A special security department handles VIP protection and communications security. In 2015 National Cyber Security Centre of Lithuania was created. Paramilitary organisation Lithuanian Riflemen's Union acts as a civilian self-defence institution. According to NATO, in 2020, Lithuania allocated 2.13% of its GDP to the national defense. For a long time, especially after the global financial crisis in 2008, Lithuania lagged behind NATO allies in terms of defence spending. However, in recent years it has begun to rapidly increase the funding, exceeding the NATO guideline of 2% in 2019. Economy Lithuania has an open and mixed economy that is classified as high-income economy by the World Bank. According to data from 2016, the three largest sectors in Lithuanian economy are – services (68.3% of GDP), industry (28.5%) and agriculture (3.3%). World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report ranks Lithuania 41st (of 137 ranked countries). Lithuania joined NATO in 2004, EU in 2004, Schengen in 2007 and OECD in 2018. On 1 January 2015, euro became the national currency replacing litas at the rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.45280. Agricultural products and food comprise 18.3% of exports; other major sectors include chemical products and plastics (17.8%), machinery and appliances (15.8%), mineral products (14.7%), wood and furniture (12.5%). According to data from 2016, more than half of all Lithuanian exports go to 7 countries including Russia (14%), Latvia (9.9%), Poland (9.1%), Germany (7.7%), Estonia (5.3%), Sweden (4.8%) and United Kingdom (4.3%). Exports equaled 81.31 percent of Lithuania's GDP in 2017. Lithuanian GDP experienced very high real growth rates for decade up to 2009, peaking at 11.1% in 2007. As a result, the country was often termed as a Baltic Tiger. However, in 2009 due to a global financial crisis marked experienced a drastic decline – GDP contracted by 14.9% and unemployment rate reached 17.8% in 2010. After the decline of 2009, Lithuanian annual economic growth has been much slower compared to pre-2009 years. According to IMF, financial conditions are conducive to growth and financial soundness indicators remain strong. The public debt ratio in 2016 fell to 40 percent of GDP, to compare with 42.7 in 2015 (before global finance crisis – 15 percent of GDP in 2008). On average, more than 95% of all foreign direct investment in Lithuania comes from European Union countries. Sweden is historically the largest investor with 20% – 30% of all FDI in Lithuania. FDI into Lithuania spiked in 2017, reaching its highest ever recorded number of greenfield investment projects. In 2017, Lithuania was third country, after Ireland and Singapore by the average job value of investment projects. The US was the leading source country in 2017, 24.59% of total FDI. Next up are Germany and the UK, each representing 11.48% of total project numbers. Based on the Eurostat's data, in 2017, the value of Lithuanian exports recorded the most rapid growth not only in the Baltic countries, but also across Europe, which was 16.9 per cent. In the period between 2004 and 2016, one out of five Lithuanians emigrated, primarily due to insufficient income for residents; secondarily seeking to study abroad. Long term emigration and economy growth has resulted in a noticeable shortage in the labor market and growth in salaries being larger than growth in labor efficiency. Unemployment rate in 2017 was 8.1%. As of 2020, Lithuanian median wealth per adult was $29,679 (mean was $63,500), while the total national wealth was $138 billion. As of 2021, the average monthly net salary in Lithuania was over €1,000 or $2,200 adjusted for purchasing power parity. Although, cost of living in the country also is sufficiently less with the price level for household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) – 63, being 39% lower than EU average – 102 in 2016. Lithuania has a flat tax rate rather than a progressive scheme. According to Eurostat, the personal income tax (15%) and corporate tax (15%) rates in Lithuania are among the lowest in the EU. The country has the lowest implicit rate of tax on capital (9.8%) in the EU. Corporate tax rate in Lithuania is 15% and 5% for small businesses. 7 Free Economic Zones are operating in Lithuania. Information technology production is growing in the country, reaching €1.9 billion in 2016. In 2017 only, 35 FinTech companies came to Lithuania – a result of Lithuanian government and Bank of Lithuania simplified procedures for obtaining licences for the activities of e-money and payment institutions. Europe's first international Blockchain Centre launched in Vilnius in 2018. Lithuania has granted a total of 39 e-money licenses, second in the EU only to the U.K. with 128 licenses. In 2018 Google set up a payment company in Lithuania. Companies Largest companies of Lithuania in 2020, by revenue: Agriculture Agriculture in Lithuania dates to the Neolithic period, about 3,000 to 1,000 BC. It has been one of Lithuania's most important occupations for many centuries. Lithuania's accession to the European Union in 2004 ushered in a new agricultural era. The EU pursues a very high standard of food safety and purity. In 1999, the Seimas (parliament) of Lithuania adopted a Law on Product Safety, and in 2000 it adopted a Law on Food. The reform of the agricultural market has been carried out on the basis of these two laws. In 2016, agricultural production in Lithuania was €2.29 billion. Cereal crops occupied the largest part of it (5709.7 tons), other significant types include: sugar beets (933.9 tons), rapeseed (392.5 tons) and potatoes (340.2 tons). Products totaling €4,385.2 million were exported from Lithuania to foreign markets, of which products for €3,165.2 million were Lithuanian origin. Export of agricultural and food products accounted for 19.4% of all exports of goods from the country. Organic farming is constantly becoming more popular in Lithuania. The status of organic growers and producers in the country is granted by the public body Ekoagros. In 2016, there were 2539 such farms that occupied 225,541.78 hectares. Of these, 43.13% were cereals, 31.22% were perennial grasses, 13.9% were leguminous crops and 11.75% were others. Science and technology Foundation of the University of Vilnius in 1579 was a major factor of establishing local scientist community in Lithuania and making connections with other universities and scientists of Europe. Georg Forster, Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert, Johann Peter Frank and many other visiting scientists have worked at University of Vilnius. Lithuanian bajoras and Grand Duchy of Lithuania artillery expert Kazimieras Simonavičius is a pioneer of rocketry, who has published Artis Magnae Artilleriae in 1650 that for over two centuries was used in Europe as a basic artillery manual and contains a large chapter on caliber, construction, production and properties of rockets (for military and civil purposes), including multistage rockets, batteries of rockets, and rockets with delta wing stabilizers. A botanist Jurgis Pabrėža (1771-1849), created first systematic guide of Lithuanian flora Taislius auguminis (Botany), written in Samogitian dialect, the Latin-Lithuanian dictionary of plant names, first Lithuanian textbook of geography. During the Interwar period humanitarian and social scientists emerged such as Vosylius Sezemanas, Levas Karsavinas, Mykolas Römeris. Due to the World Wars, Lithuanian science and scientists suffered heavily from the occupants, however some of them reached a world-class achievements in their lifetime. Most notably, Antanas Gustaitis, Vytautas Graičiūnas, Marija Gimbutas, Birutė Galdikas, A. J. Kliorė, Algirdas Julius Greimas, medievalist Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Algirdas Antanas Avižienis. Jonas Kubilius, long-term rector of the University of Vilnius is known for works in Probabilistic number theory, Kubilius model, Theorem of Kubilius and Turán–Kubilius inequality bear his name. Jonas Kubilius successfully resisted attempts to Russify the University of Vilnius. Nowadays, the country is among moderate innovators group in the International Innovation Index. and in the European Innovation Scoreboard ranked 15th among EU countries. Lithuania was ranked 40th in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, down from 38th in 2019. Lasers and biotechnology are flagship fields of the Lithuanian science and high tech industry. Lithuanian "Šviesos konversija" (Light Conversion) has developed a femtosecond laser system that has 80% marketshare worldwide, and is used in DNA research, ophthalmological surgeries, nanotech industry and science. Vilnius University Laser Research Center has developed one of the most powerful femtosecond lasers in the world dedicated primarily to oncological diseases. In 1963, Vytautas Straižys and his coworkers created Vilnius photometric system that is used in astronomy. Noninvasive intracranial pressure and blood flow measuring devices were developed by KTU scientist A. Ragauskas. K.Pyragas contributed to Control of chaos with his way of delayed feedback control – Pyragas method. Kavli Prize laureate Virginijus Šikšnys is known for his discoveries in CRISPR field – invention of CRISPR-Cas9. Lithuania has launched three satellites to space: LitSat-1, Lituanica SAT-1 and LituanicaSAT-2. Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology and Molėtai Astronomical Observatory is located in Kulionys. 15 R&D institutions are members of Lithuanian Space Association; Lithuania is a cooperating state with European Space Agency. Rimantas Stankevičius is the only ethnically Lithuanian astronaut. Lithuania in 2018 became Associated Member State of CERN. Two CERN incubators in Vilnius and Kaunas will be hosted. Most advanced scientific research in Lithuania is being conducted at the Life Sciences Center, Center For Physical Sciences and Technology. As of 2016 calculations, yearly growth of Lithuania's biotech and life science sector was 22% over the past 5 years. 16 academic institutions, 15 R&D centres (science parks and innovation valleys) and more than 370 manufacturers operate in the Lithuanian life science and biotech industry. In 2008 the Valley development programme was started aiming to upgrade Lithuanian scientific research infrastructure and encourage business and science cooperation. Five R&D Valleys were launched – Jūrinis (maritime technologies), Nemunas (agro, bioenergy, forestry), Saulėtekis (laser and light, semiconductor), Santara (biotechnology, medicine), Santaka (sustainable chemistry and pharmacy). Lithuanian Innovation Center is created to provide support for innovations and research institutions. Tourism Statistics of 2016 showed that 1.49 million tourists from foreign countries visited Lithuania and spent at least one night in the country. The largest number of tourists came from Germany (174,800), Belarus (171,900), Russia (150,600), Poland (148,400), Latvia (134,400), Ukraine (84,000), and the UK (58,200). The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to country GDP was €2,005.5 million, 5.3% of GDP in 2016, and is forecast to rise by 7.3% in 2017, and to rise by 4.2% pa to €3,243.5 million, 6.7% of GDP in 2027. Hot air ballooning is very popular in Lithuania, especially in Vilnius and Trakai. Bicycle tourism is growing, especially in Lithuanian Seaside Cycle Route. EuroVelo routes EV10, EV11, EV13 go through Lithuania. Total length of bicycle tracks amounts to 3769 km (of which 1988 km is asphalt pavement). Nemunas Delta Regional Park and Žuvintas biosphere reserve are known for birdwatching. Domestic tourism has been on the rise as well. Currently there are up to 1000 places of attraction in Lithuania. Most tourists visit the big cities—Vilnius, Klaipėda, and Kaunas, seaside resorts, such as Neringa, Palanga, and Spa towns – Druskininkai, Birštonas. Infrastructure Communication Lithuania has a well developed communications infrastructure. The country has 2.8 million citizens and 5 million SIM cards. The largest LTE (4G) mobile network covers 97% of Lithuania's territory. Usage of fixed phone lines has been rapidly decreasing due to rapid expansion of mobile-cellular services. In 2017, Lithuania was top 30 in the world by average mobile broadband speeds and top 20 by average fixed broadband speeds. Lithuania was also top 7 in 2017 in the List of countries by 4G LTE penetration. In 2016, Lithuania was ranked 17th in United Nations' e-participation index. There are four TIER III datacenters in Lithuania. Lithuania is 44th globally ranked country on data center density according to Cloudscene. Long-term project (2005–2013) – Development of Rural Areas Broadband Network (RAIN) was started with the objective to provide residents, state and municipal authorities and businesses with fibre-optic broadband access in rural areas. RAIN infrastructure allows 51 communications operators to provide network services to their clients. The project was funded by the European Union and the Lithuanian government. 72% of Lithuanian households have access to internet, a number which in 2017 was among EU's lowest and in 2016 ranked 97th by CIA World Factbook. Number of households with internet access is expected to increase and reach 77% by 2021. Almost 50% of Lithuanians had smartphones in 2016, a number that is expected to increase to 65% by 2022. Lithuania has the highest FTTH (Fiber to the home) penetration rate in Europe (36.8% in September 2016) according to FTTH Council Europe. Transport Lithuania received its first railway connection in the middle of the 19th century, when the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway was constructed. It included a stretch from Daugavpils via Vilnius and Kaunas to Virbalis. The first and only still operating tunnel was completed in 1860. Rail transport in Lithuania consists of of Russian gauge railway of which are electrified. This railway network is incompatible with European standard gauge and requires train switching. However, Lithuanian railway network also has of standard gauge lines. More than half of all inland freight transported in Lithuania is carried by rail. The Trans-European standard gauge Rail Baltica railway, linking Helsinki–Tallinn–Riga–Kaunas–Warsaw and continuing on to Berlin is under construction. In 2017, Lietuvos Geležinkeliai, a company that operates most railway lines in Lithuania, received EU penalty for breaching EU's antitrust laws and restricting competition. Transportation is the third largest sector in Lithuanian economy. Lithuanian transport companies drew attention in 2016 and 2017 with huge and record-breaking orders of trucks. Almost 90% of commercial truck traffic in Lithuania is international transports, the highest of any EU country. Lithuania has an extensive network of motorways. WEF grades Lithuanian roads at 4.7 / 7.0 and Lithuanian road authority (LAKD) at 6.5 / 10.0. The Port of Klaipėda is the only commercial cargo port in Lithuania. In 2011 45.5 million tons of cargo were handled (including Būtingė oil terminal figures) Port of Klaipėda is outside of EU's 20 largest ports, but it is the eighth largest port in the Baltic Sea region with ongoing expansion plans. Vilnius International Airport is the largest airport in Lithuania, 91st busiest airport in Europe (EU's 100 largest airports). It served 3.8 million passengers in 2016. Other international airports include Kaunas International Airport, Palanga International Airport and Šiauliai International Airport. Kaunas International Airport is also a small commercial cargo airport which started regular commercial cargo traffic in 2011. The inland river cargo port in Marvelė, linking Kaunas and Klaipėda, received first cargo in 2019. Water supply and sanitation Lithuania has one of the largest fresh water supplies, compared with other countries in Europe. Lithuania and Denmark are the only countries in Europe, which are fully equipped with fresh groundwater. Lithuanians consume about 0.5 million cubic metres of water per day, which is only 12–14 percent of all explored fresh groundwater resources. Water quality in the country is very high and is determined by the fact that drinking water comes from deep layers that are protected from pollution on the surface of the earth. Drilling depth usually reaches 30–50 metres, but in Klaipėda Region it even reaches 250 metres. Consequently, Lithuania is one of very few European countries where groundwater is used for centralized water supply. With a large underground fresh water reserves, Lithuania exports mineral-rich water to other countries. Approved mineral water quantity is about 2.7 million cubic metres per year, while production is only 4–5 percent of all mineral water resources. Vilnius is the only Baltic capital that uses centralized water supplying from deep water springs, which are protected from pollution and has no nitrates or nitrites that are harmful to the human body. Water is cleaned without chemicals in Lithuania. About 20% of the consumed water in the state is a non-filtered very high quality water. Energy Systematic diversification of energy imports and resources is Lithuania's key energy strategy. Long-term aims were defined in National Energy Independence strategy in 2012 by Lietuvos Seimas. It was estimated that strategic energy independence initiatives will cost €6.3–7.8 billion in total and provide annual savings of €0.9–1.1 billion. After the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, Lithuania turned from electricity exporter to electricity importer. Unit No. 1 was closed in December 2004, as a condition of Lithuania's entry into the European Union; Unit No. 2 was closed down on 31 December 2009. Proposals have been made to construct a new – Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania. However, a non-binding referendum held in October 2012 clouded the prospects for the Visaginas project, as 63% of voters said no to a new nuclear power plant. The country's main primary source of electrical power is Elektrėnai Power Plant. Other primary sources of Lithuania's electrical power are Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant and Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant. Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant is the only in the Baltic states power plant to be used for regulation of the power system's operation with generating capacity of 900 MW for at least 12 hours. , 66% of electrical power was imported. First geothermal heating plant (Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant) in the Baltic Sea region was built in 2004. Lithuania–Sweden submarine electricity interconnection NordBalt and Lithuania–Poland electricity interconnection LitPol Link were launched at the end of 2015. In order to break down Gazprom's monopoly in natural gas market of Lithuania, first large scale LNG import terminal (Klaipėda LNG FSRU) in the Baltic region was built in port of Klaipėda in 2014. The Klaipėda LNG terminal was called Independence, thus emphasising the aim to diversify energy market of Lithuania. Norvegian company Equinor supplies of natural gas annually from 2015 until 2020. The terminal is able to meet the Lithuania's demand 100 percent, and Latvia's and Estonia's national demand 90 percent in the future. Gas Interconnection Poland–Lithuania (GIPL), also known as Lithuania–Poland pipeline, is a proposed natural gas pipeline interconnection between Lithuania and Poland that is expected to be finished by 2019. In 2018 synchronising the Baltic States' electricity grid with the Synchronous grid of Continental Europe has started. In 2016, 20.8% of electricity consumed in Lithuania came from renewable sources. Demographics Since the Neolithic period the native inhabitants of the Lithuanian territory have not been replaced by any other ethnic group, so there is a high probability that the inhabitants of present-day Lithuania have preserved the genetic composition of their forebears relatively undisturbed by the major demographic movements, although without being actually isolated from them. The Lithuanian population appears to be relatively homogeneous, without apparent genetic differences among ethnic subgroups. A 2004 analysis of MtDNA in the Lithuanian population revealed that Lithuanians are close to the Slavic and Finno-Ugric speaking populations of Northern and Eastern Europe. Y-chromosome SNP haplogroup analysis showed Lithuanians to be closest to Latvians and Estonians. According to 2014 estimates, the age structure of the population was as follows: 0–14 years, 13.5% (male 243,001/female 230,674); 15–64 years: 69.5% (male 1,200,196/female 1,235,300); 65 years and over: 16.8% (male 207,222/female 389,345). The median age was 41.2 years (male: 38.5, female: 43.7). Lithuania has a sub-replacement fertility rate: the total fertility rate (TFR) in Lithuania is 1.59 children born/woman (2015 estimates). , 29% of births were to unmarried women. The age at first marriage in 2013 was 27 years for women and 29.3 years for men. Functional urban areas Ethnic groups Ethnic Lithuanians make up about five-sixths of the country's population and Lithuania has the most homogeneous population in the Baltic States. In 2015, the population of Lithuania stands at 2,921,262, 84.2% of whom are ethnic Lithuanians who speak Lithuanian, which is the official language of the country. Several sizeable minorities exist, such as Poles (6.6%), Russians (5.8%), Belarusians (1.2%) and Ukrainians (0.5%). Poles in Lithuania are the largest minority, concentrated in southeast Lithuania (the Vilnius region). Russians in Lithuania are the second largest minority, concentrated mostly in two cities. They constitute sizeable minorities in Vilnius (12%) and Klaipėda (19.6%), and a majority in the town of Visaginas (52%). About 3,000 Roma live in Lithuania, mostly in Vilnius, Kaunas and Panevėžys; their organizations are supported by the National Minority and Emigration Department. For centuries a small Tatar community has flourished in Lithuania. The official language is Lithuanian, but in some areas there is a significant presence of minority languages, such as Polish, Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian. The greatest presence of minorities and the use of these languages is in Šalčininkai District Municipality, Vilnius District Municipality and Visaginas Municipality. Yiddish is spoken by members of the tiny remaining Jewish community in Lithuania. The state laws guarantee education in minority languages and there are numerous publicly funded schools in the areas populated by minorities, with Polish as the language of instruction being the most widely available. According to the Lithuanian population census of 2011, about 85% of the country's population speak Lithuanian as their native language, 7.2% are native speakers of Russian and 5.3% of Polish. About 39% of Lithuanian residents speak Russian as a foreign language, 20% – English, 9% – German, 6% – Polish, 3% – French. Most Lithuanian schools teach English as the first foreign language, but students may also study German, or, in some schools, French or Russian. Around 80% of young people in Lithuania know English. Urbanization There has been a steady movement of population to the cities since the 1990s, encouraged by the planning of regional centres, such as Alytus, Marijampolė, Utena, Plungė, and Mažeikiai. By the early 21st century, about two-thirds of the total population lived in urban areas. , 66.5% of the total population lives in urban areas. Lithuania's functional urban areas include Vilnius (population 696,000 in 2016) and Kaunas (population 387,000 in 2016). The fDI of the Financial Times in their research Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/19 ranked Vilnius fourth in the mid-sized European cities category and Vilnius county was ranked 10th in the small European regions category. Health Lithuania provides free state-funded healthcare to all citizens and registered long-term residents. It co-exists with a significant private healthcare sector. In 2003–2012, the network of hospitals was restructured, as part of wider healthcare service reforms. It started in 2003–2005 with the expansion of ambulatory services and primary care. In 2016, Lithuania ranked 27th in Europe in the Euro health consumer index, a ranking of European healthcare systems based on waiting time, results and other indicators. Lithuanian life expectancy at birth was 76.0 (71.2 years for males and 80.4 for females) and the infant mortality rate was 2.99 per 1,000 births. The annual population growth rate increased by 0.3% in 2007. Lithuania has seen a dramatic rise in suicides in the 1990s. The suicide rate has been constantly decreasing since, but it still remains the highest in the EU and the OECD. The suicide rate as of 2019 is 20.2 per 100,000 people. Suicide in Lithuania has been a subject of research, but the main reasons behind the high rate are thought to be both psychological and economic, including: social transformations and economic recessions, alcoholism, lack of tolerance in the society, bullying. By 2000 the vast majority of Lithuanian health care institutions were non-profit-making enterprises and a private sector developed, providing mostly outpatient services which are paid for out-of-pocket. The Ministry of Health also runs a few health care facilities and is involved in the running of the two major Lithuanian teaching hospitals. It is responsible for the State Public Health Centre which manages the public health network including ten county public health centres with their local branches. The ten counties run county hospitals and specialised health care facilities. There is Compulsory Health Insurance for the Lithuanian residents. There are 5 Territorial Health Insurance Funds, covering Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Contributions for people who are economically active are 9% of income. Emergency medical services are provided free of charge to all residents. Access to the secondary and tertiary care, such as hospital treatment, is normally via referral by a general practitioner. Lithuania also has one of the lowest health care prices in Europe. Religion According to the 2021 census, 74.2% of residents of Lithuania were Catholics. Catholicism has been the main religion since the official Christianisation of Lithuania in 1387. The Catholic Church was persecuted by the Russian Empire as part of the Russification policies and by the Soviet Union as part of the overall anti-religious campaigns. During the Soviet era, some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime, as symbolised by the Hill of Crosses and exemplified by The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. 3.7% of the population are Eastern Orthodox, mainly among the Russian minority. The community of Old Believers (0.6% of population) dates back to the 1660s. Protestants are 0.8%, of which 0.6% are Lutheran and 0.2% are Reformed. The Reformation did not impact Lithuania to a great extent as seen in East Prussia, Estonia, or Latvia. Before World War II, according to Losch (1932), the Lutherans were 3.3% of the total population. They were mainly Germans and Prussian Lithuanians in the Klaipėda Region (Memel territory). This population fled or was expelled after the war, and today Protestantism is mainly represented by ethnic Lithuanians throughout the northern and western parts of the country, as well as in large urban areas. Newly arriving evangelical churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990. Hinduism is a minority religion and a fairly recent development in Lithuania. Hinduism is spread in Lithuania by Hindu organizations: ISKCON, Sathya Sai Baba, Brahma Kumaris and Osho Rajneesh. ISKCON (Lithuanian: Krišnos sąmonės judėjimas) is the largest and the oldest movement as the first Krishna followers date to 1979. It has three centres in Lithuania: in Vilnius, Klaipėda and Kaunas. Brahma Kumaris maintains the Centre Brahma Kumaris in Antakalnis, Vilnius. The historical communities of Lipka Tatars maintain Islam as their religion. Lithuania was historically home to a significant Jewish community and was an important centre of Jewish scholarship and culture from the 18th century until the eve of World War II. Of the approximately 220,000 Jews who lived in Lithuania in June 1941, almost all were killed during the Holocaust. The Lithuanian Jewish community numbered about 4,000 at the end of 2009. Romuva, the neopagan revival of the ancient religious practices, has gained popularity over the years. Romuva claims to continue living pagan traditions, which survived in folklore and customs. Romuva is a polytheistic pagan faith, which asserts the sanctity of nature and has elements of ancestor worship. According to the 2001 census, there were 1,270 people of Baltic faith in Lithuania. That number jumped to 5,118 in the 2011 census. Education The Constitution of Lithuania mandates ten-year education ending at age 16 and guarantees a free public higher education for students deemed 'good'. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania proposes national educational policies and goals that are then voted for in the Seimas. Laws govern long-term educational strategy along with general laws on standards for higher education, vocational training, law and science, adult education, and special education. 5.4% of GDP or 15.4% of total public expenditure was spent for education in 2016. According to the World Bank, the literacy rate among Lithuanians aged 15 years and older is 100%. School attendance rates are above the EU average and school leave is less common than in the EU. According to Eurostat Lithuania leads among other countries of the European Union in people with secondary education (93.3%). Based on OECD data, Lithuania is among the top 5 countries in the world in postsecondary (tertiary) education attainment. , 54.9% of the population aged 25 to 34, and 30.7% of the population aged 55 to 64 had completed tertiary education. The share of tertiary-educated 25–64-year-olds in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields in Lithuania were above the OECD average (29% and 26% respectively), similarly to business, administration and law (25% and 23% respectively). Modern Lithuanian education system has multiple structural problems. Insufficient funding, quality issues, and decreasing student population are the most prevalent. Lithuanian teacher salaries are the lowest in the entire EU. Low teacher salaries was the primary reason behind national teacher strikes in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Salaries in the higher education sector are also low. Many Lithuanian professors have a second job to supplement their income. PISA report from 2010 found that Lithuanian results in math, science and reading were below OECD average. PISA report from 2015 reconfirmed these findings. The population ages 6 to 19 has decreased by 36% between 2005 and 2015. As a result, the student-teacher ratio is decreasing and expenditure per student is increasing, but schools, particularly in rural areas, are forced into reorganizations and consolidations. As with other Baltic nations, in particular Latvia, the large volume of higher education graduates within the country, coupled with the high rate of spoken second languages is contributing to an education brain drain. , there were 15 public and 6 private universities as well as 16 public and 11 private colleges in Lithuania (see: List of universities in Lithuania). Vilnius University is one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe and the largest university in Lithuania. Kaunas University of Technology is the largest technical university in the Baltic States and the second largest university in Lithuania. In an attempt to reduce costs and adapt to sharply decreasing number of high-school students, Lithuanian parliament decided to reduce the number of universities in Lithuania. In early 2018, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences and Aleksandras Stulginskis University were merged into Vytautas Magnus University. Culture Lithuanian language The Lithuanian language (lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 0.2 million abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they are not mutually intelligible. It is written in an adapted version of the Roman script. Lithuanian is believed to be the linguistically most conservative living Indo-European tongue, retaining many features of Proto Indo-European. Lithuanian language studies are important for comparative linguistics and for reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European language. Lithuanian was studied by linguists such as Franz Bopp, August Schleicher, Adalbert Bezzenberger, Louis Hjelmslev, Ferdinand de Saussure, Winfred P. Lehmann, Vladimir Toporov and others. There are two main dialects of the Lithuanian language: Aukštaitian dialect and Samogitian dialect. Aukštaitian dialect is mainly used in the central, southern and eastern parts of Lithuania while Samogitian dialect is used in the western part of the country. The Samogitian dialect also has many completely different words and is even considered a separate language by some linguists. Nowadays, the distinguishing feature between the two main Lithuanian dialects is the unequal pronunciation of accented and unaccented two-vowels uo and ie. The groundwork for written Lithuanian was laid in 16th and 17th centuries by Lithuanian noblemen and scholars, who promoted Lithuanian language, created dictionaries and published books – Mikalojus Daukša, Stanislovas Rapolionis, Abraomas Kulvietis, Jonas Bretkūnas, Martynas Mažvydas, Konstantinas Sirvydas, Simonas Vaišnoras-Varniškis. The first grammar book of the Lithuanian language Grammatica Litvanica was published in Latin in 1653 by Danielius Kleinas. Jonas Jablonskis' works and activities are especially important for the Lithuanian literature moving from the use of dialects to a standard Lithuanian language. The linguistic material which he collected was published in the 20 volumes of Academic Dictionary of Lithuanian and is still being used in research and in editing of texts and books. He also introduced the letter ū into Lithuanian writing. Literature There is a great deal of Lithuanian literature written in Latin, the main scholarly language of the Middle Ages. The edicts of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas is the prime example of the literature of this kind. The Letters of Gediminas are another crucial heritage of the Lithuanian Latin writings. One of the first Lithuanian authors who wrote in Latin was Nicolaus Hussovianus (around 1480 – after 1533). His poem Carmen de statura, feritate ac venatione bisontis (A Song about the Appearance, Savagery and Hunting of the Bison), published in 1523, describes the Lithuanian landscape, way of life and customs, touches on some actual political problems, and reflects the clash of paganism and Christianity. A person under the pseudonym (around 1490 – 1560) wrote a treatise De moribus tartarorum, lituanorum et moscorum (On the Customs of Tatars, Lithuanians and Muscovites) in the middle of the 16th century, but it was not published until 1615. An extraordinary figure in the cultural life of Lithuania in the 16th century was the lawyer and poet of Spanish origin Petrus Roysius Maurus Alcagnicensis (around 1505 – 1571). The publicist, lawyer, and mayor of Vilnius, Augustinus Rotundus (around 1520 -1582) wrote a no longer existent history of Lithuania in Latin around the year 1560. loannes Radvanus, a humanist poet of the second half of the 16th century, wrote an epic poem imitating the Aeneid of Vergil. His Radivilias, intended to become the Lithuanian national epic, was published in Vilnius in 1588. 17th century Lithuanian scholars also wrote in Latin – Kazimieras Kojelavičius-Vijūkas, Žygimantas Liauksminas are known for their Latin writings in theology, rhetorics and music. Albertas Kojalavičius-Vijūkas wrote first printed Lithuanian history Historia Lithuania. Lithuanian literary works in the Lithuanian language started being first published in the 16th century. In 1547 Martynas Mažvydas compiled and published the first printed Lithuanian book Katekizmo prasti žodžiai (The Simple Words of Catechism), which marks the beginning of literature, printed in Lithuanian. He was followed by Mikalojus Daukša with Katechizmas. In the 16th and 17th centuries, as in the whole Christian Europe, Lithuanian literature was primarily religious. The evolution of the old (14th–18th century) Lithuanian literature ends with Kristijonas Donelaitis, one of the most prominent authors of the Age of Enlightenment. Donelaitis' poem Metai (The Seasons) is a landmark of the Lithuanian fiction literature, written in hexameter. With a mix of Classicism, Sentimentalism and Romanticism, the Lithuanian literature of the first half of the 19th century is represented by Maironis, Antanas Baranauskas, Simonas Daukantas, Oscar Milosz, and Simonas Stanevičius. During the Tsarist annexation of Lithuania in the 19th century, the Lithuanian press ban was implemented, which led to the formation of the Knygnešiai (Book smugglers) movement. This movement is thought to be the very reason the Lithuanian language and literature survived until today. 20th-century Lithuanian literature is represented by Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Antanas Vienuolis, Bernardas Brazdžionis, Antanas Škėma, Balys Sruoga, Vytautas Mačernis and Justinas Marcinkevičius. In 21st century debuted Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, Renata Šerelytė, Valdas Papievis, Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė, Rūta Šepetys. Architecture Several famous Lithuania-related architects are notable for their achievements in the field of architecture. Johann Christoph Glaubitz, Marcin Knackfus, Laurynas Gucevičius and Karol Podczaszyński were instrumental in introducing Baroque and neoclassical architectural movements to the Lithuanian architecture during the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Vilnius is considered as a capital of the Eastern Europe Baroque. Vilnius Old Town that is full of astonishing Baroque churches and other buildings is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lithuania is also known for numerous castles. About twenty castles exist in Lithuania. Some castles had to be rebuilt or survive partially. Many Lithuanian nobles' historic palaces and manor houses have remained till the nowadays and were reconstructed. Lithuanian village life has existed since the days of Vytautas the Great. Zervynos and Kapiniškės are two of many ethnographic villages in Lithuania. Rumšiškės is an open space museum where old ethnographic architecture is preserved. During the interwar period, Art Deco, Lithuanian National Romanticism architectural style buildings were constructed in the Lithuania's temporary capital Kaunas. Its architecture is regarded as one of the finest examples of the European Art Deco and has received the European Heritage Label. Arts and museums The Lithuanian Art Museum was founded in 1933 and is the largest museum of art conservation and display in Lithuania. Among other important museums are the Palanga Amber Museum, where amber pieces comprise a major part of the collection, National Gallery of Art, presenting collection of Lithuanian art of the 20th and 21st century, National Museum of Lithuania presenting Lithuanian archaeology, history and ethnic culture. In 2018 two private museums were opened – MO Museum devoted to modern and contemporary Lithuanian art and Tartle, exhibiting a collection of Lithuanian art heritage and artefacts. Perhaps the most renowned figure in Lithuania's art community was the composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911), an internationally renowned musician. The 2420 Čiurlionis asteroid, identified in 1975, honors his achievements. The M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, as well as the only military museum in Lithuania, Vytautas the Great War Museum, are located in Kaunas. Franciszek Smuglewicz, Jan Rustem, Józef Oleszkiewicz and Kanuty Rusiecki are the most prominent Lithuanian painters of the 18th and 19th centuries. Theatre Lithuania has some very famous theatre directors well known in the country and abroad. One of them is Oskaras Koršunovas. He was awarded more than forty times with special prizes. Possibly most prestigious award is Swedish Commander Grand Cross: Order of the Polar Star. Today's the most famous theatres in Lithuania are in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Panevėžys. It is Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Keistuolių teatras (Theatre of Freaks) in Vilnius, Kaunas National Drama Theatre, Theatre of Oskaras Koršunovas, Klaipėda Drama Theatre, Theatre of Gytis Ivanauskas, Miltinis Drama Theatre in Panevėžys, The Doll's Theatre, Russian Drama Theatre and others. There are some very popular theatre festivals like Sirenos (Sirens), TheATRIUM, Nerk į teatrą (Dive into the Theatre) and others. The figures dominating in Lithuanian theatre world are directors like Eimuntas Nekrošius, Jonas Vaitkus, Cezaris Graužinis, Gintaras Varnas, Dalia Ibelhauptaitė, Artūras Areima; number of talented actors like Dainius Gavenonis, Rolandas Kazlas, Saulius Balandis, Gabija Jaraminaitė and many others. Cinema On 28 July 1896, Thomas Edison live photography session was held in the Concerts Hall of the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University. After a year, similar American movies were available with the addition of special phonograph records that also provided sound. In 1909, Lithuanian cinema pioneers and Ladislas Starevich released their first movies. Soon the Račiūnas' recordings of Lithuania's views became very popular among the Lithuanian Americans abroad. In 1925, Pranas Valuskis filmed movie Naktis Lietuvoje (Night in Lithuania) about Lithuanian book smugglers that left the first bright Lithuanian footprint in Hollywood. The most significant and mature Lithuanian American movie of the time Aukso žąsis (Golden goose) was created in 1965 by that featured motifs from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. In 1940, Romuva Cinema was opened in Kaunas and currently is the oldest still operational cinema in Lithuania. After the occupation of the state, movies mostly were used for the Soviet propaganda purposes, nevertheless Almantas Grikevičius, Gytis Lukšas, Henrikas Šablevičius, Arūnas Žebriūnas, Raimondas Vabalas were able to overcome the obstacles and create valuable films. After the restoration of the independence, Šarūnas Bartas, Audrius Stonys, Arūnas Matelis, Audrius Juzėnas, Algimantas Puipa, , Dijana and her husband Kornelijus Matuzevičius received success in international movie festivals. In 2018, 4,265,414 cinema tickets were sold in Lithuania with the average price of €5.26. Music Lithuanian folk music belongs to Baltic music branch which is connected with neolithic corded ware culture. Two instrument cultures meet in the areas inhabited by Lithuanians: stringed (kanklių) and wind instrument cultures. Lithuanian folk music is archaic, mostly used for ritual purposes, containing elements of paganism faith. There are three ancient styles of singing in Lithuania connected with ethnographical regions: monophony, heterophony and polyphony. Folk song genres: Sutartinės (Multipart Songs), Wedding Songs, War-Historical Time Songs, Calendar Cycle and Ritual Songs and Work Songs. Italian artists organized the first opera in Lithuania on 4 September 1636 at the Palace of the Grand Dukes by the order of Władysław IV Vasa. Currently, operas are staged at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre and also by independent troupe Vilnius City Opera. Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis is the most renowned Lithuanian painter and composer. During his short life he created about 200 pieces of music. His works have had profound influence on modern Lithuanian culture. His symphonic poems In the Forest (Miške) and The Sea (Jūra) were performed only posthumously. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. He has been considered one of the pioneers of abstract art in Europe. In Lithuania, choral music is very important. Vilnius is the only city with three choirs laureates (Brevis, Jauna Muzika and Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire) at the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. There is a long-standing tradition of the Dainų šventė (Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival). The first one took place in Kaunas in 1924. Since 1990, the festival has been organised every four years and summons roughly 30,000 singers and folk dancers of various professional levels and age groups from across the country. In 2008, Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival together with its Latvian and Estonian versions was inscribed as UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Gatvės muzikos diena (Street Music Day) gathers musicians of various genres annually. Conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla performing on the scenes of Rome, New York and Birmingham. Modern classical composers emerged in seventies – Bronius Kutavičius, Feliksas Bajoras, Osvaldas Balakauskas, Onutė Narbutaitė, Vidmantas Bartulis and others. Most of those composers explored archaic Lithuanian music and its harmonic combination with modern minimalism and neoromanticism. Jazz scene was active even during the years of Soviet occupation. The real breakthrough would occur in 1970–71 with the coming together of the Ganelin/Tarasov/Chekasin trio, the alleged instigators of the Vilnius Jazz School. Most known annual events are Vilnius Jazz Festival, Kaunas Jazz, Birštonas Jazz. Music Information Centre Lithuania (MICL) collects, promotes and shares information on Lithuanian musical culture. Rock and protest music After the Soviet reoccupation of Lithuania in 1944, the Soviet's censorship continued firmly controlling all artistic expressions in Lithuania, and any violations by criticizing the regime would immediately result in punishments. The first local rock bands started to emerge around 1965 and included Kertukai, Aitvarai and Nuogi ant slenksčio in Kaunas, and Kęstutis Antanėlis, Vienuoliai, and Gėlių Vaikai in Vilnius, among others. Unable to express their opinions directly, the Lithuanian artists began organizing patriotic Roko Maršai and were using metaphors in their songs' lyrics, which were easily identified for their true meanings by the locals. Postmodernist rock band Antis and its vocalist Algirdas Kaušpėdas were one of the most active performers who mocked the Soviet regime by using metaphors. For example, in the song Zombiai (Zombies), the band indirectly sang about the Red Army soldiers who occupied the state and its military base in Ukmergė. Vytautas Kernagis' song Kolorado vabalai (Colorado beetles) was also a favourite due to its lyrics in which true meaning of the Colorado beetles was intended to be the Soviets decorated with the Ribbons of Saint George. In the early independence years, rock band Foje was particularly popular and gathered tens of thousands of spectators to the concerts. After disbanding in 1997, Foje vocalist Andrius Mamontovas remained one of the most prominent Lithuanian performers and an active participant in various charity events. Marijonas Mikutavičius is famous for creating unofficial Lithuania sport anthem Trys milijonai (Three million) and official anthem of the EuroBasket 2011 Nebetyli sirgaliai (English version was named Celebrate Basketball). Cuisine Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Fish dishes are very popular in the coastal region. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has some similarities to Scandinavian cuisine. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country's long and difficult history. Dairy products are an important part of traditional Lithuanian cuisine. These include white cottage cheese (varškės sūris), curd (varškė), soured milk (rūgpienis), sour cream (grietinė), butter (sviestas), and sour cream butter kastinis. Traditional meat products are usually seasoned, matured and smoked – smoked sausages (dešros), lard (lašiniai), skilandis, smoked ham (kumpis). Soups (sriubos) – boletus soup (baravykų sriuba), cabbage soup (kopūstų sriuba), beer soup (alaus sriuba), milk soup (pieniška sriuba), cold-beet soup (šaltibarščiai) and various kinds of porridges (košės) are part of tradition and daily diet. Freshwater fish, herring, wild berries and mushrooms, honey are highly popular diet to this day. One of the oldest and most fundamental Lithuanian food products was and is rye bread. Rye bread is eaten every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bread played an important role in family rituals and agrarian ceremonies. Lithuanians and other nations that once formed part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania share many dishes and beverages. German traditions also influenced Lithuanian cuisine, introducing pork and potato dishes, such as potato pudding (kugelis or kugel) and potato sausages (vėdarai), as well as the baroque tree cake known as Šakotis. The most exotic of all the influences is Eastern (Karaite) cuisine – the kibinai are popular in Lithuania. Lithuanian noblemen usually hired French chefs, so French cuisine influence came to Lithuania in this way. Balts were using mead (midus) for thousands of years. Beer (alus) is the most common alcoholic beverage. Lithuania has a long farmhouse beer tradition, first mentioned in 11th century chronicles. Beer was brewed for ancient Baltic festivities and rituals. Farmhouse brewing survived to a greater extent in Lithuania than anywhere else, and through accidents of history the Lithuanians then developed a commercial brewing culture from their unique farmhouse traditions. Lithuania is top 5 by consumption of beer per capita in Europe in 2015, counting 75 active breweries, 32 of them are microbreweries. The microbrewery scene in Lithuania has been growing in later years, with a number of bars focusing on these beers popping up in Vilnius and also in other parts of the country. Eight Lithuanian restaurants are listed in the White Guide Baltic Top 30. Media The Constitution of Lithuania provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to promote these freedoms. However, the constitutional definition of freedom of expression does not protect certain acts, such as incitement to national, racial, religious, or social hatred, violence and discrimination, or slander, and disinformation. It is a crime to deny or "grossly trivialize" Soviet or Nazi German crimes against Lithuania or its citizens, or to deny genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes. Best-selling daily national newspapers in Lithuania are Lietuvos rytas (about 18.8% of all daily readers), (12.5%), Kauno diena (3.7%), (3.2%) and Vakarų ekspresas (2.7%). Best-selling weekly newspapers are Savaitė (about 34% of all weekly readers), Žmonės (17%), Prie kavos (11.9%), Ji (8.7%) and Ekspress nedelia (5.4%). In July 2018, the most popular national television channels in Lithuania were TV3 (about 35.9% of the auditorium), LNK (32.8%), Lithuanian National Radio and Television (30.6%), BTV (19.9%), Lietuvos rytas TV (19.1%). The most popular radio stations in Lithuania are M-1 (about 15.8% of all listeners), Lietus (12.2%), LRT Radijas (10.5%) and Radiocentras (10.5%). Public holidays and festivals As a result of a thousand-years history, Lithuania has two National days. First one is the Statehood Day on 6 July, marking the establishment of the medieval Kingdom of Lithuania by Mindaugas in 1253. Creation of modern Lithuanian state is commemorated on 16 February as a Lithuanian State Reestablishment Day on which declaration of independence from Russia and Germany was declared in 1918. Joninės (previously known as Rasos) is a public holiday with paganic roots that celebrates a solstice. As of 2018, there are 13 public holidays (which come with a day off). Kaziuko mugė is an annual fair held since the beginning of the 17th century that commemorates the anniversary of Saint Casimir's death and gathers thousands of visitors and many craftsmen. Other notable festivals are Vilnius International Film Festival, Kauno Miesto Diena, Klaipėda Sea Festival, Mados infekcija, Vilnius Book Fair, Vilnius Marathon, Devilstone Open Air, , Great Žemaičių Kalvarija Festival. Sports Basketball is the most popular and national sport of Lithuania. The Lithuania national basketball team has had significant success in international basketball events, having won the EuroBasket on three occasions (1937, 1939 and 2003), as well a total of 8 other medals in the Eurobasket, the World Championships and the Olympic Games. The men's national team also has extremely high TV ratings as about 76% of the country's population watched their games live in 2014. Lithuania hosted the Eurobasket in 1939 and 2011. The historic Lithuanian basketball team BC Žalgiris, from Kaunas, won the European basketball league Euroleague in 1999. Lithuania has produced a number of NBA players, including Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis, and current NBA players Jonas Valančiūnas, Domantas Sabonis, and Ignas Brazdeikis. Lithuania has won a total of 26 medals at the Olympic Games, including 6 gold medals in athletics, modern pentathlon, shooting, and swimming. Numerous other Lithuanians won Olympic medals representing Soviet Union. Discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna is the most successful Olympic athlete of independent Lithuania, having won gold medals in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens games, as well as a bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympics and numerous World Championship medals. More recently, the gold medal won by a then 15-year-old swimmer Rūta Meilutytė at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London sparked a rise in popularity for the sport in Lithuania. Lithuania has produced prominent athletes in athletics, modern pentathlon, road and track cycling, chess, rowing, aerobatics, strongman, wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, Kyokushin Karate, and other sports. Lithuania hosted the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, the first time Lithuania had hosted a FIFA tournament. Few Lithuanian athletes have found success in winter sports, although facilities are provided by several ice rinks and skiing slopes, including Snow Arena, the first indoor ski slope in the Baltics. In 2018 Lithuania national ice hockey team won gold medals at the 2018 IIHF World Championship Division I. See also Index of Lithuania-related articles List of Lithuanians Outline of Lithuania Notes References External links Government The Lithuanian President – Official site of the President of the Republic of Lithuania The Lithuanian Parliament – Official site of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania The Lithuanian Government – Official site of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania Statistics Lithuania – Official site of Department of Statistics to the Government of Lithuania Lithuanian State Department of Tourism – Official site of State Department of Tourism Lithuania – Real is Beautiful – The Official Travel Guide by the State Department of Tourism General information The Baltic States and geopolitics Lithuania – Lithuanian internet gates Lithuania. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Lithuania. CIA Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments Lithuania from UCB Libraries GovPubs Lithuania from the BBC News Other Key Development Forecasts for Lithuania from International Futures Heraldry of Lithuania Countries in Europe Northern European countries Member states of NATO Member states of the European Union Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean Current member states of the United Nations Member states of the Three Seas Initiative Republics States and territories established in 1918 States and territories established in 1990	[ 0.16084225475788116, -0.5837101936340332, 0.36636435985565186, 0.39451348781585693, 0.1874234825372696, 0.17251701653003693, 0.3929383158683777, 0.36416685581207275, -0.27638959884643555, -0.1593913584947586, -0.28605741262435913, -0.4980952739715576, -0.42522597312927246, 0.53612893819808...
17676	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativist%20fallacy	Relativist fallacy	The relativist fallacy, also known as the subjectivist fallacy, is claiming that something is true for one person but not true for someone else, when in fact that thing is an objective fact. The fallacy rests on the law of noncontradiction. The fallacy applies only to objective facts, or what are alleged to be objective facts, rather than to facts about personal tastes or subjective experiences, and only to facts regarded in the same sense and at the same time. Interpretations There are at least two ways to interpret "the relativist fallacy": either as identical to relativism (generally), or as the ad hoc adoption of a relativist stance purely to defend a controversial position. On the one hand, discussions of the relativist fallacy that portray it as identical to relativism (e.g., linguistic relativism or cultural relativism) are themselves committing a commonly identified fallacy of informal logic—namely, begging the question against an earnest, intelligent, logically competent relativist. It is itself a fallacy to describe a controversial view as a "fallacy"—not, at least, without arguing that it is a fallacy. In any event, it does not do to argue as follows: To advocate relativism, even some sophisticated relativism, is to commit the relativist fallacy. If one commits a fallacy, one says something false or not worth serious consideration. Therefore, to advocate relativism, even some sophisticated relativism, is to say something false or not worth serious consideration. This is an example of circular reasoning. The second step includes an argument from fallacy. On the other hand, if someone adopts a simple relativist stance as an ad hoc defense of a controversial or otherwise compromised position—saying, in effect, that "what is true for you is not necessarily true for me," and thereby attempting to avoid having to mount any further defense of the position—one might be said to have committed a fallacy. The accusation of having committed a fallacy might rest on either of two grounds: (1) the relativism on which the bogus defense rests is so simple and meritless that it straightforwardly contradicts the law of noncontradiction; or (2) the defense (and thus the fallacy itself) is an example of ad hoc reasoning. It puts one in the position of asserting or implying that truth or standards of logical consistency are relative to a particular thinker or group and that under some other standard, the position is correct despite its failure to stand up to logic. Determining whether someone has committed a relativist fallacy—by any interpretation—requires distinguishing between things that are true for a particular person, and things that are true about that person. Take, for example, the statement proffered by Jim, "More Americans than ever are overweight." One may introduce arguments for and against this proposition, based upon such things as standards of statistical analysis, the definition of "overweight," etc. The position answers to objective logical debate. If Joe answers Jim, saying "That may be true for you, but it is not true for me," he has given an answer that is fallacious as well as somewhat meaningless in the context of Jim's original statement. Conversely, take the new statement by Jim, who is tall, " is grossly overweight." Joe, who is , and weighs an exact, well-conditioned , replies, "That may be true for you, but it is not true for me." In this context, Joe's reply is both meaningful and arguably accurate. As he is discussing something that is true about himself, he is not barred from making an argument that considers subjective facts, and so he does not commit the fallacy. See also I'm entitled to my opinion Special pleading Informal fallacy References Law, Stephen (2005) Thinking Tools: The Relativist Fallacy, Think: Philosophy for everyone (A journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy) 3: 57-58 y Informal fallacies	[ 0.20166833698749542, 0.5527107119560242, -0.5123727917671204, 0.3669792115688324, -0.49257081747055054, -0.0005255489377304912, 1.034753680229187, 0.35631340742111206, 0.004243033938109875, 0.38239043951034546, -0.5279369354248047, 0.6365054249763489, -0.3428802788257599, 0.752308666706085...
17687	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False%20dilemma	False dilemma	A false dilemma, also referred to as false dichotomy, is an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available. The source of the fallacy lies not in an invalid form of inference but in a false premise. This premise has the form of a disjunctive claim: it asserts that one among a number of alternatives must be true. This disjunction is problematic because it oversimplifies the choice by excluding viable alternatives. For example, a false dilemma is committed when it is claimed that, "Stacey spoke out against capitalism; therefore, she must be a communist". One of the options excluded is that Stacey may be neither communist nor capitalist. False dilemmas often have the form of treating two contraries, which may both be false, as contradictories, of which one is necessarily true. Various inferential schemes are associated with false dilemmas, for example, the constructive dilemma, the destructive dilemma or the disjunctive syllogism. False dilemmas are usually discussed in terms of deductive arguments. But they can also occur as defeasible arguments. Our liability to commit false dilemmas may be due to the tendency to simplify reality by ordering it through either-or-statements, which is to some extent already built into our language. This may also be connected to the tendency to insist on clear distinction while denying the vagueness of many common expressions. Definition A false dilemma is an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available. In its most simple form, called the fallacy of bifurcation, all but two alternatives are excluded. A fallacy is an argument, i.e. a series of premises together with a conclusion, that is unsound, i.e. not both valid and true. Fallacies are usually divided into formal and informal fallacies. Formal fallacies are unsound because of their structure, while informal fallacies are unsound because of their content. The problematic content in the case of the false dilemma has the form of a disjunctive claim: it asserts that one among a number of alternatives must be true. This disjunction is problematic because it oversimplifies the choice by excluding viable alternatives. Sometimes a distinction is made between a false dilemma and a false dichotomy. On this view, the term "false dichotomy" refers to the false disjunctive claim while the term "false dilemma" refers not just to this claim but to the argument based on this claim. Types Disjunction with contraries In its most common form, a false dilemma presents the alternatives as contradictories, while in truth they are merely contraries. Two propositions are contradictories if it has to be the case that one is true and the other is false. Two propositions are contraries if at most one of them can be true. But this leaves open the option that both of them might be false, which is not possible in the case of contradictories. Contradictories follow the law of the excluded middle but contraries do not. For example, the sentence "the exact number of marbles in the urn is either 10 or not 10" presents two contradictory alternatives. The sentence "the exact number of marbles in the urn is either 10 or 11" presents two contrary alternatives: the urn could also contain 2 marbles or 17 marbles or... A common form of using contraries in false dilemmas is to force a choice between extremes on the agent: someone is either good or bad, rich or poor, normal or abnormal. Such cases ignore that there is a continuous spectrum between the extremes that is excluded from the choice. While false dilemmas involving contraries, i.e. exclusive options, are a very common form, this is just a special case: there are also arguments with non-exclusive disjunctions that are false dilemmas. For example, a choice between security and freedom does not involve contraries since these two terms are compatible with each other. Logical forms In logic, there are two main types of inferences known as dilemmas: the constructive dilemma and the destructive dilemma. In their most simple form, they can be expressed in the following way: simple constructive: simple destructive: The source of the fallacy is found in the disjunctive claim in the third premise, i.e. and respectively. The following is an example of a false dilemma with the simple constructive form: (1) "If you tell the truth, you force your friend into a social tragedy; and therefore, are an immoral person". (2) "If you lie, you are an immoral person (since it is immoral to lie)". (3) "Either you tell the truth, or you lie". Therefore "[y]ou are an immoral person (whatever choice you make in the given situation)". This example constitutes a false dilemma because there are other choices besides telling the truth and lying, like keeping silent. A false dilemma can also occur in the form of a disjunctive syllogism: disjunctive syllogism: In this form, the first premise () is responsible for the fallacious inference. Lewis's trilemma is a famous example of this type of argument involving three disjuncts: "Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord". By denying that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic, one is forced to draw the conclusion that he was God. But this leaves out various other alternatives, for example, that Jesus was a prophet, as claimed by the Muslims. Deductive and defeasible arguments False dilemmas are usually discussed in terms of deductive arguments. But they can also occur as defeasible arguments. A valid argument is deductive if the truth of its premises ensures the truth of its conclusion. For a valid defeasible argument, on the other hand, it is possible for all its premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. The premises merely offer a certain degree of support for the conclusion but do not ensure it. In the case of a defeasible false dilemma, the support provided for the conclusion is overestimated since various alternatives are not considered in the disjunctive premise. Explanation and avoidance Part of understanding fallacies involves going beyond logic to empirical psychology in order to explain why there is a tendency to commit or fall for the fallacy in question. In the case of the false dilemma, the tendency to simplify reality by ordering it through either-or-statements may play an important role. This tendency is to some extent built into our language, which is full of pairs of opposites. This type of simplification is sometimes necessary to make decisions when there is not enough time to get a more detailed perspective. In order to avoid false dilemmas, the agent should become aware of additional options besides the prearranged alternatives. Critical thinking and creativity may be necessary to see through the false dichotomy and to discover new alternatives. Relation to distinctions and vagueness Some philosophers and scholars believe that "unless a distinction can be made rigorous and precise it isn't really a distinction". An exception is analytic philosopher John Searle, who called it an incorrect assumption that produces false dichotomies. Searle insists that "it is a condition of the adequacy of a precise theory of an indeterminate phenomenon that it should precisely characterize that phenomenon as indeterminate; and a distinction is no less a distinction for allowing for a family of related, marginal, diverging cases." Similarly, when two options are presented, they often are, although not always, two extreme points on some spectrum of possibilities; this may lend credence to the larger argument by giving the impression that the options are mutually exclusive, even though they need not be. Furthermore, the options in false dichotomies typically are presented as being collectively exhaustive, in which case the fallacy may be overcome, or at least weakened, by considering other possibilities, or perhaps by considering a whole spectrum of possibilities, as in fuzzy logic. This issue arises from real dichotomies in nature, the most prevalent example is the occurrence of an event. It either happened or it did not happen. This ontology sets a logical construct that cannot be reasonably applied to epistemology. Examples False choice The presentation of a false choice often reflects a deliberate attempt to eliminate several options that may occupy the middle ground on an issue. A common argument against noise pollution laws involves a false choice. It might be argued that in New York City noise should not be regulated, because if it were, a number of businesses would be required to close. This argument assumes that, for example, a bar must be shut down to prevent disturbing levels of noise emanating from it after midnight. This ignores the fact that law could require the bar to lower its noise levels, or install soundproofing structural elements to keep the noise from excessively transmitting onto others' properties. Black-and-white thinking In psychology, a phenomenon related to the false dilemma is "black-and-white thinking" or "thinking in black and white". There are people who routinely engage in black-and-white thinking, an example of which is someone who categorizes other people as all good or all bad. Similar concepts Various different terms are used to refer to false dilemmas. Some of the following terms are equivalent to the term "false dilemma", some refer to special forms of false dilemmas and others refer to closely related concepts. bifurcation fallacy black-or-white fallacy denying a conjunct (similar to a false dichotomy: see ) double bind either/or fallacy fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses fallacy of the excluded middle fallacy of the false alternative false binary false choice false dichotomy invalid disjunction no middle ground See also Bivalence Choice architecture Degrees of truth Dichotomy Euthyphro dilemma Fallacy of the single cause Half-truth Hobson's choice Law of excluded middle Lewis' trilemma Loaded question Love–hate relationship Many-valued logic Morton's fork Mutually exclusive Nolan Chart Nondualism None of the above Obscurantism Pascal's Wager Perspectivism Political systems One-party system Two-party system Rogerian argument Show election Slippery slope Sorites paradox Splitting (psychology) Straw man Thinking outside the box Unreasonable You're either with us, or against us References External links The Black-or-White Fallacy entry in The Fallacy Files Informal fallacies Dilemmas Propaganda Error Deception Barriers to critical thinking Ignorance sv:Dikotomi#Falsk dikotomi	[ 0.3660846948623657, 0.29336410760879517, -0.8040136694908142, 0.18865370750427246, 0.1799321174621582, 0.2831926643848419, 0.7246365547180176, -0.1722971498966217, 0.012166068889200687, -0.1765391081571579, -0.3601044714450836, 0.4308967888355255, -0.4574185907840729, 0.24745899438858032, ...
17688	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded%20question	Loaded question	A loaded question is a form of complex question that contains a controversial assumption (e.g., a presumption of guilt). Such questions may be used as a rhetorical tool: the question attempts to limit direct replies to be those that serve the questioner's agenda. The traditional example is the question "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Whether the respondent answers yes or no, they will admit to having a wife and having beaten her at some time in the past. Thus, these facts are presupposed by the question, and in this case an entrapment, because it narrows the respondent to a single answer, and the fallacy of many questions has been committed. The fallacy relies upon context for its effect: the fact that a question presupposes something does not in itself make the question fallacious. Only when some of these presuppositions are not necessarily agreed to by the person who is asked the question does the argument containing them become fallacious. Hence, the same question may be loaded in one context, but not in the other. For example, the previous question would not be loaded if it were asked during a trial in which the defendant had already admitted to beating his wife. This informal fallacy should be distinguished from that of begging the question, which offers a premise whose plausibility depends on the truth of the proposition asked about, and which is often an implicit restatement of the proposition. Defense A common way out of this argument is not to answer the question (e.g. with a simple 'yes' or 'no'), but to challenge the assumption behind the question. To use an earlier example, a good response to the question "Have you stopped beating your wife?" would be "I have never beaten my wife". This removes the ambiguity of the expected response, therefore nullifying the tactic. However, the asker is likely to respond by accusing the one who answers of dodging the question. Historical examples Diogenes Laërtius wrote a brief biography of the philosopher Menedemus in which he relates that: For another example, the 2009 referendum on corporal punishment in New Zealand asked: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" Murray Edridge, of Barnardos New Zealand, criticized the question as "loaded and ambiguous" and claimed "the question presupposes that smacking is a part of good parental correction". See also Barber paradox Complex question Entailment (pragmatics) False dilemma Gotcha journalism Implicature Leading question Mu (negative) Presupposition Suggestive question List of fallacies References External links Fallacy: Loaded Questions and Complex Claims Critical Thinking exercises. San Jose State University. Logical Fallacy: Loaded Question The Fallacy Files What Is The Loaded Question Fallacy? Definition and Examples Fallacy in Logic Informal fallacies	[ 0.009346945211291313, 0.23543718457221985, -0.5000630021095276, 0.5565773844718933, -0.2464085817337036, -0.09911052137613297, 0.07062637060880661, -0.08007507771253586, -0.05871465057134628, 0.01982010155916214, -0.3834267258644104, 0.5285022854804993, -0.34950387477874756, 0.107971616089...
17689	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrelevant%20conclusion	Irrelevant conclusion	An irrelevant conclusion, also known as ignoratio elenchi () or missing the point, is the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may or may not be logically valid and sound, but (whose conclusion) fails to address the issue in question. It falls into the broad class of relevance fallacies. The irrelevant conclusion should not be confused with formal fallacy, an argument whose conclusion does not follow from its premises, instead, it is that despite its formal consistency it is not relevant to the subject being talked about. Overview Ignoratio elenchi is one of the fallacies identified by Aristotle in his Organon. In a broader sense he asserted that all fallacies are a form of ignoratio elenchi. ● Example 1: A and B are debating as to whether criticizing indirectly has any merit in general. attempts to support their position with an argument that politics ought not to be criticized on social media because the message is not directly being heard by the head of state; this would make them guilty of ignoratio elenchi, as people such as B may be criticizing politics because they have a strong message for their peers, or because they wish to bring attention to political matters, rather than ever intending that their views would be directly read by the president. ● Example 2: A and B are debating about the law. B missed the point. The question was not if the law should allow, but if it does or not. Samuel Johnson's unique "refutation" of Bishop Berkeley's immaterialism, his claim that matter did not actually exist but only seemed to exist, has been described as ignoratio elenchi: during a conversation with Boswell, Johnson powerfully kicked a nearby stone and proclaimed of Berkeley's theory, "I refute it thus!" (See also argumentum ad lapidem.) A related concept is that of the red herring, which is a deliberate attempt to divert a process of enquiry by changing the subject. Ignoratio elenchi is sometimes confused with straw man argument. Etymology The phrase ignoratio elenchi is . Here elenchi is the genitive singular of the Latin noun elenchus, which is . The translation in English of the Latin expression has varied somewhat. Hamblin proposed "misconception of refutation" or "ignorance of refutation" as a literal translation, John Arthur Oesterle preferred "ignoring the issue", and Irving Copi, Christopher Tindale and others used "irrelevant conclusion". See also Ad hominem Begging the question Chewbacca defense Enthymeme Evasion (ethics) Genetic fallacy List of fallacies Non sequitur (logic) Sophism Tone policing References External links Appeal to Authority Breakdown, Examples, Definitions, & More Nizkor Project: Red Herring Fallacy Files: Red Herring The Phrase Finder: Red Herring The Art of Controversy: Diversion (bilingual with the original German) by Arthur Schopenhauer Red herring in political speech Metaphors	[ -0.09339287877082825, 0.4401623010635376, -0.3162676692008972, 0.26598474383354187, -0.33091816306114197, 0.15545223653316498, 0.1113734096288681, 0.2784596085548401, 0.20574912428855896, 0.0479271337389946, -0.36947423219680786, 0.5806822776794434, -0.15066680312156677, 0.3441869020462036...
17690	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivocation	Equivocation	In logic, equivocation ('calling two different things by the same name') is an informal fallacy resulting from the use of a particular word/expression in multiple senses within an argument. It is a type of ambiguity that stems from a phrase having two or more distinct meanings, not from the grammar or structure of the sentence. Fallacy of four terms Equivocation in a syllogism (a chain of reasoning) produces a fallacy of four terms (). Below are some examples: Since only man [human] is rational. And no woman is a man [male]. Therefore, no woman is rational. The first instance of "man" implies the entire human species, while the second implies just those who are male. A feather is light [not heavy]. What is light [bright] cannot be dark. Therefore, a feather cannot be dark. In the above example, distinct meanings of the word "light" are implied in contexts of the first and second statements. All jackasses [male donkey] have long ears. Carl is a jackass [annoying person]. Therefore, Carl has long ears. Here, the equivocation is the metaphorical use of "jackass" to imply a simple-minded or obnoxious person instead of a male donkey. Motte-and-bailey fallacy Equivocation can also be used to conflate two positions which share similarities, one modest and easy to defend and one much more controversial. The arguer advances the controversial position, but when challenged, they insist that they are only advancing the more modest position. See also Antanaclasis: a related purposeful rhetorical device Circumlocution: phrasing to explain something without saying it Etymological fallacy: a kind of linguistic misconception Evasion (ethics): tell the truth while deceiving Fallacy of four terms: an ill form of syllogism False equivalence: fallacy based on flawed reasoning If-by-whiskey: an example Mental reservation: a doctrine in moral theology Persuasive definition: skewed definition of term Plausible deniability: a blame shifting technique Polysemy: the property of word or phrase having certain type of multiple meanings Principle of explosion: one of the fundamental laws in logic Syntactic ambiguity, Amphiboly, Amphibology: ambiguity of a sentence by its grammatical structure When a white horse is not a horse: an example References Verbal fallacies Ambiguity	[ -0.029474297538399696, 0.25992706418037415, -0.5580384135246277, 0.0853787362575531, -0.4789494276046753, 0.10049956291913986, 0.5723002552986145, -0.0419992171227932, 0.18358683586120605, -0.20413874089717865, -0.4206252694129944, 0.5024218559265137, -0.419146329164505, 0.3040534853935241...
17692	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling%20bias	Sampling bias	In statistics, sampling bias is a bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended population have a lower or higher sampling probability than others. It results in a biased sample of a population (or non-human factors) in which all individuals, or instances, were not equally likely to have been selected. If this is not accounted for, results can be erroneously attributed to the phenomenon under study rather than to the method of sampling. Medical sources sometimes refer to sampling bias as ascertainment bias. Ascertainment bias has basically the same definition, but is still sometimes classified as a separate type of bias. Distinction from selection bias Sampling bias is usually classified as a subtype of selection bias, sometimes specifically termed sample selection bias, but some classify it as a separate type of bias. A distinction, albeit not universally accepted, of sampling bias is that it undermines the external validity of a test (the ability of its results to be generalized to the entire population), while selection bias mainly addresses internal validity for differences or similarities found in the sample at hand. In this sense, errors occurring in the process of gathering the sample or cohort cause sampling bias, while errors in any process thereafter cause selection bias. However, selection bias and sampling bias are often used synonymously. Types Selection from a specific real area. For example, a survey of high school students to measure teenage use of illegal drugs will be a biased sample because it does not include home-schooled students or dropouts. A sample is also biased if certain members are underrepresented or overrepresented relative to others in the population. For example, a "man on the street" interview which selects people who walk by a certain location is going to have an overrepresentation of healthy individuals who are more likely to be out of the home than individuals with a chronic illness. This may be an extreme form of biased sampling, because certain members of the population are totally excluded from the sample (that is, they have zero probability of being selected). Self-selection bias (see also Non-response bias), which is possible whenever the group of people being studied has any form of control over whether to participate (as current standards of human-subject research ethics require for many real-time and some longitudinal forms of study). Participants' decision to participate may be correlated with traits that affect the study, making the participants a non-representative sample. For example, people who have strong opinions or substantial knowledge may be more willing to spend time answering a survey than those who do not. Another example is online and phone-in polls, which are biased samples because the respondents are self-selected. Those individuals who are highly motivated to respond, typically individuals who have strong opinions, are overrepresented, and individuals that are indifferent or apathetic are less likely to respond. This often leads to a polarization of responses with extreme perspectives being given a disproportionate weight in the summary. As a result, these types of polls are regarded as unscientific. Exclusion bias results from exclusion of particular groups from the sample, e.g. exclusion of subjects who have recently migrated into the study area (this may occur when newcomers are not available in a register used to identify the source population). Excluding subjects who move out of the study area during follow-up is rather equivalent of dropout or nonresponse, a selection bias in that it rather affects the internal validity of the study. Healthy user bias, when the study population is likely healthier than the general population. For example, someone in poor health is unlikely to have a job as manual laborer. Berkson's fallacy, when the study population is selected from a hospital and so is less healthy than the general population. This can result in a spurious negative correlation between diseases: a hospital patient without diabetes is more likely to have another given disease such as cholecystitis, since they must have had some reason to enter the hospital in the first place. Overmatching, matching for an apparent confounder that actually is a result of the exposure. The control group becomes more similar to the cases in regard to exposure than does the general population. Survivorship bias, in which only "surviving" subjects are selected, ignoring those that fell out of view. For example, using the record of current companies as an indicator of business climate or economy ignores the businesses that failed and no longer exist. Malmquist bias, an effect in observational astronomy which leads to the preferential detection of intrinsically bright objects. Symptom-based sampling The study of medical conditions begins with anecdotal reports. By their nature, such reports only include those referred for diagnosis and treatment. A child who can't function in school is more likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia than a child who struggles but passes. A child examined for one condition is more likely to be tested for and diagnosed with other conditions, skewing comorbidity statistics. As certain diagnoses become associated with behavior problems or intellectual disability, parents try to prevent their children from being stigmatized with those diagnoses, introducing further bias. Studies carefully selected from whole populations are showing that many conditions are much more common and usually much milder than formerly believed. Truncate selection in pedigree studies Geneticists are limited in how they can obtain data from human populations. As an example, consider a human characteristic. We are interested in deciding if the characteristic is inherited as a simple Mendelian trait. Following the laws of Mendelian inheritance, if the parents in a family do not have the characteristic, but carry the allele for it, they are carriers (e.g. a non-expressive heterozygote). In this case their children will each have a 25% chance of showing the characteristic. The problem arises because we can't tell which families have both parents as carriers (heterozygous) unless they have a child who exhibits the characteristic. The description follows the textbook by Sutton. The figure shows the pedigrees of all the possible families with two children when the parents are carriers (Aa). Nontruncate selection. In a perfect world we should be able to discover all such families with a gene including those who are simply carriers. In this situation the analysis would be free from ascertainment bias and the pedigrees would be under "nontruncate selection" In practice, most studies identify, and include, families in a study based upon them having affected individuals. Truncate selection. When afflicted individuals have an equal chance of being included in a study this is called truncate selection, signifying the inadvertent exclusion (truncation) of families who are carriers for a gene. Because selection is performed on the individual level, families with two or more affected children would have a higher probability of becoming included in the study. Complete truncate selection is a special case where each family with an affected child has an equal chance of being selected for the study. The probabilities of each of the families being selected is given in the figure, with the sample frequency of affected children also given. In this simple case, the researcher will look for a frequency of or for the characteristic, depending on the type of truncate selection used. The caveman effect An example of selection bias is called the "caveman effect". Much of our understanding of prehistoric peoples comes from caves, such as cave paintings made nearly 40,000 years ago. If there had been contemporary paintings on trees, animal skins or hillsides, they would have been washed away long ago. Similarly, evidence of fire pits, middens, burial sites, etc. are most likely to remain intact to the modern era in caves. Prehistoric people are associated with caves because that is where the data still exists, not necessarily because most of them lived in caves for most of their lives. Problems due to sampling bias Sampling bias is problematic because it is possible that a statistic computed of the sample is systematically erroneous. Sampling bias can lead to a systematic over- or under-estimation of the corresponding parameter in the population. Sampling bias occurs in practice as it is practically impossible to ensure perfect randomness in sampling. If the degree of misrepresentation is small, then the sample can be treated as a reasonable approximation to a random sample. Also, if the sample does not differ markedly in the quantity being measured, then a biased sample can still be a reasonable estimate. The word bias has a strong negative connotation. Indeed, biases sometimes come from deliberate intent to mislead or other scientific fraud. In statistical usage, bias merely represents a mathematical property, no matter if it is deliberate or unconscious or due to imperfections in the instruments used for observation. While some individuals might deliberately use a biased sample to produce misleading results, more often, a biased sample is just a reflection of the difficulty in obtaining a truly representative sample, or ignorance of the bias in their process of measurement or analysis. An example of how ignorance of a bias can exist is in the widespread use of a ratio (a.k.a. fold change) as a measure of difference in biology. Because it is easier to achieve a large ratio with two small numbers with a given difference, and relatively more difficult to achieve a large ratio with two large numbers with a larger difference, large significant differences may be missed when comparing relatively large numeric measurements. Some have called this a 'demarcation bias' because the use of a ratio (division) instead of a difference (subtraction) removes the results of the analysis from science into pseudoscience (See Demarcation Problem). Some samples use a biased statistical design which nevertheless allows the estimation of parameters. The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, for example, deliberately oversamples from minority populations in many of its nationwide surveys in order to gain sufficient precision for estimates within these groups. These surveys require the use of sample weights (see later on) to produce proper estimates across all ethnic groups. Provided that certain conditions are met (chiefly that the weights are calculated and used correctly) these samples permit accurate estimation of population parameters. Historical examples A classic example of a biased sample and the misleading results it produced occurred in 1936. In the early days of opinion polling, the American Literary Digest magazine collected over two million postal surveys and predicted that the Republican candidate in the U.S. presidential election, Alf Landon, would beat the incumbent president, Franklin Roosevelt, by a large margin. The result was the exact opposite. The Literary Digest survey represented a sample collected from readers of the magazine, supplemented by records of registered automobile owners and telephone users. This sample included an over-representation of wealthy individuals, who, as a group, were more likely to vote for the Republican candidate. In contrast, a poll of only 50 thousand citizens selected by George Gallup's organization successfully predicted the result, leading to the popularity of the Gallup poll. Another classic example occurred in the 1948 presidential election. On election night, the Chicago Tribune printed the headline DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN, which turned out to be mistaken. In the morning the grinning president-elect, Harry S. Truman, was photographed holding a newspaper bearing this headline. The reason the Tribune was mistaken is that their editor trusted the results of a phone survey. Survey research was then in its infancy, and few academics realized that a sample of telephone users was not representative of the general population. Telephones were not yet widespread, and those who had them tended to be prosperous and have stable addresses. (In many cities, the Bell System telephone directory contained the same names as the Social Register). In addition, the Gallup poll that the Tribune based its headline on was over two weeks old at the time of the printing. In air quality data, pollutants (such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, or ozone) frequently show high correlations, as they stem from the same chemical process(es). These correlations depend on space (i.e., location) and time (i.e., period). Therefore, a pollutant distribution is not necessarily representative for every location and every period. If a low-cost measurement instrument is calibrated with field data in a multivariate manner, more precisely by collocation next to a reference instrument, the relationships between the different compounds are incorporated into the calibration model. By relocation of the measurement instrument, erroneous results can be produced. A more recent example is the COVID-19 pandemic, where variations in sampling bias in COVID-19 testing have been shown to account for wide variations in both case fatality rates and the age distribution of cases across countries. Statistical corrections for a biased sample If entire segments of the population are excluded from a sample, then there are no adjustments that can produce estimates that are representative of the entire population. But if some groups are underrepresented and the degree of underrepresentation can be quantified, then sample weights can correct the bias. However, the success of the correction is limited to the selection model chosen. If certain variables are missing the methods used to correct the bias could be inaccurate. For example, a hypothetical population might include 10 million men and 10 million women. Suppose that a biased sample of 100 patients included 20 men and 80 women. A researcher could correct for this imbalance by attaching a weight of 2.5 for each male and 0.625 for each female. This would adjust any estimates to achieve the same expected value as a sample that included exactly 50 men and 50 women, unless men and women differed in their likelihood of taking part in the survey. See also Censored regression model Cherry picking (fallacy) File drawer problem Friendship paradox Reporting bias Sampling probability Selection bias Spectrum bias Truncated regression model References Sampling (statistics) Misuse of statistics Experimental bias	[ 0.331768661737442, 0.22572600841522217, -0.9781515598297119, 0.5565277338027954, -0.18510466814041138, 0.24939864873886108, 0.18672390282154083, 0.19850142300128937, -0.09193947911262512, -0.3194485008716583, -0.06181018054485321, 0.3636574149131775, -0.3919748067855835, 0.4798232913017273...
17693	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%20hoc	Post hoc	Post hoc (sometimes written as post-hoc) is a Latin phrase, meaning "after this" or "after the event". Post hoc may refer to: Post hoc analysis or post hoc test, statistical analyses that were not specified before the data were seen Post hoc theorizing, generating hypotheses based on data already observed Post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this), a logical fallacy of causation "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" (The West Wing), an episode of the television series The West Wing See also Propter hoc (disambiguation) A priori and a posteriori, Latin phrases used in philosophy meaning "from earlier" and "from later" Ex post, Latin phrase meaning "after the event" Ad hoc, a solution designed for a specific problem or task, Latin meaning "for this"	[ 0.4139900803565979, -0.12140318006277084, -0.4151996076107025, -0.1048089787364006, -0.13589473068714142, -0.1103978231549263, 0.015674324706196785, 0.27896708250045776, 0.17596860229969025, -0.30275624990463257, -0.6913031339645386, 0.06523159146308899, 0.06598284095525742, 0.052585069090...
17694	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No%20true%20Scotsman	No true Scotsman	No true Scotsman, or appeal to purity, is an informal fallacy in which one attempts to protect their universal generalization from a falsifying counterexample by excluding the counterexample improperly. Rather than abandoning the falsified universal generalization or providing evidence that would disqualify the falsifying counterexample, a slightly modified generalization is constructed ad-hoc to definitionally exclude the undesirable specific case and counterexamples like it by appeal to rhetoric. This rhetoric takes the form of emotionally charged but nonsubstantive purity platitudes such as "true, pure, genuine, authentic, real", etc. Philosophy professor Bradley Dowden explains the fallacy as an "ad hoc rescue" of a refuted generalization attempt. The following is a simplified rendition of the fallacy: Person A: "No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge." Person B: "But my uncle Angus is a Scotsman and he puts sugar on his porridge." Person A: "But no Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge." Regular use The No true Scotsman is committed when the arguer satisfies the following conditions: not publicly retreating from the initial, falsified assertion offering a modified assertion that definitionally excludes a targeted unwanted counterexample using rhetoric to hide the modification An appeal to purity is commonly associated with protecting a preferred group. Scottish national pride may be at stake if someone regularly considered to be Scottish commits a heinous crime. To protect people of Scottish heritage from a possible accusation of guilt by association, one may use this fallacy to deny that the group is associated with this undesirable member or action. "No Scotsman would do something so undesirable"; i.e., the people who would do such a thing are tautologically (definitionally) excluded from being part of our group such that they cannot serve as a counterexample to the group's good nature. Origin and literature The description of the fallacy in this form is attributed to British philosopher Antony Flew because the term originally appeared in Flew's 1971 book An Introduction to Western Philosophy. In his 1975 book Thinking About Thinking, he wrote: In his 1966 book God & Philosophy, Flew described the "No-true-Scotsman Move": The essayist David P. Goldman, writing under his pseudonym "Spengler", compared distinguishing between "mature" democracies, which never start wars, and "emerging democracies", which may start them, with the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. Spengler alleges that political scientists have attempted to save the "US academic dogma" that democracies never start wars against other democracies from counterexamples by declaring any democracy which does indeed start a war against another democracy to be flawed, thus maintaining that no democracy starts a war against a fellow democracy. Author Steven Pinker suggests phrases like "no true Christian ever kills, no true communist state is repressive and no true Trump supporter endorses violence" are explained by the no true Scotsman fallacy. See also Ad hoc hypothesis Begging the question Epistemic commitment Equivocation List of fallacies Loaded language Moving the goalposts Persuasive definition Reification (fallacy) Republican In Name Only Special pleading Tautology (language) True Pole References Verbal fallacies 1971 introductions	[ 0.30977925658226013, 0.37924280762672424, -0.03923235833644867, -0.5357811450958252, 0.23634612560272217, -0.03568536043167114, 1.2312276363372803, 0.5091714859008789, 0.2235218733549118, -0.0016935223247855902, -0.8111230731010437, 0.5298876762390137, -0.5226861834526062, 0.46303299069404...
17696	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery%20slope	Slippery slope	A slippery slope argument (SSA), in logic, critical thinking, political rhetoric, and caselaw, is an argument in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant (usually negative) effect. The core of the slippery slope argument is that a specific decision under debate is likely to result in unintended consequences. The strength of such an argument depends on whether the small step really is likely to lead to the effect. This is quantified in terms of what is known as the warrant (in this case, a demonstration of the process that leads to the significant effect). This type of argument is sometimes used as a form of fearmongering in which the probable consequences of a given action are exaggerated in an attempt to scare the audience, although, differentiation is necessary, since, in other cases, it might be demonstrable that the small step will likely lead to an effect. The fallacious sense of "slippery slope" is often used synonymously with continuum fallacy, in that it ignores the possibility of middle ground and assumes a discrete transition from category A to category B. In this sense, it constitutes an informal fallacy. In a non-fallacious sense, including use as a legal principle, a middle-ground possibility is acknowledged, and reasoning is provided for the likelihood of the predicted outcome. Other idioms for the slippery slope argument are the thin end/edge of the wedge, the camel's nose in the tent, or If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Slopes, arguments, and fallacies Some writers distinguish between a slippery slope event and a slippery slope argument. A slippery slope event can be represented by a series of conditional statements, namely: if p then q; if q then r; if r then…z. The idea being that through a series of intermediate steps p will imply z. Some writers point out that strict necessity isn't required and it can still be characterized as a slippery slope if at each stage the next step is plausible. This is important for with strict implication p will imply z but if at each step the probability is say 90% then the more steps there are the less likely it becomes that p will cause z. A slippery slope argument is typically a negative argument where there is an attempt to discourage someone from taking a course of action because if they do it will lead to some unacceptable conclusion. Some writers point out that an argument with the same structure might be used in a positive way in which someone is encouraged to take the first step because it leads to a desirable conclusion. If someone is accused of using a slippery slope argument then it is being suggested they are guilty of fallacious reasoning, and while they are claiming that p implies z, for whatever reason, this is not the case. In logic and critical thinking textbooks, slippery slopes and slippery slope arguments are normally discussed as a form of fallacy, although there may be an acknowledgement that non-fallacious forms of the argument can also exist. Types of argument Different writers have classified slippery slope arguments in different and often contradictory ways, but there are two basic types of argument that have been described as slippery slope arguments. One type has been called the causal slippery slope, and the distinguishing feature of this type is that the various steps leading from p to z are events with each event being the cause of the next in the sequence. The second type might be called the judgmental slippery slope with the idea being that the 'slope' does not consist of a series of events but is such that, for whatever reason, if a person makes one particular judgment they will rationally have to make another and so on. The judgmental type may be further sub-divided into conceptual slippery slopes and decisional slippery slopes. Conceptual slippery slopes, which Trudy Govier calls the fallacy of slippery assimilation, are closely related to the sorites paradox so, for example, in the context of talking about slippery slopes Merilee Salmon can say, "The slippery slope is an ancient form of reasoning. According to van Fraassen (The Scientific Image), the argument is found in Sextus Empiricus that incest is not immoral, on the grounds that 'touching your mother's big toe with your little finger is not immoral, and all the rest differs only by degree.'" Decisional slippery slopes are similar to conceptual slippery slopes in that they rely on there being a continuum with no clear dividing lines such that if you decide to accept one position or course of action then there will, either now or in the future, be no rational grounds for not accepting the next position or course of action in the sequence. The difficulty in classifying slippery slope arguments is that there is no clear consensus in the literature as to how terminology should be used. It has been said that whilst these two fallacies "have a relationship which may justify treating them together", they are also distinct, and "the fact that they share a name is unfortunate". Some writers treat them side by side but emphasize how they differ. Some writers use the term slippery slope to refer to one kind of argument but not the other, but don't agree on which one, whilst others use the term to refer to both. So, for example, Christopher Tindale gives a definition that only fits the causal type. He says, "Slippery Slope reasoning is a type of negative reasoning from consequences, distinguished by the presence of a causal chain leading from the proposed action to the negative outcome." Merrilee Salmon describes the fallacy as a failure to recognise that meaningful distinctions can be drawn and even casts the "domino theory" in that light. Douglas N. Walton says that an essential feature of slippery slopes is a "loss of control" and this only fits with the decisional type of slippery slope. He says that, "The domino argument has a sequence of events in which each one in the sequence causes the next one to happen in such a manner that once the first event occurs it will lead to the next event, and so forth, until the last event in the sequence finally occurs…(and)…is clearly different from the slippery slope argument, but can be seen as a part of it, and closely related to it." Metaphor and its alternatives The metaphor of the "slippery slope" dates back at least to Cicero's essay Laelius de Amicitia (XII.41). The title character Gaius Laelius Sapiens uses the metaphor to describe the decline of the Republic upon the impending election of Gaius Gracchus: "Affairs soon move on, for they glide readily down the path of ruin when once they have taken a start." Thin end of a wedge Walton suggests Alfred Sidgwick should be credited as the first writer on informal logic to describe what would today be called a slippery slope argument. Sidgwick says this is "popularly known as the objection to a thin end of a wedge" but might be classified now as a decisional slippery slope. However, the wedge metaphor also captures the idea that unpleasant end result is a wider application of a principle associated with the initial decision which is often a feature of decisional slippery slopes due to their incremental nature but may be absent from causal slippery slopes. Domino fallacy T. Edward Damer, in his book Attacking Faulty Reasoning, describes what others might call a causal slippery slope but says, Instead Damer prefers to call it the domino fallacy. Howard Kahane suggests that the domino variation of the fallacy has gone out of fashion because it was tied the domino theory for the United States becoming involved in the war in Vietnam and although the U.S. lost that war "it is primarily communist dominoes that have fallen". Dam burst Frank Saliger notes that "in the German-speaking world the dramatic image of the dam burst seems to predominate, in English speaking circles talk is more of the slippery slope argument" and that "in German writing dam burst and slippery slope arguments are treated as broadly synonymous. In particular the structural analyses of slippery slope arguments derived from English writing are largely transferred directly to the dam burst argument." In exploring the differences between the two metaphors he comments that in the dam burst the initial action is clearly in the foreground and there is a rapid movement towards the resulting events whereas in the slippery slope metaphor the downward slide has at least equal prominence to the initial action and it "conveys the impression of a slower 'step-by-step' process where the decision maker as participant slides inexorably downwards under the weight of its own successive (erroneous) decisions." Despite these differences Saliger continues to treat the two metaphors as being synonymous. Walton argues that although the two are comparable "the metaphor of the dam bursting carries with it no essential element of a sequence of steps from an initial action through a gray zone with its accompanying loss of control eventuated in the ultimate outcome of the ruinous disaster. For these reasons, it seems best to propose drawing a distinction between dam burst arguments and slippery slope arguments." Other metaphors Eric Lode notes that "commentators have used numerous different metaphors to refer to arguments that have this rough form. For example, people have called such arguments "wedge" or "thin edge of the wedge", "camel's nose" or "camel's nose in the tent", "parade of horrors" or "parade of horribles", "domino", "Boiling Frog" and "this could snowball" arguments. All of these metaphors suggest that allowing one practice or policy could lead us to allow a series of other practices or policies." Bruce Waller says it is lawyers who often call it the "parade of horribles" argument while politicians seem to favor "the camel's nose is in the tent". Defining features of slippery slope arguments Given the disagreement over what constitutes a genuine slippery slope argument, it is to be expected that there are differences in the way they are defined. Lode says that "although all SSAs share certain features, they are a family of related arguments rather than a class of arguments whose members all share the same form." Various writers have attempted to produce a general taxonomy of these different kinds of slippery slope. Other writers have given a general definition that will encompass the diversity of slippery slope arguments. Eugene Volokh says, "I think the most useful definition of a slippery slope is one that covers all situations where decision A, which you might find appealing, ends up materially increasing the probability that others will bring about decision B, which you oppose." Those who hold that slippery slopes are causal generally give a simple definition, provide some appropriate examples and perhaps add some discussion as to the difficulty of determining whether the argument is reasonable or fallacious. Most of the more detailed analysis of slippery slopes has been done by those who hold that genuine slippery slopes are of the decisional kind. Lode, having claimed that SSAs are not a single class of arguments whose members all share the same form, nevertheless goes on to suggest the following common features. Rizzo and Whitman identify slightly different features. They say, "Although there is no paradigm case of the slippery slope argument, there are characteristic features of all such arguments. The key components of slippery slope arguments are three: Walton notes that these three features will be common to all slippery slopes but objects that there needs to be more clarity on the nature of the 'mechanism' and a way of distinguishing between slippery slope arguments and arguments from negative consequences. Corner et al. say that a slippery slope has "four distinct components: The alleged danger lurking on the slippery slope is the fear that a presently unacceptable proposal (C) will (by any number of psychological processes—see, e.g., ) in the future be re-evaluated as acceptable." Walton adds the requirement that there must be a loss of control. He says, there are four basic components, "One is a first step, an action or policy being considered. A second is a sequence in which this action leads to other actions. A third is a so-called gray zone or area of indeterminacy along the sequence where the agent loses control. The fourth is the catastrophic outcome at the very end of the sequence. The idea is that as soon as the agent in question takes the first step he will be impelled forward through the sequence, losing control so that in the end he will reach the catastrophic outcome. Not all of these components are typically made explicit..." Non-fallacious usage Logic and critical thinking textbooks typically discuss slippery slope arguments as a form of fallacy but usually acknowledge that "slippery slope arguments can be good ones if the slope is real—that is, if there is good evidence that the consequences of the initial action are highly likely to occur. The strength of the argument depends on two factors. The first is the strength of each link in the causal chain; the argument cannot be stronger than its weakest link. The second is the number of links; the more links there are, the more likely it is that other factors could alter the consequences." If the conditional if p then…z is understood strictly then slippery slope arguments about the real world are likely to fall short of the standards required for sound deductive reasoning and might be dismissed as a fallacy but, as Walton points out, slippery slope arguments are not formal proofs, they are practical arguments about likely consequences. Rizzo says, "first and foremost, slippery slopes are slopes of arguments: One practical argument tends to lead to another, which means that one justified action, often a decision, tends to lead to another. When we say that one argument (and its supported action) tends to lead to another, we mean that it makes the occurrence of the subsequent argument more likely, not that it necessarily makes it highly likely or, still less, inevitable. Hence the transition between arguments is not based on strict logical entailment." Essentially, if accepting p raises the probability of z sufficiently that the risk of it happening passes a tolerable threshold the argument will be considered reasonable. There is, of course, considerable room for disagreement as to the likelihood of z occurring and what would be a tolerable level of risk. Kahane says, "The slippery slope fallacy is committed only when we accept without further justification or argument that once the first step is taken, the others are going to follow, or that whatever would justify the first step would in fact justify the rest." The problem then arises as to how to evaluate the likelihood that certain steps would follow. Volokh's article "The Mechanisms of the Slippery Slope" sets out to examine the various ways in which making one decision might render another decision more likely. He considers such things as implementing A making B more cost effective and implementing A changing attitudes such that acceptance of B will become more likely. He says, "If you are faced with the pragmatic question "Does it make sense for me to support A, given that it might lead others to support B?," you should consider all the mechanisms through which A might lead to B, whether they are logical or psychological, judicial or legislative, gradual or sudden ... You should think about the entire range of possible ways that A can change the conditions—whether those conditions are public attitudes, political alignments, costs and benefits, or what have you—under which others will consider B." Volokh concludes by claiming that the analysis in his article "implicitly rebuts the argument that slippery slope arguments are inherently logically fallacious: the claim that A's will inevitably lead to B's as a matter of logical compulsion might be mistaken, but the more modest claim that A's may make B's more likely seems plausible." A similar conclusion was reached by Corner et al., who after investigating the psychological mechanism of the slippery slope argument say, "Despite their philosophical notoriety, SSAs are used (and seem to be accepted) in a wide variety of practical contexts. The experimental evidence reported in this paper suggests that in some circumstances, their practical acceptability can be justified, not just because the decision-theoretic framework renders them subjectively rational, but also because it is demonstrated how, objectively, the slippery slopes they claim do in fact exist. See also Boiling frog Broccoli mandate Broken windows theory Butterfly effect Creeping normality Euthanasia and the slippery slope First they came ... Foot-in-the-door technique Gateway drug theory Overton window Precautionary principle Precedent Reductio ad absurdum Snowball effect Splitting (psychology) Trivial objections References External links The Slippery Slope Question Propaganda Critic: Unwarranted extrapolation Rhetorical techniques Metaphors referring to places Causal fallacies Inductive fallacies Legal doctrines and principles American legal terminology	[ -0.4670120179653168, 0.053291890770196915, -0.3392953872680664, 0.349892795085907, -0.13910600543022156, 0.056032001972198486, 0.38543766736984253, 0.13674531877040863, 0.014890344813466072, 0.03833990916609764, -0.26986244320869446, 0.5141252279281616, -0.1868184357881546, -0.137597218155...
17699	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument%20from%20ignorance	Argument from ignorance	Argument from ignorance (from ), also known as appeal to ignorance (in which ignorance represents "a lack of contrary evidence"), is a fallacy in informal logic. It asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true. This represents a type of false dichotomy in that it excludes the possibility that there may have been an insufficient investigation to prove that the proposition is either true or false. It also does not allow for the possibility that the answer is unknowable, only knowable in the future, or neither completely true nor completely false. In debates, appealing to ignorance is sometimes an attempt to shift the burden of proof. The term was likely coined by philosopher John Locke in the late 17th century. Examples "I take the view that this lack (of enemy subversive activity in the west coast) is the most ominous sign in our whole situation. It convinces me more than perhaps any other factor that the sabotage we are to get, the Fifth Column activities are to get, are timed just like Pearl Harbor ... I believe we are just being lulled into a false sense of security." – Earl Warren, then California's Attorney General (before a congressional hearing in San Francisco on 21 February 1942). This example clearly states what appeal to ignorance is: "Although we have proven that the moon is not made of spare ribs, we have not proven that its core cannot be filled with them; therefore, the moon’s core is filled with spare ribs." Carl Sagan explains in his book The Demon-Haunted World: Related terms Contraposition and transposition Contraposition is a logically valid rule of inference that allows the creation of a new proposition from the negation and reordering of an existing one. The method applies to any proposition of the type If A then B and says that negating all the variables and switching them back to front leads to a new proposition i.e. If Not-B then Not-A that is just as true as the original one and that the first implies the second and the second implies the first. Transposition is exactly the same thing as Contraposition, described in a different language. Null result Null result is a term often used in science to indicate evidence of absence. A search for water on the ground may yield a null result (the ground is dry); therefore, it probably did not rain. Related arguments Argument from self-knowing Arguments from self-knowing take the form: If P were true then I would know it; in fact I do not know it; therefore P cannot be true. If Q were false then I would know it; in fact I do not know it; therefore Q cannot be false. In practice these arguments are often unsound and rely on the truth of the supporting premise. For example, the claim that If I had just sat on a wild porcupine then I would know it is probably not fallacious and depends entirely on the truth of the first premise (the ability to know it). See also References Further reading External links Fallacy Files – article on Appeal to Ignorance Relevance fallacies Ignorance Barriers to critical thinking	[ -0.26983556151390076, 0.4803236126899719, -0.5949060320854187, 0.19804249703884125, -0.15901941061019897, 0.41759300231933594, 0.5226666927337646, -0.15927256643772125, 0.17786428332328796, 0.003888877108693123, -0.3495761454105377, 0.7596218585968018, 0.19371405243873596, 0.26241114735603...
17703	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo%20%28constellation%29	Leo (constellation)	Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, lying between Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo the maiden to the east. It is located in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for lion, and to the ancient Greeks represented the Nemean Lion killed by the mythical Greek hero Heracles meaning 'Glory of Hera' (known to the ancient Romans as Hercules) as one of his twelve labors. Its old astronomical symbol is (♌︎). One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, Leo remains one of the 88 modern constellations today, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its many bright stars and a distinctive shape that is reminiscent of the crouching lion it depicts. The lion's mane and shoulders also form an asterism known as "The Sickle," which to modern observers may resemble a backwards "question mark." Features Stars Leo contains many bright stars, many of which were individually identified by the ancients. There are four stars of the first or second magnitude, which render this constellation especially prominent: Regulus, designated Alpha Leonis, is a blue-white main-sequence star of magnitude 1.34, 77.5 light-years from Earth. It is a double star divisible in binoculars, with a secondary of magnitude 7.7. Its traditional name (Regulus) means "the little king". Beta Leonis, called Denebola, is at the opposite end of the constellation to Regulus. It is a blue-white star of magnitude 2.23, 36 light-years from Earth. The name Denebola means "the lion's tail". Algieba, Gamma Leonis, is a binary star with a third optical component; the primary and secondary are divisible in small telescopes and the tertiary is visible in binoculars. The primary is a gold-yellow giant star of magnitude 2.61 and the secondary is similar but at magnitude 3.6; they have a period of 600 years and are 126 light-years from Earth. The unrelated tertiary, 40 Leonis, is a yellow-tinged star of magnitude 4.8. Its traditional name, Algieba, means "the forehead". Delta Leonis, called Zosma, is a blue-white star of magnitude 2.58, 58 light-years from Earth. Epsilon Leonis is a yellow giant of magnitude 3.0, 251 light-years from Earth. Zeta Leonis, called Adhafera, is an optical triple star. It is a white giant star of magnitude 3.65, 260 light-years from Earth. The second-brightest, 39 Leonis, is widely spaced to the south and of magnitude 5.8. 35 Leonis is to the north and of magnitude 6.0. Iota Leonis is a binary star divisible in medium amateur telescopes; they are divisible in small amateur telescopes at their widest in the years 2053–2063. To the unaided eye, Iota Leonis appears to be a yellow-tinged star of magnitude 4.0. The system, 79 light-years from Earth, has components of magnitude 4.1 and 6.7 with a period of 183 years. Tau Leonis is a double star visible in binoculars. The primary is a yellow giant of magnitude 5.0, 621 light-years from Earth. The secondary is a star of magnitude 8. 54 Leonis is a binary star 289 light-years from Earth, divisible in small telescopes. The primary is a blue-white star of magnitude 4.5 and the secondary is a blue-white star of magnitude 6.3. Other named stars in Leo include Mu Leonis, Rasalas (an abbreviation of "Al Ras al Asad al Shamaliyy", meaning "The Lion's Head Toward the South"); and Theta Leonis, Chertan or Coxa ("hip"). Leo is also home to one bright variable star, the red giant R Leonis. It is a Mira variable with a minimum magnitude of 10 and normal maximum magnitude of 6; it periodically brightens to magnitude 4.4. R Leonis, 330 light-years from Earth, has a period of 310 days and a diameter of 450 solar diameters. The star Wolf 359 (CN Leonis), one of the nearest stars to Earth at 7.8 light-years away, is in Leo. Wolf 359 is a red dwarf of magnitude 13.5; it periodically brightens by one magnitude or less because it is a flare star. Gliese 436, a faint star in Leo about 33 light-years away from the Sun, is orbited by a transiting Neptune-mass extrasolar planet. The carbon star CW Leo (IRC +10216) is the brightest star in the night sky at the infrared N-band (10 μm wavelength). The star SDSS J102915+172927 (Caffau's star) is a population II star in the galactic halo seen in Leo. It is about 13 billion years old, making it one of the oldest stars in the Galaxy. It has the lowest metallicity of any known star. Modern astronomers, including Tycho Brahe in 1602, excised a group of stars that once made up the "tuft" of the lion's tail and used them to form the new constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice's hair), although there was precedent for that designation among the ancient Greeks and Romans. Deep-sky objects Leo contains many bright galaxies; Messier 65, Messier 66, Messier 95, Messier 96, Messier 105, and NGC 3628 are the most famous, the first two being part of the Leo Triplet. The Leo Ring, a cloud of hydrogen, helium gas, is found in the orbit of two galaxies found within this constellation.M66 is a spiral galaxy that is part of the Leo Triplet, whose other two members are M65 and NGC 3628. It is at a distance of 37 million light-years and has a somewhat distorted shape due to gravitational interactions with the other members of the Triplet, which are pulling stars away from M66. Eventually, the outermost stars may form a dwarf galaxy orbiting M66. Both M65 and M66 are visible in large binoculars or small telescopes, but their concentrated nuclei and elongation are only visible in large amateur instruments. M95 and M96 are both spiral galaxies 20 million light-years from Earth. Though they are visible as fuzzy objects in small telescopes, their structure is only visible in larger instruments. M95 is a barred spiral galaxy. M105 is about a degree away from the M95/M96 pair; it is an elliptical galaxy of the 9th magnitude, also about 20 million light-years from Earth. NGC 2903 is a barred spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel in 1784. It is very similar in size and shape to the Milky Way and is located 25 million light-years from Earth. In its core, NGC 2903 has many "hotspots", which have been found to be near regions of star formation. The star formation in this region is thought to be due to the presence of the dusty bar, which sends shock waves through its rotation to an area with a diameter of 2,000 light-years. The outskirts of the galaxy have many young open clusters. Leo is also home to some of the largest structures in the observable universe. Some of the structures found in the constellation are the Clowes–Campusano LQG, U1.11, U1.54, and the Huge-LQG, which are all large quasar groups; the latter being the second largest structure known (see also NQ2-NQ4 GRB overdensity). Meteor showers The Leonids occur in November, peaking on November 14–15, and have a radiant close to Gamma Leonis. Its parent body is Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which causes significant outbursts every 35 years. The normal peak rate is approximately 10 meteors per hour. The January Leonids are a minor shower that peaks between January 1 and 7. History and mythology Leo was one of the earliest recognized constellations, with archaeological evidence that the Mesopotamians had a similar constellation as early as 4000 BCE. The Persians called Leo Ser or Shir; the Turks, Artan; the Syrians, Aryo; the Jews, Arye; the Indians, Simha, all meaning "lion". Some mythologists believe that in Sumeria, Leo represented the monster Humbaba, who was killed by Gilgamesh. In Babylonian astronomy, the constellation was called UR.GU.LA, the "Great Lion"; the bright star Regulus was known as "the star that stands at the Lion's breast." Regulus also had distinctly regal associations, as it was known as the King Star. In Greek mythology, Leo was identified as the Nemean Lion which was killed by Heracles (Hercules to the Romans) during the first of his twelve labours. The Nemean Lion would take women as hostages to its lair in a cave, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress, to their misfortune. The Lion was impervious to any weaponry; thus, the warriors' clubs, swords, and spears were rendered useless against it. Realizing that he must defeat the Lion with his bare hands, Hercules slipped into the Lion's cave and engaged it at close quarters. When the Lion pounced, Hercules caught it in midair, one hand grasping the Lion's forelegs and the other its hind legs, and bent it backwards, breaking its back and freeing the trapped maidens. Zeus commemorated this labor by placing the Lion in the sky. The Roman poet Ovid called it Herculeus Leo and Violentus Leo. Bacchi Sidus (star of Bacchus) was another of its titles, the god Bacchus always being identified with this animal. However, Manilius called it Jovis et Junonis Sidus (Star of Jupiter and Juno). Astrology , the Sun appears in the constellation Leo from August 10 to September 16. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Leo from July 23 to August 22, and in sidereal astrology, from August 16 to September 17. Visualizations Leo is commonly represented as if the sickle-shaped asterism of stars is the back of the Lion's head. The sickle is marked by six stars: Epsilon Leonis, Mu Leonis, Zeta Leonis, Gamma Leonis, Eta Leonis, and Alpha Leonis. The lion's tail is marked by Beta Leonis (Denebola) and the rest of his body is delineated by Delta Leonis and Theta Leonis. Namesakes USS Leonis (AK-128) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the Latin version of this constellation name. See also Leo (Chinese astronomy) References Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, by Richard Allen Hinckley, Dover. Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. . Princeton University Press, Princeton. . Dictionary of Symbols, by Carl G. Liungman, W. W. Norton & Company. External links The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Leo The clickable Leo Observer links Information from Windows to the Universe Star Map of Leo and Information from Students for Exploration and Development of Space Information about Leo from Chris Dolan Information from StarDate Online Leo's skymap and information from Gary Madison Star Map of Leo and basic information Science New planet discovery in Leo's constellation Myths Star Tales – Leo Myth Info from comfychair.org Myth Info from TheGreekGods.org Myth Info from ColdWater Schools Myth Info from Star Watch GeoCity Myth Info from heavens-above.com Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Leo) Constellations Constellations listed by Ptolemy Equatorial constellations	[ 0.38251638412475586, 0.04631510004401207, 0.20774652063846588, -0.1735592484474182, -0.09976471960544586, 0.6307128071784973, -0.14075520634651184, 0.5980297923088074, -0.5440642237663269, -0.8151853680610657, -0.3067879378795624, 0.13002894818782806, -0.5747672319412231, 0.149389296770095...
17704	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra%20%28constellation%29	Libra (constellation)	Libra is a constellation of the zodiac and is located in the Southern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for weighing scales. Its old astronomical symbol is (♎︎). It is fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars, and lies between Virgo to the west and Scorpius to the east. Beta Librae, also known as Zubeneschamali, is the brightest star in the constellation. Three star systems are known to have planets. Features Stars Overall, there are 83 stars within the constellation's borders brighter than or equal to apparent magnitude 6.5. The brightest stars in Libra form a quadrangle that distinguishes it for the unaided observer. Traditionally, Alpha and Beta Librae are considered to represent the scales' balance beam, while Gamma and Sigma are the weighing pans. Alpha Librae, called Zubenelgenubi, is a multiple star system divisible into two stars when seen through binoculars, The primary (Alpha2 Librae) is a blue-white star of magnitude 2.7 and the secondary (Alpha1 Librae) is a white star of magnitude 5.2 and spectral type F3V that is 74.9 ± 0.7 light-years from Earth. Its traditional name means "the southern claw". Zubeneschamali (Beta Librae) is the corresponding "northern claw" to Zubenelgenubi. The brightest star in Libra, it is a green-tinged star of magnitude 2.6, 160 light-years from Earth. Gamma Librae is called Zubenelakrab, which means "the scorpion's claw", completing the suite of names referring to Libra's archaic status. It is an orange giant of magnitude 3.9, 152 light-years from Earth. Iota Librae is a complex multiple star, 377 light-years from Earth, with both optical and true binary components. The primary appears as a blue-white star of magnitude 4.5; it is a binary star indivisible in even the largest amateur instruments with a period of 23 years. The secondary, visible in small telescopes as a star of magnitude 9.4, is a binary with two components, magnitudes 10 and 11. There is an optical companion to Iota Librae; 25 Librae is a star of magnitude 6.1, 219 light-years from Earth and visible in binoculars. Mu Librae is a binary star divisible in medium-aperture amateur telescopes, 235 light-years from Earth. The primary is of magnitude 5.7 and the secondary is of magnitude 6.8. Delta Librae is an Algol-type eclipsing variable star, 304 lightyears from Earth. It has a period of 2 days, 8 hours; its minimum magnitude of 5.9 and its maximum magnitude is 4.9. FX Librae, designated 48 Librae, is a shell star of magnitude 4.9. Shell stars, like Pleione and Gamma Cassiopeiae, are blue supergiants with irregular variations caused by their abnormally high speed of rotation. This ejects gas from the star's equator. Sigma Librae (the proper name is Brachium) was formerly known as Gamma Scorpii despite being well inside the boundaries of Libra. It was not redesignated as Sigma Librae until 1851 by Benjamin A. Gould. History and mythology Libra was known in Babylonian astronomy as MUL Zibanu (the "scales" or "balance"), or alternatively as the Claws of the Scorpion. The scales were held sacred to the sun god Shamash, who was also the patron of truth and justice. It was also seen as the Scorpion's Claws in ancient Greece. Since these times, Libra has been associated with law, fairness and civility. In Arabic zubānā means "scorpion's claws", and likely similarly in other Semitic languages: this resemblance of words may be why the Scorpion's claws became the Scales. Indeed, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, the names of the constellation's two main stars, in Arabic mean "southern claw" and "northern claw" respectively. It has also been suggested that the scales are an allusion to the fact that when the sun entered this part of the ecliptic at the autumnal equinox, the days and nights are equal. Libra's status as the location of the equinox earned the equinox the name "First Point of Libra", though this location ceased to coincide with the constellation in 730 BC because of the precession of the equinoxes. In ancient Egypt the three brightest stars of Libra (α, β, and σ Librae) formed a constellation that was viewed as a boat. Libra is a constellation not mentioned by Eudoxus or Aratus. Libra is mentioned by Manetho (3rd century B.C.) and Geminus (1st century B.C.), and included by Ptolemy in his 48 asterisms. Ptolemy catalogued 17 stars, Tycho Brahe 10, and Johannes Hevelius 20. It only became a constellation in ancient Rome, when it began to represent the scales held by Astraea, the goddess of justice, associated with Virgo in the Greek mythology. The constellation Libra is bordered by the head of Serpens to the north, Virgo to the northwest, Hydra to the southwest, the corner of Centaurus to the southwest, Lupus to the south, Scorpius to the east and Ophiuchus to the northeast. Covering 538.1 square degrees and 1.304% of the night sky, it ranks 29th of the 88 constellations in size. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is "Lib". The official constellation boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 12 segments (illustrated in infobox). In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and , while the declination coordinates are between −0.47° and −30.00°. The whole constellation is visible to observers south of latitude 60°N. Planetary systems Libra is home to the Gliese 581 planetary system, which consists of the star Gliese 581, three confirmed planets, and two unconfirmed planets. Both Gliese 581d, and Gliese 581g are debatably the most promising candidates for life, although Gliese 581g's existences has been disputed and has not been entirely confirmed or agreed on in the scientific community. Gliese 581c is considered to be the first Earth-like extrasolar planet to be found within its parent star's habitable zone. Gliese 581e is possibly the smallest mass exoplanet orbiting a normal star found to date All of these exoplanets are of significance for establishing the likelihood of life outside of the Solar System. The family of candidate habitable planets was extended in late September 2010 to include exoplanets around red dwarf stars because of Gliese 581g, which is a tidally locked planet in the middle of the habitable zone. Weather studies show that tidally locked planets may still have the ability to support life. Deep-sky objects Libra is home to one bright globular cluster, NGC 5897. It is a loose cluster, 50,000 light-years from Earth; it is fairly large and has an integrated magnitude of 9. IC 1059 is a galaxy in the constellation Libra. Astrology , the Sun appears in the constellation Libra from October 31 to November 22. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Libra from the northern autumnal equinox (c. September 23) to on or about October 23, and in sidereal astrology, from October 16 to November 15. Namesakes Libra (AKA-12) was a United States navy ship named after the constellation. Tropical Storm Tembin - Four tropical cyclones in the western Pacific have been given its Japanese name. See also Constellation family Former constellations Libra (Chinese astronomy) Lists of stars by constellation Notes References Sources Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. . Princeton University Press, Princeton. . External links The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Libra Libra constellation Star Tales – Libra Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Libra) Constellations Southern constellations Constellations listed by Ptolemy	[ 0.05344528332352638, -0.11515482515096664, 0.490238219499588, -0.49522995948791504, -0.17656920850276947, 0.4476783275604248, -0.10501127690076828, 0.5391694903373718, -0.10376255959272385, -0.8411400318145752, -0.2689405679702759, 0.28409522771835327, -0.716802716255188, 0.387480646371841...
17712	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law%20of%20nature	Law of nature	Law of nature or laws of nature may refer to: Science Scientific law, statements based on experimental observations that describe some aspect of the world Natural law, any of a number of doctrines in moral, political, and legal theory Media "Laws of Nature" (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), episode of television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Other Law of the jungle, the idea that in nature, the only "law" is to do whatever is needed for survival See also Natural law (disambiguation) Crime against nature (disambiguation)	[ 0.9581802487373352, 0.17792461812496185, -0.4550080895423889, 0.3238072395324707, -0.018260523676872253, 0.05348789691925049, 0.49795907735824585, -0.05737077072262764, -0.021094568073749542, -0.6178178787231445, -0.4436374604701996, 0.6764179468154907, -0.5982633233070374, 0.3972012102603...
17714	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxen	Roxen	Roxen () is a medium-sized lake in south-central Sweden, east of Lake Vättern, part of the waterpath Motala ström and the Göta Canal. South of Lake Roxen is the city Linköping. Roxen, especially the western parts, is very good for birdwatching. There are natural reserves at Kungsbro and Svartåmynningen. The lake develops in a graben depression. References Lakes of Östergötland County Motala ström basin Rifts and grabens Ramsar sites in Sweden	[ -0.21920903027057648, 0.23765355348587036, 0.6430785655975342, 0.012835009954869747, 0.35782426595687866, 0.27618128061294556, 0.4994594156742096, 0.2877725660800934, -0.5959997177124023, 0.12545175850391388, 0.02447522059082985, 0.13709281384944916, -0.1740919053554535, 0.0021403545979410...
17717	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotive	Locomotive	A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the use of these self-propelled vehicles is increasingly common for passenger trains, but rare for freight (see CargoSprinter and Iron Highway). Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push-pull operation has become common, where the train may have a locomotive (or locomotives) at the front, at the rear, or at each end. Most recently railroads have begun adopting DPU or distributed power. The front may have one or two locomotives followed by a mid train locomotive that is controlled remotely from the lead unit. Etymology The word locomotive originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus "place", and the Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, which was first used in 1814 to distinguish between self-propelled and stationary steam engines. Classifications Prior to locomotives, the motive force for railways had been generated by various lower-technology methods such as human power, horse power, gravity or stationary engines that drove cable systems. Few such systems are still in existence today. Locomotives may generate their power from fuel (wood, coal, petroleum or natural gas), or they may take power from an outside source of electricity. It is common to classify locomotives by their source of energy. The common ones include: Steam A steam locomotive is a locomotive whose primary power source is a steam engine. The most common form of steam locomotive also contains a boiler to generate the steam used by the engine. The water in the boiler is heated by burning combustible material – usually coal, wood, or oil – to produce steam. The steam moves reciprocating pistons which are connected to the locomotive's main wheels, known as the "driving wheels". Both fuel and water supplies are carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself, in bunkers and tanks, (this arrangement is known as a "tank locomotive") or pulled behind the locomotive, in tenders, (this arrangement is known as a "tender locomotive"). The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick in 1802. It was constructed for the Coalbrookdale ironworks in Shropshire in the United Kingdom though no record of it working there has survived. On 21 February 1804, the first recorded steam-hauled railway journey took place as another of Trevithick's locomotives hauled a train from the Penydarren ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, to Abercynon in South Wales. Accompanied by Andrew Vivian, it ran with mixed success. The design incorporated a number of important innovations including the use of high-pressure steam which reduced the weight of the engine and increased its efficiency. In 1812, Matthew Murray's twin-cylinder rack locomotive Salamanca first ran on the edge-railed rack-and-pinion Middleton Railway; this is generally regarded as the first commercially successful locomotive. Another well-known early locomotive was Puffing Billy, built 1813–14 by engineer William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne. This locomotive is the oldest preserved, and is on static display in the Science Museum, London. George Stephenson built Locomotion No. 1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the north-east of England, which was the first public steam railway in the world. In 1829, his son Robert built The Rocket in Newcastle upon Tyne. Rocket was entered into, and won, the Rainhill Trials. This success led to the company emerging as the pre-eminent early builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the UK, US and much of Europe. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, built by Stephenson, opened a year later making exclusive use of steam power for passenger and goods trains. The steam locomotive remained by far the most common type of locomotive until after World War II. Steam locomotives are less efficient than modern diesel and electric locomotives, and a significantly larger workforce is required to operate and service them. British Rail figures showed that the cost of crewing and fuelling a steam locomotive was about two and a half times larger than the cost of supporting an equivalent diesel locomotive, and the daily mileage they could run was lower. Between about 1950 and 1970, the majority of steam locomotives were retired from commercial service and replaced with electric and diesel-electric locomotives. While North America transitioned from steam during the 1950s, and continental Europe by the 1970s, in other parts of the world, the transition happened later. Steam was a familiar technology that used widely-available fuels and in low-wage economies did not suffer as wide a cost disparity. It continued to be used in many countries until the end of the 20th century. By the end of the 20th century, almost the only steam power remaining in regular use around the world was on heritage railways. Internal combustion Internal combustion locomotives use an internal combustion engine, connected to the driving wheels by a transmission. Typically they keep the engine running at a near-constant speed whether the locomotive is stationary or moving. Internal combustion locomotives are categorised by their fuel type and sub-categorised by their transmission type. Benzene Benzene locomotives have an internal combustion engines that use benzene as fuel. Kerosene Kerosene locomotives use kerosene as the fuel. They were the world's first internal combustion locomotives, preceding diesel and other oil locomotives by some years. The first known kerosene rail vehicle was a draisine built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1887, but this was not technically a locomotive as it carried a payload. A kerosene locomotive was built in 1894 by the Priestman Brothers of Kingston upon Hull for use on Hull docks. This locomotive was built using a 12 hp double-acting marine type engine, running at 300 rpm, mounted on a 4-wheel wagon chassis. It was only able to haul one loaded wagon at a time, due to its low power output, and was not a great success. The first successful kerosene locomotive was "Lachesis" built by Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd. and delivered to Woolwich Arsenal railway in 1896. The company built four kerosene locomotives between 1896 and 1903, for use at the Arsenal. Petrol Petrol locomotives use petrol (gasoline) as their fuel. The first commercially successful petrol locomotive was a petrol-mechanical locomotive built by the Maudslay Motor Company in 1902, for the Deptford Cattle Market in London. It was an 80 hp locomotive using a 3-cylinder vertical petrol engine, with a two speed mechanical gearbox. Petrol-mechanical The most common type of petrol locomotive are petrol-mechanical locomotives, which use mechanical transmission in the form of gearboxes (sometimes in conjunction with chain drives) to deliver the power output of the engine to the driving wheels, in the same way as a car. The second petrol-mechanical locomotive was built by F.C. Blake of Kew in January 1903 for the Richmond Main Sewerage Board. Petrol-electric Petrol-electric locomotives are petrol locomotives which use electric transmission to deliver the power output of the engine to the driving wheels. This avoids the need for gearboxes by converting the rotary mechanical force of the engine into electrical energy by a dynamo, and then powering the wheels by multi-speed electric traction motors. This allows for smoother acceleration, as it avoids the need for gear changes, however is more expensive, heavier, and sometimes bulkier than mechanical transmission. Naphthalene Diesel Diesel locomotives are powered by diesel engines. In the early days of diesel propulsion development, various transmission systems were employed with varying degrees of success, with electric transmission proving to be the most popular. Diesel-mechanical A diesel–mechanical locomotive uses mechanical transmission to transfer power to the wheels. This type of transmission is generally limited to low-powered, low speed shunting (switching) locomotives, lightweight multiple units and self-propelled railcars. The earliest diesel locomotives were diesel-mechanical. In 1906, Rudolf Diesel, Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. The Prussian State Railways ordered a diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive (a diesel-mechanical locomotive) was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through the mid-1920s. Diesel-electric Diesel–electric locomotives are diesel locomotives using electric transmission. The diesel engine drives either an electrical DC generator (generally, less than net for traction), or an electrical AC alternator-rectifier (generally net or more for traction), the output of which provides power to the traction motors that drive the locomotive. There is no mechanical connection between the diesel engine and the wheels. The vast majority of diesel locomotives today are diesel-electric. In 1914, Hermann Lemp, a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used a single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control. In 1917–18, GE produced three experimental diesel–electric locomotives using Lemp's control design. In 1924, a diesel-electric locomotive (Eel2 original number Юэ 001/Yu-e 001) started operations. It had been designed by a team led by Yury Lomonosov and built 1923–1924 by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen in Germany. It had 5 driving axles (1'E1'). After several test rides, it hauled trains for almost three decades from 1925 to 1954. Diesel-hydraulic Diesel–hydraulic locomotives are diesel locomotives using hydraulic transmission. In this arrangement, they use one or more torque converters, in combination with gears, with a mechanical final drive to convey the power from the diesel engine to the wheels. The main worldwide user of main-line hydraulic transmissions was the Federal Republic of Germany, with designs including the 1950s DB Class V 200, and the 1960 and 1970s DB V 160 family. British Rail introduced a number of diesel hydraulic designs during it 1955 Modernisation Plan, initially license built versions of German designs. In Spain Renfe used high power to weight ratio twin engined German designs to haul high speed trains from the 1960s to 1990s. (see Renfe Classes 340, 350, 352, 353, 354). Hydrostatic drive systems have also been applied to rail use, for example shunting locomotives by CMI Group (Belgium). Hydrostatic drives are also used in railway maintenance machines such as tampers and rail grinders. Gas turbine A gas turbine locomotive is an internal combustion engine locomotive consisting of a gas turbine. ICE engines require a transmission to power the wheels. The engine must be allowed to continue to run when the locomotive is stopped. Gas turbine-mechanical locomotives use a mechanical transmission to deliver the power output of gas turbines to the wheels. A gas turbine locomotive was patented in 1861 by Marc Antoine Francois Mennons (British patent no. 1633). There is no evidence that the locomotive was actually built but the design includes the essential features of gas turbine locomotives, including compressor, combustion chamber, turbine and air pre-heater. In 1952, Renault delivered a prototype four-axle 1150 hp gas-turbine-mechanical locomotive fitted with the Pescara "free turbine" gas- and compressed-air producing system, rather than a co-axial multi-stage compressor integral to the turbine. This model was succeeded by a pair of six-axle 2400 hp locomotives with two turbines and Pescara feeds in 1959. Several similar locomotives were built in USSR by Kharkov Locomotive Works. Gas turbine-electric locomotives, use a gas turbine to drive an electrical generator or alternator which produced electric current powers the traction motor which drive the wheels. In 1939 the Swiss Federal Railways ordered Am 4/6, a GTEL with a of maximum engine power from Brown Boveri. It was completed in 1941, and then underwent testing before entering regular service. The Am 4/6 was the first gas turbine – electric locomotive. British Rail 18000 was built by Brown Boveri and delivered in 1949. British Rail 18100 was built by Metropolitan-Vickers and delivered in 1951. A third locomotive, the British Rail GT3, was constructed in 1961. Union Pacific Railroad ran a large fleet of turbine-powered freight locomotives starting in the 1950s. These were widely used on long-haul routes, and were cost-effective despite their poor fuel economy due to their use of "leftover" fuels from the petroleum industry. At their height the railroad estimated that they powered about 10% of Union Pacific's freight trains, a much wider use than any other example of this class. A gas turbine offers some advantages over a piston engine. There are few moving parts, decreasing the need for lubrication and potentially reducing maintenance costs, and the power-to-weight ratio is much higher. A turbine of a given power output is also physically smaller than an equally powerful piston engine, allowing a locomotive to be very powerful without being inordinately large. However, a turbine's power output and efficiency both drop dramatically with rotational speed, unlike a piston engine, which has a comparatively flat power curve. This makes GTEL systems useful primarily for long-distance high-speed runs. Additional problems with gas turbine-electric locomotives included that they were very noisy. Electric An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered only by electricity. Electricity is supplied to moving trains with a (nearly) continuous conductor running along the track that usually takes one of three forms: an overhead line, suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings; a third rail mounted at track level; or an onboard battery. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the running rails as the return conductor but some systems use a separate fourth rail for this purpose. The type of electrical power used is either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). Various collection methods exist: a trolley pole, which is a long flexible pole that engages the line with a wheel or shoe; a bow collector, which is a frame that holds a long collecting rod against the wire; a pantograph, which is a hinged frame that holds the collecting shoes against the wire in a fixed geometry; or a contact shoe, which is a shoe in contact with the third rail. Of the three, the pantograph method is best suited for high-speed operation. Electric locomotives almost universally use axle-hung traction motors, with one motor for each powered axle. In this arrangement, one side of the motor housing is supported by plain bearings riding on a ground and polished journal that is integral to the axle. The other side of the housing has a tongue-shaped protuberance that engages a matching slot in the truck (bogie) bolster, its purpose being to act as a torque reaction device, as well as a support. Power transfer from motor to axle is effected by spur gearing, in which a pinion on the motor shaft engages a bull gear on the axle. Both gears are enclosed in a liquid-tight housing containing lubricating oil. The type of service in which the locomotive is used dictates the gear ratio employed. Numerically high ratios are commonly found on freight units, whereas numerically low ratios are typical of passenger engines. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network and distributed to the trains. Some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own distribution lines, switches and transformers. Electric locomotives usually cost 20% less than diesel locomotives, their maintenance costs are 25–35% lower, and cost up to 50% less to run. Direct current The earliest systems were DC systems. The first electric passenger train was presented by Werner von Siemens at Berlin in 1879. The locomotive was driven by a 2.2 kW, series-wound motor, and the train, consisting of the locomotive and three cars, reached a speed of 13 km/h. During four months, the train carried 90,000 passengers on a 300-metre-long (984 feet) circular track. The electricity (150 V DC) was supplied through a third insulated rail between the tracks. A contact roller was used to collect the electricity. The world's first electric tram line opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens (see Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway and Berlin Straßenbahn). The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton, and is the oldest surviving electric railway. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It was the first in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway, using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague. The first electrically worked underground line was the City and South London Railway, prompted by a clause in its enabling act prohibiting use of steam power. It opened in 1890, using electric locomotives built by Mather & Platt. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile stretch of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting the main portion of the B&O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Three Bo+Bo units were initially used, at the south end of the electrified section; they coupled onto the locomotive and train and pulled it through the tunnels. DC was used on earlier systems. These systems were gradually replaced by AC. Today, almost all main-line railways use AC systems. DC systems are confined mostly to urban transit such as metro systems, light rail and trams, where power requirement is less. Alternating current The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown, then working for Oerlikon, Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC, between a hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km. Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam-electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator, were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than the DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies: they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Evian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed the rotary phase converter, enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high voltage national networks. In 1896, Oerlikon installed the first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway. Each 30-tonne locomotive had two motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at constant speed and provide regenerative braking, and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri) in 1899 on the 40 km Burgdorf—Thun line, Switzerland. The first implementation of industrial frequency single-phase AC supply for locomotives came from Oerlikon in 1901, using the designs of Hans Behn-Eschenburg and Emil Huber-Stockar; installation on the Seebach-Wettingen line of the Swiss Federal Railways was completed in 1904. The 15 kV, 50 Hz , 48 tonne locomotives used transformers and rotary converters to power DC traction motors. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than just a short stretch. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. The voltage was significantly higher than used earlier and it required new designs for electric motors and switching devices. The three-phase two-wire system was used on several railways in Northern Italy and became known as "the Italian system". Kandó was invited in 1905 to undertake the management of Società Italiana Westinghouse and led the development of several Italian electric locomotives. Battery-electric A battery-electric locomotive (or battery locomotive) is an electric locomotive powered by on-board batteries; a kind of battery electric vehicle. Such locomotives are used where a conventional diesel or electric locomotive would be unsuitable. An example is maintenance trains on electrified lines when the electricity supply is turned off. Another use is in industrial facilities where a combustion-powered locomotive (i.e., steam- or diesel-powered) could cause a safety issue due to the risks of fire, explosion or fumes in a confined space. Battery locomotives are preferred for mines where gas could be ignited by trolley-powered units arcing at the collection shoes, or where electrical resistance could develop in the supply or return circuits, especially at rail joints, and allow dangerous current leakage into the ground. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Davidson later built a larger locomotive named Galvani, exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors, with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators. It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of . It was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. Another example was at the Kennecott Copper Mine, Latouche, Alaska, where in 1917 the underground haulage ways were widened to enable working by two battery locomotives of tons. In 1928, Kennecott Copper ordered four 700-series electric locomotives with on-board batteries. These locomotives weighed 85 tons and operated on 750-volt overhead trolley wire with considerable further range whilst running on batteries. The locomotives provided several decades of service using Nickel–iron battery (Edison) technology. The batteries were replaced with lead-acid batteries, and the locomotives were retired shortly afterward. All four locomotives were donated to museums, but one was scrapped. The others can be seen at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad, Iowa, and at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California. The Toronto Transit Commission previously operated a battery electric locomotive built by Nippon Sharyo in 1968 and retired in 2009. London Underground regularly operates battery-electric locomotives for general maintenance work. In the 1960s, development of very high-speed service brought further electrification. The Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV were the first systems for which devoted high-speed lines were built from scratch. Similar programs were undertaken in Italy, Germany and Spain; and many countries around the world. Railway electrification has constantly increased in the past decades, and as of 2012, electrified tracks account for nearly one third of total tracks globally. In comparison to the principal alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions and lower operating costs. Electric locomotives are also usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and reliable than diesels. They have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Some electric traction systems provide regenerative braking that turns the train's kinetic energy back into electricity and returns it to the supply system to be used by other trains or the general utility grid. While diesel locomotives burn petroleum, electricity can be generated from diverse sources including renewable energy. Other types Fireless Diesel-steam Steam-diesel hybrid locomotives can use steam generated from a boiler or diesel to power a piston engine. The Cristiani Compressed Steam System used a diesel engine to power a compressor to drive and recirculate steam produced by a boiler; effectively using steam as the power transmission medium, with the diesel engine being the prime mover In the 1940s, diesel locomotives began to displace steam power on American railroads. Following the end of World War II, diesel power began to appear on railroads in many countries. The significantly better economics of diesel operation triggered a dash to diesel power, a process known as Dieselisation. By the late 1990s, only heritage railways continued to operate steam locomotives in most countries. Diesel locomotives require considerably less maintenance than steam, with a corresponding reduction in the number of personnel needed to keep the fleet in service. The best steam locomotives spent an average of three to five days per month in the shop for routine maintenance and running repairs. Heavy overhauls were frequent, often involving removal of the boiler from the frame for major repairs. In contrast, a typical diesel locomotive requires no more than eight to ten hours of maintenance per month (maintenance intervals are 92 days or 184 days, depending upon a locomotive's age), and may run for decades between major overhauls. Diesel units do not pollute as much as steam trains; modern units produce low levels of exhaust emissions. Atomic-electric In the early 1950s, Dr. Lyle Borst of the University of Utah was given funding by various US railroad line and manufacturers to study the feasibility of an electric-drive locomotive, in which an onboard atomic reactor produced the steam to generate the electricity. At that time, atomic power was not fully understood; Borst believed the major stumbling block was the price of uranium. With the Borst atomic locomotive, the center section would have a 200-ton reactor chamber and steel walls 5 feet thick to prevent releases of radioactivity in case of accidents. He estimated a cost to manufacture atomic locomotives with 7000 h.p. engines at approximately $1,200,000 each. Consequently, trains with onboard nuclear generators were generally deemed unfeasible due to prohibitive costs. Fuel cell-electric In 2002, the first 3.6 tonne, 17 kW hydrogen (fuel cell) -powered mining locomotive was demonstrated in Val-d'Or, Quebec. In 2007 the educational mini-hydrail in Kaohsiung, Taiwan went into service. The Railpower GG20B finally is another example of a fuel cell-electric locomotive. Hybrid locomotives There are many different types of hybrid or dual-mode locomotives using two or more types of motive power. The most common hybrids are electro-diesel locomotives powered either from an electricity supply or else by an onboard diesel engine. These are used to provide continuous journeys along routes that are only partly electrified. Examples include the EMD FL9 and Bombardier ALP-45DP Use There are three main uses of locomotives in rail transport operations: for hauling passenger trains, freight trains, and for switching (UK English: shunting). Freight locomotives are normally designed to deliver high starting tractive effort and high sustained power. This allows them to start and move long, heavy trains, but usually comes at the cost of relatively low maximum speeds. Passenger locomotives usually develop lower starting tractive effort but are able to operate at the high speeds required to maintain passenger schedules. Mixed-traffic locomotives (US English: general purpose or road switcher locomotives) meant for both passenger and freight trains do not develop as much starting tractive effort as a freight locomotive but are able to haul heavier trains than a passenger engine. Most steam locomotives have reciprocating engines, with pistons coupled to the driving wheels by means of connecting rods, with no intervening gearbox. This means the combination of starting tractive effort and maximum speed is greatly influenced by the diameter of the driving wheels. Steam locomotives intended for freight service generally have smaller diameter driving wheels than passenger locomotives. In diesel-electric and electric locomotives the control system between the traction motors and axles adapts the power output to the rails for freight or passenger service. Passenger locomotives may include other features, such as head-end power (also referred to as hotel power or electric train supply) or a steam generator. Some locomotives are designed specifically to work steep grade railways, and feature extensive additional braking mechanisms and sometimes rack and pinion. Steam locomotives built for steep rack and pinion railways frequently have the boiler tilted relative to the locomotive frame, so that the boiler remains roughly level on steep grades. Locomotives are also used on some High-speed trains: All TGV, many AVE, some KTX and the now-retired ICE 2 and ICE 1 trains all use locomotives, which may also be known as power cars. Using power cars easily allows for a high ride quality and less electrical equipment, but when compared with electric multiple units, they also offer lower acceleration and higher axle weights (for the power cars) The KTX-II and ICE 1 use a mixture of electric multiple units and power cars. Operational role Locomotives occasionally work in a specific role, such as: Train engine is the technical name for a locomotive attached to the front of a railway train to haul that train. Alternatively, where facilities exist for push-pull operation, the train engine might be attached to the rear of the train; Pilot engine – a locomotive attached in front of the train engine, to enable double-heading; Banking engine – a locomotive temporarily assisting a train from the rear, due to a difficult start or a sharp incline gradient; Light engine – a locomotive operating without a train behind it, for relocation or operational reasons. Occasionally, a light engine is referred to as a train in and of itself. Station pilot – a locomotive used to shunt passenger trains at a railway station. Wheel arrangement The wheel arrangement of a locomotive describes how many wheels it has; common methods include the AAR wheel arrangement, UIC classification, and Whyte notation systems. Remote control locomotives In the second half of the twentieth century remote control locomotives started to enter service in switching operations, being remotely controlled by an operator outside of the locomotive cab. The main benefit is one operator can control the loading of grain, coal, gravel, etc. into the cars. In addition, the same operator can move the train as needed. Thus, the locomotive is loaded or unloaded in about a third of the time. See also Notes References Bibliography External links An engineer's guide from 1891 Locomotive cutaways and historical locomotives of several countries ordered by dates Pickzone Locomotive Model International Steam Locomotives Turning a Locomotive into a Stationary Engine, Popular Science monthly, February 1919, page 72, Scanned by Google Books: Popular Science 19th-century inventions	[ 0.016379816457629204, 0.12965042889118195, 0.03941144794225693, 0.473248690366745, -0.1510019153356552, 0.033493414521217346, 0.5332559943199158, 0.019991595298051834, -0.2804093658924103, -0.24673429131507874, -0.3460649847984314, 0.35087427496910095, 0.05980252847075462, 0.96396642923355...
17719	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars%20Magnus%20Ericsson	Lars Magnus Ericsson	Lars Magnus Ericsson (; 5 May 1846 – 17 December 1926) was a Swedish inventor, entrepreneur and founder of telephone equipment manufacturer Ericsson (incorporated as Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson). Lars Magnus was born in Värmskog, Värmland, and grew up in the small village of Vegerbol located between Karlstad and Arvika. At the age of 12, Ericsson's father died forcing him to seek work as a miner. He worked until he had enough money to leave the village and move to Stockholm in 1867. He then worked for six years for an instrument maker named Öllers & Co. who mainly created telegraph equipment. Because of his skills, he was given two state scholarships to study instrument making abroad between 1872 and 1875. One of the companies he worked at was Siemens & Halske. Upon his return to Sweden in 1876, he founded a small mechanical workshop together with his friend Carl Johan Andersson who had also worked at Öllers & Co.. This workshop was actually a former kitchen of some 13 m2 situated at Drottninggatan 15 in the most central part of Stockholm. Here, he started a telephone company by analyzing Bell company and Siemens telephones and creating his own copies in their image. It was not until they started cooperating with Henrik Tore Cedergren in 1883 that the company would start to grow into the Ericsson corporation. In the year 1900 Lars Magnus retired from Ericsson at the age of 54. He kept his shares in the company until 1905 and then sold them all. He is said to have been a demanding person, and disliked any direct publicity about his personality and did not wish to be idolized. He was, however, deeply respected by his employees. He was always a skeptic and cautious in business. He was also somewhat opposed to patents, as many of the products he made would not have been possible to do if the patent legislation had been overly effective. When his phones were copied by Norwegian companies he did not care, as his phones had in turn been largely copied from Siemens. He initially did not believe in a mass market for telephones, and saw it as a toy for the leisure class. After his death in 1926, he was buried at Hågelby gård in Botkyrka. At his explicit request, there is no headstone marking his grave. See also Simone Giertz References 1846 births 1926 deaths People from Grums Municipality 19th-century Swedish inventors Swedish miners Ericsson people 19th-century Swedish businesspeople	[ 0.25854215025901794, 0.17339487373828888, 0.556751012802124, 0.3012253940105438, -0.15259388089179993, 0.5101901292800903, 0.10366261005401611, -0.42764824628829956, -0.7068995237350464, 0.37974661588668823, -0.3598293662071228, 0.20217378437519073, -0.5857194662094116, 0.25698143243789673...
17721	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysator	Lysator	Lysator is an academic computer club at Linköping University, Sweden with almost 600 members. It is an independent non-profit society, separate from the students' union and the faculties of the university. History Lysator was founded on 29 March 1973. The first computer used at Lysator was a Datasaab D21, delivered to Lysator on 25 May 1973. Later in the decade, members of Lysator developed and initially built a microcomputer, the LYS-16, which was advanced for its time due to its 16-bit word size. In February 1993, Lysator put up the first web server in Sweden, among the first 10–15 in the world. On 30 July 2010, Lysator began migrating to a new 3U home rack, increasing their available storage space from 700GB to 13TB. Projects hosted by Lysator Lysator has been a starting ground for many notable projects, some of which have since become independent from the club: Project Runeberg LysKOM Elfwood SvenskMud NannyMUD Sprite Animation Toolkit Pike (programming language) See also History of the Internet in Sweden References External links Homepage of Lysator History of Lysator Linköping University MUD organizations Student organizations established in 1973 Computer clubs in Sweden	[ 0.5164667963981628, 0.17026560008525848, -0.059236958622932434, -0.06419353187084198, 0.19606459140777588, 0.3643161654472351, 0.09197244048118591, 0.26626312732696533, -0.27281326055526733, -0.16050012409687042, -0.6033548712730408, -0.32666319608688354, -0.4232475757598877, -0.1540399044...
17722	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin%20hip%20hop	Latin hip hop	Latin hip hop or Latin rap is hip hop music recorded by Latin American artists in the United States and Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Spain. Latino hip hop in the United States Latin rap In the late 1980s and early 1990s, most Latin rap came from New York and the West Coast of the United States. Due to migration in the 60's and 70's, the birth of Hip Hop involved Latinos from the Caribbean Islands. The first country to welcome Hip Hop outside the U.S. was Puerto Rico. Among the first rappers from the island were TNT, Brewley MC and Vico C. Later Generations saw talented emcees and groups emerge all over the island, some under DJ's, others on their own. Among them Big Boy, Las Guanabanas Podridas, Ivy Queen, Mexicano, Chezina, Lito y Polaco, Tempo, Daddy Yankee, Eddie Dee, Maestro,Garcia y Rivera, Gunzmoke, Triple Beam Team, Vagabundo, El Sindicato, Ciencia Ficcion, Vanguardia, 65 Infanteria, La Familia, MC Moña y Loccator, AIZ 731, among others. It is important to mention artist like Mellow Man Ace, who was the first Latino artist to have a major bilingual single attached to his 1989 debut. Mellow Man, referred to as the "Godfather of Latin rap" and a Hip Hop Hall of Fame inductee, since he helped bring mainstream attention to Spanglish rhyming with his 1989 platinum single "Mentirosa". In 1990, fellow West Coast artist Kid Frost further brought Latinos to the rap forefront with his hit song "La Raza (song)." In 1991, Kid Frost, Mellow Man, A.L.T. and several other Latin rappers formed the rap super group Latin Alliance and released a self-titled album which featured the hit "Lowrider (On the Boulevard)". A.L.T. also scored a hit later that year with his remake of the song Tequila. Cypress Hill, of which Mellow Man Ace was a member before going solo, would become the first Latino rap group to reach platinum status in 1991. The group has since continued to release other Gold and Platinum albums. Ecuadorian born rapper Gerardo received heavy rotation on video and radio for his single "Rico, Suave". While commercially watered-down, his album enjoyed a status of being one of the first mainstream Spanglish CDs on the market. Johnny J was a multi-platinum songwriter, music producer, and rapper who was perhaps best known for his production on Tupac Shakur's albums All Eyez on Me and Me Against the World. He also produced the 1990 single Knockin' Boots for his classmate Candyman's album Ain't No Shame in My Game, which eventually went platinum thanks to the single. In the mid-90's, the success of LA's Cypress Hill led to additional Latin hip-hop artists finding label support. Delinquent Habits were a horn-sampling trio that found MTV support for their breakout bilingual single "Tres Delinquentes" in 1996. By the early 2000's, two Mexico-born, United States-raised Latin hip hop acts found success on major labels. LA's Akwid fused banda with hip-hop on hits like "No Hay Manera" while Milwaukee's Kinto Sol told tales of Mexican immigrant life over more minimalist beats. The genre even spawned a bicultural novelty, the Brooklyn-based crew Hip Hop Hoodíos, who fused their dual Jewish and Latino cultures on songs like "Havana Nagila" and "Raza Hoodía." 2012 and 2013 marked the rise of teen rappers such as Earl Sweatshirt and a corresponding rise by teen Latino rappers. In Texas, a group called Sur Lado Entertainment from the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border with Mexico began producing ethnically unique hip hop tracks. Their single "Un Million De Palmas" focuses on Hispanic identity in America. Latin rap in the East Coast and Miami DJ Charlie Chase fused hip-hop with salsa and other music genres. Chase was the DJ for the New York hip-hop group the Cold Crush Brothers, from 1978 and through the '80s. East Coast Latin artists such as the Beatnuts emerged in the early 1990s, with New Jersey native Chino XL earning recognition for his lyricism and equal controversy for his subject matter. In 1992, Mesanjarz of Funk, led by the Spanish/English flow of Mr. Pearl, became the first Spanish rap group signed to a major label (Atlantic Records). In 1994, Platinum Producer and DJ Frankie Cutlass used his own label, Hoody Records, to produce his single “Puerto Rico” which became a classic. In the late 1990s, Puerto Rican rapper Big Punisher became the first Latino solo artist to reach platinum sales for an LP with his debut album Capital Punishment, which included hit song "Still Not a Player". Southwest and Chicano rap Latin rap (as well as its subgenre of Chicano rap) has thrived along the West Coast, Southwest and Midwestern states with little promotion due to the large Latino populations of those regions. Jonny Z is considered to be a pioneer of Latin hip-hop, due to him being one of the first Latinos combining Spanglish lyrics with freestyle, salsa, mambo, and regional Mexican banda. He scored four Billboard Hot Dance singles between 1993 and 1997, including one of the greatest Miami bass songs of all time, "Shake Shake (Shake That Culo)". Besides bass music, he also recorded the Chicano anthem "Orale". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States Volume 2, Page 301 states: "A new style of Latina and Latino hip-hop was created in Miami and Texas by the bass rappers DJ Laz and Jonny Z, who mixed Latin styles with bass music". Latin hip hop in countries Latin rap in Puerto Rico has had a substantial impact on the genres (rap, and Latin rap) and relate a certain message to their respective audiences. Puerto Rican rap emerged as a form of cultural and social protest within the Puerto Rican context. This is similar to the way American and Jamaican youth used rap and reggae/dancehall as a means to communicate their feelings on social, cultural, and political issues. In essence, Puerto Rican rap became the voice of the Puerto Rican youth in which they use dancehall and rap music as methods of expression for the Jamaican and working-class American youth counterparts as they made it in France too since 2003 "1492 Army". In the late '90s, hip-hop took hold in Mexico, especially with the platinum success of Mexican rap pioneers Control Machete. The genre also found prominence with Latin alternative artists who fused hip-hop rhymes with live instrumentation, including rap-rockers Molotov and cumbia-rockers El Gran Silencio. There are many hip-hop scenes in Latin America, including a growing rap movement in Buenos Aires. Narco-rap A music scene, similar to the early underground gangsta-rap scene, has emerged in northeastern Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Coahuila), where the musical phenomenon of hip-hop is being co-opted by the influence of organized crime and the drug war in the region. Some of the main exponents of the genre are Cano y Blunt, DemenT and Big Los. Freestyle In the mid-2000s, freestyle music was initially called Latin hip hop. This dance music genre, not to be confused with improvised freestyle rapping, was dominated, at the time, by electro funk beats and electronic Latin melodic and percussion elements, over which Latino vocalists sang melodramatic pop vocals, usually in English even though it was started by Nuyorican natives and African Americans primarily. Freestyle has been primarily popular among Latinos in the New York City, Miami, Chicago and California club scenes, but achieved national mainstream pop success with hits by Lisa Lisa, the Cover Girls, George Lamond, Stevie B, TKA and Exposé, among others. Latin trap In 2015, a new movement of trap music referred to as "Latin trap" began to emerge. Also known as Spanish-language trap, Latin trap similar to mainstream trap which details "'la calle,' or the streets — hustling, sex, and drugs". Prominent artists of Latin trap include Messiah, Fuego, Anuel AA and Bad Bunny. In July 2017, The Fader wrote "Rappers and reggaetoneros from Puerto Rico to Colombia have taken elements of trap — the lurching bass lines, jittering 808s and the eyes-half-closed vibe — and infused them into banger after banger." In an August 2017 article for Billboard's series, "A Brief History Of," they enlisted some of the key artists of Latin trap—including Ozuna, De La Ghetto, Bad Bunny, Farruko and Messiah—to narrate a brief history on the genre. Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noted "[Jorge] Fonseca featured Puerto Rican artists like Anuel AA, Bryant Myers and Noriel on the compilation Trap Capos: Season 1, which became the first "Latin trap" LP to reach Number One on Billboard's Latin Rhythm Albums chart." A remixed version of Cardi B's hit single "Bodak Yellow" (which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart), dubbed the "Latin Trap Remix", was officially released on August 18, 2017 and features Cardi B rapping in the Spanish language with Dominican hip hop recording artist Messiah contributing a guest verse. In November 2017, Rolling Stone wrote that "a surging Latin trap sound is responding to more recent developments in American rap, embracing the slow-rolling rhythms and gooey vocal delivery popularized by Southern hip-hop." See also Avanzada Regia Brazilian hip hop Chicano rap Cuban hip hop Dominican hip hop Merenrap Mexican hip hop Nuyorican rap Salvadoran hip hop Spanish hip hop References External links LatinRapper.com—Source for Latin rap news and interviews BrownPride.com at BrownPride.com—a collection of texts and links about Latin rap American hip hop genres Urbano music genres Hispanic American music Hip hop	[ 0.47173357009887695, -0.015982983633875847, -0.4326299726963043, 0.2557079493999481, -0.023018134757876396, 0.16794098913669586, -0.062019504606723785, 0.8753195405006409, -0.3663697838783264, 0.1176207959651947, -0.08450442552566528, 0.3986470699310303, -0.36185508966445923, -0.1093516871...
17724	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse%20of%20Alexandria	Lighthouse of Alexandria	The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (280–247 BC). It has been estimated to have been at least in overall height. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for many centuries it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world. The lighthouse was severely damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323 AD and became an abandoned ruin. It was the third-longest surviving ancient wonder (after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the extant Great Pyramid of Giza), surviving in part until 1480, when the last of its remnant stones were used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site. In 1994, a team of French archaeologists dove into the water of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour and discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the sea floor. In 2016 the Ministry of State of Antiquities in Egypt had plans to turn submerged ruins of ancient Alexandria, including those of the Pharos, into an underwater museum. Origin Pharos was a small island located on the western edge of the Nile Delta. In 332 BC Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria on an isthmus opposite Pharos. Alexandria and Pharos were later connected by a mole spanning more than , which was called the Heptastadion ("seven stadia"—a stadion was a Greek unit of length measuring approximately 180 m). The etymology of “Pharos” is uncertain, but may derive from "pharaoh", which originally meant "big house". The word became generalized in modern Greek (φάρος ‘fáros’), and was loaned into Spanish (‘faro’). The east side of the mole became the Great Harbour, now an open bay; on the west side lay the port of Eunostos, with its inner basin Kibotos now vastly enlarged to form the modern harbour. Today's city development lying between the present Grand Square and the modern Ras el-Tin quarter is built on the silt which gradually widened and obliterated this mole. The Ras el-Tin promontory, where Ras el-Tin Palace was built in the 19th century, represents all that is left of the island of Pharos, the site of the lighthouse at its eastern point having been weathered away by the sea. Construction The lighthouse was constructed in the third century BC. After Alexander the Great died, the first Ptolemy (Ptolemy I Soter) declared himself king in 305 BC, and commissioned its construction shortly thereafter. The building was finished during the reign of his son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and took twelve years to complete at a total cost of 800 talents of silver. The light was produced by a furnace at the top, and the tower was said to have been built mostly with solid blocks of limestone and granite. In his encyclopedic manuscript Geographica, Strabo, who visited Alexandria in the late first century BC, reported that Sostratus of Cnidus had a dedication to the "Saviour Gods" inscribed in metal letters on the lighthouse. Writing in the first century AD, Pliny the Elder stated in his Natural History that Sostratus was the architect, although this conclusion is disputed. In his second century AD educational treatise How to Write History, Lucian claimed that Sostratus hid his name under plaster which bore the name of Ptolemy, so that when the plaster eventually fell off, Sostratus's name would be visible in the stone. The blocks of sandstone and limestone used in the construction of the lighthouse have been scientifically analysed in order to discover where they originated, with mineralogical and chemical analysis pointing to the Wadi Hammamat quarries, which are located in the desert to the east of Alexandria. Height and description Arab descriptions of the lighthouse are consistent despite it undergoing several repairs after earthquake damage. Given heights vary only fifteen percent from , on a square base. The Arab authors indicate that the lighthouse was constructed from large blocks of light-coloured stone. The tower was made up of three tapering tiers: a lower square section with a central core; a middle octagonal section; and, at the top, a circular section. Al-Masudi wrote in the 10th century that the seaward-facing side featured an inscription dedicated to Zeus. Geographer Al-Idrisi visited the lighthouse in 1154 and noted openings in the walls throughout the rectangular shaft with lead used as a filling agent in between the masonry blocks at the base. He reckoned the total height of the lighthouse to be 300 dhira rashashl (162 m). At its apex was a mirror which reflected sunlight during the day; a fire was lit at night. Extant Roman coins struck by the Alexandrian mint show that a statue of Triton was positioned on each of the building's four corners, and a statue of Poseidon or Zeus stood atop. The fullest description of the lighthouse comes from Arab traveler Abou Haggag Youssef Ibn Mohammed el-Balawi el-Andaloussi, who visited Alexandria in 1166 AD. Balawi provided description and measurement of the interior of the lighthouse's rectangular shaft. The inner ramp was described as roofed with masonry at 7 shibr (189 cm, 6.2 ft) noted as to allow two horsemen to pass at once. In clockwise rotation, the ramp held four stories with eighteen, fourteen, and seventeen rooms on the second, third, and fourth floors, respectively. Balawi accounted the base of the lighthouse to be 45 ba (30 m, 100 ft) long on each side with connecting ramp 600 dhira (300 m, 984 ft) long by 20 dhira (10 m, 32 ft) wide. The octangle section is accounted at 24 ba (16.4 m, 54 ft) in width, and the diameter of the cylindrical section is accounted at 12.73 ba (8.7 m, 28.5 ft). The apex of the lighthouse's oratory was measured with diameter 6.4 ba (4.3 m 20.9 ft). Late accounts of the lighthouse after the destruction by the 1303 Crete earthquake include Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan scholar and explorer, who passed through Alexandria in 1326 and 1349. Battuta noted that the wrecked condition of the lighthouse was then only noticeable by the rectangle tower and entrance ramp. He stated the tower to be 140 shibr (30.8 m, 101 ft) on either side. Battuta detailed Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad's plan to build a new lighthouse near the site of the collapsed one, but these went unfulfilled after the Sultan's death in 1341. Destruction The lighthouse was partially cracked and damaged by earthquakes in 796 and 951, followed by structural collapse in the earthquake of 956, and then again in 1303 and 1323. Earthquakes propagate from two well known tectonic boundaries, the African–Arabian and Red Sea Rift zones, respectively 350 and 520 km from the lighthouse's location. Documentation shows the 956 earthquake to be the first to cause structural collapse of the top 20+ metres of the construction. Documented repairs after the 956 earthquake include the installment of an Islamic-style dome after the collapse of the statue that previously topped the monument. The most destructive earthquake in 1303 was an estimated intensity of VIII+ originating from the Greek island of Crete (280–350 km from Alexandria). Finally, the stubby remnant disappeared in 1480, when the then-Sultan of Egypt, Qaitbay, built a medieval fort on the larger platform of the lighthouse site using some of the fallen stone. The 10th-century writer al-Mas'udi reports a legendary tale on the lighthouse's destruction, according to which at the time of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan () the Byzantines sent a eunuch agent, who adopted Islam, gained the Caliph's confidence and secured permission to search for hidden treasure at the base of the lighthouse. The search was cunningly made in such a manner that the foundations were undermined, and the Pharos collapsed. The agent managed to escape in a ship waiting for him. Archaeological research and rediscovery Gaston Jondet made in 1916 the first detailed description of the submerged ruins of the old port of Alexandria. He was followed by Raymond Weill in the same year, and by Sir Leopold Halliday Savile in 1940. In 1968, the lighthouse was rediscovered. UNESCO sponsored an expedition to send a team of marine archaeologists, led by Honor Frost, to the site. She confirmed the existence of ruins representing part of the lighthouse. Due to the lack of specialized archaeologists and the area becoming a military zone, exploration was put on hold. A team of French archaeologists led by Jean-Yves Empereur re-discovered the physical remains of the lighthouse in late 1994 on the floor of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour. He worked with cinematographer Asma el-Bakri who used a 35 mm camera to capture the first underwater pictures of the scattered remains of collapsed columns and statues. Empereur's most significant findings consisted of blocks of granite 49–60 tonnes in mass often broken into multiple pieces, 30 sphinxes, 5 obelisks and columns with carvings dating back to Ramses II (1279–1213 BC). The cataloging of over 3,300 pieces was completed by Empereur and his team at the end of 1995 using a combination of photography and mapping. Thirty-six pieces of Empereur's granite blocks and other discoveries have been restored and are currently on display in Alexandria museums. Subsequent satellite imaging has revealed further remains. In the early 1990s, the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio began exploration at the opposite side of the harbor from where Empereur's team had worked. Subsequent satellite and sonar imaging has revealed the additional remains of wharves, houses and temples which had all fallen into the Mediterranean sea as a result of earthquakes and other natural disasters. It is possible to go diving and see the ruins. The secretariat of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is currently working with the Government of Egypt on an initiative to add the Bay of Alexandria (including the remains of the lighthouse) to a World Heritage List of submerged cultural sites. Significance Legend has it that the people of the island of Pharos were wreckers; hence, Ptolemy I Soter had the lighthouse built to help guide ships into port at night. Pharos became the etymological origin of the word "lighthouse" in Greek (φάρος), many Romance languages such as French (phare), Italian and Spanish (faro), Catalan, Romanian (far) and Portuguese (farol), and even some Slavic languages like Bulgarian (far). In French, Portuguese, Turkish, Serbian and Russian, a derived word means "headlight" (phare, farol, far, фар, фара). Proposed reconstruction Since 1978 a number of proposals have been made to replace the lighthouse with a modern reconstruction. In 2015, the Egyptian government and the Alexandria governorate suggested building a skyscraper on the site of the lighthouse as part of the regeneration of the eastern harbour of Alexandria Port. Pharos in culture The lighthouse remains a civic symbol of the city of Alexandria and of the Alexandria Governorate with which the city is more or less coterminous. A stylised representation of the lighthouse appears on the flag and seal of the Governorate and on many public services of the city, including the seal of Alexandria University. In architecture The Sheraton Hotel in Batumi (Georgia) is modeled on the Alexandria lighthouse. A well-preserved ancient tomb in the town of Abusir, southwest of Alexandria, is thought to be a scaled-down model of the Alexandria Pharos. Known colloquially under various names – the Pharos of Abusir, the Abusir funerary monument and Burg al-Arab (Arab's Tower) – it consists of a 3-storey tower, approximately in height, with a square base, an octagonal midsection and cylindrical upper section, like the building upon which it was apparently modelled. It dates to the reign of Ptolemy II (285–246 BC), and is therefore likely to have been built at about the same time as the Alexandria Pharos. The design of minarets in many early Egyptian Islamic mosques followed a three-stage design similar to that of the Pharos, attesting to the building's broader architectural influence. The George Washington Masonic National Memorial, located in Alexandria, Virginia, is fashioned after the ancient Lighthouse. A fictionalized version of the structure – known as the "Pharos Lighthouse" – serves as the park icon, centerpiece, and identifier of Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park, opened in 1999 at the Universal Orlando Resort. The real, functioning lighthouse resides in the park's Port of Entry area, recalling a literary, seaside explorers' marketplace of global architectural elements real, ancient, and imagined. In literature Julius Caesar, in his Civil Wars (Part III, 111–112), describes the Pharos and its strategic importance. Gaining control of the lighthouse helped him subdue Ptolemy XIII's armies (48 BC): The Romano-Jewish historian Josephus (37 – c. 100 AD) describes it in his book The Jewish War (4.10.5) when he gives a geographical overview of Egypt. It was described in the Zhu fan zhi ("Records of Foreign Peoples") by Zhao Rugua (1170–1228), a Chinese customs inspector for the southern port city of Quanzhou during the Song dynasty. Ibn Battuta visited the lighthouse in 1326, finding "one of its faces in ruins," yet he could enter and noted a place for the guardian of the lighthouse to sit and many other chambers. When he returned in 1349, he "found that it had fallen into so ruinous a condition that it was impossible to enter it or to climb up to the doorway." In Robert Silverberg's science fiction novella Sailing to Byzantium (1985), a culture of the far future recreates ancient cities, full with every detail, among them Alexandria; several episodes of Silverberg's story take place on the rebuilt Pharos. In video games In the 1991 computer game Civilization, the Great Lighthouse is one of the Wonders of the World that can be built, giving a bonus to ship movement. It appears again in all the later installments of the series. In the city building strategy games Pharaoh: Cleopatra (2000) and Children of the Nile (2004), it can be built as a monument. In the 2013 strategy game Total War: Rome II, the lighthouse is featured as a wonder, where it gives a minor boost to the faction occupying Alexandria. The lighthouse features in the action-adventure video game Assassins Creed Origins. The game is set in Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period (48 BC). Ubisoft Montreal's research on Ancient Egypt was done with the help of French archaeologist and Egyptologist Jean-Claude Golvin. In the city simulation game SimCity 3000, the lighthouse can be built as a landmark. In the web-based game Forge of Empires, the Lighthouse of Alexandria is available as a "Great Building". In the strategy game Humankind the 'Lighthouse of Alexandria' is buildable and provides benefits including stability, fame and increased vision range and movement for naval units. In the Paradox Interactive games Crusader Kings II and Imperator Rome, the Pharos Lighthouse is present in Alexandria, and gives various benefits to the owner of the city. As well, in both games, additional lighthouses inspired by the Pharos Lighthouse can be built for further bonuses. In film and television In the 2021 TV series Loki, a version of the Lighthouse can be seen in the fifth episode, Journey into Mystery, appearing in the Void alongside several other structures and artefacts that had been removed from alternate timelines by the Time Variance Authority. It is based on Hermann Thiersch's 1909 drawing. In vexillology See also Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse in Spain Minar (Firuzabad) References Notes Bibliography Further reading Harris, William V., and Giovanni Ruffini. 2004. Ancient Alexandria Between Egypt and Greece. Leiden: Brill. Jordan, Paul. 2002. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Harlow: Longman. Polyzōidēs, Apostolos. 2014. Alexandria: City of Gifts and Sorrows: From Hellenistic Civilization to Multiethnic Metropolis. Chicago: Sussex Academic Press, 2014. Thompson, Alice. 2002. Pharos. London: Virago. Tkaczow, Barbara, and Iwona Zych. 1993. The Topography of Ancient Alexandria: An Archaeological Map. Warszawa: Zaklad Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej, Polskiej Akadmii Nauk. External links World History Encyclopedia – Lighthouse of Alexandria Description of Alexandria and the Pharos in the Zhu fan zhi A frightening vision: on plans to rebuild the Alexandria Lighthouse PBS Nova program about the recovery of artifacts from the site Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century BC Buildings and structures demolished in the 14th century 1968 archaeological discoveries Buildings and structures in Alexandria Demolished buildings and structures in Egypt Hellenistic architecture Lighthouses completed in the 2nd century Alexandria Ptolemaic Alexandria Transport in Alexandria Former towers Seven Wonders of the Ancient World	[ 0.09829473495483398, 0.31653285026550293, -0.0508376881480217, -0.10384076088666916, 0.26181504130363464, 0.6654077172279358, 0.05441756546497345, -0.1019170954823494, -0.662091076374054, -0.17909806966781616, 0.1908932626247406, 0.045748546719551086, -0.8435389399528503, 0.354403376579284...
17725	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse	Lighthouse	A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, rocks, and safe entries to harbors; they also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and has become uneconomical since the advent of much cheaper, more sophisticated and effective electronic navigational systems. History Ancient lighthouses Before the development of clearly defined ports, mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since elevating the fire would improve the visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as an entrance marker to ports than as a warning signal for reefs and promontories, unlike many modern lighthouses. The most famous lighthouse structure from antiquity was the Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt, which collapsed following a series of earthquakes between 956 CE and 1323 CE. The intact Tower of Hercules at A Coruña, Spain gives insight into ancient lighthouse construction; other evidence about lighthouses exists in depictions on coins and mosaics, of which many represent the lighthouse at Ostia. Coins from Alexandria, Ostia, and Laodicea in Syria also exist. Modern construction The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, as the number of lighthouses being constructed increased significantly due to much higher levels of transatlantic commerce. Advances in structural engineering and new and efficient lighting equipment allowed for the creation of larger and more powerful lighthouses, including ones exposed to the sea. The function of lighthouses was gradually changed from indicating ports to the providing of a visible warning against shipping hazards, such as rocks or reefs. The Eddystone Rocks were a major shipwreck hazard for mariners sailing through the English Channel. The first lighthouse built there was an octagonal wooden structure, anchored by 12 iron stanchions secured in the rock, and was built by Henry Winstanley from 1696 to 1698. His lighthouse was the first tower in the world to have been fully exposed to the open sea. The civil engineer John Smeaton rebuilt the lighthouse from 1756 to 1759; his tower marked a major step forward in the design of lighthouses and remained in use until 1877. He modeled the shape of his lighthouse on that of an oak tree, using granite blocks. He rediscovered and used "hydraulic lime", a form of concrete that will set under water used by the Romans, and developed a technique of securing the granite blocks together using dovetail joints and marble dowels. The dovetailing feature served to improve the structural stability, although Smeaton also had to taper the thickness of the tower towards the top, for which he curved the tower inwards on a gentle gradient. This profile had the added advantage of allowing some of the energy of the waves to dissipate on impact with the walls. His lighthouse was the prototype for the modern lighthouse and influenced all subsequent engineers. One such influence was Robert Stevenson, himself a seminal figure in the development of lighthouse design and construction. His greatest achievement was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse in 1810, one of the most impressive feats of engineering of the age. This structure was based upon Smeaton's design, but with several improved features, such as the incorporation of rotating lights, alternating between red and white. Stevenson worked for the Northern Lighthouse Board for nearly fifty years during which time he designed and oversaw the construction and later improvement of numerous lighthouses. He innovated in the choice of light sources, mountings, reflector design, the use of Fresnel lenses, and in rotation and shuttering systems providing lighthouses with individual signatures allowing them to be identified by seafarers. He also invented the movable jib and the balance-crane as a necessary part for lighthouse construction. Alexander Mitchell designed the first screw-pile lighthouse – his lighthouse was built on piles that were screwed into the sandy or muddy seabed. Construction of his design began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sands lighthouse, and first lit in 1841. Although its construction began later, the Wyre Light in Fleetwood, Lancashire, was the first to be lit (in 1840). Lighting improvements Until 1782 the source of illumination had generally been wood pyres or burning coal. The Argand lamp, invented in 1782 by the Swiss scientist Aimé Argand revolutionized lighthouse illumination with its steady smokeless flame. Early models used ground glass which was sometimes tinted around the wick. Later models used a mantle of thorium dioxide suspended over the flame, creating a bright, steady light. The Argand lamp used whale oil, colza, olive oil or other vegetable oil as fuel, supplied by a gravity feed from a reservoir mounted above the burner. The lamp was first produced by Matthew Boulton, in partnership with Argand, in 1784, and became the standard for lighthouses for over a century. South Foreland Lighthouse was the first tower to successfully use an electric light in 1875. The lighthouse's carbon arc lamps were powered by a steam-driven magneto. John Richardson Wigham was the first to develop a system for gas illumination of lighthouses. His improved gas 'crocus' burner at the Baily Lighthouse near Dublin was 13 times more powerful than the most brilliant light then known. The vaporized oil burner was invented in 1901 by Arthur Kitson, and improved by David Hood at Trinity House. The fuel was vaporized at high pressure and burned to heat the mantle, giving an output of over six times the luminosity of traditional oil lights. The use of gas as illuminant became widely available with the invention of the Dalén light by Swedish engineer Gustaf Dalén. He used Agamassan (Aga), a substrate, to absorb the gas, allowing the gas to be stored, and hence used, safely. Dalén also invented the 'sun valve', which automatically regulated the light and turned it off during the daytime. The technology was the predominant light source in lighthouses from the 1900s to the 1960s, when electric lighting had become dominant. Optical systems With the development of the steady illumination of the Argand lamp, the application of optical lenses to increase and focus the light intensity became a practical possibility. William Hutchinson developed the first practical optical system in 1763, known as a catoptric system. This rudimentary system effectively collimated the emitted light into a concentrated beam, thereby greatly increasing the light's visibility. The ability to focus the light led to the first revolving lighthouse beams, where the light would appear to the mariners as a series of intermittent flashes. It also became possible to transmit complex signals using the light flashes. French physicist and engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel developed the multi-part Fresnel lens for use in lighthouses. His design allowed for the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length, without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design. A Fresnel lens can be made much thinner than a comparable conventional lens, in some cases taking the form of a flat sheet. A Fresnel lens can also capture more oblique light from a light source, thus allowing the light from a lighthouse equipped with one to be visible over greater distances. The first Fresnel lens was used in 1823 in the Cordouan lighthouse at the mouth of the Gironde estuary; its light could be seen from more than out. Fresnel's invention increased the luminosity of the lighthouse lamp by a factor of four and his system is still in common use. Modern lighthouses The introduction of electrification and automatic lamp changers began to make lighthouse keepers obsolete. For many years, lighthouses still had keepers, partly because lighthouse keepers could serve as a rescue service if necessary. Improvements in maritime navigation and safety such as satellite navigation systems such as GPS led to the phasing out of non-automated lighthouses across the world. In Canada, this trend has been stopped and there are still 50 staffed light stations, with 27 on the west coast alone. Remaining modern lighthouses are usually illuminated by a single stationary flashing light powered by solar-charged batteries mounted on a steel skeleton tower. Where the power requirement is too great for solar power, cycle charging by diesel generator is used: to save fuel and to increase periods between maintenance the light is battery powered, with the generator only coming into use when the battery has to be charged. Famous lighthouse builders John Smeaton is noteworthy for having designed the third and most famous Eddystone Lighthouse, but some builders are well known for their work in building multiple lighthouses. The Stevenson family (Robert, Alan, David, Thomas, David Alan, and Charles) made lighthouse building a three-generation profession in Scotland. Richard Henry Brunton designed and built 26 Japanese lighthouses in Meiji Era Japan, which became known as Brunton's "children". Blind Irishman Alexander Mitchell invented and built a number of screw-pile lighthouses. Englishman James Douglass was knighted for his work on the fourth Eddystone Lighthouse. United States Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant George Meade built numerous lighthouses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts before gaining wider fame as the winning general at the Battle of Gettysburg. Colonel Orlando M. Poe, engineer to General William Tecumseh Sherman in the Siege of Atlanta, designed and built some of the most exotic lighthouses in the most difficult locations on the U.S. Great Lakes. French merchant navy officer Marius Michel Pasha built almost a hundred lighthouses along the coasts of the Ottoman Empire in a period of twenty years after the Crimean War (1853–1856). Technology In a lighthouse, the source of light is called the "lamp" (whether electric or fuelled by oil) and the light is concentrated, if needed, by the "lens" or "optic". Power sources for lighthouses in the 20th–21st centuries vary. Power Originally lit by open fires and later candles, the Argand hollow wick lamp and parabolic reflector were introduced in the late 18th century. Whale oil was also used with wicks as the source of light. Kerosene became popular in the 1870s and electricity and carbide (acetylene gas) began replacing kerosene around the turn of the 20th century. Carbide was promoted by the Dalén light which automatically lit the lamp at nightfall and extinguished it at dawn. During the Cold War, many remote Soviet lighthouses were powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). These had the advantage of providing power day or night and did not need refuelling or maintenance. However, after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, there are no official records of the locations or condition of all of these lighthouses. As time passes, their condition is degrading; many have fallen victim to vandalism and scrap metal thieves, who may not be aware of the dangerous radioactive contents. Energy-efficient LED lights can be powered by solar panels, with batteries instead of a diesel generator for backup. Light source Many Fresnel lens installations have been replaced by rotating aerobeacons which require less maintenance. In modern automated lighthouses, the system of rotating lenses is often replaced by a high intensity light that emits brief omnidirectional flashes, concentrating the light in time rather than direction. These lights are similar to obstruction lights used to warn aircraft of tall structures. Later innovations were "Vega Lights", and experiments with light-emitting diode (LED) panels. LED lights, which use less energy and are easier to maintain, had come into widespread use by 2020. In the United Kingdom and Ireland about a third of lighthouses had been converted from filament light sources to use LEDs, and conversion continued with about three per year. The light sources are designed to replicate the colour and character of the traditional light as closely as possible. The change is often not noticed by people in the region, but sometimes a proposed change leads to calls to preserve the traditional light, including in some cases a rotating beam. A typical LED system designed to fit into the traditional 19th century Fresnel lens enclosure was developed by Trinity House and two other lighthouse authorities and costs about €20,000, depending on configuration, according to a supplier; it has large fins to dissipate heat. Lifetime of the LED light source is 50,000 to 100,000 hours, compared to about 1,000 hours for a filament source. Laser light Experimental installations of laser lights, either at high power to provide a "line of light" in the sky or, utilising low power, aimed towards mariners have identified problems of increased complexity in installation and maintenance, and high power requirements. The first practical installation, in 1971 at Point Danger lighthouse, Queensland, was replaced by a conventional light after four years because the beam was too narrow to be seen easily. Light characteristics In any of these designs an observer, rather than seeing a continuous weak light, sees a brighter light during short time intervals. These instants of bright light are arranged to create a light characteristic or pattern specific to a lighthouse. For example, the Scheveningen Lighthouse flashes are alternately 2.5 and 7.5 seconds. Some lights have sectors of a particular color (usually formed by colored panes in the lantern) to distinguish safe water areas from dangerous shoals. Modern lighthouses often have unique reflectors or Racon transponders so the radar signature of the light is also unique. Lens Before modern strobe lights, lenses were used to concentrate the light from a continuous source. Vertical light rays of the lamp are redirected into a horizontal plane, and horizontally the light is focused into one or a few directions at a time, with the light beam swept around. As a result, in addition to seeing the side of the light beam, the light is directly visible from greater distances, and with an identifying light characteristic. This concentration of light is accomplished with a rotating lens assembly. In early lighthouses, the light source was a kerosene lamp or, earlier, an animal or vegetable oil Argand lamp, and the lenses rotated by a weight driven clockwork assembly wound by lighthouse keepers, sometimes as often as every two hours. The lens assembly sometimes floated in liquid mercury to reduce friction. In more modern lighthouses, electric lights and motor drives were used, generally powered by diesel electric generators. These also supplied electricity for the lighthouse keepers. Efficiently concentrating the light from a large omnidirectional light source requires a very large diameter lens. This would require a very thick and heavy lens if a conventional lens were used. The Fresnel lens (pronounced ) focused 85% of a lamp's light versus the 20% focused with the parabolic reflectors of the time. Its design enabled construction of lenses of large size and short focal length without the weight and volume of material in conventional lens designs. Fresnel lighthouse lenses are ranked by order, a measure of refracting power, with a first order lens being the largest, most powerful and expensive; and a sixth order lens being the smallest. The order is based on the focal length of the lens. A first order lens has the longest focal length, with the sixth being the shortest. Coastal lighthouses generally use first, second, or third order lenses, while harbor lights and beacons use fourth, fifth, or sixth order lenses. Some lighthouses, such as those at Cape Race, Newfoundland, and Makapuu Point, Hawaii, used a more powerful hyperradiant Fresnel lens manufactured by the firm of Chance Brothers. Building Components While lighthouse buildings differ depending on the location and purpose, they tend to have common components. A light station comprises the lighthouse tower and all outbuildings, such as the keeper's living quarters, fuel house, boathouse, and fog-signaling building. The Lighthouse itself consists of a tower structure supporting the lantern room where the light operates. The lantern room is the glassed-in housing at the top of a lighthouse tower containing the lamp and lens. Its glass storm panes are supported by metal muntins (glazing bars) running vertically or diagonally. At the top of the lantern room is a stormproof ventilator designed to remove the smoke of the lamps and the heat that builds in the glass enclosure. A lightning rod and grounding system connected to the metal cupola roof provides a safe conduit for any lightning strikes. Immediately beneath the lantern room is usually a Watch Room or Service Room where fuel and other supplies were kept and where the keeper prepared the lanterns for the night and often stood watch. The clockworks (for rotating the lenses) were also located there. On a lighthouse tower, an open platform called the gallery is often located outside the watch room (called the Main Gallery) or Lantern Room (Lantern Gallery). This was mainly used for cleaning the outside of the windows of the Lantern Room. Lighthouses near to each other that are similar in shape are often painted in a unique pattern so they can easily be recognized during daylight, a marking known as a daymark. The black and white barber pole spiral pattern of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is one example. Race Rocks Light in western Canada is painted in horizontal black and white bands to stand out against the horizon. Design For effectiveness, the lamp must be high enough to be seen before the danger is reached by a mariner. The minimum height is calculated by trigonometric formula where H is the height above water in feet, and d is the distance to the horizon in nautical miles. Where dangerous shoals are located far off a flat sandy beach, the prototypical tall masonry coastal lighthouse is constructed to assist the navigator making a landfall after an ocean crossing. Often these are cylindrical to reduce the effect of wind on a tall structure, such as Cape May Light. Smaller versions of this design are often used as harbor lights to mark the entrance into a harbor, such as New London Harbor Light. Where a tall cliff exists, a smaller structure may be placed on top such as at Horton Point Light. Sometimes, such a location can be too high, for example along the west coast of the United States, where frequent low clouds can obscure the light. In these cases, lighthouses are placed below the clifftop to ensure that they can still be seen at the surface during periods of fog or low clouds, as at Point Reyes Lighthouse. Another example is in San Diego, California: the Old Point Loma lighthouse was too high up and often obscured by fog, so it was replaced in 1891 with a lower lighthouse, New Point Loma lighthouse. As technology advanced, prefabricated skeletal iron or steel structures tended to be used for lighthouses constructed in the 20th century. These often have a narrow cylindrical core surrounded by an open lattice work bracing, such as Finns Point Range Light. Sometimes a lighthouse needs to be constructed in the water itself. Wave-washed lighthouses are masonry structures constructed to withstand water impact, such as Eddystone Lighthouse in Britain and the St. George Reef Light of California. In shallower bays, Screw-pile lighthouse ironwork structures are screwed into the seabed and a low wooden structure is placed above the open framework, such as Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. As screw piles can be disrupted by ice, steel caisson lighthouses such as Orient Point Light are used in cold climates. Orient Long Beach Bar Light (Bug Light) is a blend of a screw pile light that was converted to a caisson light because of the threat of ice damage. Skeletal iron towers with screw-pile foundations were built on the Florida Reef along the Florida Keys, beginning with the Carysfort Reef Light in 1852. In waters too deep for a conventional structure, a lightship might be used instead of a lighthouse, such as the former lightship Columbia. Most of these have now been replaced by fixed light platforms (such as Ambrose Light) similar to those used for offshore oil exploration. Range lights Aligning two fixed points on land provides a navigator with a line of position called a range in North America and a transit in Britain. Ranges can be used to precisely align a vessel within a narrow channel such as a river. With landmarks of a range illuminated with a set of fixed lighthouses, nighttime navigation is possible. Such paired lighthouses are called range lights in North America and leading lights in the United Kingdom. The closer light is referred to as the beacon or front range; the further light is called the rear range. The rear range light is almost always taller than the front. When a vessel is on the correct course, the two lights align vertically, but when the observer is out of position, the difference in alignment indicates the direction of travel to correct the course. Location There are two types of lighthouses: ones that are located on land, and ones that are offshore. A land lighthouse is simply a lighthouse constructed to aid navigation over land, rather than water. Historically, they were constructed in areas of flatland where the featureless landscape and prevailing weather conditions (e.g. winter fog) might cause travelers to become easily disorientated and lost. In such a landscape a high tower with a bright lantern could be visible for many miles. One example of such a structure is Dunston Pillar, an 18th-century tower built to help travelers crossing the heathland of mid-Lincolnshire and to lessen the danger to them from highwaymen. Due to general improvements in transport and navigation throughout the 19th century, land lighthouses became almost totally obsolete as aids to travelers in remote places. In 1940, Dunston Pillar was truncated by 40 feet to preserve low-flying RAF planes. Offshore Lighthouses are lighthouses that are not close to land. There can be a number of reasons for these lighthouses to be built. There can be a shoal, reef or submerged island several miles from land. The current Cordouan Lighthouse was completed in 1611, from the shore on a small islet, but was built on a previous lighthouse that can be traced back to the 880's and is the oldest surviving lighthouse in France. It is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The oldest surviving oceanic offshore lighthouse is Bell Rock Lighthouse in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland. Maintenance English-speaking countries In the United States, lighthouses are maintained by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The United Kingdom and Ireland together have three bodies: lighthouses around the coasts of England and Wales are looked after by Trinity House, those around Scotland and the Isle of Man by the Northern Lighthouse Board and those around Ireland by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. In Canada, they are managed by the Canadian Coast Guard. In Australia, lighthouses are conducted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Soviet Union The Soviet Union built a number of automated lighthouses powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators in remote locations. They operated for long periods without external support with great reliability. However numerous installations deteriorated, were stolen, or vandalized. Some cannot be found due to poor record-keeping. India In India, lighthouses are maintained by Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships which comes under the Ministry of Shipping. Other countries Preservation As lighthouses became less essential to navigation, many of their historic structures faced demolition or neglect. In the United States, the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 provides for the transfer of lighthouse structures to local governments and private non-profit groups, while the USCG continues to maintain the lamps and lenses. In Canada, the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society won heritage status for Sambro Island Lighthouse, and sponsored the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act to change Canadian federal laws to protect lighthouses. Many groups formed to restore and save lighthouses around the world, including the World Lighthouse Society and the United States Lighthouse Society, as well as the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, which sends amateur radio operators to publicize the preservation of remote lighthouses throughout the world. See also Crib lighthouse Day beacon Foghorn Fresnel lens sizes (orders) Lens lantern Lighthouse keeper Lists of lighthouses Lists of lightvessels Pharology Pintsch gas Sea mark References Notes Bibliography Bathurst, Bella. The lighthouse Stevensons. New York: Perennial, 2000. Beaver, Patrick. A History of Lighthouses. London: Peter Davies Ltd, 1971. . Crompton, Samuel, W; Rhein, Michael, J. The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press, 2002. . Jones, Ray; Roberts, Bruce. American Lighthouses. Globe Pequot, 1998. 1st ed. . Stevenson, D. Alan. The world's lighthouses before 1820. London: Oxford University Press, 1959. Further reading Noble, Dennis. Lighthouses & Keepers: U. S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy. Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1997. . Putnam, George R. Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933. Rawlings, William. 2021. LIghthouses of the Gerorgia Coast. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. Weiss, George. The Lighthouse Service, Its History, Activities and Organization. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1926. External links United States Lighthouses "Lighthouses Of Strange Designs, December 1930, Popular Science Research tool with details of over 14,700 lighthouses and navigation lights around the world with photos and links. Pharology Website: http://www.pharology.eu . Reference source for the history and development of lighthouses of the world. Includes 54 diagrams and photographs. Heraldic charges Articles containing video clips Ancient Greek technology Egyptian inventions Greek inventions	[ 0.6622097492218018, 0.5318528413772583, 0.3538021743297577, -0.23649324476718903, 0.48869258165359497, -0.3376677632331848, 0.5436316728591919, -0.3188656270503998, -0.4284328818321228, -0.28132206201553345, -0.6160330772399902, 0.39590173959732056, -0.435538113117218, 0.3838013708591461, ...
17726	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library%20of%20Alexandria	Library of Alexandria	The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. The idea of a universal library in Alexandria may have been proposed by Demetrius of Phalerum, an exiled Athenian statesman living in Alexandria, to Ptolemy I Soter, who may have established plans for the Library, but the Library itself was probably not built until the reign of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The Library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls, owing largely to the Ptolemaic kings' aggressive and well-funded policies for procuring texts. It is unknown precisely how many such scrolls were housed at any given time, but estimates range from 40,000 to 400,000 at its height. Alexandria came to be regarded as the capital of knowledge and learning, in part because of the Great Library. Many important and influential scholars worked at the Library during the third and second centuries BC, including, among many others: Zenodotus of Ephesus, who worked towards standardizing the texts of the Homeric poems; Callimachus, who wrote the Pinakes, sometimes considered to be the world's first library catalogue; Apollonius of Rhodes, who composed the epic poem the Argonautica; Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who calculated the circumference of the earth within a few hundred kilometers of accuracy; Aristophanes of Byzantium, who invented the system of Greek diacritics and was the first to divide poetic texts into lines; and Aristarchus of Samothrace, who produced the definitive texts of the Homeric poems as well as extensive commentaries on them. During the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes, a daughter library was established in the Serapeum, a temple to the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis. Despite the widespread modern belief that the Library of Alexandria was burned once and cataclysmically destroyed, the Library actually declined gradually over the course of several centuries. This decline began with the purging of intellectuals from Alexandria in 145 BC during the reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, which resulted in Aristarchus of Samothrace, the head librarian, resigning from his position and exiling himself to Cyprus. Many other scholars, including Dionysius Thrax and Apollodorus of Athens, fled to other cities, where they continued teaching and conducting scholarship. The Library, or part of its collection, was accidentally burned by Julius Caesar during his civil war in 48 BC, but it is unclear how much was actually destroyed and it seems to have either survived or been rebuilt shortly thereafter; the geographer Strabo mentions having visited the Mouseion in around 20 BC and the prodigious scholarly output of Didymus Chalcenterus in Alexandria from this period indicates that he had access to at least some of the Library's resources. The Library dwindled during the Roman period, from a lack of funding and support. Its membership appears to have ceased by the 260s AD. Between 270 and 275 AD, the city of Alexandria saw a Palmyrene invasion and an imperial counterattack that probably destroyed whatever remained of the Library, if it still existed at that time. The daughter library of the Serapeum may have survived after the main Library's destruction. The Serapeum was vandalized and demolished in 391 AD under a decree issued by Coptic Christian Pope Theophilus of Alexandria, but it does not seem to have housed books at the time and was mainly used as a gathering place for Neoplatonist philosophers following the teachings of Iamblichus. Historical background The Library of Alexandria was not the first library of its kind. A long tradition of libraries existed in both Greece and in the ancient Near East. The earliest recorded archive of written materials comes from the ancient Sumerian city-state of Uruk in around 3400 BC, when writing had only just begun to develop. Scholarly curation of literary texts began in around 2500 BC. The later kingdoms and empires of the ancient Near East had long traditions of book collecting. The ancient Hittites and Assyrians had massive archives containing records written in many different languages. The most famous library of the ancient Near East was the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, founded in the seventh century BC by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (ruled 668– 627 BC). A large library also existed in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II ( 605– 562 BC). In Greece, the Athenian tyrant Peisistratos was said to have founded the first major public library in the sixth century BC. It was out of this mixed heritage of both Greek and Near Eastern book collections that the idea for the Library of Alexandria was born. The Macedonian kings who succeeded Alexander the Great as rulers of the Near East wanted to promote Hellenistic culture and learning throughout the known world. Historian Roy MacLeod calls this "a programme of cultural imperialism". These rulers, therefore, had a vested interest to collect and compile information from both the Greeks and from the far more ancient kingdoms of the Near East. Libraries enhanced a city's prestige, attracted scholars, and provided practical assistance in matters of ruling and governing the kingdom. Eventually, for these reasons, every major Hellenistic urban center would have a royal library. The Library of Alexandria, however, was unprecedented because of the scope and scale of the Ptolemies' ambitions; unlike their predecessors and contemporaries, the Ptolemies wanted to produce a repository of all knowledge. Under Ptolemaic patronage Founding The Library was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world, but details about it are a mixture of history and legend. The earliest known surviving source of information on the founding of the Library of Alexandria is the pseudepigraphic Letter of Aristeas, which was composed between 180 and 145 BC. It claims the Library was founded during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter ( 323– 283 BC) and that it was initially organized by Demetrius of Phalerum, a student of Aristotle who had been exiled from Athens and taken refuge in Alexandria within the Ptolemaic court. Nonetheless, the Letter of Aristeas is very late and contains information that is now known to be inaccurate. Other sources claim that the Library was instead created under the reign of Ptolemy I's son Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283–246 BC). Modern scholars agree that, while it is possible that Ptolemy I may have laid the groundwork for the Library, it probably did not come into being as a physical institution until the reign of Ptolemy II. By that time, Demetrius of Phalerum had fallen out of favor with the Ptolemaic court and could not, therefore, have had any role in establishing the Library as an institution. Stephen V. Tracy, however, argues that it is highly probable that Demetrius played an important role in collecting at least some of the earliest texts that would later become part of the Library's collection. In around 295 BC, Demetrius may have acquired early texts of the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus, which he would have been uniquely positioned to do, since he was a distinguished member of the Peripatetic school. The Library was built in the Brucheion (Royal Quarter) as part of the Mouseion. Its main purpose was to show off the wealth of Egypt, with research as a lesser goal, but its contents were used to aid the ruler of Egypt. The exact layout of the library is not known, but ancient sources describe the Library of Alexandria as comprising a collection of scrolls, Greek columns, a walk, a room for shared dining, a reading room, meeting rooms, gardens, and lecture halls, creating a model for the modern university campus. A hall contained shelves for the collections of papyrus scrolls known as bibliothekai (βιβλιοθῆκαι). According to popular description, an inscription above the shelves read: "The place of the cure of the soul." Early expansion and organization The Ptolemaic rulers intended the Library to be a collection of all knowledge and they worked to expand the Library's collections through an aggressive and well-funded policy of book purchasing. They dispatched royal agents with large amounts of money and ordered them to purchase and collect as many texts as they possibly could, about any subject and by any author. Older copies of texts were favored over newer ones, since it was assumed that older copies had undergone less copying and that they were therefore more likely to more closely resemble what the original author had written. This program involved trips to the book fairs of Rhodes and Athens. According to the Greek medical writer Galen, under the decree of Ptolemy II, any books found on ships that came into port were taken to the library, where they were copied by official scribes. The original texts were kept in the library, and the copies delivered to the owners. The Library particularly focused on acquiring manuscripts of the Homeric poems, which were the foundation of Greek education and revered above all other poems. The Library therefore acquired many different manuscripts of these poems, tagging each copy with a label to indicate where it had come from. In addition to collecting works from the past, the Mouseion which housed the Library also served as home to a host of international scholars, poets, philosophers, and researchers, who, according to the first-century BC Greek geographer Strabo, were provided with a large salary, free food and lodging, and exemption from taxes. They had a large, circular dining hall with a high domed ceiling in which they ate meals communally. There were also numerous classrooms, where the scholars were expected to at least occasionally teach students. Ptolemy II Philadelphus is said to have had a keen interest in zoology, so it has been speculated that the Mouseion may have even had a zoo for exotic animals. According to classical scholar Lionel Casson, the idea was that if the scholars were completely freed from all the burdens of everyday life they would be able to devote more time to research and intellectual pursuits. Strabo called the group of scholars who lived at the Mouseion a σύνοδος (, "community"). As early as 283 BC, they may have numbered between thirty and fifty learned men. Early scholarship The Library of Alexandria was not affiliated with any particular philosophical school and, consequently, scholars who studied there had considerable academic freedom. They were, however, subject to the authority of the king. One likely apocryphal story is told of a poet named Sotades who wrote an obscene epigram making fun of Ptolemy II for marrying his sister Arsinoe II. Ptolemy II is said to have jailed him and, after he escaped, sealed him in a lead jar and dropped him into the sea. As a religious center, the Mouseion was directed by a priest of the Muses known as an epistates, who was appointed by the king in the same manner as the priests who managed the various Egyptian temples. The Library itself was directed by a scholar who served as head librarian, as well as tutor to the king's son. The first recorded head librarian was Zenodotus of Ephesus (lived 325– 270 BC). Zenodotus' main work was devoted to the establishment of canonical texts for the Homeric poems and the early Greek lyric poets. Most of what is known about him comes from later commentaries that mention his preferred readings of particular passages. Zenodotus is known to have written a glossary of rare and unusual words, which was organized in alphabetical order, making him the first person known to have employed alphabetical order as a method of organization. Since the collection at the Library of Alexandria seems to have been organized in alphabetical order by the first letter of the author's name from very early, Casson concludes that it is highly probable that Zenodotus was the one who organized it in this way. Zenodotus' system of alphabetization, however, only used the first letter of the word and it was not until the second century AD that anyone is known to have applied the same method of alphabetization to the remaining letters of the word. Meanwhile, the scholar and poet Callimachus compiled the Pinakes, a 120-book catalogue of various authors and all their known works. The Pinakes has not survived, but enough references to it and fragments of it have survived to allow scholars to reconstruct its basic structure. The Pinakes was divided into multiple sections, each containing entries for writers of a particular genre of literature. The most basic division was between writers of poetry and prose, with each section divided into smaller subsections. Each section listed authors in alphabetical order. Each entry included the author's name, father's name, place of birth, and other brief biographical information, sometimes including nicknames by which that author was known, followed by a complete list of all that author's known works. The entries for prolific authors such as Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, and Theophrastus must have been extremely long, spanning multiple columns of text. Although Callimachus did his most famous work at the Library of Alexandria, he never held the position of head librarian there. Callimachus' pupil Hermippus of Smyrna wrote biographies, Philostephanus of Cyrene studied geography, and Istros (who may have also been from Cyrene) studied Attic antiquities. In addition to the Great Library, many other smaller libraries also began to spring up all around the city of Alexandria. After Zenodotus either died or retired, Ptolemy II Philadelphus appointed Apollonius of Rhodes (lived 295– 215 BC), a native of Alexandria and a student of Callimachus, as the second head librarian of the Library of Alexandria. Philadelphus also appointed Apollonius of Rhodes as the tutor to his son, the future Ptolemy III Euergetes. Apollonius of Rhodes is best known as the author of the Argonautica, an epic poem about the voyages of Jason and the Argonauts, which has survived to the present in its complete form. The Argonautica displays Apollonius' vast knowledge of history and literature and makes allusions to a vast array of events and texts, while simultaneously imitating the style of the Homeric poems. Some fragments of his scholarly writings have also survived, but he is generally more famous today as a poet than as a scholar. According to legend, during the librarianship of Apollonius, the mathematician and inventor Archimedes (lived 287 – 212 BC) came to visit the Library of Alexandria. During his time in Egypt, Archimedes is said to have observed the rise and fall of the Nile, leading him to invent the Archimedes' screw, which can be used to transport water from low-lying bodies into irrigation ditches. Archimedes later returned to Syracuse, where he continued making new inventions. According to two late and largely unreliable biographies, Apollonius was forced to resign from his position as head librarian and moved to the island of Rhodes (after which he takes his name) on account of the hostile reception he received in Alexandria to the first draft of his Argonautica. It is more likely that Apollonius' resignation was on account of Ptolemy III Euergetes' ascension to the throne in 246 BC. Later scholarship and expansion The third head librarian, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (lived 280– 194 BC), is best known today for his scientific works, but he was also a literary scholar. Eratosthenes' most important work was his treatise Geographika, which was originally in three volumes. The work itself has not survived, but many fragments of it are preserved through quotation in the writings of the later geographer Strabo. Eratosthenes was the first scholar to apply mathematics to geography and map-making and, in his treatise Concerning the Measurement of the Earth, he calculated the circumference of the earth and was only off by less than a few hundred kilometers. Eratosthenes also produced a map of the entire known world, which incorporated information taken from sources held in the Library, including accounts of Alexander the Great's campaigns in India and reports written by members of Ptolemaic elephant-hunting expeditions along the coast of East Africa. Eratosthenes was the first person to advance geography towards becoming a scientific discipline. Eratosthenes believed that the setting of the Homeric poems was purely imaginary and argued that the purpose of poetry was "to capture the soul", rather than to give a historically accurate account of actual events. Strabo quotes him as having sarcastically commented, "a man might find the places of Odysseus' wanderings if the day were to come when he would find the leatherworker who stitched the goatskin of the winds." Meanwhile, other scholars at the Library of Alexandria also displayed interest in scientific subjects. Bacchius of Tanagra, a contemporary of Eratosthenes, edited and commented on the medical writings of the Hippocratic Corpus. The doctors Herophilus (lived 335– 280 BC) and Erasistratus ( 304– 250 BC) studied human anatomy, but their studies were hindered by protests against the dissection of human corpses, which was seen as immoral. According to Galen, around this time, Ptolemy III requested permission from the Athenians to borrow the original manuscripts of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, for which the Athenians demanded the enormous amount of fifteen talents () of a precious metal as guarantee that he would return them. Ptolemy III had expensive copies of the plays made on the highest quality papyrus and sent the Athenians the copies, keeping the original manuscripts for the library and telling the Athenians they could keep the talents. This story may also be construed erroneously to show the power of Alexandria over Athens during the Ptolemaic dynasty. This detail arises from the fact that Alexandria was a man-made bidirectional port between the mainland and the Pharos island, welcoming trade from the East and West, and soon found itself to be an international hub for trade, the leading producer of papyrus and, soon enough, books. As the Library expanded, it ran out of space to house the scrolls in its collection, so, during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes, it opened a satellite collection in the Serapeum of Alexandria, a temple to the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis located near the royal palace. Peak of literary criticism Aristophanes of Byzantium (lived 257– 180 BC) became the fourth head librarian sometime around 200 BC. According to a legend recorded by the Roman writer Vitruvius, Aristophanes was one of seven judges appointed for a poetry competition hosted by Ptolemy III Euergetes. All six of the other judges favored one competitor, but Aristophanes favored the one whom the audience had liked the least. Aristophanes declared that all of the poets except for the one he had chosen had committed plagiarism and were therefore disqualified. The king demanded that he prove this, so he retrieved the texts that the authors had plagiarized from the Library, locating them by memory. On account of his impressive memory and diligence, Ptolemy III appointed him as head librarian. The librarianship of Aristophanes of Byzantium is widely considered to have opened a more mature phase of the Library of Alexandria's history. During this phase of the Library's history, literary criticism reached its peak and came to dominate the Library's scholarly output. Aristophanes of Byzantium edited poetic texts and introduced the division of poems into separate lines on the page, since they had previously been written out just like prose. He also invented the system of Greek diacritics, wrote important works on lexicography, and introduced a series of signs for textual criticism. He wrote introductions to many plays, some of which have survived in partially rewritten forms. The fifth head librarian was an obscure individual named Apollonius, who is known by the epithet ("the classifier of forms"). One late lexicographical source explains this epithet as referring to the classification of poetry on the basis of musical forms. During the early second century BC, several scholars at the Library of Alexandria studied works on medicine. Zeuxis the Empiricist is credited with having written commentaries on the Hippocratic Corpus and he actively worked to procure medical writings for the Library's collection. A scholar named Ptolemy Epithetes wrote a treatise on wounds in the Homeric poems, a subject straddling the line between traditional philology and medicine. However, it was also during the early second century BC that the political power of Ptolemaic Egypt began to decline. After the Battle of Raphia in 217 BC, Ptolemaic power became increasingly unstable. There were uprisings among segments of the Egyptian population and, in the first half of the second century BC, connection with Upper Egypt became largely disrupted. Ptolemaic rulers also began to emphasize the Egyptian aspect of their nation over the Greek aspect. Consequently, many Greek scholars began to leave Alexandria for safer countries with more generous patronages. Aristarchus of Samothrace (lived 216– 145 BC) was the sixth head librarian. He earned a reputation as the greatest of all ancient scholars and produced not only texts of classic poems and works of prose, but full hypomnemata, or long, free-standing commentaries, on them. These commentaries would typically cite a passage of a classical text, explain its meaning, define any unusual words used in it, and comment on whether the words in the passage were really those used by the original author or if they were later interpolations added by scribes. He made many contributions to a variety of studies, but particularly the study of the Homeric poems, and his editorial opinions are widely quoted by ancient authors as authoritative. A portion of one of Aristarchus' commentaries on the Histories of Herodotus has survived in a papyrus fragment. In 145 BC, however, Aristarchus became caught up in a dynastic struggle in which he supported Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator as the ruler of Egypt. Ptolemy VII was murdered and succeeded by Ptolemy VIII Physcon, who immediately set about punishing all those who had supported his predecessor, forcing Aristarchus to flee Egypt and take refuge on the island of Cyprus, where he died shortly thereafter. Ptolemy VIII expelled all foreign scholars from Alexandria, forcing them to disperse across the Eastern Mediterranean. Decline After Ptolemy VIII's expulsions Ptolemy VIII Physcon's expulsion of the scholars from Alexandria brought about a shift in the history of Hellenistic scholarship. The scholars who had studied at the Library of Alexandria and their students continued to conduct research and write treatises, but most of them no longer did so in association with the Library. A diaspora of Alexandrian scholarship occurred, in which scholars dispersed first throughout the eastern Mediterranean and later throughout the western Mediterranean as well. Aristarchus' student Dionysius Thrax ( 170– 90 BC) established a school on the Greek island of Rhodes. Dionysius Thrax wrote the first book on Greek grammar, a succinct guide to speaking and writing clearly and effectively. This book remained the primary grammar textbook for Greek schoolboys until as late as the twelfth century AD. The Romans based their grammatical writings on it, and its basic format remains the basis for grammar guides in many languages even today. Another one of Aristarchus' pupils, Apollodorus of Athens ( 180– 110 BC), went to Alexandria's greatest rival, Pergamum, where he taught and conducted research. This diaspora prompted the historian Menecles of Barce to sarcastically comment that Alexandria had become the teacher of all Greeks and barbarians alike. Meanwhile, in Alexandria, from the middle of the second century BC onwards, Ptolemaic rule in Egypt grew less stable than it had been previously. Confronted with growing social unrest and other major political and economic problems, the later Ptolemies did not devote as much attention towards the Library and the Mouseion as their predecessors had. The status of both the Library and the head librarian diminished. Several of the later Ptolemies used the position of head librarian as a mere political plum to reward their most devoted supporters. Ptolemy VIII appointed a man named Cydas, one of his palace guards, as head librarian and Ptolemy IX Soter II (ruled 88–81 BC) is said to have given the position to a political supporter. Eventually, the position of head librarian lost so much of its former prestige that even contemporary authors ceased to take interest in recording the terms of office for individual head librarians. A shift in Greek scholarship at large occurred around the beginning of the first century BC. By this time, all major classical poetic texts had finally been standardized and extensive commentaries had already been produced on the writings of all the major literary authors of the Greek Classical Era. Consequently, there was little original work left for scholars to do with these texts. Many scholars began producing syntheses and reworkings of the commentaries of the Alexandrian scholars of previous centuries, at the expense of their own originalities. Other scholars branched out and began writing commentaries on the poetic works of postclassical authors, including Alexandrian poets such as Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes. Meanwhile, Alexandrian scholarship was probably introduced to Rome in the first century BC by Tyrannion of Amisus ( 100– 25 BC), a student of Dionysius Thrax. Burning by Julius Caesar In 48 BC, during Caesar's Civil War, Julius Caesar was besieged at Alexandria. His soldiers set fire to some of the Egyptian ships docked in the Alexandrian port while trying to clear the wharves to block the fleet belonging to Cleopatra's brother Ptolemy XIV. This fire purportedly spread to the parts of the city nearest to the docks, causing considerable devastation. The first-century AD Roman playwright and Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger quotes Livy's Ab Urbe Condita Libri, which was written between 63 and 14 BC, as saying that the fire started by Caesar destroyed 40,000 scrolls from the Library of Alexandria. The Greek Middle Platonist Plutarch ( 46–120 AD) writes in his Life of Caesar that, "[W]hen the enemy endeavored to cut off his communication by sea, he was forced to divert that danger by setting fire to his own ships, which, after burning the docks, thence spread on and destroyed the great library." The Roman historian Cassius Dio ( 155 – 235 AD), however, writes: "Many places were set on fire, with the result that, along with other buildings, the dockyards and storehouses of grain and books, said to be great in number and of the finest, were burned." However, Florus and Lucan only mention that the flames burned the fleet itself and some "houses near the sea". Scholars have interpreted Cassius Dio's wording to indicate that the fire did not actually destroy the entire Library itself, but rather only a warehouse located near the docks being used by the Library to house scrolls. Whatever devastation Caesar's fire may have caused, the Library was evidently not completely destroyed. The geographer Strabo ( 63 BC– 24 AD) mentions visiting the Mouseion, the larger research institution to which the Library was attached, in around 20 BC, several decades after Caesar's fire, indicating that it either survived the fire or was rebuilt soon afterwards. Nonetheless, Strabo's manner of talking about the Mouseion shows that it was nowhere near as prestigious as it had been a few centuries prior. Despite mentioning the Mouseion, Strabo does not mention the Library separately, perhaps indicating that it had been so drastically reduced in stature and significance that Strabo felt it did not warrant separate mention. It is unclear what happened to the Mouseion after Strabo's mention of it. Furthermore, Plutarch records in his Life of Marc Antony that, in the years leading up to the Battle of Actium in 33 BC, Mark Antony was rumored to have given Cleopatra all 200,000 scrolls in the Library of Pergamum. Plutarch himself notes that his source for this anecdote was sometimes unreliable and it is possible that the story may be nothing more than propaganda intended to show that Mark Antony was loyal to Cleopatra and Egypt rather than to Rome. Casson, however, argues that, even if the story was made up, it would not have been believable unless the Library still existed. Edward J. Watts argues that Mark Antony's gift may have been intended to replenish the Library's collection after the damage to it caused by Caesar's fire roughly a decade and a half prior. Further evidence for the Library's survival after 48 BC comes from the fact that the most notable producer of composite commentaries during the late first century BC and early first century AD was a scholar who worked in Alexandria named Didymus Chalcenterus, whose epithet () means "bronze guts". Didymus is said to have produced somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 books, making him the most prolific known writer in all of antiquity. He was also given the nickname (), meaning "book-forgetter" because it was said that even he could not remember all the books he had written. Parts of some of Didymus' commentaries have been preserved in the forms of later extracts and these remains are modern scholars' most important sources of information about the critical works of the earlier scholars at the Library of Alexandria. Lionel Casson states that Didymus' prodigious output "would have been impossible without at least a good part of the resources of the library at his disposal." Roman Period and destruction Very little is known about the Library of Alexandria during the time of the Roman Principate (27 BC–284 AD). The emperor Claudius (ruled 41–54 AD) is recorded to have built an addition onto the Library, but it seems that the Library of Alexandria's general fortunes followed those of the city of Alexandria itself. After Alexandria came under Roman rule, the city's status and, consequently that of its famous Library, gradually diminished. While the Mouseion still existed, membership was granted not on the basis of scholarly achievement, but rather on the basis of distinction in government, the military, or even in athletics. The same was evidently the case even for the position of head librarian; the only known head librarian from the Roman Period was a man named Tiberius Claudius Balbilus, who lived in the middle of the first century AD and was a politician, administrator, and military officer with no record of substantial scholarly achievements. Members of the Mouseion were no longer required to teach, conduct research, or even live in Alexandria. The Greek writer Philostratus records that the emperor Hadrian (ruled 117–138 AD) appointed the ethnographer Dionysius of Miletus and the sophist Polemon of Laodicea as members of the Mouseion, even though neither of these men is known to have ever spent any significant amount of time in Alexandria. Meanwhile, as the reputation of Alexandrian scholarship declined, the reputations of other libraries across the Mediterranean world improved, diminishing the Library of Alexandria's former status as the most prominent. Other libraries also sprang up within the city of Alexandria itself and the scrolls from the Great Library may have been used to stock some of these smaller libraries. The Caesareum and the Claudianum in Alexandria are both known to have had major libraries by the end of the first century AD. The Serapeum, originally the "daughter library" of the Great Library, probably expanded during this period as well, according to classical historian Edward J. Watts. By the second century AD, the Roman Empire grew less dependent on grain from Alexandria and the city's prominence declined further. The Romans during this period also had less interest in Alexandrian scholarship, causing the Library's reputation to continue to decline as well. The scholars who worked and studied at the Library of Alexandria during the time of the Roman Empire were less well known than the ones who had studied there during the Ptolemaic Period. Eventually, the word "Alexandrian" itself came to be synonymous with the editing of texts, correction of textual errors, and writing of commentaries synthesized from those of earlier scholars—in other words, taking on connotations of pedantry, monotony, and lack of originality. Mention of both the Great Library of Alexandria and the Mouseion that housed it disappear after the middle of the third century AD. The last known references to scholars being members of the Mouseion date to the 260s. In 272 AD, the emperor Aurelian fought to recapture the city of Alexandria from the forces of the Palmyrene queen Zenobia. During the course of the fighting, Aurelian's forces destroyed the Broucheion quarter of the city in which the main library was located. If the Mouseion and Library still existed at this time, they were almost certainly destroyed during the attack as well. If they did survive the attack, then whatever was left of them would have been destroyed during the emperor Diocletian's siege of Alexandria in 297. Arabic sources on Muslim invasion In 642 AD, Alexandria was captured by the Muslim army of 'Amr ibn al-'As. Several later Arabic sources describe the library's destruction by the order of Caliph Omar. Bar-Hebraeus, writing in the thirteenth century, quotes Omar as saying to Yaḥyā al-Naḥwī: "If those books are in agreement with the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran, destroy them." Later scholars—beginning with Father Eusèbe Renaudot's remark in 1713 in his translation of the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria that the tale "had something untrustworthy about it"—are skeptical of these stories, given the range of time that had passed before they were written down and the political motivations of the various writers. According to Diana Delia, "Omar's rejection of pagan and Christian wisdom may have been devised and exploited by conservative authorities as a moral exemplum for Muslims to follow in later, uncertain times, when the devotion of the faithful was once again tested by proximity to nonbelievers". Successors to the Mouseion Serapeum The Serapeum is often called the "daughter library" of Alexandria. For much of the late fourth century AD it was probably the largest collection of books in the city of Alexandria. In the 370s and 380s, the Serapeum was still a major pilgrimage site for pagans. It remained a fully functioning temple, and had classrooms for philosophers to teach in. It naturally tended to attract followers of Iamblichean Neoplatonism. Most of these philosophers were primarily interested in theurgy, the study of cultic rituals and esoteric religious practices. The Neoplatonist philosopher Damascius (lived 458–after 538) records that a man named Olympus came from Cilicia to teach at the Serapeum, where he enthusiastically taught his students the rules of traditional divine worship and ancient religious practices. He enjoined his students to worship the old gods in traditional ways, and he may have even taught them theurgy. Scattered references indicate that, sometime in the fourth century, an institution known as the "Mouseion" may have been reestablished at a different location somewhere in Alexandria. Nothing, however, is known about the characteristics of this organization. It may have possessed some bibliographic resources, but whatever they may have been, they were clearly not comparable to those of its predecessor. Under the Christian rule of Roman emperor Theodosius I pagan rituals were outlawed, pagans were persecuted, and pagan temples were destroyed. In 391 AD, the bishop of Alexandria, Theophilus ordered the destruction of the Serapeum and its conversion into a church. During the destruction a group of Christian workmen uncovered the remains of an old Mithraeum. They gave some of the cult objects to Theophilus, who had the cult objects paraded through the streets so they could be mocked and ridiculed. The pagans of Alexandria were incensed by this act of desecration, especially the teachers of Neoplatonic philosophy and theurgy at the Serapeum. The teachers at the Serapeum took up arms and led their students and other followers in a guerrilla attack on the Christian population of Alexandria, killing many of them before being forced to retreat. In retaliation, the Christians vandalized and demolished the Serapeum, although some parts of the colonnade were still standing as late as the twelfth century. However, none of the accounts of the Serapeum's destruction mention anything about it having a library and sources written before its destruction speak of its collection of books in the past tense, indicating that it probably did not have any significant collection of scrolls in it at the time of its destruction. School of Theon and Hypatia The Suda, a tenth-century Byzantine encyclopedia, calls the mathematician Theon of Alexandria ( AD 335– 405) a "man of the Mouseion". According to classical historian Edward J. Watts, however, Theon was probably the head of a school called the "Mouseion", which was named in emulation of the Hellenistic Mouseion that had once included the Library of Alexandria, but which had little other connection to it. Theon's school was exclusive, highly prestigious, and doctrinally conservative. Theon does not seem to have had any connections to the militant Iamblichean Neoplatonists who taught in the Serapeum. Instead, he seems to have rejected the teachings of Iamblichus and may have taken pride in teaching a pure, Plotinian Neoplatonism. In around 400 AD, Theon's daughter Hypatia (born c. 350–370; died 415 AD) succeeded him as the head of his school. Like her father, she rejected the teachings of Iamblichus and instead embraced the original Neoplatonism formulated by Plotinus. Theophilus, the bishop involved in the destruction of the Serapeum, tolerated Hypatia's school and even encouraged two of her students to become bishops in territory under his authority. Hypatia was extremely popular with the people of Alexandria and exerted profound political influence. Theophilus respected Alexandria's political structures and raised no objection to the close ties Hypatia established with Roman prefects. Hypatia was later implicated in a political feud between Orestes, the Roman prefect of Alexandria, and Cyril of Alexandria, Theophilus' successor as bishop. Rumors spread accusing her of preventing Orestes from reconciling with Cyril and, in March of 415 AD, she was murdered by a mob of Christians, led by a lector named Peter. She had no successor and her school collapsed after her death. Later schools and libraries in Alexandria Nonetheless, Hypatia was not the last pagan in Alexandria, nor was she the last Neoplatonist philosopher. Neoplatonism and paganism both survived in Alexandria and throughout the eastern Mediterranean for centuries after her death. British Egyptologist Charlotte Booth notes that many new academic lecture halls were built in Alexandria at Kom el-Dikka shortly after Hypatia's death, indicating that philosophy was clearly still taught in Alexandrian schools. The late fifth-century writers Zacharias Scholasticus and Aeneas of Gaza both speak of the "Mouseion" as occupying some kind of a physical space. Archaeologists have identified lecture halls dating to around this time period, located near, but not on, the site of the Ptolemaic Mouseion, which may be the "Mouseion" to which these writers refer. Collection It is not possible to determine the collection's size in any era with certainty. Papyrus scrolls constituted the collection, and although codices were used after 300 BC, the Alexandrian Library is never documented as having switched to parchment, perhaps because of its strong links to the papyrus trade. The Library of Alexandria in fact was indirectly causal in the creation of writing on parchment, as the Egyptians refused to export papyrus to their competitor in the Library of Pergamum. Consequently, the Library of Pergamum developed parchment as its own writing material. A single piece of writing might occupy several scrolls, and this division into self-contained "books" was a major aspect of editorial work. King Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309–246 BC) is said to have set 500,000 scrolls as an objective for the library. The library's index, Callimachus' Pinakes, has only survived in the form of a few fragments, and it is not possible to know with certainty how large and how diverse the collection may have been. At its height, the library was said to possess nearly half a million scrolls, and, although historians debate the precise number, the highest estimates claim 400,000 scrolls while the most conservative estimates are as low as 40,000, which is still an enormous collection that required vast storage space. As a research institution, the library filled its stacks with new works in mathematics, astronomy, physics, natural sciences and other subjects. Its empirical standards were applied in one of the first and certainly strongest homes for serious textual criticism. As the same text often existed in several different versions, comparative textual criticism was crucial for ensuring their veracity. Once ascertained, canonical copies would then be made for scholars, royalty, and wealthy bibliophiles the world over, this commerce bringing income to the library. Legacy In antiquity The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most prestigious libraries of the ancient world, but it was far from the only one. By the end of the Hellenistic Period, almost every city in the Eastern Mediterranean had a public library and so did many medium-sized towns. During the Roman Period, the number of libraries only proliferated. By the fourth century AD, there were at least two dozen public libraries in the city of Rome itself alone. In late antiquity, as the Roman Empire became Christianized, Christian libraries modeled directly on the Library of Alexandria and other great libraries of earlier pagan times began to be founded all across the Greek-speaking eastern part of the empire. Among the largest and most prominent of these libraries were the Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima, the Library of Jerusalem, and a Christian library in Alexandria. These libraries held both pagan and Christian writings side-by-side and Christian scholars applied to the Christian scriptures the same philological techniques that the scholars of the Library of Alexandria had used for analyzing the Greek classics. Nonetheless, the study of pagan authors remained secondary to the study of the Christian scriptures until the Renaissance. Ironically, the survival of ancient texts owes nothing to the great libraries of antiquity and instead owes everything to the fact that they were exhaustingly copied and recopied, at first by professional scribes during the Roman Period onto papyrus and later by monks during the Middle Ages onto parchment. Modern library: Bibliotheca Alexandrina The idea of reviving the ancient Library of Alexandria in the modern era was first proposed in 1974, when Lotfy Dowidar was president of the University of Alexandria. In May 1986, Egypt requested the Executive Board of UNESCO to allow the international organization to conduct a feasibility study for the project. This marked the beginning of UNESCO and the international community's involvement in trying to bring the project to fruition. Starting in 1988, UNESCO and the UNDP worked to support the international architectural competition to design the Library. Egypt devoted four hectares of land for the building of the Library and established the National High Commission for the Library of Alexandria. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak took a personal interest in the project, which greatly contributed to its advancement. Completed in 2002, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina now functions as a modern library and cultural center, commemorating the original Library of Alexandria. In line with the mission of the Great Library of Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina also houses the International School of Information Science, a school for students preparing for highly specialized post-graduate degrees, whose goal is to train professional staff for libraries in Egypt and across the Middle East. See also Imperial Library of Constantinople Notes References Citations Ancient Top Ten S01E01 states new information gathered and discovered about the library. 500,000 books and scrolls were said to be in the library when it was accidentally burned by Julius Caesar Bibliography Further reading Jochum, Uwe. "The Alexandrian Library and Its Aftermath" from Library History vol, pp. 5–12. Olesen-Bagneux, O. B. (2014). The Memory Library: How the library in Hellenistic Alexandria worked. Knowledge Organization, 41(1), 3–13. Parsons, Edward. The Alexandrian Library. London, 1952. Relevant online excerpt. Stille, Alexander: The Future of the Past (chapter: "The Return of the Vanished Library"). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. pp. 246–273. External links James Hannam: The Mysterious Fate of the Great Library of Alexandria. Papyrus fragment (P.Oxy.1241): An ancient list of head librarians. The BBC Radio 4 program In Our Time discussed The Library of Alexandria 12 March 2009 The Burning of the Library of Alexandria Hart, David B. "The Perniciously Persistent Myths of Hypatia and the Great Library," First Things, 4 June 2010 Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century BC Archaeological sites in Egypt Ancient libraries Alexandria Former buildings and structures in Egypt 3rd-century BC establishments in Egypt Hellenistic architecture History of museums Ptolemaic Alexandria Demolished buildings and structures in Egypt Education in Alexandria	[ 0.13526299595832825, 0.08569090068340302, -0.6404145956039429, 0.06148289889097214, 0.21129921078681946, 0.5918164849281311, 0.31828099489212036, 0.702544629573822, -0.8411046266555786, -0.5555387735366821, -0.22991247475147247, -0.30973508954048157, -0.45026782155036926, 0.807497560977935...
17727	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library	Library	A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are easily accessible for use and not just for display purposes. It is responsible for housing updated information in order to meet the user's needs on a daily basis. A library provides physical (hard copies documents) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a virtual space, or both. A library's collection can include printed materials and other physical resources in many formats such as DVD, CD and Cassette as well as access to information, music or other content held on bibliographic databases. A library, which may vary widely in size, may be organized for use and maintained by a public body such as a government; an institution such as a school or museum; a corporation; or a private individual. In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the services of librarians who are trained and experts at finding, selecting, circulating and organizing information and at interpreting information needs, navigating and analyzing very large amounts of information with a variety of resources. Library buildings often provide quiet and conducive areas for studying, as well as common areas for group study and collaboration, and may provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources; for instance: computers and access to the Internet. The library's clientele and therefore the services offered vary depending on its type: users of a public library have different needs from those of a special library, for example. Libraries may also be community hubs, where programs are delivered and people engage in lifelong learning. Modern libraries extend their services beyond the physical walls of a building by providing material accessible by electronic means, including from home via the Internet. Hence managing information in an information world has become very easy simply because information can be provided or being accessed virtually by people who are in remote areas and other places away from the library. The services the library offers are variously described as library services, information services, or the combination "library and information services", although different institutions and sources define such terminology differently. History The history of libraries began with the first efforts to organize collections of documents. The first libraries consisted of archives of the earliest form of writing—the clay tablets in cuneiform script discovered in Sumer, some dating back to 2600 BC. Private or personal libraries made up of written books appeared in classical Greece in the 5th century BC. In the 6th century, at the very close of the Classical period, the great libraries of the Mediterranean world remained those of Constantinople and Alexandria. The Fatimids (r. 909-1171) also possessed many great libraries within their domains. The historian Ibn Abi Tayyi’ describes their palace library, which probably contained the largest collection of literature on earth at the time, as a “wonder of the world”. Throughout history, along with bloody massacres, the destruction of libraries has been critical for conquerors who wish to destroy every trace of the vanquished community’s recorded memory. A prominent example of this can be found in the Mongol massacre of the Nizaris at Alamut in 1256 and the torching of their library, “the fame of which,” boasts the conqueror Juwayni, “had spread throughout the world”. The libraries of Timbuktu were established in the fourteenth century and attracted scholars from all over the world. Etymology The term library is based on the Latin for 'book' or 'document', contained in Latin 'collection of books' and 'container for books'. Other modern languages use derivations from Ancient Greek (), originally meaning 'book container', via Latin (cf. French or German ). Changing roles and content Libraries may provide physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical location or a virtual space, or both. A library's collection can include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, microform, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, e-books, audiobooks, databases, table games, video games and other formats. Libraries range widely in size, up to millions of items. Libraries often provide quiet areas for studying, and they also often offer common areas to facilitate group study and collaboration. Libraries often provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources and the Internet. Public and institutional collections and services may be intended for use by people who choose not to—or cannot afford to—purchase an extensive collection themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have, or who require professional assistance with their research. Services offered by a library are variously described as library services, information services, or the combination "library and information services", although different institutions and sources define such terminology differently. Organizations or departments are often called by one of these names. However, in a world that is not static the roles of the libraries is slowly changing in order to suit the changing world, services provided by Libraries has gone an extra mile in supporting research, reference services. Reference services that include Current Awareness Services (CAS), Selective Dissemination Information (SDI) and Telephone Services. Therefore these services creates a conducive environment where library clients have the privilege to interact with the library staff in order to express their view and Information related needs. Librarians/information specialists Libraries are usually staffed by a combination of professionally-trained librarians, paraprofessional staff sometimes called library technicians, and support staff. Some topics related to the education of librarians and allied staff include accessibility of the collection, acquisition of materials, arrangement and finding tools, the book trade, the influence of the physical properties of the different writing materials, language distribution, role in education, rates of literacy, budgets, staffing, libraries for specially targeted audiences, architectural merit, patterns of usage, the role of libraries in a nation's cultural heritage, and the role of government, church or private sponsorship. Since the 1960s, issues of computerization and digitization have arisen. Librarians are trained to be updated with trending Information in order relevant Information. Types Many institutions make a distinction between a circulating or lending library, where materials are expected and intended to be loaned to patrons, institutions, or other libraries, and a reference library where material is not lent out. Travelling libraries, such as the early horseback libraries of eastern Kentucky and bookmobiles, are generally of the lending type. Modern libraries are often a mixture of both, containing a general collection for circulation, and a reference collection which is restricted to the library premises. Also, increasingly, digital collections enable broader access to material that may not circulate in print, and enables libraries to expand their collections even without building a larger facility. Lamba (2019) reinforced this idea by observing that "today’s libraries have become increasingly multi-disciplinary, collaborative and networked" and that applying Web 2.0 tools to libraries would "not only connect the users with their community and enhance communication but will also help the librarians to promote their library’s activities, services, and products to target both their actual and potential users". Academic libraries Academic libraries are generally located on college and university campuses and primarily serve the students and faculty of that and other academic institutions. Some academic libraries, especially those at public institutions, are accessible to members of the general public in whole or in part. Therefore Library Services are extended to the general public at a fee, most academic libraries create such services in order to mobilize and also to just enhance literacy levels in their own communities. Libraries are known as institutions that enables the improvement of the reading culture in all parts of the world. Academic libraries are libraries that are hosted in post-secondary educational institutions, such as colleges and universities. Their main functions are to provide support in research, consultancy and resource linkage for students and faculty of the educational institution. Academic libraries house current, reliable relevant information resources spread through all the disciplines which serve to assuage the information requirements of students and faculty. However, in cases where not all books are housed Libraries have come up with E-resources, where they subscribe for a given institution they are serving in order to provide backups and also it is not just possible to have all the types of information. furthermore, most Libraries collaborate with other Libraries in exchange of books. Specific course-related resources are usually provided by the library, such as copies of textbooks and article readings held on 'reserve' (meaning that they are loaned out only on a short-term basis, usually a matter of hours). Some academic libraries provide resources not usually associated with libraries, such as the ability to check out laptop computers, web cameras, or scientific calculators. Academic libraries offer workshops and courses outside of formal, graded coursework, which are meant to provide students with the tools necessary to succeed in their programs. These workshops may include help with citations, effective search techniques, journal databases, and electronic citation software. These workshops provide students with skills that can help them achieve success in their academic careers (and often, in their future occupations), which they may not learn inside the classroom. The academic library provides a quiet study space for students on campus; it may also provide group study space, such as meeting rooms. In North America, Europe, and other parts of the world, academic libraries are becoming increasingly digitally oriented. The library provides a "gateway" for students and researchers to access various resources, both print/physical and digital. Academic institutions are subscribing to electronic journals databases, providing research and scholarly writing software, and usually provide computer workstations or computer labs for students to access journals, library search databases and portals, institutional electronic resources, Internet access, and course- or task-related software (i.e. word processing and spreadsheet software). Some academic libraries take on new roles, for instance, acting as an electronic repository for institutional scholarly research and academic knowledge, such as the collection and curation of digital copies of students' theses and dissertations. Moreover, academic libraries are increasingly acting as publishers on their own on a not-for-profit basis, especially in the form of fully Open Access institutional publishers. Children's libraries Children's libraries are special collections of books intended for juvenile readers and usually kept in separate rooms of general public libraries. Some children's libraries have entire floors or wings dedicated to them in bigger libraries while smaller ones may have a separate room or area for children. They are an educational agency seeking to acquaint the young with the world's literature and to cultivate a love for reading. Their work supplements that of the public schools. Services commonly provided by public libraries may include storytelling sessions for infants, toddlers, preschool children, or after-school programs, all with an intention of developing early literacy skills and a love of books. One of the most popular programs offered in public libraries are summer reading programs for children, families, and adults. Another popular reading program for children is PAWS TO READ or similar programs where children can read to certified therapy dogs. Since animals are a calming influence and there is no judgment, children learn confidence and a love of reading. Many states have these types of programs: parents need simply ask their librarian to see if it is available at their local library. National libraries A national or state library serves as a national repository of information, and has the right of legal deposit, which is a legal requirement that publishers in the country need to deposit a copy of each publication with the library. Unlike a public library, a national library rarely allows citizens to borrow books. Often, their collections include numerous rare, valuable, or significant works. There are wider definitions of a national library, putting less emphasis on the repository character. The first national libraries had their origins in the royal collections of the sovereign or some other supreme body of the state. Many national libraries cooperate within the National Libraries Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to discuss their common tasks, define and promote common standards, and carry out projects helping them to fulfill their duties. The national libraries of Europe participate in The European Library which is a service of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL). Public lending libraries A public library provides services to the general public. If the library is part of a countywide library system, citizens with an active library card from around that county can use the library branches associated with the library system. A library can serve only their city, however, if they are not a member of the county public library system. Much of the materials located within a public library are available for borrowing. The library staff decides upon the number of items patrons are allowed to borrow, as well as the details of borrowing time allotted. Typically, libraries issue library cards to community members wishing to borrow books. Often visitors to a city are able to obtain a public library card. Many public libraries also serve as community organizations that provide free services and events to the public, such as reading groups and toddler story time. For many communities, the library is a source of connection to a vast world, obtainable knowledge and understanding, and entertainment. According to a study by the Pennsylvania Library Association, public library services play a major role in fighting rising illiteracy rates among youths. Public libraries are protected and funded by the public they serve. As the number of books in libraries have steadily increased since their inception, the need for compact storage and access with adequate lighting has grown. The stack system involves keeping a library's collection of books in a space separate from the reading room. This arrangement arose in the 19th century. Book stacks quickly evolved into a fairly standard form in which the cast iron and steel frameworks supporting the bookshelves also supported the floors, which often were built of translucent blocks to permit the passage of light (but were not transparent, for reasons of modesty). The introduction of electrical lighting had a huge impact on how the library operated. The use of glass floors was largely discontinued, though floors were still often composed of metal grating to allow air to circulate in multi-story stacks. As more space was needed, a method of moving shelves on tracks (compact shelving) was introduced to cut down on otherwise wasted aisle space. Library 2.0, a term coined in 2005, is the library's response to the challenge of Google and an attempt to meet the changing needs of users by using web 2.0 technology. Some of the aspects of Library 2.0 include, commenting, tagging, bookmarking, discussions, use of online social networks by libraries, plug-ins, and widgets. Inspired by web 2.0, it is an attempt to make the library a more user-driven institution. Despite the importance of public libraries, they are routinely having their budgets cut by state legislature. Funding has dwindled so badly that many public libraries have been forced to cut their hours and release employees. Reference libraries A reference library does not lend books and other items; instead, they can only be read at the library itself. Typically, such libraries are used for research purposes, for example at a university. Some items at reference libraries may be historical and even unique. Many lending libraries contain a "reference section", which holds books, such as dictionaries, which are common reference books, and are therefore not lent out. Such reference sections may be referred to as "reading rooms", which may also include newspapers and periodicals. An example of a reading room is the Hazel H. Ransom Reading Room at the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas at Austin, which maintains the papers of literary agent Audrey Wood. Research libraries A research library is a collection of materials on one or more subjects. A research library supports scholarly or scientific research and will generally include primary as well as secondary sources; it will maintain permanent collections and attempt to provide access to all necessary materials. A research library is most often an academic or national library, but a large special library may have a research library within its special field, and a very few of the largest public libraries also serve as research libraries. A large university library may be considered a research library; and in North America, such libraries may belong to the Association of Research Libraries. In the United Kingdom, they may be members of Research Libraries UK (RLUK). A research library can be either a reference library, which does not lend its holdings, or a lending library, which does lend all or some of its holdings. Some extremely large or traditional research libraries are entirely reference in this sense, lending none of their materials; most academic research libraries, at least in the US and the UK, now lend books, but not periodicals or other materials. Many research libraries are attached to a parental organization and serve only members of that organization. Examples of research libraries include the British Library, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and the New York Public Library Main Branch on 42nd Street in Manhattan, State Public Scientific Technological Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science. Digital libraries Digital libraries are libraries that house digital resources. They are defined as an organization and not a service that provide access to digital works, have a preservation responsibility to provide future access to materials, and provides these items easily and affordably. The definition of a digital library implies that "a digital library uses a variety of software, networking technologies and standards to facilitate access to digital content and data to a designated user community." Access to digital libraries can be influenced by several factors, either individually or together. The most common factors that influence access are: The library's content, the characteristics and information needs of the target users, the library's digital interface, the goals and objectives of the library's organizational structure, and the standards and regulations that govern library use. Access will depend on the users ability to discover and retrieve documents that interest them and that they require, which in turn is a preservation question. Digital objects cannot be preserved passively, they must be curated by digital librarians to ensure the trust and integrity of the digital objects. One of the biggest considerations for digital librarians is the need to provide long-term access to their resources; to do this, there are two issues requiring watchfulness: Media failure and format obsolescence. With media failure, a particular digital item is unusable because of some sort of error or problem. A scratched CD-ROM, for example, will not display its contents correctly, but another, unscratched disk will not have that problem. Format obsolescence is when a digital format has been superseded by newer technology, and so items in the old format are unreadable and unusable. Dealing with media failure is a reactive process, because something is done only when a problem presents itself. In contrast, format obsolescence is preparatory, because changes are anticipated and solutions are sought before there is a problem. Future trends in digital preservation include: Transparent enterprise models for digital preservation, launch of self-preserving objects, increased flexibility in digital preservation architectures, clearly defined metrics for comparing preservation tools, and terminology and standards interoperability in real time. Special libraries All other libraries fall into the "special library" category. Many private businesses and public organizations, including hospitals, churches, museums, research laboratories, law firms, and many government departments and agencies, maintain their own libraries for the use of their employees in doing specialized research related to their work. Depending on the particular institution, special libraries may or may not be accessible to the general public or elements thereof. In more specialized institutions such as law firms and research laboratories, librarians employed in special libraries are commonly specialists in the institution's field rather than generally trained librarians, and often are not required to have advanced degrees in a specifically library-related field due to the specialized content and clientele of the library. Special libraries can also include women's libraries or LGBTQ libraries, which serve the needs of women and the LGBTQ community. Libraries and the LGBTQ community have an extensive history, and there are currently many libraries, archives, and special collections devoted to preserving and helping the LGBTQ community. Women's libraries, such as the Vancouver Women's Library or the Women's Library @LSE are examples of women's libraries that offer services to women and girls and focus on women's history. Some special libraries, such as governmental law libraries, hospital libraries, and military base libraries commonly are open to public visitors to the institution in question. Depending on the particular library and the clientele it serves, special libraries may offer services similar to research, reference, public, academic, or children's libraries, often with restrictions such as only lending books to patients at a hospital or restricting the public from parts of a military collection. Given the highly individual nature of special libraries, visitors to a special library are often advised to check what services and restrictions apply at that particular library. Special libraries are distinguished from special collections, which are branches or parts of a library intended for rare books, manuscripts, and other special materials, though some special libraries have special collections of their own, typically related to the library's specialized subject area. For more information on specific types of special libraries, see law libraries, medical libraries, music libraries, or transportation libraries. Organization Most libraries have materials arranged in a specified order according to a library classification system, so that items may be located quickly and collections may be browsed efficiently. Some libraries have additional galleries beyond the public ones, where reference materials are stored. These reference stacks may be open to selected members of the public. Others require patrons to submit a "stack request", which is a request for an assistant to retrieve the material from the closed stacks: see List of closed stack libraries (in progress). Larger libraries are often divided into departments staffed by both paraprofessionals and professional librarians. Circulation (or Access Services) – Handles user accounts and the loaning/returning and shelving of materials. Collection Development – Orders materials and maintains materials budgets. Reference – Staffs a reference desk answering questions from users (using structured reference interviews), instructing users, and developing library programming. Reference may be further broken down by user groups or materials; common collections are children's literature, young adult literature, and genealogy materials. Technical Services – Works behind the scenes cataloging and processing new materials and deaccessioning weeded materials. Stacks Maintenance – Re-shelves materials that have been returned to the library after patron use and shelves materials that have been processed by Technical Services. Stacks Maintenance also shelf reads the material in the stacks to ensure that it is in the correct library classification order. Basic tasks in library management include the planning of acquisitions (which materials the library should acquire, by purchase or otherwise), library classification of acquired materials, preservation of materials (especially rare and fragile archival materials such as manuscripts), the deaccessioning of materials, patron borrowing of materials, and developing and administering library computer systems. More long-term issues include the planning of the construction of new libraries or extensions to existing ones, and the development and implementation of outreach services and reading-enhancement services (such as adult literacy and children's programming). Library materials like books, magazines, periodicals, CDs, etc. are managed by Dewey Decimal Classification Theory and modified Dewey Decimal Classification Theory is more practical reliable system for library materials management. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published several standards regarding the management of libraries through its Technical Committee 46 (TC 46), which is focused on "libraries, documentation and information centers, publishing, archives, records management, museum documentation, indexing and abstracting services, and information science". The following is a partial list of some of them: ISO 2789:2006 Information and documentation—International library statistics ISO 11620:1998 Information and documentation—Library performance indicators ISO 11799:2003 Information and documentation—Document storage requirements for archive and library materials ISO 14416:2003 Information and documentation—Requirements for binding of books, periodicals, serials, and other paper documents for archive and library use—Methods and materials ISO/TR 20983:2003 Information and documentation—Performance indicators for electronic library services Buildings Librarians have sometimes complained that some of the library buildings which have been used to accommodate libraries have been inadequate for the demands made upon them. In general, this condition may have resulted from one or more of the following causes: an effort to erect a monumental building; most of those who commission library buildings are not librarians and their priorities may be different to conform it to a type of architecture unsuited to library purposes the appointment, often by competition, of an architect unschooled in the requirements of a library failure to consult with the librarian or with library experts Much advancement has undoubtedly been made toward cooperation between architect and librarian, and many good designers have made library buildings their specialty; nevertheless it seems that the ideal type of library is not yet realized—the type so adapted to its purpose that it would be immediately recognized as such, as is the case with school buildings. This does not mean that library constructions should conform rigidly to a fixed standard of appearance and arrangement, but it does mean that the exterior should express as nearly as possible the purpose and functions of the interior. Usage Some patrons may not know how to fully use the library's resources. This can be due to individuals' unease in approaching a staff member. Ways in which a library's content is displayed or accessed may have the most impact on use. An antiquated or clumsy search system, or staff unwilling or untrained to engage their patrons, will limit a library's usefulness. In the public libraries of the United States, beginning in the 19th century, these problems drove the emergence of the library instruction movement, which advocated library user education. One of the early leaders was John Cotton Dana. The basic form of library instruction is sometimes known as information literacy. Libraries should inform their users of what materials are available in their collections and how to access that information. Before the computer age, this was accomplished by the card catalogue—a cabinet (or multiple cabinets) containing many drawers filled with index cards that identified books and other materials. In a large library, the card catalogue often filled a large room. The emergence of the Internet, however, has led to the adoption of electronic catalogue databases (often referred to as "webcats" or as online public access catalogues, OPACs), which allow users to search the library's holdings from any location with Internet access. This style of catalogue maintenance is compatible with new types of libraries, such as digital libraries and distributed libraries, as well as older libraries that have been retrofitted. Large libraries may be scattered within multiple buildings across a town, each having multiple floors, with multiple rooms housing their resources across a series of shelves called bays. Once a user has located a resource within the catalogue, they must then use navigational guidance to retrieve the resource physically, a process that may be assisted through signage, maps, GPS systems, or RFID tagging. Finland has the highest number of registered book borrowers per capita in the world. Over half of Finland's population are registered borrowers. In the US, public library users have borrowed on average roughly 15 books per user per year from 1856 to 1978. From 1978 to 2004, book circulation per user declined approximately 50%. The growth of audiovisuals circulation, estimated at 25% of total circulation in 2004, accounts for about half of this decline. Shift to digital libraries In the 21st century, there has been increasing use of the Internet to gather and retrieve data. The shift to digital libraries has greatly impacted the way people use physical libraries. Between 2002 and 2004, the average American academic library saw the overall number of transactions decline approximately 2.2%. Libraries are trying to keep up with the digital world and the new generation of students that are used to having information just one click away. For example, the University of California Library System saw a 54% decline in circulation between 1991 and 2001 of 8,377,000 books to 3,832,000. These facts might be a consequence of the increased availability of e-resources. In 1999–2000, 105 ARL university libraries spent almost $100 million on electronic resources, which is an increase of nearly $23 million from the previous year. A 2003 report by the Open E-book Forum found that close to a million e-books had been sold in 2002, generating nearly $8 million in revenue. Another example of the shift to digital libraries can be seen in Cushing Academy's decision to dispense with its library of printed books—more than 20,000 volumes in all—and switch over entirely to digital media resources. A 2001 discussion paper exploring changing use of libraries reported decreased library usage by undergraduate students, who had become more used to retrieving information from the Internet than a traditional library. Finding information by simply searching the Internet is seen as easier and faster than reading an entire book. In a survey conducted by NetLibrary, 93% of undergraduate students said that finding information online made more sense to them than going to the library. Three-quarters said they did not have enough time to go to the library. While the retrieving information from the Internet may be efficient and time-saving than visiting a traditional library, research showed that undergraduates are most likely searching only .03% of the entire web. In the mid-2000s, Swedish company Distec invented a library book vending machine known as the GoLibrary, that offers library books to people where there is no branch, limited hours, or high traffic locations such as El Cerrito del Norte BART station in California. The Internet A library may make use of the Internet in a number of ways, from creating their own library website to making the contents of its catalogues searchable online. Some specialised search engines such as Google Scholar offer a way to facilitate searching for academic resources such as journal articles and research papers. The Online Computer Library Center allows anyone to search the world's largest repository of library records through its WorldCat online database. Websites such as LibraryThing and Amazon provide abstracts, reviews, and recommendations of books. Libraries provide computers and Internet access to allow people to search for information online. Online information access is particularly attractive to younger library users. Digitization of books, particularly those that are out-of-print, in projects such as Google Books provides resources for library and other online users. Due to their holdings of valuable material, some libraries are important partners for search engines such as Google in realizing the potential of such projects and have received reciprocal benefits in cases where they have negotiated effectively. As the prominence of and reliance on the Internet has grown, library services have moved the emphasis from mainly providing print resources to providing more computers and more Internet access. Libraries face a number of challenges in adapting to new ways of information seeking that may stress convenience over quality, reducing the priority of information literacy skills. The potential decline in library usage, particularly reference services, puts the necessity for these services in doubt. Library scholars have acknowledged that libraries need to address the ways that they market their services if they are to compete with the Internet and mitigate the risk of losing users. This includes promoting the information literacy skills training considered vital across the library profession. Many US based research librarians rely on the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in order to guide students and faculty in research. However, marketing of services has to be adequately supported financially in order to be successful. This can be problematic for library services that are publicly funded and find it difficult to justify diverting tight funds to apparently peripheral areas such as branding and marketing. The privacy aspect of library usage in the Internet age is a matter of growing concern and advocacy; privacy workshops are run by the Library Freedom Project which teach librarians about digital tools (such as the Tor network) to thwart mass surveillance. Associations The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international association of library organisations. It is the global voice of the library and information profession, and its annual conference provides a venue for librarians to learn from one another. Library associations in Asia include the Indian Library Association (ILA), Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centers (IASLIC), Bengal Library Association (BLA), Kolkata, Pakistan Library Association, the Pakistan Librarians Welfare Organization, the Bangladesh Association of Librarians, Information Scientists and Documentalists, the Library Association of Bangladesh, and the Sri Lanka Library Association (founded 1960). National associations of the English-speaking world include the American Library Association, the Australian Library and Information Association, the Canadian Library Association, the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, and the Research Libraries UK (a consortium of 30 university and other research libraries in the United Kingdom). Library bodies such as CILIP (formerly the Library Association, founded 1877) may advocate the role that libraries and librarians can play in a modern Internet environment, and in the teaching of information literacy skills. The Nigerian Library Association is the recognized group for librarians working in Nigeria. It was established in 1962 in Ibadan. Public library advocacy is support given to a public library for its financial and philosophical goals or needs. Most often this takes the form of monetary or material donations or campaigning to the institutions which oversee the library, sometimes by advocacy groups such as Friends of Libraries and community members. Originally, library advocacy was centered on the library itself, but current trends show libraries positioning themselves to demonstrate they provide "economic value to the community" in means that are not directly related to the checking out of books and other media. International protection Libraries are considered part of the cultural heritage and are one of the primary objectives in many state and domestic conflicts and are at risk of destruction and looting. Financing is often carried out by robbing valuable library items. National and international coordination regarding military and civil structures for the protection of libraries is operated by Blue Shield International and UNESCO. From an international perspective, despite the partial dissolution of state structures and very unclear security situations as a result of the wars and unrest, robust undertakings to protect libraries are being carried out. The topic is also the creation of "no-strike lists", in which the coordinates of important cultural monuments such as libraries have been preserved. See also Lists of libraries References Further reading Barnard, T.D.F. (ed.) (1967). Library Buildings: design and fulfilment; papers read at the Week-end Conference of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association, held at Hastings, 21–23 April 1967. London: Library Association (London and Home Counties Branch) Terry Belanger. Lunacy & the Arrangement of Books, New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Books, 1983; 3rd ptg 2003, Bieri, Susanne & Fuchs, Walther (2001). Bibliotheken bauen: Tradition und Vision = Building for Books: traditions and visions. Basel: Birkhäuser Ellsworth, Ralph E. (1973). Academic Library Buildings: a guide to architectural issues and solutions. 530 pp. Boulder: Associated University Press Fraley, Ruth A. & Anderson, Carol Lee (1985). Library Space Planning: how to assess, allocate, and reorganize collections, resources, and physical facilities. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers Irwin, Raymond (1947). The National Library Service [of the United Kingdom]. London: Grafton & Co. x, 96 p. Lewanski, Richard C. (1967). Lilbrary Directories [and] Library Science Dictionaries, in Bibliography and Reference Series, no. 4. 1967 ed. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Clio Press. N.B.: Publisher also named as the "American Bibliographical Center". Robert K. Logan with Marshall McLuhan. The Future of the Library: From Electric Media to Digital Media. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Mason, Ellsworth (1980). Mason on Library Buildings. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press Monypenny, Phillip, and Guy Garrison (1966). The Library Functions of the States [i.e. the US]: Commentary on the Survey of Library Functions of the States, [under the auspices of the] Survey and Standard Committee [of the] American Association of State Libraries. Chicago: American Library Association. xiii, 178 p. Orr, J.M. (1975). Designing Library Buildings for Activity; 2nd ed. London: Andre Deutsch Thompson, Godfrey (1973). Planning and Design of Library Buildings. London: Architectural Press External links LIBweb—Directory of library servers in 146 countries via WWW Centre for the History of the Book, hss.ed.ac.uk The Free Library'' Libraries: Frequently Asked Questions, ibiblio.org A Library Primer, by John Cotton Dana, 1903, setting out the basics of organizing and running a library. (from Project Gutenberg) Library science Book promotion	[ 0.5876703858375549, 0.1960977464914322, -0.045861709862947464, 0.5053192973136902, 0.4559831917285919, -0.20365794003009796, 0.09351242333650589, 0.46780213713645935, -0.4910891056060791, -0.780450701713562, -0.7903749942779541, 0.13469836115837097, 0.14613036811351776, 0.5456997752189636,...
17728	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line%20Islands	Line Islands	The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands (in Gilbertese, Aono Raina) are a chain of 11 atolls (with partially or fully enclosed lagoons) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawaiian Islands. The island chain stretches northwest to southeast across , making it one of the longest island chains in the world. One of the islands in the group, Kiritimati, has the largest land area of any atoll in the world. (One of the reefs, Filippo Reef, is shown on some maps, but its existence is doubted.) Of the 11 islands, all of which were formed by volcanic activity, only the Kiritimati and Tabuaeran atolls and Teraina Island have a permanent population. Eight of the islands are part of Kiribati. The remaining three—Kingman Reef (which is largely submerged), Palmyra Island and Jarvis Island—are United States territories grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The International Date Line passes through the Line Islands. The ones that are part of Kiribati are in the world's farthest forward time zone, UTC+14:00. The time of day is (UTC-10.00), the same as in the state of Hawaii, in the United States, but the date is one day ahead of Hawaii. The time in the Line Islands is 26 hours ahead of some other islands in Oceania, such as Baker Island, which uses UTC−12:00. Overview Copra and "Petfish" are the islands' main export products (along with seaweed). Archaeologists have identified the remains of coral Marae platforms and/or village complexes on several of the islands, including the Kiritimati and Tabuaeran atolls, Teraina Island, Malden, Millennium Atoll and Flint Island. These remains are dateable as far back as the 14th century, and show that the inhabitants of the Line Islands were more than just castaways. Most 18th-century visitors to these isles overlooked these telltale signs of former Polynesian settlement. This included Captain Cook, who landed on Christmas Island in 1777, and Captain Fanning, who visited Teraina (Washington Island) and Tabuaeran (Fanning Atoll) in 1798. In the 19th century, whaling ships were regular visitors to the islands. They came in search of water, wood and provisions. The first whaler recorded to have visited one of them was the Coquette, which docked at Kiritimati (then called Christmas Island) in 1822. In 1888, the UK was planning to lay the Pacific cable, and annexed the islands with a view to using Tabuaeran (then Fanning Island) as one of the relay stations for the cable. The cable was laid and was operational between 1902 and 1963 (except for a short period in 1914). In 1916, the British annexed Fanning and Washington islands, making them part of the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. In 1919, they annexed Christmas Island to the same colony. The Line Islands occasionally featured briefly in the biennial reports furnished by the Colony's resident commissioner to the Colonial Office and Parliament in London (See, for example, the reports submitted in 1966 and 1967.). The United States contested the British annexations, based on the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856, which allowed for very wide-ranging territorial claims. It relinquished these claims only in 1979, when it entered into the Treaty of Tarawa, which recognised Kiribati's sovereignty over the majority of the Line Islands chain. Geographically, the Line Islands group is divided into three subgroups: the Northern, Central, and Southern Line Islands. (However, the Central Line Islands are sometimes grouped with the Southern Line Islands.) The table below lists the islands from north to south. List of atolls, islands and reefs * The lagoon areas marked with an asterisk are included in the island areas of the previous column because, unlike typical lagoons in atolls, they are inland waters completely sealed off from the sea. Time zone realignment On 23 December 1994, the Republic of Kiribati announced a change of time zone for the Line Islands, to take effect 31 December 1994. This adjustment effectively moved the International Date Line more than to the east within Kiribati, which placed all of Kiribati on the Asian or western side of the date line, despite the fact that Millenium Island's longitude of 150 degrees west corresponds to UTC−10 rather than to its official time zone of UTC+14. Millenium Island is now at the same time as the Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time Zone), but one day ahead. This move made Millenium Island (then Caroline Island) the easternmost land in the earliest time zone (by some definitions, the easternmost point on Earth), and one of the first points of land which saw sunrise on 1 January 2000 – at 5:43 am, as measured by local time. The stated reason for the move was the fulfilment of a campaign promise that Kiribati President Teburoro Tito had made to eliminate the confusion caused by Kiribati straddling the Date Line and therefore being constantly in two different days. However, Kiribati officials were not reluctant to attempt to capitalise on the nation's new status as owners of the first land to see sunrise in 2000. Other Pacific nations, including Tonga and New Zealand's Chatham Islands, protested the move, objecting that it interfered with their own claims to be the first land to see dawn in the year 2000. In 1999, to further capitalise upon the massive public interest in celebrations marking the arrival of the year 2000, Caroline Island was officially renamed Millennium Island. Although the island is uninhabited, a special celebration was held there to mark the occasion. It featured performances by native Kiribati entertainers and was attended by Kiribati's President Tito. Over 70 Kiribati singers and dancers travelled to Millenium from the capital, Tarawa, accompanied by approximately 25 journalists. The celebration, which was broadcast worldwide by satellite, had an estimated audience size of as many as one billion viewers. References External links National Geographic – Southern Line Islands Expedition, 2009 Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Atolls of the Pacific Ocean Disputed islands Divided regions Geography of Micronesia Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Islands of Oceania Archipelagoes of the United States	[ 0.5979887843132019, -0.863338828086853, 0.04548918083310127, 0.09227871149778366, 0.033257756382226944, 0.39576682448387146, 0.2283247411251068, 0.16000299155712128, -0.15144340693950653, 0.04170333966612816, -0.5413330793380737, 0.030009236186742783, -0.4596443474292755, 0.026485791429877...
17730	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin	Latin	Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area around present-day Rome (then known as Latium), and through the power of the Roman Republic, became the dominant language in Italia and subsequently throughout the realms of Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Western Rome, Latin was the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars (including its own descendants, the Romance languages) supplanted it in common academic and political usage, and it eventually became a dead language in the modern linguistic definition. Latin is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders, six or seven noun cases, five declensions, four verb conjugations, six tenses, three persons, three moods, two voices, two or three aspects, and two numbers. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet. By the late Roman Republic (75 BC), Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin used by educated elites. Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken at that time among lower-class commoners and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence and author Petronius. Late Latin is the written language from the 3rd century; its various Vulgar Latin dialects developed in the 6th to 9th centuries into the modern Romance languages, such as Italian, Sardinian, Venetian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Piedmontese, Lombard, French, Franco-Provençal, Occitan, Corsican, Ladin, Friulan, Romansh, Catalan/Valencian, Aragonese, Spanish, Asturian, Galician, Portuguese, Romanian (Daco-Romanian), Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian and Aromanian. Medieval Latin was used during the Middle Ages as a literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance, which then used Renaissance Latin. Later, New Latin evolved during the early modern era to eventually become the rarely spoken Contemporary Latin, one of which, the Ecclesiastical Latin, remains the official language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church at Vatican City. Latin has also greatly influenced the English language and historically contributed many words to the English lexicon via the Christianization of Anglo-Saxons and the Norman conquest. In particular, Latin (and Ancient Greek) roots are still used in English descriptions of theology, science disciplines (especially anatomy and taxonomy), medicine, and law. History A number of historical phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, morphology, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As a result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names. In addition to the historical phases, Ecclesiastical Latin refers to the styles used by the writers of the Roman Catholic Church from Late Antiquity onward, as well as by Protestant scholars. After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 and Germanic kingdoms took its place, the Germanic people adopted Latin as a language more suitable for legal and other, more formal uses. Old Latin The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, which was spoken from the Roman Kingdom to the later part of the Roman Republic period. It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of the earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies of Plautus and Terence. The Latin alphabet was devised from the Etruscan alphabet. The writing later changed from what was initially either a right-to-left or a boustrophedon script to what ultimately became a strictly left-to-right script. Classical Latin During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature, which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools, which served as a sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech. Vulgar Latin Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those of Plautus, which contain snippets of everyday speech, indicates that a spoken language, Vulgar Latin (termed , "the speech of the masses", by Cicero), existed concurrently with literate Classical Latin. The informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors and those found as graffiti. As it was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages. The decline of the Roman Empire meant a deterioration in educational standards that brought about Late Latin, a postclassical stage of the language seen in Christian writings of the time. It was more in line with everyday speech, not only because of a decline in education but also because of a desire to spread the word to the masses. Despite dialectal variation, which is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. It was not until the Moorish conquest of Spain in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously. The Vulgar Latin dialect that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from the other varieties, as it was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire. One key marker of whether a given Romance feature was found in Vulgar Latin is to compare it with its parallel in Classical Latin. If it was not preferred in Classical Latin, then it most likely came from the undocumented contemporaneous Vulgar Latin. For example, the Romance for "horse" (Italian , French , Spanish , Portuguese and Romanian ) came from Latin . However, Classical Latin used . Therefore, was most likely the spoken form. Vulgar Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing. Medieval Latin Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the postclassical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed. The spoken language had developed into the various incipient Romance languages; however, in the educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies. Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, medieval Latin lost its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin and are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use and instead. Furthermore, the meanings of many words have been changed and new vocabularies have been introduced from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail. Renaissance Latin The Renaissance briefly reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken language by its adoption by the Renaissance Humanists. Often led by members of the clergy, they were shocked by the accelerated dismantling of the vestiges of the classical world and the rapid loss of its literature. They strove to preserve what they could and restore Latin to what it had been and introduced the practice of producing revised editions of the literary works that remained by comparing surviving manuscripts. By no later than the 15th century they had replaced Medieval Latin with versions supported by the scholars of the rising universities, who attempted, by scholarship, to discover what the classical language had been. New Latin During the Early Modern Age, Latin still was the most important language of culture in Europe. Therefore, until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language) and later native or other languages. Contemporary Latin Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world. Religious use The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, which permitted the use of the vernacular. Latin remains the language of the Roman Rite. The Tridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of the Holy See, the primary language of its public journal, the , and the working language of the Roman Rota. Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin. In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language. In the Anglican Church, after the publication of the Book of Common Prayer of 1559, a Latin edition was published in 1560 for use in universities such as Oxford and the leading "public schools" (English private academies), where the liturgy was still permitted to be conducted in Latin. There have been several Latin translations since, including a Latin edition of the 1979 USA Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Use of Latin for mottos In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture. Canada's motto ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin . Spain's motto Plus ultra, meaning "even further", or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin. It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and is a reversal of the original phrase ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend, this inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules, the rocks on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence. Several states of the United States have Latin mottos, such as: Connecticut's motto ("He who transplanted sustains"); Kansas's ("Through hardships, to the stars"); Colorado's ("Nothing without providence"); Michigan's ("If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"), is based on that of Sir Christopher Wren, in St. Paul's Cathedral; Missouri's ("The health of the people should be the highest law"); New York (state)'s ("Ever upward"); North Carolina's ("To be rather than to seem"); South Carolina's ("While [still] breathing, I hope"); Virginia's ("Thus always to tyrants"); and West Virginia's ("Mountaineers [are] always free"). Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as: ("always ready"), the motto of the United States Coast Guard; ("always faithful"), the motto of the United States Marine Corps; Semper Supra ("always above"), the motto of the United States Space Force; and ("Through adversity/struggle to the stars"), the motto of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University's motto is ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue. Other modern uses Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages. For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH, which stands for , the country's full Latin name. Some films of ancient settings, such as Sebastiane and The Passion of the Christ, have been made with dialogue in Latin for the sake of realism. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost ("Jughead"). Subtitles are usually shown for the benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics. The libretto for the opera-oratorio by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin. The continued instruction of Latin is often seen as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian and , the German and the Dutch . Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it was shut down in June 2019), and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin. A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latin 'circuli' ('circles'), have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin. Moreover, a number of university classics departments have began incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include the University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University. There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Wikipedia has more than 130,000 articles. Legacy Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Romansh and other Romance languages are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin borrowings in English and Albanian, as well as a few in German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Latin is still spoken in Vatican City, a city-state situated in Rome that is the seat of the Catholic Church. Inscriptions Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. About 270,000 inscriptions are known. Literature The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed in philology. They are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. Their works were published in manuscript form before the invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as the Loeb Classical Library, published by Harvard University Press, or the Oxford Classical Texts, published by Oxford University Press. Latin translations of modern literature such as: The Hobbit, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh, The Adventures of Tintin, Asterix, Harry Potter, , Max and Moritz, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, "", are intended to garner popular interest in the language. Additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissner's Latin Phrasebook. Influence on present-day languages The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In the Middle Ages, borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after the Norman Conquest, through the Anglo-Norman language. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed "inkhorn terms", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such as 'imbibe' and 'extrapolate'. Many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies. Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. The influence of Roman governance and Roman technology on the less-developed nations under Roman dominion led to the adoption of Latin phraseology in some specialized areas, such as science, technology, medicine, and law. For example, the Linnaean system of plant and animal classification was heavily influenced by Historia Naturalis, an encyclopedia of people, places, plants, animals, and things published by Pliny the Elder. Roman medicine, recorded in the works of such physicians as Galen, established that today's medical terminology would be primarily derived from Latin and Greek words, the Greek being filtered through the Latin. Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole. Latin law principles have survived partly in a long list of Latin legal terms. A few international auxiliary languages have been heavily influenced by Latin. Interlingua is sometimes considered a simplified, modern version of the language. Latino sine Flexione, popular in the early 20th century, is Latin with its inflections stripped away, among other grammatical changes. The Logudorese dialect of the Sardinian language is the closest contemporary language to Latin. Education Throughout European history, an education in the classics was considered crucial for those who wished to join literate circles. Instruction in Latin is an essential aspect. In today's world, a large number of Latin students in the US learn from Wheelock's Latin: The Classic Introductory Latin Course, Based on Ancient Authors. This book, first published in 1956, was written by Frederic M. Wheelock, who received a PhD from Harvard University. Wheelock's Latin has become the standard text for many American introductory Latin courses. The Living Latin movement attempts to teach Latin in the same way that living languages are taught, as a means of both spoken and written communication. It is available in Vatican City and at some institutions in the US, such as the University of Kentucky and Iowa State University. The British Cambridge University Press is a major supplier of Latin textbooks for all levels, such as the Cambridge Latin Course series. It has also published a subseries of children's texts in Latin by Bell & Forte, which recounts the adventures of a mouse called Minimus. In the United Kingdom, the Classical Association encourages the study of antiquity through various means, such as publications and grants. The University of Cambridge, the Open University, a number of prestigious independent schools, for example Eton, Harrow, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Merchant Taylors' School, and Rugby, and The Latin Programme/Via Facilis, a London-based charity, run Latin courses. In the United States and in Canada, the American Classical League supports every effort to further the study of classics. Its subsidiaries include the National Junior Classical League (with more than 50,000 members), which encourages high school students to pursue the study of Latin, and the National Senior Classical League, which encourages students to continue their study of the classics into college. The league also sponsors the National Latin Exam. Classicist Mary Beard wrote in The Times Literary Supplement in 2006 that the reason for learning Latin is because of what was written in it. Official status Latin was or is the official language of European states: – Latin was an official language in the Kingdom of Hungary from the 11th century to the mid 19th century, when Hungarian became the exclusive official language in 1844. The best known Latin language poet of Croatian-Hungarian origin was Janus Pannonius. – Latin was the official language of Croatian Parliament (Sabor) from the 13th to the 19th century (1847). The oldest preserved records of the parliamentary sessions () – held in Zagreb (), Croatia – date from 19 April 1273. An extensive Croatian Latin literature exists. Latin is still used on Croatian coins on even years. , Kingdom of Poland – officially recognised and widely used between the 10th and 18th centuries, commonly used in foreign relations and popular as a second language among some of the nobility. Phonology The ancient pronunciation of Latin has been reconstructed; among the data used for reconstruction are explicit statements about pronunciation by ancient authors, misspellings, puns, ancient etymologies, the spelling of Latin loanwords in other languages, and the historical development of Romance languages. Consonants The consonant phonemes of Classical Latin are as follows: was not native to Classical Latin. It appeared in Greek loanwords starting around the first century BC, when it was probably pronounced initially and doubled between vowels, in contrast to Classical Greek or . In Classical Latin poetry, the letter between vowels always counts as two consonants for metrical purposes. The consonant ⟨b⟩ usually sounds as [b]; however, when ⟨t⟩ or ⟨s⟩ precedes ⟨b⟩ then it is pronounced as in [pt] or [ps]. Further, consonants do not blend together. So, ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ph⟩, and ⟨th⟩ are all sounds that would be pronounced as [kh], [ph], and [th]. In Latin, ⟨q⟩ is always followed by the vowel ⟨u⟩. Together they make a [kw] sound. In Old and Classical Latin, the Latin alphabet had no distinction between uppercase and lowercase, and the letters did not exist. In place of , were used, respectively; represented both vowels and consonants. Most of the letterforms were similar to modern uppercase, as can be seen in the inscription from the Colosseum shown at the top of the article. The spelling systems used in Latin dictionaries and modern editions of Latin texts, however, normally use in place of Classical-era . Some systems use for the consonant sounds except in the combinations for which is never used. Some notes concerning the mapping of Latin phonemes to English graphemes are given below: In Classical Latin, as in modern Italian, double consonant letters were pronounced as long consonant sounds distinct from short versions of the same consonants. Thus the nn in Classical Latin "year" (and in Italian ) is pronounced as a doubled as in English unnamed. (In English, distinctive consonant length or doubling occurs only at the boundary between two words or morphemes, as in that example.) Vowels Simple vowels In Classical Latin, did not exist as a letter distinct from V; the written form was used to represent both a vowel and a consonant. was adopted to represent upsilon in loanwords from Greek, but it was pronounced like and by some speakers. It was also used in native Latin words by confusion with Greek words of similar meaning, such as and . Classical Latin distinguished between long and short vowels. Then, long vowels, except for , were frequently marked using the apex, which was sometimes similar to an acute accent . Long was written using a taller version of , called "long I": . In modern texts, long vowels are often indicated by a macron , and short vowels are usually unmarked except when it is necessary to distinguish between words, when they are marked with a breve . However, they would also signify a long vowel by writing the vowel larger than other letters in a word or by repeating the vowel twice in a row. The acute accent, when it is used in modern Latin texts, indicates stress, as in Spanish, rather than length. Long vowels in Classical Latin are, technically, pronounced as entirely different from short vowels. The difference is described in the table below: This difference in quality is posited by W. Sidney Allen in his book Vox Latina. However, Andrea Calabrese has disputed that short vowels differed in quality from long vowels during the classical period, based in part upon the observation that in Sardinian and some Lucanian dialects, each long and short vowel pair was merged. This is distinguished from the typical Italo-Western romance vowel system in which short /i/ and /u/ merge with long /eː/ and /oː/. Thus, Latin 'siccus' becomes 'secco' in Italian and 'siccu' in Sardinian. A vowel letter followed by at the end of a word, or a vowel letter followed by before or , represented a short nasal vowel, as in . Diphthongs Classical Latin had several diphthongs. The two most common were . was fairly rare, and were very rare, at least in native Latin words. There has also been debate over whether is truly a diphthong in Classical Latin, due to its rarity, absence in works of Roman grammarians, and the roots of Classical Latin words (i.e. to , to , etc.) not matching or being similar to the pronunciation of classical words if were to be considered a diphthong. The sequences sometimes did not represent diphthongs. and also represented a sequence of two vowels in different syllables in "of bronze" and "began", and represented sequences of two vowels or of a vowel and one of the semivowels , in "beware!", "whose", "I warned", "I released", "I destroyed", "his", and "new". Old Latin had more diphthongs, but most of them changed into long vowels in Classical Latin. The Old Latin diphthong and the sequence became Classical . Old Latin and changed to Classical , except in a few words whose became Classical . These two developments sometimes occurred in different words from the same root: for instance, Classical "punishment" and "to punish". Early Old Latin usually changed to Classical . In Vulgar Latin and the Romance languages, merged with . During the Classical Latin period this form of speaking was deliberately avoided by well-educated speakers. Syllables Syllables in Latin are signified by the presence of diphthongs and vowels. The number of syllables is the same as the number of vowel sounds. Further, if a consonant separates two vowels, it will go into the syllable of the second vowel. When there are two consonants between vowels, the last consonant will go with the second vowel. An exception occurs when a phonetic stop and liquid come together. In this situation, they are thought to be a single consonant, and as such, they will go into the syllable of the second vowel. Length Syllables in Latin are considered either long or short. Within a word, a syllable may either be long by nature or long by position. A syllable is long by nature if it has a diphthong or a long vowel. On the other hand, a syllable is long by position if the vowel is followed by more than one consonant. Stress There are two rules that define which syllable is stressed in the Latin language. In a word with only two syllables, the emphasis will be on the first syllable. In a word with more than two syllables, there are two cases. If the second-to-last syllable is long, that syllable will have stress. If the second-to-last syllable is not long, the syllable before that one will be stressed instead. Orthography Latin was written in the Latin alphabet, derived from the Etruscan alphabet, which was in turn drawn from the Greek alphabet and ultimately the Phoenician alphabet. This alphabet has continued to be used over the centuries as the script for the Romance, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, Finnic and many Slavic languages (Polish, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian and Czech); and it has been adopted by many languages around the world, including Vietnamese, the Austronesian languages, many Turkic languages, and most languages in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and Oceania, making it by far the world's single most widely used writing system. The number of letters in the Latin alphabet has varied. When it was first derived from the Etruscan alphabet, it contained only 21 letters. Later, G was added to represent , which had previously been spelled C, and Z ceased to be included in the alphabet, as the language then had no voiced alveolar fricative. The letters Y and Z were later added to represent Greek letters, upsilon and zeta respectively, in Greek loanwords. W was created in the 11th century from VV. It represented in Germanic languages, not Latin, which still uses V for the purpose. J was distinguished from the original I only during the late Middle Ages, as was the letter U from V. Although some Latin dictionaries use J, it is rarely used for Latin text, as it was not used in classical times, but many other languages use it. Classical Latin did not contain sentence punctuation, letter case, or interword spacing, but apices were sometimes used to distinguish length in vowels and the interpunct was used at times to separate words. The first line of Catullus 3, originally written as ("Mourn, O Venuses and Cupids") or with interpunct as would be rendered in a modern edition as Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque or with macrons Lūgēte, ō Venerēs Cupīdinēsque or with apices Lúgéte, ó Venerés Cupídinésque. The Roman cursive script is commonly found on the many wax tablets excavated at sites such as forts, an especially extensive set having been discovered at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall in Britain. Most notable is the fact that while most of the Vindolanda tablets show spaces between words, spaces were avoided in monumental inscriptions from that era. Alternative scripts Occasionally, Latin has been written in other scripts: The Praeneste fibula is a 7th-century BC pin with an Old Latin inscription written using the Etruscan script. The rear panel of the early 8th-century Franks Casket has an inscription that switches from Old English in Anglo-Saxon runes to Latin in Latin script and to Latin in runes. Grammar Latin is a synthetic, fusional language in the terminology of linguistic typology. In more traditional terminology, it is an inflected language, but typologists are apt to say "inflecting". Words include an objective semantic element and markers specifying the grammatical use of the word. The fusion of root meaning and markers produces very compact sentence elements: , "I love," is produced from a semantic element, , "love," to which , a first person singular marker, is suffixed. The grammatical function can be changed by changing the markers: the word is "inflected" to express different grammatical functions, but the semantic element usually does not change. (Inflection uses affixing and infixing. Affixing is prefixing and suffixing. Latin inflections are never prefixed.) For example, , "he (or she or it) will love", is formed from the same stem, , to which a future tense marker, , is suffixed, and a third person singular marker, , is suffixed. There is an inherent ambiguity: may denote more than one grammatical category: masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. A major task in understanding Latin phrases and clauses is to clarify such ambiguities by an analysis of context. All natural languages contain ambiguities of one sort or another. The inflections express gender, number, and case in adjectives, nouns, and pronouns, a process called declension. Markers are also attached to fixed stems of verbs, to denote person, number, tense, voice, mood, and aspect, a process called conjugation. Some words are uninflected and undergo neither process, such as adverbs, prepositions, and interjections. Nouns A regular Latin noun belongs to one of five main declensions, a group of nouns with similar inflected forms. The declensions are identified by the genitive singular form of the noun. The first declension, with a predominant ending letter of a, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -ae. The second declension, with a predominant ending letter of us, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -i. The third declension, with a predominant ending letter of i, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -is. The fourth declension, with a predominant ending letter of u, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -ūs. The fifth declension, with a predominant ending letter of e, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -ei. There are seven Latin noun cases, which also apply to adjectives and pronouns and mark a noun's syntactic role in the sentence by means of inflections. Thus, word order is not as important in Latin as it is in English, which is less inflected. The general structure and word order of a Latin sentence can therefore vary. The cases are as follows: Nominative – used when the noun is the subject or a predicate nominative. The thing or person acting: the girl ran: or Genitive – used when the noun is the possessor of or connected with an object: "the horse of the man", or "the man's horse"; in both instances, the word man would be in the genitive case when it is translated into Latin. It also indicates the partitive, in which the material is quantified: "a group of people"; "a number of gifts": people and gifts would be in the genitive case. Some nouns are genitive with special verbs and adjectives: The cup is full of wine. () The master of the slave had beaten him. () Dative – used when the noun is the indirect object of the sentence, with special verbs, with certain prepositions, and if it is used as agent, reference, or even possessor: The merchant hands the stola to the woman. () Accusative – used when the noun is the direct object of the subject and as the object of a preposition demonstrating place to which.: The man killed the boy. () Ablative – used when the noun demonstrates separation or movement from a source, cause, agent or instrument or when the noun is used as the object of certain prepositions; adverbial: You walked with the boy. () Vocative – used when the noun is used in a direct address. The vocative form of a noun is often the same as the nominative, with the exception of second-declension nouns ending in -us. The -us becomes an -e in the vocative singular. If it ends in -ius (such as ), the ending is just -ī (), as distinct from the nominative plural () in the vocative singular: "Master!" shouted the slave. () Locative – used to indicate a location (corresponding to the English "in" or "at"). It is far less common than the other six cases of Latin nouns and usually applies to cities and small towns and islands along with a few common nouns, such as the words (house), (ground), and (country). In the singular of the first and second declensions, its form coincides with the genitive ( becomes , "in Rome"). In the plural of all declensions and the singular of the other declensions, it coincides with the ablative ( becomes , "at Athens"). In the fourth-declension word , the locative form, ("at home") differs from the standard form of all other cases. Latin lacks both definite and indefinite articles so can mean either "the boy is running" or "a boy is running". Adjectives There are two types of regular Latin adjectives: first- and second-declension and third-declension. They are so-called because their forms are similar or identical to first- and second-declension and third-declension nouns, respectively. Latin adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms. There are also a number of Latin participles. Latin numbers are sometimes declined as adjectives. See Numbers below. First- and second-declension adjectives are declined like first-declension nouns for the feminine forms and like second-declension nouns for the masculine and neuter forms. For example, for (dead), is declined like a regular first-declension noun (such as (girl)), is declined like a regular second-declension masculine noun (such as (lord, master)), and is declined like a regular second-declension neuter noun (such as (help)). Third-declension adjectives are mostly declined like normal third-declension nouns, with a few exceptions. In the plural nominative neuter, for example, the ending is -ia ( (all, everything)), and for third-declension nouns, the plural nominative neuter ending is -a or -ia ( (heads), (animals)) They can have one, two or three forms for the masculine, feminine, and neuter nominative singular. Participles Latin participles, like English participles, are formed from a verb. There are a few main types of participles: Present Active Participles, Perfect Passive Participles, Future Active Participles, and Future Passive Participles. Prepositions Latin sometimes uses prepositions, depending on the type of prepositional phrase being used. Most prepositions are followed by a noun in either the accusative or ablative case: "apud puerum" (with the boy), with "puerum" being the accusative form of "puer", boy, and "sine puero" (without the boy), "puero" being the ablative form of "puer". A few adpositions, however, govern a noun in the genitive (such as "gratia" and "tenus"). Verbs A regular verb in Latin belongs to one of four main conjugations. A conjugation is "a class of verbs with similar inflected forms." The conjugations are identified by the last letter of the verb's present stem. The present stem can be found by omitting the -re (-rī in deponent verbs) ending from the present infinitive form. The infinitive of the first conjugation ends in -ā-re or -ā-ri (active and passive respectively): , "to love," , "to exhort"; of the second conjugation by -ē-re or -ē-rī: , "to warn", , "to fear;" of the third conjugation by -ere, -ī: , "to lead," , "to use"; of the fourth by -ī-re, -ī-rī: , "to hear," , "to attempt". The stem categories descend from Indo-European and can therefore be compared to similar conjugations in other Indo-European languages. Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the regular conjugations in the formation of the inflected form. Irregular verbs in Latin are esse, "to be"; velle, "to want"; ferre, "to carry"; edere, "to eat"; dare, "to give"; ire, "to go"; quire, "to be able"; fieri, "to happen"; and their compounds. There are six general tenses in Latin (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect and future perfect), three moods (indicative, imperative and subjunctive, in addition to the infinitive, participle, gerund, gerundive and supine), three persons (first, second and third), two numbers (singular and plural), two voices (active and passive) and two aspects (perfective and imperfective). Verbs are described by four principal parts: The first principal part is the first-person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative mood form of the verb. If the verb is impersonal, the first principal part will be in the third-person singular. The second principal part is the present active infinitive. The third principal part is the first-person singular, perfect active indicative form. Like the first principal part, if the verb is impersonal, the third principal part will be in the third-person singular. The fourth principal part is the supine form, or alternatively, the nominative singular of the perfect passive participle form of the verb. The fourth principal part can show one gender of the participle or all three genders (-us for masculine, -a for feminine and -um for neuter) in the nominative singular. The fourth principal part will be the future participle if the verb cannot be made passive. Most modern Latin dictionaries, if they show only one gender, tend to show the masculine; but many older dictionaries instead show the neuter, as it coincides with the supine. The fourth principal part is sometimes omitted for intransitive verbs, but strictly in Latin, they can be made passive if they are used impersonally, and the supine exists for such verbs. The six tenses of Latin are divided into two tense systems: the present system, which is made up of the present, imperfect and future tenses, and the perfect system, which is made up of the perfect, pluperfect and future perfect tenses. Each tense has a set of endings corresponding to the person, number, and voice of the subject. Subject (nominative) pronouns are generally omitted for the first (I, we) and second (you) persons except for emphasis. The table below displays the common inflected endings for the indicative mood in the active voice in all six tenses. For the future tense, the first listed endings are for the first and second conjugations, and the second listed endings are for the third and fourth conjugations: Deponent verbs Some Latin verbs are deponent, causing their forms to be in the passive voice but retain an active meaning: hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum (to urge). Vocabulary As Latin is an Italic language, most of its vocabulary is likewise Italic, ultimately from the ancestral Proto-Indo-European language. However, because of close cultural interaction, the Romans not only adapted the Etruscan alphabet to form the Latin alphabet but also borrowed some Etruscan words into their language, including "mask" and "actor". Latin also included vocabulary borrowed from Oscan, another Italic language. After the Fall of Tarentum (272 BC), the Romans began Hellenising, or adopting features of Greek culture, including the borrowing of Greek words, such as (vaulted roof), (symbol), and (bath). This Hellenisation led to the addition of "Y" and "Z" to the alphabet to represent Greek sounds. Subsequently, the Romans transplanted Greek art, medicine, science and philosophy to Italy, paying almost any price to entice Greek skilled and educated persons to Rome and sending their youth to be educated in Greece. Thus, many Latin scientific and philosophical words were Greek loanwords or had their meanings expanded by association with Greek words, as (craft) and τέχνη (art). Because of the Roman Empire's expansion and subsequent trade with outlying European tribes, the Romans borrowed some northern and central European words, such as (beaver), of Germanic origin, and (breeches), of Celtic origin. The specific dialects of Latin across Latin-speaking regions of the former Roman Empire after its fall were influenced by languages specific to the regions. The dialects of Latin evolved into different Romance languages. During and after the adoption of Christianity into Roman society, Christian vocabulary became a part of the language, either from Greek or Hebrew borrowings or as Latin neologisms. Continuing into the Middle Ages, Latin incorporated many more words from surrounding languages, including Old English and other Germanic languages. Over the ages, Latin-speaking populations produced new adjectives, nouns, and verbs by affixing or compounding meaningful segments. For example, the compound adjective, , "all-powerful," was produced from the adjectives , "all", and , "powerful", by dropping the final s of and concatenating. Often, the concatenation changed the part of speech, and nouns were produced from verb segments or verbs from nouns and adjectives. Phrases (Neo-Latin) The phrases are mentioned with accents to show where stress is placed. In Latin, words are normally stressed either on the second-to-last (penultimate) syllable, called in Latin or , or on the third-to-last syllable, called in Latin or . In the following notation, accented short vowels have an acute diacritic, accented long vowels have a circumflex diacritic (representing long falling pitch), and unaccented long vowels are marked simply with a macron. This reflects the tone of the voice with which, ideally, the stress is phonetically realized; but this may not always be clearly articulated on every word in a sentence. Regardless of length, a vowel at the end of a word may be significantly shortened or even altogether deleted if the next word begins with a vowel also (a process called elision), unless a very short pause is inserted. As an exception, the following words: est (English "is"), es ("[you (sg.)] are") lose their own vowel e instead. to one person / to more than one person – hello to one person / to more than one person – greetings to one person / to more than one person – goodbye – take care to male / to female, to male / to female, to male / to female, to male / to female – welcome , – how are you? – good – I'm fine – bad – I'm not good (roughly: ['kwaeso:]/['kwe:so:]) – please – please , , , , , – yes , – no , – thank you, I give thanks to you , – many thanks , , – thank you very much to one person / to more than one person, – you're welcome – how old are you? 25 (vīgintī quīnque) annōs nātus sum25 annōs nāta sum by female – I am 25 years old – where is the toilet? – do you speak (literally: "do you know") ... – Latin? – Greek? – English? / – German? (sometimes also: ) – French? / – Russian? – Italian? / – Spanish? – Polish? – Portuguese? – Romanian? – Swedish? – Welsh? – Chinese? – Japanese? – Korean? – Hebrew? – Arabic? – Persian? – Hindi? / – I love you Numbers In ancient times, numbers in Latin were written only with letters. Today, the numbers can be written with the Arabic numbers as well as with Roman numerals. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 and every whole hundred from 200 to 900 are declined as nouns and adjectives, with some differences. The numbers from 4 to 100 do not change their endings. As in modern descendants such as Spanish, the gender for naming a number in isolation is masculine, so that "1, 2, 3" is counted as . Example text , also called (The Gallic War), written by Gaius Julius Caesar, begins with the following passage: The same text may be marked for all long vowels (before any possible elisions at word boundary) with apices over vowel letters, including customarily before "nf" and "ns" where a long vowel is automatically produced: See also Accademia Vivarium Novum Classical compound Contemporary Latin Greek and Latin roots in English Hybrid word International Roman Law Moot Court Latin grammar Latin mnemonics Latin obscenity Latin school Latino sine flexione (Latin without Inflections) List of Greek and Latin roots in English List of Latin abbreviations List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names List of Latin phrases List of Latin translations of modern literature List of Latin words with English derivatives List of Latinised names Lorem ipsum Romanization (cultural) Toponymy Vulgar Latin References Bibliography External links Language tools Searches Lewis & Short's A Latin Dictionary and Lewis's An Elementary Latin Dictionary. Online results. Search on line Latin-English and English-Latin dictionary with complete declension or conjugation. Online results. Identifies the grammatical functions of words entered. Online results. Identifies the grammatical functions of all the words in sentences entered, using Perseus. Displays complete conjugations of verbs entered in first-person present singular form. Displays conjugation of verbs entered in their infinitive form. Identifies Latin words entered. Translates English words entered. Combines Whittakers Words, Lewis and Short, Bennett's grammar and inflection tables in a browser addon. "Classical Language Toolkit " (CLTK). A Natural Language Processing toolkit for Python offering a variety of functionality for Latin and other classical languages. "Collatinus web". Online lemmatizer and morphological analysis for Latin texts. Courses Latin Lessons (free online through the Linguistics Research Center at UT Austin) Free 47-Lesson Online Latin Course, Learnlangs Learn Latin Grammar, vocabulary and audio Latin Links and Resources, Compiled by Fr. Gary Coulter (a course in ecclesiastical Latin). Beginners' Latin on The National Archives (United Kingdom) Grammar and study Phonetics Libraries The latin library, ancient Latin books and writings (without translations) ordered by author LacusCurtius, a small collection of Greek and roman authors along with their books and writings (original texts are in Latin and Greek, translations in English and occasionally in a few other languages are available) Latin language news and audio Ephemeris, online Latin newspaper: = news in Latin of the universe (whole world) Ephemeris archive, archived copy of online Latin newspaper Nuntii Latini, from Finnish YLE Radio 1 Nuntii Latini, monthly review from German Radio Bremen (Bremen Zwei) Classics Podcasts in Latin and Ancient Greek, Haverford College Latinum Latin Language course and Latin Language YouTube Index Latin language online communities Grex Latine Loquentium (Flock of those Speaking Latin) Circulus Latinus Interretialis (Internet Latin Circle) Latinitas Foundation, at the Vatican Latin Discord Forum Languages attested from the 7th century BC Fusional languages Languages of Andorra Languages of France Languages of Italy Languages of Portugal Languages of Romania Languages of Spain Languages of Vatican City Subject–object–verb languages	[ 0.2369927018880844, 0.05000336840748787, -0.48051419854164124, -0.1166834831237793, -0.04972853511571884, 0.6891001462936401, -0.01915210857987404, 0.6872082352638245, -0.146424800157547, -0.3877187967300415, -0.00440716277807951, 0.15923626720905304, -0.2335485816001892, -0.18804882466793...
17731	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveScript	LiveScript	LiveScript is a functional programming language that compiles to JavaScript. It was created by Jeremy Ashkenas—the creator of CoffeeScript—along with Satoshi Muramaki, George Zahariev, and many others. Not to be confused with JavaScript (for a brief period in the 1990s, LiveScript was the name of JavaScript). Syntax LiveScript is an indirect descendant of CoffeeScript. The following hello world program is written in LiveScript, but is also compatible with Coffeescript: hello = -> console.log 'hello, world!' While calling a function can be done with empty parens, hello(), LiveScript treats the exclamation mark as a single-character shorthand for function calls with zero arguments: hello! LiveScript introduces a number of other incompatible idioms: Name mangling At compile time, the LiveScript parser implicitly converts kebab case (dashed variables and function names) to camelcase. hello-world = -> console.log 'Hello, World!' With this definition, both the following calls are valid. However, calling using the same dashed syntax is recommended. hello-world! helloWorld! This does not preclude developers from using camelcase explicitly or using snakecase. Dashed naming is however, common in idiomatic LiveScript Pipes Like a number of other functional programming languages such as F# and Elixir, LiveScript supports the pipe operator, \|> which passes the result of the expression on the left of the operator as an argument to the expression on the right of it. Note that in F# the argument passed is the last argument, while in Elixir it is the first. "hello!" \|> capitalize \|> console.log # > Hello! Operators as functions When parenthesized, operators such as not or + can be included in pipelines or called as if they were functions. 111 \|> (+) 222 # > 333 (+) 1 2 # > 3 References External links JavaScript programming language family Software using the MIT license	[ 0.27907106280326843, 0.10358423739671707, -0.04612179100513458, -0.09025377035140991, -0.06979776173830032, 0.022898340597748756, 0.1609392911195755, 0.06554435938596725, 0.25841963291168213, -0.641344428062439, -0.15011334419250488, 0.5612203478813171, -0.9869857430458069, -0.622316122055...
17739	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local%20area%20network	Local area network	A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger geographic distance, but also generally involves leased telecommunication circuits. Ethernet and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies in use for local area networks. Historical network technologies include ARCNET, Token Ring, and AppleTalk. History The increasing demand and usage of computers in universities and research labs in the late 1960s generated the need to provide high-speed interconnections between computer systems. A 1970 report from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory detailing the growth of their "Octopus" network gave a good indication of the situation. A number of experimental and early commercial LAN technologies were developed in the 1970s. Cambridge Ring was developed at Cambridge University starting in 1974. Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC between 1973 and 1974. ARCNET was developed by Datapoint Corporation in 1976 and announced in 1977. It had the first commercial installation in December 1977 at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. In 1979, the Electronic voting systems for the European Parliament was the first installation of a LAN connecting hundreds (420) of microprocessor-controlled voting terminals to a polling/selecting central unit with a multidrop bus with Master/slave (technology) arbitration. The development and proliferation of personal computers using the CP/M operating system in the late 1970s, and later DOS-based systems starting in 1981, meant that many sites grew to dozens or even hundreds of computers. The initial driving force for networking was to share storage and printers, both of which were expensive at the time. There was much enthusiasm for the concept, and for several years, from about 1983 onward, computer industry pundits would regularly declare the coming year to be, "The year of the LAN". In practice, the concept was marred by the proliferation of incompatible physical layer and network protocol implementations, and a plethora of methods of sharing resources. Typically, each vendor would have its own type of network card, cabling, protocol, and network operating system. A solution appeared with the advent of Novell NetWare which provided even-handed support for dozens of competing card and cable types, and a much more sophisticated operating system than most of its competitors. Netware dominated the personal computer LAN business from early after its introduction in 1983 until the mid-1990s when Microsoft introduced Windows NT. Of the competitors to NetWare, only Banyan Vines had comparable technical strengths, but Banyan never gained a secure base. 3Com produced 3+Share and Microsoft produced MS-Net. These then formed the basis for collaboration between Microsoft and 3Com to create a simple network operating system LAN Manager and its cousin, IBM's LAN Server. None of these enjoyed any lasting success. In 1983, TCP/IP was first shown capable of supporting actual defense department applications on a Defense Communication Agency LAN testbed located at Reston, Virginia. The TCP/IP-based LAN successfully supported Telnet, FTP, and a Defense Department teleconferencing application. This demonstrated the feasibility of employing TCP/IP LANs to interconnect Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) computers at command centers throughout the United States. However, WWMCCS was superseded by the Global Command and Control System (GCCS) before that could happen. During the same period, Unix workstations were using TCP/IP networking. Although this market segment is now much reduced, the technologies developed in this area continue to be influential on the Internet and in both Linux and Apple Mac OS X networking—and the TCP/IP protocol has replaced IPX, AppleTalk, NBF, and other protocols used by the early PC LANs. Cabling In 1979, the Electronic voting systems for the European Parliament was using 10 kilometers of simple unshielded twisted pair category 3 cable—the same cable used for telephone systems—installed inside the benches of the European Parliament Hemicycles in Strasbourg and Luxembourg. Early Ethernet (10BASE-5 and 10BASE-2) used coaxial cable. Shielded twisted pair was used in IBM's Token Ring LAN implementation. In 1984, StarLAN showed the potential of simple unshielded twisted pair by using category 3 cable—the same cable used for telephone systems. This led to the development of 10BASE-T (and its twisted-pair successors) and structured cabling which is still the basis of most commercial LANs today. While optical fiber cable is common for links between network switches, use of fiber to the desktop is rare. Wireless media In a wireless LAN, users have unrestricted movement within the coverage area. Wireless networks have become popular in residences and small businesses, because of their ease of installation. Most wireless LANs use Wi-Fi as it is built into smartphones, tablet computers and laptops. Guests are often offered Internet access via a hotspot service. Technical aspects Network topology describes the layout of interconnections between devices and network segments. At the data link layer and physical layer, a wide variety of LAN topologies have been used, including ring, bus, mesh and star. Simple LANs generally consist of cabling and one or more switches. A switch can be connected to a router, cable modem, or ADSL modem for Internet access. A LAN can include a wide variety of other network devices such as firewalls, load balancers, and network intrusion detection. Advanced LANs are characterized by their use of redundant links with switches using the spanning tree protocol to prevent loops, their ability to manage differing traffic types via quality of service (QoS), and their ability to segregate traffic with VLANs. At the higher network layers, protocols such as NetBIOS, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk and others were once common, but the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) has prevailed as the standard of choice. LANs can maintain connections with other LANs via leased lines, leased services, or across the Internet using virtual private network technologies. Depending on how the connections are established and secured, and the distance involved, such linked LANs may also be classified as a metropolitan area network (MAN) or a wide area network (WAN). See also LAN messenger LAN party Network interface controller References External links Office equipment	[ 0.3116568624973297, -0.1943582147359848, -0.009103283286094666, 0.23638296127319336, 0.4627886414527893, 0.017623543739318848, 0.1560056358575821, 0.38040027022361755, -0.4692308306694031, -1.014113426208496, -1.0407633781433105, -0.2300763726234436, -0.1911371350288391, 0.2730105221271515...
17740	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis%20Pasteur	Louis Pasteur	Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization. His research in chemistry led to remarkable breakthroughs in the understanding of the causes and preventions of diseases, which laid down the foundations of hygiene, public health and much of modern medicine. His works are credited to saving millions of lives through the developments of vaccines for rabies and anthrax. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern bacteriology and has been honoured as the "father of bacteriology" and as the "father of microbiology" (together with Robert Koch, and the latter epithet also attributed to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek). Pasteur was responsible for disproving the doctrine of spontaneous generation. Under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, his experiment demonstrated that in sterilized and sealed flasks, nothing ever developed; and, conversely, in sterilized but open flasks, microorganisms could grow. For this experiment, the academy awarded him the Alhumbert Prize carrying 2,500 francs in 1862. Pasteur is also regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory of diseases, which was a minor medical concept at the time. His many experiments showed that diseases could be prevented by killing or stopping germs, thereby directly supporting the germ theory and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. Pasteur also made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. Early in his career, his investigation of tartaric acid resulted in the first resolution of what is now called optical isomers. His work led the way to the current understanding of a fundamental principle in the structure of organic compounds. He was the director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, until his death, and his body was interred in a vault beneath the institute. Although Pasteur made groundbreaking experiments, his reputation became associated with various controversies. Historical reassessment of his notebook revealed that he practiced deception to overcome his rivals. Education and early life Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a Catholic family of a poor tanner. He was the third child of Jean-Joseph Pasteur and Jeanne-Etiennette Roqui. The family moved to Marnoz in 1826 and then to Arbois in 1827. Pasteur entered primary school in 1831. He was an average student in his early years, and not particularly academic, as his interests were fishing and sketching. He drew many pastels and portraits of his parents, friends and neighbors. Pasteur attended secondary school at the Collège d'Arbois. In October 1838, he left for Paris to join the Pension Barbet, but became homesick and returned in November. In 1839, he entered the Collège Royal at Besançon to study philosophy and earned his Bachelor of Letters degree in 1840. He was appointed a tutor at the Besançon college while continuing a degree science course with special mathematics. He failed his first examination in 1841. He managed to pass the baccalauréat scientifique (general science) degree from Dijon, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree (Bachelier ès Sciences Mathématiques) in 1842, but with a mediocre grade in chemistry. Later in 1842, Pasteur took the entrance test for the École Normale Supérieure. He passed the first set of tests, but because his ranking was low, Pasteur decided not to continue and try again next year. He went back to the Pension Barbet to prepare for the test. He also attended classes at the Lycée Saint-Louis and lectures of Jean-Baptiste Dumas at the Sorbonne. In 1843, he passed the test with a high ranking and entered the École Normale Supérieure. In 1845 he received the licencié ès sciences degree. In 1846, he was appointed professor of physics at the Collège de Tournon (now called Lycée Gabriel-Faure) in Ardèche. But the chemist Antoine Jérôme Balard wanted him back at the École Normale Supérieure as a graduate laboratory assistant (agrégé préparateur). He joined Balard and simultaneously started his research in crystallography and in 1847, he submitted his two thesis, one in chemistry and the other in physics.- (a) Chemistry Thesis: "Recherches sur la capacité de saturation de l'acide arsénieux. Etudes des arsénites de potasse, de soude et d'ammoniaque."; (b) Physics Thesis: "1. Études des phénomènes relatifs à la polarisation rotatoire des liquides. 2. Application de la polarisation rotatoire des liquides à la solution de diverses questions de chimie." After serving briefly as professor of physics at the Dijon Lycée in 1848, he became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he met and courted Marie Laurent, daughter of the university's rector in 1849. They were married on 29 May 1849, and together had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood; the other three died of typhoid. Career Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and became the chair of chemistry in 1852. In February 1854, to have time to carry out work that could earn him the title of correspondent of the Institute, he gets three months' paid leave with the help of a medical certificate of convenience. He extends the leave until August 1, the date of the start of the exams. "I tell the Minister that I will go and do the examinations so as not to increase the embarrassment of the service. It is also so as not to leave to another a sum of 6 or 700\|francs.". In this same year 1854, he was named dean of the new faculty of sciences at University of Lille, where he began his studies on fermentation. It was on this occasion that Pasteur uttered his oft-quoted remark: "dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés" ("In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind"). In 1857, he moved to Paris as the director of scientific studies at the École Normale Supérieure where he took control from 1858 to 1867 and introduced a series of reforms to improve the standard of scientific work. The examinations became more rigid, which led to better results, greater competition, and increased prestige. Many of his decrees, however, were rigid and authoritarian, leading to two serious student revolts. During "the bean revolt" he decreed that a mutton stew, which students had refused to eat, would be served and eaten every Monday. On another occasion he threatened to expel any student caught smoking, and 73 of the 80 students in the school resigned. In 1863, he was appointed professor of geology, physics, and chemistry at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, a position he held until his resignation in 1867. In 1867, he became the chair of organic chemistry at the Sorbonne, but he later gave up the position because of poor health. In 1867, the École Normale's laboratory of physiological chemistry was created at Pasteur's request, and he was the laboratory's director from 1867 to 1888. In Paris, he established the Pasteur Institute in 1887, in which he was its director for the rest of his life. Research Molecular asymmetry In Pasteur's early work as a chemist, beginning at the École Normale Supérieure, and continuing at Strasbourg and Lille, he examined the chemical, optical and crystallographic properties of a group of compounds known as tartrates. He resolved a problem concerning the nature of tartaric acid in 1848. A solution of this compound derived from living things rotated the plane of polarization of light passing through it. The problem was that tartaric acid derived by chemical synthesis had no such effect, even though its chemical reactions were identical and its elemental composition was the same. Pasteur noticed that crystals of tartrates had small faces. Then he observed that, in racemic mixtures of tartrates, half of the crystals were right-handed and half were left-handed. In solution, the right-handed compound was dextrorotatory, and the left-handed one was levorotatory. Pasteur determined that optical activity related to the shape of the crystals, and that an asymmetric internal arrangement of the molecules of the compound was responsible for twisting the light. The (2R,3R)- and (2S,3S)- tartrates were isometric, non-superposable mirror images of each other. This was the first time anyone had demonstrated molecular chirality, and also the first explanation of isomerism. Some historians consider Pasteur's work in this area to be his "most profound and most original contributions to science", and his "greatest scientific discovery." Fermentation and germ theory of diseases Pasteur was motivated to investigate fermentation while working at Lille. In 1856 a local wine manufacturer, M. Bigot, whose son was one of Pasteur's students, sought for his advice on the problems of making beetroot alcohol and souring. According to his son-in-law, René Vallery-Radot, in August 1857 Pasteur sent a paper about lactic acid fermentation to the Société des Sciences de Lille, but the paper was read three months later. A memoire was subsequently published on 30 November 1857. In the memoir, he developed his ideas stating that: "I intend to establish that, just as there is an alcoholic ferment, the yeast of beer, which is found everywhere that sugar is decomposed into alcohol and carbonic acid, so also there is a particular ferment, a lactic yeast, always present when sugar becomes lactic acid." Pasteur also wrote about alcoholic fermentation. It was published in full form in 1858. Jöns Jacob Berzelius and Justus von Liebig had proposed the theory that fermentation was caused by decomposition. Pasteur demonstrated that this theory was incorrect, and that yeast was responsible for fermentation to produce alcohol from sugar. He also demonstrated that, when a different microorganism contaminated the wine, lactic acid was produced, making the wine sour. In 1861, Pasteur observed that less sugar fermented per part of yeast when the yeast was exposed to air. The lower rate of fermentation aerobically became known as the Pasteur effect. Pasteur's research also showed that the growth of micro-organisms was responsible for spoiling beverages, such as beer, wine and milk. With this established, he invented a process in which liquids such as milk were heated to a temperature between 60 and 100 °C. This killed most bacteria and moulds already present within them. Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed tests on blood and urine on 20 April 1862. Pasteur patented the process, to fight the "diseases" of wine, in 1865. The method became known as pasteurization, and was soon applied to beer and milk. Beverage contamination led Pasteur to the idea that micro-organisms infecting animals and humans cause disease. He proposed preventing the entry of micro-organisms into the human body, leading Joseph Lister to develop antiseptic methods in surgery. In 1866, Pasteur published Etudes sur le Vin, about the diseases of wine, and he published Etudes sur la Bière in 1876, concerning the diseases of beer. In the early 19th century, Agostino Bassi had shown that muscardine was caused by a fungus that infected silkworms. Since 1853, two diseases called pébrine and flacherie had been infecting great numbers of silkworms in southern France, and by 1865 they were causing huge losses to farmers. In 1865, Pasteur went to Alès and worked for five years until 1870. Silkworms with pébrine were covered in corpuscles. In the first three years, Pasteur thought that the corpuscles were a symptom of the disease. In 1870, he concluded that the corpuscles were the cause of pébrine (it is now known that the cause is a microsporidian). Pasteur also showed that the disease was hereditary. Pasteur developed a system to prevent pébrine: after the female moths laid their eggs, the moths were turned into a pulp. The pulp was examined with a microscope, and if corpuscles were observed, the eggs were destroyed. Pasteur concluded that bacteria caused flacherie. The primary cause is currently thought to be viruses. The spread of flacherie could be accidental or hereditary. Hygiene could be used to prevent accidental flacherie. Moths whose digestive cavities did not contain the microorganisms causing flacherie were used to lay eggs, preventing hereditary flacherie. Spontaneous generation Following his fermentation experiments, Pasteur demonstrated that the skin of grapes was the natural source of yeasts, and that sterilized grapes and grape juice never fermented. He drew grape juice from under the skin with sterilized needles, and also covered grapes with sterilized cloth. Both experiments could not produce wine in sterilized containers. His findings and ideas were against the prevailing notion of spontaneous generation. He received a particularly stern criticism from Félix Archimède Pouchet, who was director of the Rouen Museum of Natural History. To settle the debate between the eminent scientists, the French Academy of Sciences offered the Alhumbert Prize carrying 2,500 francs to whoever could experimentally demonstrate for or against the doctrine. Pouchet stated that air everywhere could cause spontaneous generation of living organisms in liquids. In the late 1850s, he performed experiments and claimed that they were evidence of spontaneous generation. Francesco Redi and Lazzaro Spallanzani had provided some evidence against spontaneous generation in the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. Spallanzani's experiments in 1765 suggested that air contaminated broths with bacteria. In the 1860s, Pasteur repeated Spallanzani's experiments, but Pouchet reported a different result using a different broth. Pasteur performed several experiments to disprove spontaneous generation. He placed boiled liquid in a flask and let hot air enter the flask. Then he closed the flask, and no organisms grew in it. In another experiment, when he opened flasks containing boiled liquid, dust entered the flasks, causing organisms to grow in some of them. The number of flasks in which organisms grew was lower at higher altitudes, showing that air at high altitudes contained less dust and fewer organisms. Pasteur also used swan neck flasks containing a fermentable liquid. Air was allowed to enter the flask via a long curving tube that made dust particles stick to it. Nothing grew in the broths unless the flasks were tilted, making the liquid touch the contaminated walls of the neck. This showed that the living organisms that grew in such broths came from outside, on dust, rather than spontaneously generating within the liquid or from the action of pure air. These were some of the most important experiments disproving the theory of spontaneous generation. Pasteur gave a series of five presentations of his findings before the French Academy of Sciences in 1881, which were published in 1882 as Mémoire Sur les corpuscules organisés qui existent dans l'atmosphère: Examen de la doctrine des générations spontanées (Account of Organized Corpuscles Existing in the Atmosphere: Examining the Doctrine of Spontaneous Generation). Pasteur won the Alhumbert Prize in 1862. He concluded that:Never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow of this simple experiment. There is no known circumstance in which it can be confirmed that microscopic beings came into the world without germs, without parents similar to themselves. Silkworm disease In 1865, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, chemist, senator and former Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, asked Pasteur to study a new disease that was decimating silkworm farms from the south of France and Europe, the pébrine, characterized on a macroscopic scale by black spots and on a microscopic scale by the "Cornalia corpuscles". Pasteur accepted and made five long stays in Alès, between June 7, 1865 and 1869. Initial errors Arriving in Alès, Pasteur familiarized himself with pébrine and also with another disease of the silkworm, known earlier than pebrine: flacherie or dead-flat disease. Contrary, for example, to Quatrefages, who coined the new word pébrine, Pasteur makes the mistake of believing that the two diseases were the same and even that most of the diseases of silkworms known up to that time were identical with each other and with pébrine. It was in letters of April 30 and May 21, 1867 to Dumas that he first made the distinction between pébrine and flacherie. He made another mistake: he began by denying the "parasitic" (microbial) nature of pébrine, which several scholars (notably Antoine Béchamp) considered well established. Even a note published on August 27, 1866 by Balbiani, which Pasteur at first seemed to welcome favourably had no effect, at least immediately. "Pasteur is mistaken. He would only change his mind in the course of 1867.". Victory over pébrine At a time where Pasteur had not yet understood the cause of the pébrine, he propagated an effective process to stop infections: a sample of chrysalises was chosen, they were crushed and the corpuscles were searched for in the crushed material; if the proportion of corpuscular pupae in the sample was very low, the chamber was considered good for reproduction. This method of sorting “seeds” (eggs) is close to a method that Osimo had proposed a few years earlier, but whose trials had not been conclusive. By this process, Pasteur curbs pébrine and saves many of the silk industry in the Cévennes. Flacherie resists In 1878, at the Congrès international séricicole, Pasteur admitted that "if pébrine is overcome, flacherie still exerts its ravages". He attributed the persistence of flacherie to the fact that the farmers had not followed his advice. In 1884, Balbiani, who disregarded the theoretical value of Pasteur's work on silkworm diseases, acknowledged that his practical process had remedied the ravages of pébrine, but added that this result tended to be counterbalanced by the development of flacherie, which was less well known and more difficult to prevent. Despite Pasteur's success against pébrine, French sericulture had not been saved from damage. (See :fr:Sériciculture in the French Wikipedia.) Immunology and vaccination Chicken cholera Pasteur's first work on vaccine development was on chicken cholera. He received the bacteria samples (later called Pasteurella multocida after him) from Henry Toussaint. He started the study in 1877, and by the next year, was able to maintain a stable culture using broths. After another year of continuous culturing, he found that the bacteria were less pathogenic. Some of his culture samples could no longer induce the disease in healthy chickens. In 1879, Pasteur, planning for holiday, instructed his assistant, Charles Chamberland to inoculate the chickens with fresh bacteria culture. Chamberland forgot and went on holiday himself. On his return, he injected the month-old cultures to healthy chickens. The chickens showed some symptoms of infection, but instead of the infections being fatal, as they usually were, the chickens recovered completely. Chamberland assumed an error had been made, and wanted to discard the apparently faulty culture, but Pasteur stopped him. Pasteur injected the freshly recovered chickens with fresh bacteria (that normally would kill other chickens), the chickens no longer showed any sign of infection. It was clear to him that the weakened bacteria had caused the chickens to become immune to the disease. In December 1880, Pasteur presented his results to the French Academy of Sciences as "Sur les maladies virulentes et en particulier sur la maladie appelée vulgairement choléra des poules (On virulent diseases, and in particular on the disease commonly called chicken cholera)" and published it in the academy's journal (Comptes-Rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences). He attributed that the bacteria were weakened by contact with oxygen. He explained that bacteria kept in sealed containers never lost their virulence, and only those exposed to air in culture media could be used as vaccine. Pasteur introduced the term "attenuation" for this weakening of virulence as he presented before the academy, saying:We can diminish the microbe’s virulence by changing the mode of culturing. This is the crucial point of my subject. I ask the Academy not to criticize, for the time being, the confidence of my proceedings that permit me to determine the microbe’s attenuation, in order to save the independence of my studies and to better assure their progress... [In conclusion] I would like to point out to the Academy two main consequences to the facts presented: the hope to culture all microbes and to find a vaccine for all infectious diseases that have repeatedly afflicted humanity, and are a major burden on agriculture and breeding of domestic animals. In fact, Pasteur's vaccine against chicken cholera was not regular in its effects and was a failure. Anthrax In the 1870s, he applied this immunization method to anthrax, which affected cattle, and aroused interest in combating other diseases. Pasteur cultivated bacteria from the blood of animals infected with anthrax. When he inoculated animals with the bacteria, anthrax occurred, proving that the bacteria was the cause of the disease. Many cattle were dying of anthrax in "cursed fields". Pasteur was told that sheep that died from anthrax were buried in the field. Pasteur thought that earthworms might have brought the bacteria to the surface. He found anthrax bacteria in earthworms' excrement, showing that he was correct. He told the farmers not to bury dead animals in the fields. Pasteur had been trying to develop the anthrax vaccine since 1877, soon after Robert Koch's discovery of the bacterium. On 12 July 1880, Henri Bouley read before the French Academy of Sciences a report from Henry Toussaint, a veterinary surgeon, who was not member of the academy. Toussaint had developed anthrax vaccine by killing the bacilli by heating at 55 °C for 10 minutes. He tested on eight dogs and 11 sheep, half of which died after inoculation. It was not a great success. Upon hearing the news, Pasteur immediately wrote to the academy that he could not believe that dead vaccine would work and that Toussaint's claim "overturns all the ideas I had on viruses, vaccines, etc." Following Pasteur's criticism, Toussaint switched to carbolic acid to kill anthrax bacilli and tested the vaccine on sheep in August 1880. Pasteur thought that this type of killed vaccine should not work because he believed that attenuated bacteria used up nutrients that the bacteria needed to grow. He thought oxidizing bacteria made them less virulent. But Pasteur found that anthrax bacillus was not easily weakened by culturing in air as it formed spores – unlike chicken cholera bacillus. In early 1881, he discovered that growing anthrax bacilli at about 42 °C made them unable to produce spores, and he described this method in a speech to the French Academy of Sciences on 28 February. On 21 March, he announced successful vaccination of sheep. To this news, veterinarian Hippolyte Rossignol proposed that the Société d'agriculture de Melun organize an experiment to test Pasteur's vaccine. Pasteur signed agreement of the challenge on 28 April. A public experiment was conducted in May at Pouilly-le-Fort. 58 sheep, 2 goats and 10 cattle were used, half of which were given the vaccine on 5 and 17 May; while the other half was untreated. All the animals were injected with the fresh virulent culture of anthrax bacillus on 31 May. The official result was observed and analysed on 2 June in the presence of over 200 spectators. All cattle survived, vaccinated or not. Pasteur had bravely predicted: "I hypothesized that the six vaccinated cows would not become very ill, while the four unvaccinated cows would perish or at least become very ill." On the other hand, all vaccinated sheep and goats survived, while the unvaccinated one either had died or were dying before the viewers. His report to the French Academy of Sciences on 13 June concludes:[By] looking at everything from the scientific point of view, the development of a vaccination against anthrax constitutes significant progress beyond the first vaccine developed by Jenner, since the latter had never been obtained experimentally.Pasteur did not directly disclose how he prepared the vaccines used at Pouilly-le-Fort. Although his report indicated it as a "live vaccine", his laboratory notebooks show that he actually used potassium dichromate-killed vaccine, as developed by Chamberland, quite similar to Toussaint's method. The notion of a weak form of a disease causing immunity to the virulent version was not new; this had been known for a long time for smallpox. Inoculation with smallpox (variolation) was known to result in a much less severe disease, and greatly reduced mortality, in comparison with the naturally acquired disease. Edward Jenner had also studied vaccination using cowpox (vaccinia) to give cross-immunity to smallpox in the late 1790s, and by the early 1800s vaccination had spread to most of Europe. The difference between smallpox vaccination and anthrax or chicken cholera vaccination was that the latter two disease organisms had been artificially weakened, so a naturally weak form of the disease organism did not need to be found. This discovery revolutionized work in infectious diseases, and Pasteur gave these artificially weakened diseases the generic name of "vaccines", in honour of Jenner's discovery. In 1876, Robert Koch had shown that Bacillus anthracis caused anthrax. In his papers published between 1878 and 1880, Pasteur only mentioned Koch's work in a footnote. Koch met Pasteur at the Seventh International Medical Congress in 1881. A few months later, Koch wrote that Pasteur had used impure cultures and made errors. In 1882, Pasteur replied to Koch in a speech, to which Koch responded aggressively. Koch stated that Pasteur tested his vaccine on unsuitable animals and that Pasteur's research was not properly scientific. In 1882, Koch wrote "On the Anthrax Inoculation", in which he refuted several of Pasteur's conclusions about anthrax and criticized Pasteur for keeping his methods secret, jumping to conclusions, and being imprecise. In 1883, Pasteur wrote that he used cultures prepared in a similar way to his successful fermentation experiments and that Koch misinterpreted statistics and ignored Pasteur's work on silkworms. Swine erysipelas In 1882, Pasteur sent his assistant Louis Thuillier to southern France because of an epizootic of swine erysipelas. Thuillier identified the bacillus that caused the disease in March 1883. Pasteur and Thuillier increased the bacillus's virulence after passing it through pigeons. Then they passed the bacillus through rabbits, weakening it and obtaining a vaccine. Pasteur and Thuillier incorrectly described the bacterium as a figure-eight shape. Roux described the bacterium as stick-shaped in 1884. Rabies Pasteur produced the first vaccine for rabies by growing the virus in rabbits, and then weakening it by drying the affected nerve tissue. The rabies vaccine was initially created by Emile Roux, a French doctor and a colleague of Pasteur, who had produced a killed vaccine using this method. The vaccine had been tested in 50 dogs before its first human trial. This vaccine was used on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, on 6 July 1885, after the boy was badly mauled by a rabid dog. This was done at some personal risk for Pasteur, since he was not a licensed physician and could have faced prosecution for treating the boy. After consulting with physicians, he decided to go ahead with the treatment. Over 11 days, Meister received 13 inoculations, each inoculation using viruses that had been weakened for a shorter period of time. Three months later he examined Meister and found that he was in good health. Pasteur was hailed as a hero and the legal matter was not pursued. Analysis of his laboratory notebooks shows that Pasteur had treated two people before his vaccination of Meister. One survived but may not actually have had rabies, and the other died of rabies. Pasteur began treatment of Jean-Baptiste Jupille on 20 October 1885, and the treatment was successful. Later in 1885, people, including four children from the United States, went to Pasteur's laboratory to be inoculated. In 1886, he treated 350 people, of which only one developed rabies. The treatment's success laid the foundations for the manufacture of many other vaccines. The first of the Pasteur Institutes was also built on the basis of this achievement. In The Story of San Michele, Axel Munthe writes of some risks Pasteur undertook in the rabies vaccine research: Because of his study in germs, Pasteur encouraged doctors to sanitize their hands and equipment before surgery. Prior to this, few doctors or their assistants practiced these procedures. Ignaz Semmelweis and Joseph Lister had earlier practiced hand sanitizing in medical contexts in the 1860s. Controversies A French national hero at age 55, in 1878 Pasteur discreetly told his family never to reveal his laboratory notebooks to anyone. His family obeyed, and all his documents were held and inherited in secrecy. Finally, in 1964 Pasteur's grandson and last surviving male descendant, Pasteur Vallery-Radot, donated the papers to the French national library. Yet the papers were restricted for historical studies until the death of Vallery-Radot in 1971. The documents were given a catalogue number only in 1985. In 1995, the centennial of the death of Louis Pasteur, a historian of science Gerald L. Geison published an analysis of Pasteur's private notebooks in his The Private Science of Louis Pasteur, and declared that Pasteur had given several misleading accounts and played deceptions in his most important discoveries. Max Perutz published a defense of Pasteur in The New York Review of Books. Based on further examinations of Pasteur's documents, French immunologist Patrice Debré concluded in his book Louis Pasteur (1998) that, in spite of his genius, Pasteur had some faults. A book review states that Debré "sometimes finds him unfair, combative, arrogant, unattractive in attitude, inflexible and even dogmatic". Fermentation Scientists before Pasteur had studied fermentation. In the 1830s, Charles Cagniard-Latour, Friedrich Traugott Kützing and Theodor Schwann used microscopes to study yeasts and concluded that yeasts were living organisms. In 1839, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler and Jöns Jacob Berzelius stated that yeast was not an organism and was produced when air acted on plant juice. In 1855, Antoine Béchamp, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Montpellier, conducted experiments with sucrose solutions and concluded that water was the factor for fermentation. He changed his conclusion in 1858, stating that fermentation was directly related to the growth of moulds, which required air for growth. He regarded himself as the first to show the role of microorganisms in fermentation. Pasteur started his experiments in 1857 and published his findings in 1858 (April issue of Comptes Rendus Chimie, Béchamp's paper appeared in January issue). Béchamp noted that Pasteur did not bring any novel idea or experiments. On the other hand, Béchamp was probably aware of Pasteur's 1857 preliminary works. With both scientists claiming priority on the discovery, a dispute, extending to several areas, lasted throughout their lives. However, Béchamp was on the losing side, as the BMJ obituary remarked: His name was "associated with bygone controversies as to priority which it would be unprofitable to recall". Béchamp proposed the incorrect theory of microzymes. According to K. L. Manchester, anti-vivisectionists and proponents of alternative medicine promoted Béchamp and microzymes, unjustifiably claiming that Pasteur plagiarized Béchamp. Pasteur thought that succinic acid inverted sucrose. In 1860, Marcellin Berthelot isolated invertase and showed that succinic acid did not invert sucrose. Pasteur believed that fermentation was only due to living cells. He and Berthelot engaged in a long argument subject of vitalism, in which Berthelot was vehemently opposed to any idea of vitalism. Hans Buchner discovered that zymase catalyzed fermentation, showing that fermentation was catalyzed by enzymes within cells. Eduard Buchner also discovered that fermentation could take place outside living cells. Anthrax vaccine Pasteur publicly claimed his success in developing the anthrax vaccine in 1881. However, his admirer-turned-rival Henry Toussaint was the one who developed the first vaccine. Toussaint isolated the bacteria that caused chicken cholera (later named Pasteurella in honour of Pasteur) in 1879 and gave samples to Pasteur who used them for his own works. On 12 July 1880, Toussaint presented his successful result to the French Academy of Sciences, using an attenuated vaccine against anthrax in dogs and sheep. Pasteur on grounds of jealousy contested the discovery by publicly displaying his vaccination method at Pouilly-le-Fort on 5 May 1881. Pasteur then gave a misleading account of the preparation of the anthrax vaccine used in the experiment. He claimed that he made "live vaccine", but used potassium dichromate to kill the vaccine, a method similar to Toussaint's. The promotional experiment was a success and helped Pasteur sell his products, getting the benefits and glory. Experimental ethics Pasteur experiments are often cited as against medical ethics, especially on his vaccination of Meister. He did not have any experience in medical practice, and more importantly, lacked a medical license. This is often cited as a serious threat to his professional and personal reputation. His closest partner Émile Roux, who had medical qualifications, refused to participate in the clinical trial, likely because he considered it unjust. However, Pasteur executed vaccination of the boy under the close watch of practising physicians Jacques-Joseph Grancher, head of the Paris Children's Hospital's paediatric clinic, and Alfred Vulpian, a member of the Commission on Rabies. He was not allowed to hold the syringe, although the inoculations were entirely under his supervision. It was Grancher who was responsible for the injections, and he defended Pasteur before the French National Academy of Medicine in the issue. Pasteur has also been criticized for keeping secrecy of his procedure and not giving proper pre-clinical trials on animals. Pasteur stated that he kept his procedure secret in order to control its quality. He later disclosed his procedures to a small group of scientists. Pasteur wrote that he had successfully vaccinated 50 rabid dogs before using it on Meister. According to Geison, Pasteur's laboratory notebooks show that he had vaccinated only 11 dogs. Meister never showed any symptoms of rabies, but the vaccination has not been proved to be the reason. One source estimates the probability of Meister contracting rabies at 10%. Awards and honours Pasteur was awarded 1,500 francs in 1853 by the Pharmaceutical Society for the synthesis of racemic acid. In 1856 the Royal Society of London presented him the Rumford Medal for his discovery of the nature of racemic acid and its relations to polarized light, and the Copley Medal in 1874 for his work on fermentation. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1869. The French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur the 1859 Montyon Prize for experimental physiology in 1860, and the Jecker Prize in 1861 and the Alhumbert Prize in 1862 for his experimental refutation of spontaneous generation. Though he lost elections in 1857 and 1861 for membership to the French Academy of Sciences, he won the 1862 election for membership to the mineralogy section. He was elected to permanent secretary of the physical science section of the academy in 1887 and held the position until 1889. In 1873 Pasteur was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médecine and was made the commander in the Brazilian Order of the Rose. In 1881 he was elected to a seat at the Académie française left vacant by Émile Littré. Pasteur received the Albert Medal from the Royal Society of Arts in 1882. In 1883 he became foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1885, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society. On 8 June 1886, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II awarded Pasteur with the Order of the Medjidie (I Class) and 10000 Ottoman liras. He was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh in 1889. Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. Legacy In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor. For example, in the US: Palo Alto and Irvine, California, Boston and Polk, Florida, adjacent to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; Jonquière, Québec; San Salvador de Jujuy and Buenos Aires (Argentina), Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, in the United Kingdom, Jericho and Wulguru in Queensland, (Australia); Phnom Penh in Cambodia; Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, Vietnam; Batna in Algeria; Bandung in Indonesia, Tehran in Iran, near the central campus of the Warsaw University in Warsaw, Poland; adjacent to the Odessa State Medical University in Odessa, Ukraine; Milan in Italy and Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara in Romania. The Avenue Pasteur in Saigon, Vietnam, is one of the few streets in that city to retain its French name. Avenue Louis Pasteur in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts was named in his honor in the French manner with "Avenue" preceding the name of the dedicatee. Both the Institut Pasteur and Université Louis Pasteur were named after Pasteur. The schools Lycée Pasteur in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and Lycée Louis Pasteur in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, are named after him. In South Africa, the Louis Pasteur Private Hospital in Pretoria, and Life Louis Pasteur Private Hospital, Bloemfontein, are named after him. Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Košice, Slovakia is also named after Pasteur. A statue of Pasteur is erected at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California. A bronze bust of him resides on the French Campus of Kaiser Permanente's San Francisco Medical Center in San Francisco. The sculpture was designed by Harriet G. Moore and cast in 1984 by Artworks Foundry. The UNESCO/Institut Pasteur Medal was created on the centenary of Pasteur's death, and is given every two years in his name, "in recognition of outstanding research contributing to a beneficial impact on human health". The french Academician Henri Mondor stated: "Louis Pasteur was neither a physician nor a surgeon, but no one has done as much for medicine and surgery as he has." Pasteur Institute After developing the rabies vaccine, Pasteur proposed an institute for the vaccine. In 1887, fundraising for the Pasteur Institute began, with donations from many countries. The official statute was registered in 1887, stating that the institute's purposes were "the treatment of rabies according to the method developed by M. Pasteur" and "the study of virulent and contagious diseases". The institute was inaugurated on 14 November 1888. He brought together scientists with various specialties. The first five departments were directed by two graduates of the École Normale Supérieure: Émile Duclaux (general microbiology research) and Charles Chamberland (microbe research applied to hygiene), as well as a biologist, Élie Metchnikoff (morphological microbe research) and two physicians, Jacques-Joseph Grancher (rabies) and Émile Roux (technical microbe research). One year after the inauguration of the institute, Roux set up the first course of microbiology ever taught in the world, then entitled Cours de Microbie Technique (Course of microbe research techniques). Since 1891 the Pasteur Institute had been extended to different countries, and currently there are 32 institutes in 29 countries in various parts of the world. Personal life Pasteur married Marie Pasteur (née Laurent) in 1849. She was the daughter of the rector of the University of Strasbourg, and was Pasteur's scientific assistant. They had five children together, only three of whom survived until adulthood. Faith and spirituality His grandson, Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot, wrote that Pasteur had kept from his Catholic background only a spiritualism without religious practice. However, Catholic observers often said that Pasteur remained an ardent Christian throughout his whole life, and his son-in-law wrote, in a biography of him: The Literary Digest of 18 October 1902 gives this statement from Pasteur that he prayed while he worked: Maurice Vallery-Radot, grandson of the brother of the son-in-law of Pasteur and outspoken Catholic, also holds that Pasteur fundamentally remained Catholic. According to both Pasteur Vallery-Radot and Maurice Vallery-Radot, the following well-known quotation attributed to Pasteur is apocryphal: "The more I know, the more nearly is my faith that of the Breton peasant. Could I but know all I would have the faith of a Breton peasant's wife". According to Maurice Vallery-Radot, the false quotation appeared for the first time shortly after the death of Pasteur. However, despite his belief in God, it has been said that his views were that of a freethinker rather than a Catholic, a spiritual more than a religious man. He was also against mixing science with religion. Death In 1868, Pasteur suffered a severe brain stroke that paralysed the left side of his body, but he recovered. A stroke or uremia in 1894 severely impaired his health. Failing to fully recover, he died on 28 September 1895, near Paris. He was given a state funeral and was buried in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but his remains were reinterred in the Pasteur Institute in Paris, in a vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics. Publications Pasteur's principal published works are: See also Infection control Infectious disease Pasteur Institute Pasteurization The Story of Louis Pasteur (a 1936 biographical film) List of things named after Louis Pasteur Statue of Louis Pasteur, Mexico City References Further reading Cédric Grimoult, Pasteur : Le mythe au coeur de l'action (ou le combattant), Paris, Ellipses, coll. "Biographies et mythes historiques", 2021, 332 p. , chapters III (PASTEUR: Microbes are a Menace!) and V (PASTEUR: And the Mad Dog) Reynolds, Moira Davison. How Pasteur Changed History: The Story of Louis Pasteur and the Pasteur Institute (1994) External links The Institut Pasteur – Foundation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diseases through biological research, education and public health activities The Pasteur Foundation – A US nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the mission of the Institut Pasteur in Paris. Full archive of newsletters available online containing examples of US Tributes to Louis Pasteur. Pasteur's Papers on the Germ Theory The Life and Work of Louis Pasteur, Pasteur Brewing The Pasteur Galaxy Germ Theory and Its Applications to Medicine and Surgery, 1878 Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) profile, AccessExcellence.org Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences Articles published by Pasteur 1822 births 1895 deaths People from Dole, Jura 19th-century French biologists French microbiologists 19th-century French chemists Vaccinologists École Normale Supérieure alumni Conservatoire national des arts et métiers alumni Lille University of Science and Technology faculty University of Strasbourg faculty Members of the Académie Française Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class Recipients of the Copley Medal Recipients of the Order of Agricultural Merit Leeuwenhoek Medal winners French Roman Catholics French humanitarians École des Beaux-Arts faculty Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Lycée Saint-Louis alumni Members of the American Philosophical Society Stereochemists	[ -0.030698439106345177, 0.428138792514801, -0.6880959868431091, -0.32239606976509094, 0.16829463839530945, 0.5866202712059021, 0.6358057856559753, 0.1441778689622879, 0.14762245118618011, -0.7456517815589905, 0.054657209664583206, 0.2747093439102173, -0.4106905460357666, 0.7014405727386475,...
17741	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig%20Wittgenstein	Ludwig Wittgenstein	Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considered by some to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. From 1929 to 1947, Wittgenstein taught at the University of Cambridge. In spite of his position, during his entire life only one book of his philosophy was published, the relatively slim 75-page Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung (Logical-Philosophical Treatise) (1921) which appeared, together with an English translation, in 1922 under the Latin title Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. His only other published works were an article, "Some Remarks on Logical Form" (1929), a book review, and a children's dictionary. His voluminous manuscripts were edited and published posthumously. The first and best-known of this posthumous series is the 1953 book Philosophical Investigations. A survey among American university and college teachers ranked the Investigations as the most important book of 20th-century philosophy, standing out as "the one crossover masterpiece in twentieth-century philosophy, appealing across diverse specializations and philosophical orientations". His philosophy is often divided into an early period, exemplified by the Tractatus, and a later period, articulated primarily in the Philosophical Investigations. The "early Wittgenstein" was concerned with the logical relationship between propositions and the world and he believed that by providing an account of the logic underlying this relationship, he had solved all philosophical problems. The "later Wittgenstein", however, rejected many of the assumptions of the Tractatus, arguing that the meaning of words is best understood as their use within a given language-game. Born in Vienna into one of Europe's richest families, he inherited a fortune from his father in 1913. He initially made some donations to artists and writers, and then, in a period of severe personal depression after World War I, he gave away his entire fortune to his brothers and sisters. Three of his four older brothers died by separate acts of suicide. Wittgenstein left academia several timesserving as an officer on the front line during World War I, where he was decorated a number of times for his courage; teaching in schools in remote Austrian villages, where he encountered controversy for use of violence, to girls and to a boy (the Haidbauer incident), during mathematics classes; and working during World War II as a hospital porter in London, notably telling patients not to take the drugs they were prescribed, and also later as a hospital laboratory technician at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne. In the words of a friend and literary executor, Georg Henrik von Wright, he believed that... His ideas were generally misunderstood and distorted even by those who professed to be his disciples. He doubted he would be better understood in the future. He once said he felt as though he was writing for people who would think in a different way, breathe a different air of life, from that of present-day men. Background The Wittgensteins According to a family tree prepared in Jerusalem after World War II, Wittgenstein's paternal great-great-grandfather was Moses Meier, a Jewish land agent who lived with his wife, Brendel Simon, in Bad Laasphe in the Principality of Wittgenstein, Westphalia. In July 1808, Napoleon issued a decree that everyone, including Jews, must adopt an inheritable family surname, so Meier's son, also Moses, took the name of his employers, the Sayn-Wittgensteins, and became Moses Meier Wittgenstein. His son, Hermann Christian Wittgenstein – who took the middle name "Christian" to distance himself from his Jewish background – married Fanny Figdor, also Jewish, who converted to Protestantism just before they married, and the couple founded a successful business trading in wool in Leipzig. Ludwig's grandmother Fanny was a first cousin of the violinist Joseph Joachim. They had 11 children – among them Wittgenstein's father. Karl Otto Clemens Wittgenstein (1847–1913) became an industrial tycoon, and by the late 1880s was one of the richest men in Europe, with an effective monopoly on Austria's steel cartel. Thanks to Karl, the Wittgensteins became the second wealthiest family in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, only the Rothschilds being wealthier. Karl Wittgenstein was viewed as the Austrian equivalent of Andrew Carnegie, with whom he was friends, and was one of the wealthiest men in the world by the 1890s. As a result of his decision in 1898 to invest substantially in the Netherlands and in Switzerland as well as overseas, particularly in the US, the family was to an extent shielded from the hyperinflation that hit Austria in 1922. However, their wealth diminished due to post-1918 hyperinflation and subsequently during the Great Depression, although even as late as 1938 they owned 13 mansions in Vienna alone. Early life Wittgenstein's mother was Leopoldine Maria Josefa Kalmus, known among friends as Poldi. Her father was a Bohemian Jew and her mother was Austrian-Slovene Catholic – she was Wittgenstein's only non-Jewish grandparent. She was an aunt of the Nobel Prize laureate Friedrich Hayek on her maternal side. Wittgenstein was born at 8:30 on 26 April 1889 in the "Villa Wittgenstein" at what is today Neuwaldegger Straße 38 in the suburban parish next to Vienna. Karl and Poldi had nine children in all – four girls: Hermine, Margaret (Gretl), Helene, and a fourth daughter Dora who died as a baby; and five boys: Johannes (Hans), Kurt, Rudolf (Rudi), Paul – who became a concert pianist despite losing an arm in World War I – and Ludwig, who was the youngest of the family. The children were baptized as Catholics, received formal Catholic instruction, and were raised in an exceptionally intense environment. The family was at the center of Vienna's cultural life; Bruno Walter described the life at the Wittgensteins' palace as an "all-pervading atmosphere of humanity and culture." Karl was a leading patron of the arts, commissioning works by Auguste Rodin and financing the city's exhibition hall and art gallery, the Secession Building. Gustav Klimt painted Wittgenstein's sister for her wedding portrait, and Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler gave regular concerts in the family's numerous music rooms. For Wittgenstein, who highly valued precision and discipline, contemporary music was never considered acceptable at all. He said to his friend Drury in 1930, Music came to a full stop with Brahms; and even in Brahms I can begin to hear the noise of machinery.Ludwig Wittgenstein himself had absolute pitch, and his devotion to music remained vitally important to him throughout his life; he made frequent use of musical examples and metaphors in his philosophical writings, and was unusually adept at whistling lengthy and detailed musical passages. He also learnt to play the clarinet in his 30s. A fragment of music (three bars), composed by Wittgenstein, was discovered in one of his 1931 notebooks, by Michael Nedo, director of the Wittgenstein Institute in Cambridge. Family temperament and the brothers' suicides Ray Monk writes that Karl's aim was to turn his sons into captains of industry; they were not sent to school lest they acquire bad habits, but were educated at home to prepare them for work in Karl's industrial empire. Three of the five brothers would later commit suicide. Psychiatrist Michael Fitzgerald argues that Karl was a harsh perfectionist who lacked empathy, and that Wittgenstein's mother was anxious and insecure, unable to stand up to her husband. Johannes Brahms said of the family, whom he visited regularly: They seemed to act towards one another as if they were at court.The family appeared to have a strong streak of depression running through it. Anthony Gottlieb tells a story about Paul practicing on one of the pianos in the Wittgensteins' main family mansion, when he suddenly shouted at Ludwig in the next room:I cannot play when you are in the house, as I feel your scepticism seeping towards me from under the door! The family palace housed seven grand pianos and each of the siblings pursued music "with an enthusiasm that, at times, bordered on the pathological". The eldest brother, Hans, was hailed as a musical prodigy. At the age of four, writes Alexander Waugh, Hans could identify the Doppler effect in a passing siren as a quarter-tone drop in pitch, and at five started crying "Wrong! Wrong!" when two brass bands in a carnival played the same tune in different keys. But he died in mysterious circumstances in May 1902, when he ran away to America and disappeared from a boat in Chesapeake Bay, most likely having committed suicide. Two years later, aged 22 and studying chemistry at the Berlin Academy, the third eldest brother, Rudi, committed suicide in a Berlin bar. He had asked the pianist to play Thomas Koschat's "Verlassen, verlassen, verlassen bin ich" ("Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken am I"), before mixing himself a drink of milk and potassium cyanide. He had left several suicide notes, one to his parents that said he was grieving over the death of a friend, and another that referred to his "perverted disposition". It was reported at the time that he had sought advice from the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, an organization that was campaigning against Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code, which prohibited homosexual sex. His father forbade the family from ever mentioning his name again. The second eldest brother, Kurt, an officer and company director, shot himself on 27 October 1918 just before the end of World War I, when the Austrian troops he was commanding refused to obey his orders and deserted en masse. According to Gottlieb, Hermine had said Kurt seemed to carry "the germ of disgust for life within himself". Later, Ludwig wrote: I ought to have ... become a star in the sky. Instead of which I have remained stuck on earth. 1903–1906: Realschule in Linz Realschule in Linz Wittgenstein was taught by private tutors at home until he was 14 years old. Subsequently, for three years, he attended a school. After the deaths of Hans and Rudi, Karl relented, and allowed Paul and Ludwig to be sent to school. Waugh writes that it was too late for Wittgenstein to pass his exams for the more academic Gymnasium in Wiener Neustadt; having had no formal schooling, he failed his entrance exam and only barely managed after extra tutoring to pass the exam for the more technically oriented k.u.k. Realschule in Linz, a small state school with 300 pupils. In 1903, when he was 14, he began his three years of formal schooling there, lodging nearby in term time with the family of Dr. Josef Strigl, a teacher at the local gymnasium, the family giving him the nickname Luki. On starting at the Realschule, Wittgenstein had been moved forward a year. Historian Brigitte Hamann writes that he stood out from the other boys: he spoke an unusually pure form of High German with a stutter, dressed elegantly, and was sensitive and unsociable. Monk writes that the other boys made fun of him, singing after him: "Wittgenstein wandelt wehmütig widriger Winde wegen Wienwärts" ("Wittgenstein wanders wistfully Vienna-wards (in) worsening winds"). In his leaving certificate, he received a top mark (5) in religious studies; a 2 for conduct and English, 3 for French, geography, history, mathematics and physics, and 4 for German, chemistry, geometry and freehand drawing. He had particular difficulty with spelling and failed his written German exam because of it. He wrote in 1931:My bad spelling in youth, up to the age of about 18 or 19, is connected with the whole of the rest of my character (my weakness in study). Faith Wittgenstein was baptized as an infant by a Catholic priest and received formal instruction in Catholic doctrine as a child, as was common at the time. In an interview, his sister Gretl Stonborough-Wittgenstein says that their grandfather's "strong, severe, partly ascetic Christianity" was a strong influence on all the Wittgenstein children. While he was at the Realschule, he decided he lacked religious faith and began reading Arthur Schopenhauer per Gretl's recommendation. He nevertheless believed in the importance of the idea of confession. He wrote in his diaries about having made a major confession to his oldest sister, Hermine, while he was at the Realschule; Monk speculates that it may have been about his loss of faith. He also discussed it with Gretl, his other sister, who directed him to Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation. As a teenager, Wittgenstein adopted Schopenhauer's epistemological idealism. However, after his study of the philosophy of mathematics, he abandoned epistemological idealism for Gottlob Frege's conceptual realism. In later years, Wittgenstein was highly dismissive of Schopenhauer, describing him as an ultimately "shallow" thinker: Schopenhauer has quite a crude mind ... where real depth starts, his comes to an end.Wittgenstein's relationship with Christianity and with religion in general, for which he always professed a sincere and devoted sympathy, would change over time, much like his philosophical ideas. In 1912, Wittgenstein wrote to Russell saying that Mozart and Beethoven were the actual sons of God. However, Wittgenstein resisted formal religion, saying it was hard for him to "bend the knee", though his grandfather's beliefs continued to influence Wittgenstein – as he said, I cannot help seeing every problem from a religious point of view. Wittgenstein referred to Augustine of Hippo in his Philosophical Investigations. Philosophically, Wittgenstein's thought shows alignment with religious discourse. For example, he would become one of the century's fiercest critics of scientism. Wittgenstein's religious belief emerged during his service for the Austrian army in World War I, and he was a devoted reader of Dostoevsky's and Tolstoy's religious writings. He viewed his wartime experiences as a trial in which he strived to conform to the will of God, and in a journal entry from 29 April 1915, he writes: Perhaps the nearness of death will bring me the light of life. May God enlighten me. I am a worm, but through God I become a man. God be with me. Amen. Around this time, Wittgenstein wrote that "Christianity is indeed the only sure way to happiness", but he rejected the idea that religious belief was merely thinking that a certain doctrine was true. From this time on, Wittgenstein viewed religious faith as a way of living and opposed rational argumentation or proofs for God. With age, a deepening personal spirituality led to several elucidations and clarifications, as he untangled language problems in religionattacking, for example, the temptation to think of God's existence as a matter of scientific evidence. In 1947, finding it more difficult to work, he wrote:I have had a letter from an old friend in Austria, a priest. In it he says that he hopes my work will go well, if it should be God's will. Now that is all I want: if it should be God's will. In Culture and Value, Wittgenstein writes:Is what I am doing [my work in philosophy] really worth the effort? Yes, but only if a light shines on it from above.His close friend Norman Malcolm would write:Wittgenstein's mature life was strongly marked by religious thought and feeling. I am inclined to think that he was more deeply religious than are many people who correctly regard themselves as religious believers.Toward the end, Wittgenstein wrote:Bach wrote on the title page of his Orgelbüchlein, 'To the glory of the most high God, and that my neighbour may be benefited thereby.' That is what I would have liked to say about my work. Influence of Otto Weininger While a student at the Realschule, Wittgenstein was influenced by Austrian philosopher Otto Weininger's 1903 book Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character). Weininger (1880–1903), who was Jewish, argued that the concepts male and female exist only as Platonic forms, and that Jews tend to embody the Platonic femininity. Whereas men are basically rational, women operate only at the level of their emotions and sexual organs. Jews, Weininger argued, are similar, saturated with femininity, with no sense of right and wrong, and no soul. Weininger argues that man must choose between his masculine and feminine sides, consciousness and unconsciousness, Platonic love and sexuality. Love and sexual desire stand in contradiction, and love between a woman and a man is therefore doomed to misery or immorality. The only life worth living is the spiritual one – to live as a woman or a Jew means one has no right to live at all; the choice is genius or death. Weininger committed suicide, shooting himself in 1903, shortly after publishing the book. Wittgenstein, then 14, attended Weininger's funeral. Many years later, as a professor at the University of Cambridge, Wittgenstein distributed copies of Weininger's book to his bemused academic colleagues. He said that Weininger's arguments were wrong, but that it was the way they were wrong that was interesting. In a letter dated 23 August 1931, Wittgenstein wrote the following to G. E. Moore:Dear Moore,Thanks for your letter. I can quite imagine that you don't admire Weininger very much, what with that beastly translation and the fact that W. must feel very foreign to you. It is true that he is fantastic but he is great and fantastic. It isn't necessary or rather not possible to agree with him but the greatness lies in that with which we disagree. It is his enormous mistake which is great. I.e. roughly speaking if you just add a "∼" to the whole book it says an important truth.In an unusual move, Wittgenstein took out a copy of Weininger's work on 1 June 1931 from the Special Order Books in the university library. He met Moore on 2 June, when he probably gave this copy to Moore. Jewish background and Hitler There is much debate about the extent to which Wittgenstein and his siblings, who were of 3/4 Jewish descent, saw themselves as Jews. The issue has arisen in particular regarding Wittgenstein's schooldays, because Adolf Hitler was, for a while, at the same school at the same time. Laurence Goldstein argues that it is "overwhelmingly probable" that the boys met each other and that Hitler would have disliked Wittgenstein, a "stammering, precocious, precious, aristocratic upstart ..." Other commentators have dismissed as irresponsible and uninformed any suggestion that Wittgenstein's wealth and unusual personality may have fed Hitler's antisemitism, in part because there is no indication that Hitler would have seen Wittgenstein as Jewish. Wittgenstein and Hitler were born just six days apart, though Hitler had to re-sit his mathematics exam before being allowed into a higher class, while Wittgenstein was moved forward by one, so they ended up two grades apart at the Realschule. Monk estimates that they were both at the school during the 1904–1905 school year, but says there is no evidence they had anything to do with each other. Several commentators have argued that a school photograph of Hitler may show Wittgenstein in the lower left corner, In his own writings Wittgenstein frequently referred to himself as Jewish, at times as part of an apparent self-flagellation. For example, while berating himself for being a "reproductive" as opposed to "productive" thinker, he attributed this to his own Jewish sense of identity, writing:The saint is the only Jewish genius. Even the greatest Jewish thinker is no more than talented. (Myself for instance).While Wittgenstein would later claim that "[m]y thoughts are 100% Hebraic", as Hans Sluga has argued, if so, His was a self-doubting Judaism, which had always the possibility of collapsing into a destructive self-hatred (as it did in Weininger's case) but which also held an immense promise of innovation and genius.By Hebraic, he meant to include the Christian tradition, in contradistinction to the Greek tradition, holding that good and evil could not be reconciled. 1906–1913: University Engineering at Berlin and Manchester He began his studies in mechanical engineering at the Technische Hochschule Berlin in Charlottenburg, Berlin, on 23 October 1906, lodging with the family of professor Dr. Jolles. He attended for three semesters, and was awarded a diploma (Abgangzeugnis) on 5 May 1908. During his time at the Institute, Wittgenstein developed an interest in aeronautics. He arrived at the Victoria University of Manchester in the spring of 1908 to study for a doctorate, full of plans for aeronautical projects, including designing and flying his own plane. He conducted research into the behavior of kites in the upper atmosphere, experimenting at a meteorological observation site near Glossop in Derbyshire. Specifically, the Royal Meteorological Society researched and investigated the ionization of the upper atmosphere, by suspending instruments on balloons or kites. At Glossop, Wittgenstein worked under Professor of Physics Sir Arthur Schuster. He also worked on the design of a propeller with small jet engines on the end of its blades, something he patented in 1911, and which earned him a research studentship from the university in the autumn of 1908. At the time, contemporary propeller designs were not advanced enough to actually put Wittgenstein's ideas into practice, and it would be years before a blade design that could support Wittgenstein's innovative design was created. Wittgenstein's design required air and gas to be forced along the propeller arms to combustion chambers on the end of each blade, where it was then compressed by the centrifugal force exerted by the revolving arms and ignited. Propellers of the time were typically wood, whereas modern blades are made from pressed steel laminates as separate halves, which are then welded together. This gives the blade a hollow interior, and therefore creates an ideal pathway for the air and gas. Work on the jet-powered propeller proved frustrating for Wittgenstein, who had very little experience working with machinery. Jim Bamber, a British engineer who was his friend and classmate at the time, reported that when things went wrong, which often occurred, he would throw his arms around, stomp about, and swear volubly in German.According to William Eccles, another friend from that period, Wittgenstein then turned to more theoretical work, focusing on the design of the propeller – a problem that required relatively sophisticated mathematics. It was at this time that he became interested in the foundations of mathematics, particularly after reading Bertrand Russell's The Principles of Mathematics (1903), and Gottlob Frege's The Foundations of Arithmetic, vol. 1 (1893) and vol. 2 (1903). Wittgenstein's sister Hermine said he became obsessed with mathematics as a result, and was anyway losing interest in aeronautics. He decided instead that he needed to study logic and the foundations of mathematics, describing himself as in a "constant, indescribable, almost pathological state of agitation." In the summer of 1911 he visited Frege at the University of Jena to show him some philosophy of mathematics and logic he had written, and to ask whether it was worth pursuing. He wrote: I was shown into Frege's study. Frege was a small, neat man with a pointed beard who bounced around the room as he talked. He absolutely wiped the floor with me, and I felt very depressed; but at the end he said 'You must come again', so I cheered up. I had several discussions with him after that. Frege would never talk about anything but logic and mathematics, if I started on some other subject, he would say something polite and then plunge back into logic and mathematics. Arrival at Cambridge Wittgenstein wanted to study with Frege, but Frege suggested he attend the University of Cambridge to study under Russell, so on 18 October 1911 Wittgenstein arrived unannounced at Russell's rooms in Trinity College. Russell was having tea with C. K. Ogden, when, according to Russell, an unknown German appeared, speaking very little English but refusing to speak German. He turned out to be a man who had learned engineering at Charlottenburg, but during this course had acquired, by himself, a passion for the philosophy of mathematics & has now come to Cambridge on purpose to hear me.He was soon not only attending Russell's lectures, but dominating them. The lectures were poorly attended and Russell often found himself lecturing only to C. D. Broad, E. H. Neville, and H.T.J. Norton. Wittgenstein started following him after lectures back to his rooms to discuss more philosophy, until it was time for the evening meal in Hall. Russell grew irritated; he wrote to his lover Lady Ottoline Morrell: "My German friend threatens to be an infliction." Russell soon came to believe that Wittgenstein was a genius, especially after he had examined Wittgenstein's written work. He wrote in November 1911 that he had at first thought Wittgenstein might be a crank, but soon decided he was a genius: Some of his early views made the decision difficult. He maintained, for example, at one time that all existential propositions are meaningless. This was in a lecture room, and I invited him to consider the proposition: 'There is no hippopotamus in this room at present.' When he refused to believe this, I looked under all the desks without finding one; but he remained unconvinced. Three months after Wittgenstein's arrival Russell told Morrell:I love him & feel he will solve the problems I am too old to solve ... He is the young man one hopes for. Wittgenstein later told David Pinsent that Russell's encouragement had proven his salvation, and had ended nine years of loneliness and suffering, during which he had continually thought of suicide. In encouraging him to pursue philosophy and in justifying his inclination to abandon engineering, Russell had, quite literally, saved Wittgenstein's life. The role-reversal between Bertrand Russell and Wittgenstein was soon such that Russell wrote in 1916, after Wittgenstein had criticized Russell's own work:His [Wittgenstein's] criticism, tho' I don't think you realized it at the time, was an event of first-rate importance in my life, and affected everything I have done since. I saw that he was right, and I saw that I could not hope ever again to do fundamental work in philosophy. Cambridge Moral Sciences Club and Apostles In 1912 Wittgenstein joined the Cambridge Moral Sciences Club, an influential discussion group for philosophy dons and students, delivering his first paper there on 29 November that year, a four-minute talk defining philosophy as all those primitive propositions which are assumed as true without proof by the various sciences.He dominated the society and for a time would stop attending in the early 1930s after complaints that he gave no one else a chance to speak. The club became infamous within popular philosophy because of a meeting on 25 October 1946 at Richard Braithwaite's rooms in King's College, Cambridge, where Karl Popper, another Viennese philosopher, had been invited as the guest speaker. Popper's paper was "Are there philosophical problems?", in which he struck up a position against Wittgenstein's, contending that problems in philosophy are real, not just linguistic puzzles as Wittgenstein argued. Accounts vary as to what happened next, but Wittgenstein apparently started waving a hot poker, demanding that Popper give him an example of a moral rule. Popper offered one – "Not to threaten visiting speakers with pokers" – at which point Russell told Wittgenstein he had misunderstood and Wittgenstein left. Popper maintained that Wittgenstein "stormed out", but it had become accepted practice for him to leave early (because of his aforementioned ability to dominate discussion). It was the only time the philosophers, three of the most eminent in the world, were ever in the same room together. The minutes record that the meeting was charged to an unusual degree with a spirit of controversy. Cambridge Apostles The economist John Maynard Keynes also invited him to join the Cambridge Apostles, an elite secret society formed in 1820, which both Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore had joined as students, but Wittgenstein did not greatly enjoy it and attended only infrequently. Russell had been worried that Wittgenstein would not appreciate the group's raucous style of intellectual debate, its precious sense of humour, and the fact that the members were often in love with one another. He was admitted in 1912 but resigned almost immediately because he could not tolerate the style of discussion. Nevertheless, the Cambridge Apostles allowed Wittgenstein to participate in meetings again in the 1920s when he had returned to Cambridge. Reportedly, Wittgenstein also had trouble tolerating the discussions in the Cambridge Moral Sciences Club. Frustrations at Cambridge Wittgenstein was quite vocal about his depression in his years at Cambridge, and before he went to war; on many an occasion, he told Russell of his woes. His mental anguish seemed to stem from two sources: his work, and his personal life. Wittgenstein made numerous remarks to Russell about logic driving him mad. Wittgenstein also stated to Russell that he "felt the curse of those who have half a talent". He later expresses this same worry, and tells of being in mediocre spirits due to his lack of progress in his logical work. Monk writes that Wittgenstein lived and breathed logic, and a temporary lack of inspiration plunged him into despair. Wittgenstein tells of his work in logic affecting his mental status in a very extreme way. However, he also tells Russell another story. Around Christmas, in 1913, he writes: how can I be a logician before I'm a human being? For the most important thing is coming to terms with myself! He also tells Russell on an occasion in Russell's rooms that he was worried about logic and his sins; also, once upon arrival to Russell's rooms one night Wittgenstein announced to Russell that he would kill himself once he left. Of things Wittgenstein personally told Russell, Ludwig's temperament was also recorded in the diary of David Pinsent. Pinsent writes I have to be frightfully careful and tolerant when he gets these sulky fits and I am afraid he is in an even more sensitive neurotic state just now than usual when talking about Wittgenstein's emotional fluctuations. Sexual orientation and relationship with David Pinsent Wittgenstein had romantic relations with both men and women. He is generally believed to have fallen in love with at least three men, and had a relationship with the latter two: David Hume Pinsent in 1912, Francis Skinner in 1930, and Ben Richards in the late 1940s. He later revealed that, as a teenager in Vienna, he had had an affair with a woman. Additionally, in the 1920s Wittgenstein fell in love with a young Swiss woman, Marguerite Respinger, sculpting a bust modelled on her and seriously considering marriage, albeit on condition that they would not have children; she decided that he was not right for her. Wittgenstein's relationship with David Pinsent (1891–1918) occurred during an intellectually formative period, and is well documented. Bertrand Russell introduced Wittgenstein to Pinsent in the summer of 1912. Pinsent was a mathematics undergraduate and a relation of David Hume, and Wittgenstein and he soon became very close. The men worked together on experiments in the psychology laboratory about the role of rhythm in the appreciation of music, and Wittgenstein delivered a paper on the subject to the British Psychological Association in Cambridge in 1912. They also travelled together, including to Iceland in September 1912the expenses paid by Wittgenstein, including first class travel, the hiring of a private train, and new clothes and spending money for Pinsent. In addition to Iceland, Wittgenstein and Pinsent traveled to Norway in 1913. In determining their destination, Wittgenstein and Pinsent visited a tourist office in search of a location that would fulfill the following criteria: a small village located on a fjord, a location away from tourists, and a peaceful destination to allow them to study logic and law. Choosing Øystese, Wittgenstein and Pinsent arrived in the small village on 4 September 1913. During a vacation lasting almost three weeks, Wittgenstein was able to work vigorously on his studies. The immense progress on logic during their stay led Wittgenstein to express to Pinsent his notion of leaving Cambridge and returning to Norway to continue his work on logic. Pinsent's diaries provide valuable insights into Wittgenstein's personality: sensitive, nervous, and attuned to the tiniest slight or change in mood from Pinsent. Pinsent also writes of Wittgenstein being "absolutely sulky and snappish" at times, as well. In his diaries Pinsent wrote about shopping for furniture with Wittgenstein in Cambridge when the latter was given rooms in Trinity. Most of what they found in the stores was not minimalist enough for Wittgenstein's aesthetics: I went and helped him interview a lot of furniture at various shops ... It was rather amusing: He is terribly fastidious and we led the shopman a frightful dance, Vittgenstein [sic] ejaculating "No – Beastly!" to 90 percent of what he shewed [archaic spelling] us!He wrote in May 1912 that Wittgenstein had just begun to study the history of philosophy: He expresses the most naive surprise that all the philosophers he once worshipped in ignorance are after all stupid and dishonest and make disgusting mistakes!The last time they saw each other was on 8 October 1913 at Lordswood House in Birmingham, then residence of the Pinsent family: I got up at 6:15 to see Ludwig off. He had to go very earlyback to Cambridgeas he has lots to do there. I saw him off from the house in a taxi at 7:00to catch a 7:30 train from New Street Station. It was sad parting from him.Wittgenstein left to live in Norway. 1913–1920: World War I and the Tractatus Work on Logik Karl Wittgenstein died on 20 January 1913, and after receiving his inheritance Wittgenstein became one of the wealthiest men in Europe. He donated some of his money, at first anonymously, to Austrian artists and writers, including Rainer Maria Rilke and Georg Trakl. Trakl requested to meet his benefactor but in 1914 when Wittgenstein went to visit, Trakl had killed himself. Wittgenstein came to feel that he could not get to the heart of his most fundamental questions while surrounded by other academics, and so in 1913 he retreated to the village of Skjolden in Norway, where he rented the second floor of a house for the winter. He later saw this as one of the most productive periods of his life, writing Logik (Notes on Logic), the predecessor of much of the Tractatus. While in Norway, Wittgenstein learned Norwegian to converse with the local villagers, and Danish to read the works of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. He adored the "quiet seriousness" of the landscape but even Skjolden became too busy for him. He soon designed a small wooden house which was erected on a remote rock overlooking the Eidsvatnet Lake just outside the village. The place was called "Østerrike" (Austria) by locals. He lived there during various periods until the 1930s, and substantial parts of his works were written there. (The house was broken up in 1958 to be rebuilt in the village. A local foundation collected donations and bought it in 2014; it was dismantled again and re-erected at its original location; the inauguration took place on 20 June 2019 with international attendance.) It was during this time that Wittgenstein began addressing what he considered to be a central issue in Notes on Logic, a general decision procedure for determining the truth value of logical propositions which would stem from a single primitive proposition. He became convinced during this time that [a]ll the propositions of logic are generalizations of tautologies and all generalizations of tautologies are generalizations of logic. There are no other logical propositions.Based on this, Wittgenstein argued that propositions of logic express their truth or falsehood in the sign itself, and one need not know anything about the constituent parts of the proposition to determine it true or false. Rather, one simply need identify the statement as a tautology (true), a contradiction (false), or neither. The problem lay in forming a primitive proposition which encompassed this and would act as the basis for all of logic. As he stated in correspondence with Russell in late 1913, The big question now is, how must a system of signs be constituted in order to make every tautology recognizable as such IN ONE AND THE SAME WAY? This is the fundamental problem of logic!The importance Wittgenstein placed upon this fundamental problem was so great that he believed if he did not solve it, he had no reason or right to live. Despite this apparent life-or-death importance, Wittgenstein had given up on this primitive proposition by the time of the writing of the Tractatus. The Tractatus does not offer any general process for identifying propositions as tautologies; in a simpler manner, Every tautology itself shows that it is a tautology.This shift to understanding tautologies through mere identification or recognition occurred in 1914 when Moore was called on by Wittgenstein to assist him in dictating his notes. At Wittgenstein's insistence, Moore, who was now a Cambridge don, visited him in Norway in 1914, reluctantly because Wittgenstein exhausted him. David Edmonds and John Eidinow write that Wittgenstein regarded Moore, an internationally known philosopher, as an example of how far someone could get in life with "absolutely no intelligence whatever." In Norway it was clear that Moore was expected to act as Wittgenstein's secretary, taking down his notes, with Wittgenstein falling into a rage when Moore got something wrong. When he returned to Cambridge, Moore asked the university to consider accepting Logik as sufficient for a bachelor's degree, but they refused, saying it wasn't formatted properly: no footnotes, no preface. Wittgenstein was furious, writing to Moore in May 1914: If I am not worth your making an exception for me even in some STUPID details then I may as well go to Hell directly; and if I am worth it and you don't do it then – by God – you might go there.Moore was apparently distraught; he wrote in his diary that he felt sick and could not get the letter out of his head. The two did not speak again until 1929. Military service On the outbreak of World War I, Wittgenstein immediately volunteered for the Austro-Hungarian Army, despite being eligible for a medical exemption. He served first on a ship and then in an artillery workshop "several miles from the action". He was wounded in an accidental explosion, and hospitalised to Kraków. In March 1916, he was posted to a fighting unit on the front line of the Russian front, as part of the Austrian 7th Army, where his unit was involved in some of the heaviest fighting, defending against the Brusilov Offensive. Wittgenstein directed the fire of his own artillery from an observation post in no-man's land against Allied troopsone of the most dangerous jobs, since he was targeted by enemy fire. He was decorated with the Military Merit with Swords on the Ribbon, and was commended by the army for "exceptionally courageous behaviour, calmness, sang-froid, and heroism" that "won the total admiration of the troops". In January 1917, he was sent as a member of a howitzer regiment to the Russian front, where he won several more medals for bravery including the Silver Medal for Valour, First Class. In 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant and sent to the Italian front as part of an artillery regiment. For his part in the final Austrian offensive of June 1918, he was recommended for the Gold Medal for Valour, one of the highest honours in the Austrian army, but was instead awarded the Band of the Military Service Medal with Swordsit being decided that this particular action, although extraordinarily brave, had been insufficiently consequential to merit the highest honour. Throughout the war, he kept notebooks in which he frequently wrote philosophical reflections alongside personal remarks, including his contempt for the character of the other soldiers. His notebooks also attest to his philosophical and spiritual reflections, and it was during this time that he experienced a kind of religious awakening. In his entry from 11 June 1915, Wittgenstein states that The meaning of life, i.e. the meaning of the world, we can call God. And connect with this the comparison of God to a father. To pray is to think about the meaning of life. and on 8 July that To believe in God means to understand the meaning of life. To believe in God means to see that the facts of the world are not the end of the matter. To believe in God means to see that life has a meaning [ ... ]When my conscience upsets my equilibrium, then I am not in agreement with Something. But what is this? Is it the world? Certainly it is correct to say: Conscience is the voice of God. He discovered Leo Tolstoy's 1896 The Gospel in Brief at a bookshop in Tarnów, and carried it everywhere, recommending it to anyone in distress, to the point where he became known to his fellow soldiers as "the man with the gospels". The extent to which The Gospel in Brief influenced Wittgenstein can be seen in the Tractatus, in the unique way both books number their sentences. In 1916 Wittgenstein read Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov so often that he knew whole passages of it by heart, particularly the speeches of the elder Zosima, who represented for him a powerful Christian ideal, a holy man "who could see directly into the souls of other people". Iain King has suggested that Wittgenstein's writing changed substantially in 1916, when he started confronting much greater dangers during frontline fighting. Russell said he returned from the war a changed man, one with a deeply mystical and ascetic attitude. Completion of the Tractatus In the summer of 1918 Wittgenstein took military leave and went to stay in one of his family's Vienna summer houses, Neuwaldegg. It was there in August 1918 that he completed the Tractatus, which he submitted with the title Der Satz (German: proposition, sentence, phrase, set, but also "leap") to the publishers Jahoda and Siegel. A series of events around this time left him deeply upset. On 13 August, his uncle Paul died. On 25 October, he learned that Jahoda and Siegel had decided not to publish the Tractatus, and on 27 October, his brother Kurt killed himself, the third of his brothers to commit suicide. It was around this time he received a letter from David Pinsent's mother to say that Pinsent had been killed in a plane crash on 8 May. Wittgenstein was distraught to the point of being suicidal. He was sent back to the Italian front after his leave and, as a result of the defeat of the Austrian army, he was captured by Allied forces on 3 November in Trentino. He subsequently spent nine months in an Italian prisoner of war camp. He returned to his family in Vienna on 25 August 1919, by all accounts physically and mentally spent. He apparently talked incessantly about suicide, terrifying his sisters and brother Paul. He decided to do two things: to enrol in teacher training college as an elementary school teacher, and to get rid of his fortune. In 1914, it had been providing him with an income of 300,000 Kronen a year, but by 1919 was worth a great deal more, with a sizable portfolio of investments in the United States and the Netherlands. He divided it among his siblings, except for Margarete, insisting that it not be held in trust for him. His family saw him as ill, and acquiesced. 1920–1928: Teaching, the Tractatus, Haus Wittgenstein Teacher training in Vienna In September 1919 he enrolled in the Lehrerbildungsanstalt (teacher training college) in the Kundmanngasse in Vienna. His sister Hermine said that Wittgenstein working as an elementary teacher was like using a precision instrument to open crates, but the family decided not to interfere. Thomas Bernhard, more critically, wrote of this period in Wittgenstein's life: "the multi-millionaire as a village schoolmaster is surely a piece of perversity." Teaching posts in Austria In the summer of 1920, Wittgenstein worked as a gardener for a monastery. At first he applied, under a false name, for a teaching post at Reichenau, was awarded the job, but he declined it when his identity was discovered. As a teacher, he wished to no longer be recognized as a member of the Wittgenstein family. In response, his brother Paul wrote: It is out of the question, really completely out of the question, that anybody bearing our name and whose elegant and gentle upbringing can be seen a thousand paces off, would not be identified as a member of our family ... That one can neither simulate nor dissimulate anything including a refined education I need hardly tell you. In 1920, Wittgenstein was given his first job as a primary school teacher in Trattenbach, under his real name, in a remote village of a few hundred people. His first letters describe it as beautiful, but in October 1921, he wrote to Russell: "I am still at Trattenbach, surrounded, as ever, by odiousness and baseness. I know that human beings on the average are not worth much anywhere, but here they are much more good-for-nothing and irresponsible than elsewhere." He was soon the object of gossip among the villagers, who found him eccentric at best. He did not get on well with the other teachers; when he found his lodgings too noisy, he made a bed for himself in the school kitchen. He was an enthusiastic teacher, offering late-night extra tuition to several of the students, something that did not endear him to the parents, though some of them came to adore him; his sister Hermine occasionally watched him teach and said the students "literally crawled over each other in their desire to be chosen for answers or demonstrations." To the less able, it seems that he became something of a tyrant. The first two hours of each day were devoted to mathematics, hours that Monk writes some of the pupils recalled years later with horror. They reported that he caned the boys and boxed their ears, and also that he pulled the girls' hair; this was not unusual at the time for boys, but for the villagers he went too far in doing it to the girls too; girls were not expected to understand algebra, much less have their ears boxed over it. The violence apart, Monk writes that he quickly became a village legend, shouting "Krautsalat!" ("coleslaw" – i.e. shredded cabbage) when the headmaster played the piano, and "Nonsense!" when a priest was answering children's questions. Publication of the Tractatus While Wittgenstein was living in isolation in rural Austria, the Tractatus was published to considerable interest, first in German in 1921 as Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung, part of Wilhelm Ostwald's journal Annalen der Naturphilosophie, though Wittgenstein was not happy with the result and called it a pirate edition. Russell had agreed to write an introduction to explain why it was important, because it was otherwise unlikely to have been published: it was difficult if not impossible to understand, and Wittgenstein was unknown in philosophy. In a letter to Russell, Wittgenstein wrote "The main point is the theory of what can be expressed (gesagt) by prop[osition]s – i.e. by language – (and, which comes to the same thing, what can be thought) and what can not be expressed by pro[position]s, but only shown (gezeigt); which, I believe, is the cardinal problem of philosophy." But Wittgenstein was not happy with Russell's help. He had lost faith in Russell, finding him glib and his philosophy mechanistic, and felt he had fundamentally misunderstood the Tractatus. An English translation was prepared in Cambridge by Frank Ramsey, a mathematics undergraduate at King's commissioned by C. K. Ogden. It was Moore who suggested Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus for the title, an allusion to Baruch Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. Initially there were difficulties in finding a publisher for the English edition too, because Wittgenstein was insisting it appear without Russell's introduction; Cambridge University Press turned it down for that reason. Finally in 1922 an agreement was reached with Wittgenstein that Kegan Paul would print a bilingual edition with Russell's introduction and the Ramsey-Ogden translation. This is the translation that was approved by Wittgenstein, but it is problematic in a number of ways. Wittgenstein's English was poor at the time, and Ramsey was a teenager who had only recently learned German, so philosophers often prefer to use a 1961 translation by David Pears and Brian McGuinness. An aim of the Tractatus is to reveal the relationship between language and the world: what can be said about it, and what can only be shown. Wittgenstein argues that the logical structure of language provides the limits of meaning. The limits of language, for Wittgenstein, are the limits of philosophy. Much of philosophy involves attempts to say the unsayable: "What we can say at all can be said clearly," he argues. Anything beyond that – religion, ethics, aesthetics, the mystical – cannot be discussed. They are not in themselves nonsensical, but any statement about them must be. He wrote in the preface: "The book will, therefore, draw a limit to thinking, or rather – not to thinking, but to the expression of thoughts; for, in order to draw a limit to thinking we should have to be able to think both sides of this limit (we should therefore have to be able to think what cannot be thought)." The book is 75 pages long – "As to the shortness of the book, I am awfully sorry for it ... If you were to squeeze me like a lemon you would get nothing more out of me," he told Ogden – and presents seven numbered propositions (1–7), with various sub-levels (1, 1.1, 1.11): Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist. The world is everything that is the case. Was der Fall ist, die Tatsache, ist das Bestehen von Sachverhalten. What is the case, the fact, is the existence of atomic facts. Das logische Bild der Tatsachen ist der Gedanke. The logical picture of the facts is the thought. Der Gedanke ist der sinnvolle Satz. The thought is the significant proposition. Der Satz ist eine Wahrheitsfunktion der Elementarsätze. Propositions are truth-functions of elementary propositions. Die allgemeine Form der Wahrheitsfunktion ist: . Dies ist die allgemeine Form des Satzes. The general form of a truth-function is: . This is the general form of proposition. Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. Visit from Frank Ramsey, Puchberg In September 1922 he moved to a secondary school in a nearby village, Hassbach, but considered the people there just as bad – "These people are not human at all but loathsome worms," he wrote to a friend – and he left after a month. In November he began work at another primary school, this time in Puchberg in the Schneeberg mountains. There, he told Russell, the villagers were "one-quarter animal and three-quarters human." Frank P. Ramsey visited him on 17 September 1923 to discuss the Tractatus; he had agreed to write a review of it for Mind. He reported in a letter home that Wittgenstein was living frugally in one tiny whitewashed room that only had space for a bed, a washstand, a small table, and one small hard chair. Ramsey shared an evening meal with him of coarse bread, butter, and cocoa. Wittgenstein's school hours were eight to twelve or one, and he had afternoons free. After Ramsey returned to Cambridge a long campaign began among Wittgenstein's friends to persuade him to return to Cambridge and away from what they saw as a hostile environment for him. He was accepting no help even from his family. Ramsey wrote to John Maynard Keynes: [Wittgenstein's family] are very rich and extremely anxious to give him money or do anything for him in any way, and he rejects all their advances; even Christmas presents or presents of invalid's food, when he is ill, he sends back. And this is not because they aren't on good terms but because he won't have any money he hasn't earned ... It is an awful pity. Teaching continues, Otterthal; Haidbauer incident He moved schools again in September 1924, this time to Otterthal, near Trattenbach; the socialist headmaster, Josef Putre, was someone Wittgenstein had become friends with while at Trattenbach. While he was there, he wrote a 42 page pronunciation and spelling dictionary for the children, Wörterbuch für Volksschulen, published in Vienna in 1926 by Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, the only book of his apart from the Tractatus that was published in his lifetime. A first edition sold in 2005 for £75,000. In 2020, an English version entitled Word Book translated by art historian Bettina Funcke and illustrated by artist / publisher Paul Chan was released. An incident occurred in April 1926 and became known as Der Vorfall Haidbauer (the Haidbauer incident). Josef Haidbauer was an 11 year-old pupil whose father had died and whose mother worked as a local maid. He was a slow learner, and one day Wittgenstein hit him two or three times on the head, causing him to collapse. Wittgenstein carried him to the headmaster's office, then quickly left the school, bumping into a parent, Herr Piribauer, on the way out. Piribauer had been sent for by the children when they saw Haidbauer collapse; Wittgenstein had previously pulled Piribauer's daughter, Hermine, so hard by the ears that her ears had bled. Piribauer said that when he met Wittgenstein in the hall that day: I called him all the names under the sun. I told him he wasn't a teacher, he was an animal-trainer! And that I was going to fetch the police right away!Piribauer tried to have Wittgenstein arrested, but the village's police station was empty, and when he tried again the next day he was told Wittgenstein had disappeared. On 28 April 1926, Wittgenstein handed in his resignation to Wilhelm Kundt, a local school inspector, who tried to persuade him to stay; however, Wittgenstein was adamant that his days as a schoolteacher were over. Proceedings were initiated in May, and the judge ordered a psychiatric report; in August 1926 a letter to Wittgenstein from a friend, Ludwig Hänsel, indicates that hearings were ongoing, but nothing is known about the case after that. Alexander Waugh writes that Wittgenstein's family and their money may have had a hand in covering things up. Waugh writes that Haidbauer died shortly afterwards of haemophilia; Monk says he died when he was 14 of leukaemia. Ten years later, in 1936, as part of a series of "confessions" he engaged in that year, Wittgenstein appeared without warning at the village saying he wanted to confess personally and ask for pardon from the children he had hit. He visited at least four of the children, including Hermine Piribauer, who apparently replied only with a "Ja, ja," though other former students were more hospitable. Monk writes that the purpose of these confessions was notto hurt his pride, as a form of punishment; it was to dismantle it – to remove a barrier, as it were, that stood in the way of honest and decent thought.Of the apologies, Wittgenstein wrote, This brought me into more settled waters... and to greater seriousness. The Vienna Circle The Tractatus was now the subject of much debate amongst philosophers, and Wittgenstein was a figure of increasing international fame. In particular, a discussion group of philosophers, scientists and mathematicians, known as the Vienna Circle, had built up purportedly as a result of the inspiration they had been given by reading the Tractatus. While it is commonly assumed that Wittgenstein was a part of the Vienna Circle, in reality, this was not actually the case. German philosopher Oswald Hanfling writes bluntly: "Wittgenstein was never a member of the Circle, though he was in Vienna during much of the time. Yet his influence on the Circle's thought was at least as important as that of any of its members." However, the philosopher A. C. Grayling contends that while certain superficial similarities between Wittgenstein's early philosophy and logical positivism led its members to study the Tractatus in detail and to arrange discussions with him, Wittgenstein's influence on the Circle was rather limited. The fundamental philosophical views of Circle had been established before they met Wittgenstein and had their origins in the British empiricists, Ernst Mach, and the logic of Frege and Russell. Whatever influence Wittgenstein did have on the Circle was largely limited to Moritz Schlick and Friedrich Waismann and, even in these cases, resulted in little lasting effect on their positivism. Grayling states: "...it is no longer possible to think of the Tractatus as having inspired a philosophical movement, as most earlier commentators claimed." From 1926, with the members of the Vienna Circle, Wittgenstein would take part in many discussions. However, during these discussions, it soon became evident that Wittgenstein held a different attitude towards philosophy than the members of the Circle. For example, during meetings of the Vienna Circle, he would express his disagreement with the group's misreading of his work by turning his back to them and reading poetry aloud. In his autobiography, Rudolf Carnap describes Wittgenstein as the thinker who gave him the greatest inspiration. However, he also wrote that "there was a striking difference between Wittgenstein's attitude toward philosophical problems and that of Schlick and myself. Our attitude toward philosophical problems was not very different from that which scientists have toward their problems." As for Wittgenstein: Haus Wittgenstein In 1926 Wittgenstein was again working as a gardener for a number of months, this time at the monastery of Hütteldorf, where he had also inquired about becoming a monk. His sister, Margaret, invited him to help with the design of her new townhouse in Vienna's Kundmanngasse. Wittgenstein, his friend Paul Engelmann, and a team of architects developed a spare modernist house. In particular, Wittgenstein focused on the windows, doors, and radiators, demanding that every detail be exactly as he specified. When the house was nearly finished Wittgenstein had an entire ceiling raised 30 mm so that the room had the exact proportions he wanted. Monk writes that "This is not so marginal as it may at first appear, for it is precisely these details that lend what is otherwise a rather plain, even ugly house its distinctive beauty." It took him a year to design the door handles and another to design the radiators. Each window was covered by a metal screen that weighed , moved by a pulley Wittgenstein designed. Bernhard Leitner, author of The Architecture of Ludwig Wittgenstein, said there is barely anything comparable in the history of interior design: "It is as ingenious as it is expensive. A metal curtain that could be lowered into the floor." The house was finished by December 1928 and the family gathered there at Christmas to celebrate its completion. Wittgenstein's sister Hermine wrote: "Even though I admired the house very much. ... It seemed indeed to be much more a dwelling for the gods." Wittgenstein said "the house I built for Gretl is the product of a decidedly sensitive ear and good manners, and expression of great understanding... But primordial life, wild life striving to erupt into the open – that is lacking." Monk comments that the same might be said of the technically excellent, but austere, terracotta sculpture Wittgenstein had modelled of Marguerite Respinger in 1926, and that, as Russell first noticed, this "wild life striving to be in the open" was precisely the substance of Wittgenstein's philosophical work. 1929–1941: Fellowship at Cambridge PhD and fellowship According to Feigl (as reported by Monk), upon attending a conference in Vienna by mathematician L. E. J. Brouwer, Wittgenstein remained quite impressed, taking into consideration the possibility of a "return to Philosophy". At the urging of Ramsey and others, Wittgenstein returned to Cambridge in 1929. Keynes wrote in a letter to his wife: "Well, God has arrived. I met him on the 5.15 train." Despite this fame, he could not initially work at Cambridge as he did not have a degree, so he applied as an advanced undergraduate. Russell noted that his previous residency was sufficient to fulfil eligibility requirements for a PhD, and urged him to offer the Tractatus as his thesis. It was examined in 1929 by Russell and Moore; at the end of the thesis defence, Wittgenstein clapped the two examiners on the shoulder and said, '"Don't worry, I know you'll never understand it." Moore wrote in the examiner's report: "I myself consider that this is a work of genius; but, even if I am completely mistaken and it is nothing of the sort, it is well above the standard required for the Ph.D. degree." Wittgenstein was appointed as a lecturer and was made a fellow of Trinity College. Anschluss From 1936 to 1937, Wittgenstein lived again in Norway, where he worked on the Philosophical Investigations. In the winter of 1936/7, he delivered a series of "confessions" to close friends, most of them about minor infractions like white lies, in an effort to cleanse himself. In 1938, he travelled to Ireland to visit Maurice O'Connor Drury, a friend who became a psychiatrist, and considered such training himself, with the intention of abandoning philosophy for it. The visit to Ireland was at the same time a response to the invitation of the then Irish Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, himself a former mathematics teacher. De Valera hoped Wittgenstein's presence would contribute to the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies which he was soon to set up. While he was in Ireland in March 1938, Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss; the Viennese Wittgenstein was now a Jew under the 1935 Nuremberg racial laws, because three of his grandparents had been born as Jews. (He would also, in July, become by law a citizen of the enlarged Germany). The Nuremberg Laws classified people as Jews (Volljuden) if they had three or four Jewish grandparents, and as mixed blood (Mischling) if they had one or two. It meant inter alia that the Wittgensteins were restricted in whom they could marry or have sex with, and where they could work. After the Anschluss, his brother Paul left almost immediately for England, and later the US. The Nazis discovered his relationship with Hilde Schania, a brewer's daughter with whom he had had two children but whom he had never married, though he did later. Because she was not Jewish, he was served with a summons for Rassenschande (racial defilement). He told no one he was leaving the country, except for Hilde who agreed to follow him. He left so suddenly and quietly that for a time people believed he was the fourth Wittgenstein brother to have committed suicide. Wittgenstein began to investigate acquiring British or Irish citizenship with the help of Keynes, and apparently had to confess to his friends in England that he had earlier misrepresented himself to them as having just one Jewish grandparent, when in fact he had three. A few days before the invasion of Poland, Hitler personally granted Mischling status to the Wittgenstein siblings. In 1939 there were 2,100 applications for this, and Hitler granted only 12. Anthony Gottlieb writes that the pretext was that their paternal grandfather had been the bastard son of a German prince, which allowed the Reichsbank to claim foreign currency, stocks and 1700 kg of gold held in Switzerland by a Wittgenstein family trust. Gretl, an American citizen by marriage, started the negotiations over the racial status of their grandfather, and the family's large foreign currency reserves were used as a bargaining tool. Paul had escaped to Switzerland and then the US in July 1938, and disagreed with the negotiations, leading to a permanent split between the siblings. After the war, when Paul was performing in Vienna, he did not visit Hermine who was dying there, and he had no further contact with Ludwig or Gretl. Professor of philosophy After G.E. Moore resigned the chair in philosophy in 1939, Wittgenstein was elected. He was naturalised as a British subject shortly after on 12 April 1939. In July 1939 he travelled to Vienna to assist Gretl and his other sisters, visiting Berlin for one day to meet an official of the Reichsbank. After this, he travelled to New York to persuade Paul, whose agreement was required, to back the scheme. The required Befreiung was granted in August 1939. The unknown amount signed over to the Nazis by the Wittgenstein family, a week or so before the outbreak of war, included amongst many other assets 1,700 kg of gold. There is a report Wittgenstein visited Moscow a second time in 1939, travelling from Berlin, and again met the philosopher Sophia Janowskaya. Norman Malcolm, at the time a post-graduate research fellow at Cambridge, describes his first impressions of Wittgenstein in 1938: Describing Wittgenstein's lecture programme, Malcolm continues: After work, the philosopher would often relax by watching Westerns, where he preferred to sit at the very front of the cinema, or reading detective stories especially the ones written by Norbert Davis. Norman Malcolm wrote that Wittgenstein would rush to the cinema when class ended. By this time, Wittgenstein's view on the foundations of mathematics had changed considerably. In his early 20s, Wittgenstein had thought logic could provide a solid foundation, and he had even considered updating Russell and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica. Now he denied there were any mathematical facts to be discovered. He gave a series of lectures on mathematics, discussing this and other topics, documented in a book, with lectures by Wittgenstein and discussions between him and several students, including the young Alan Turing who described Wittgenstein as "a very peculiar man". The two had many discussions about the relationship between computational logic and everyday notions of truth. Wittgenstein's lectures from this period have also been discussed by another of his students, the Greek philosopher and educator Helle Lambridis. Wittgenstein's teachings in the years 1940-1941 are used in the mid-1950s by Lambridis to write a long text in the form of an imagined dialogue with him, where she begins to develop her own ideas about resemblance in relation to language, elementary concepts and basic-level mental images. Initially only a part of it was published in 1963 in the German education theory review Club Voltaire, but the entire imagined dialogue with Wittgenstein was published after Lambridis's death by her archive holder, the Academy of Athens, in 2004. 1941–1947: Guy's Hospital and Royal Victoria Infirmary Monk writes that Wittgenstein found it intolerable that a war (World War II) was going on and he was teaching philosophy. He grew angry when any of his students wanted to become professional philosophers. In September 1941, he asked John Ryle, the brother of the philosopher Gilbert Ryle, if he could get a manual job at Guy's Hospital in London. John Ryle was professor of medicine at Cambridge and had been involved in helping Guy's prepare for the Blitz. Wittgenstein told Ryle he would die slowly if left at Cambridge, and he would rather die quickly. He started working at Guy's shortly afterwards as a dispensary porter, delivering drugs from the pharmacy to the wards where he apparently advised the patients not to take them. In the new year of 1942, Ryle took Wittgenstein to his home in Sussex to meet his wife who had been determined to meet him. His son recorded the weekend in his diary;Wink is awful strange [sic] – not a very good english speaker, keeps on saying 'I mean' and 'its "tolerable"' meaning intolerable. The hospital staff were not told he was one of the world's most famous philosophers, though some of the medical staff did recognize him – at least one had attended Moral Sciences Club meetings – but they were discreet. "Good God, don't tell anybody who I am!" Wittgenstein begged one of them. Some of them nevertheless called him Professor Wittgenstein, and he was allowed to dine with the doctors. He wrote on 1 April 1942: "I no longer feel any hope for the future of my life. It is as though I had before me nothing more than a long stretch of living death. I cannot imagine any future for me other than a ghastly one. Friendless and joyless." It was at this time that Wittgenstein had an operation at Guy's to remove a gallstone that had troubled him for some years. He had developed a friendship with Keith Kirk, a working-class teenage friend of Francis Skinner, the mathematics undergraduate he had had a relationship with until Skinner's death in 1941 from polio. Skinner had given up academia, thanks at least in part to Wittgenstein's influence, and had been working as a mechanic in 1939, with Kirk as his apprentice. Kirk and Wittgenstein struck up a friendship, with Wittgenstein giving him lessons in physics to help him pass a City and Guilds exam. During his period of loneliness at Guy's he wrote in his diary: "For ten days I've heard nothing more from K, even though I pressed him a week ago for news. I think that he has perhaps broken with me. A tragic thought!" Kirk had in fact got married, and they never saw one another again. While Wittgenstein was at Guy's he met Basil Reeve, a young doctor with an interest in philosophy, who, with R. T. Grant, was studying the effect of wound shock (a state associative to hypovolaemia) on air-raid casualties. When the blitz ended there were fewer casualties to study. In November 1942, Grant and Reeve moved to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, to study road traffic and industrial casualties. Grant offered Wittgenstein a position as a laboratory assistant at a wage of £4 per week, and he lived in Newcastle (at 28 Brandling Park, Jesmond) from 29 April 1943 until February 1944. While there he worked and associated socially with Dr Erasmus Barlow, a great-grandson of Charles Darwin. In the summer of 1946, Wittgenstein thought often of leaving Cambridge and resigning his position as Chair. Wittgenstein grew further dismayed at the state of philosophy, particularly about articles published in the journal Mind. It was around this time that Wittgenstein fell in love with Ben Richards, writing in his diary, "The only thing that my love for B. has done for me is this: it has driven the other small worries associated with my position and my work into the background." On 30 September, Wittgenstein wrote about Cambridge after his return from Swansea, "Everything about the place repels me. The stiffness, the artificiality, the self-satisfaction of the people. The university atmosphere nauseates me." Wittgenstein had only maintained contact with Fouracre, from Guy's hospital, who had joined the army in 1943 after his marriage, only returning in 1947. Wittgenstein maintained frequent correspondence with Fouracre during his time away displaying a desire for Fouracre to return home urgently from the war. In May 1947, Wittgenstein addressed a group of Oxford philosophers for the first time at the Jowett Society. The discussion was on the validity of Descartes' Cogito ergo sum, where Wittgenstein ignored the question and applied his own philosophical method. Harold Arthur Prichard who attended the event was not pleased with Wittgenstein's methods;Wittgenstein: If a man says to me, looking at the sky, 'I think it will rain, therefore I exist', I do not understand him.Prichard: That's all very fine; what we want to know is: is the cogito valid or not? 1947–1951: Final years Wittgenstein resigned the professorship at Cambridge in 1947 to concentrate on his writing, and in 1947 and 1948 travelled to Ireland, staying at Ross's Hotel in Dublin and at a farmhouse in Redcross, County Wicklow, where he began the manuscript MS 137, volume R. Seeking solitude he moved to a holiday cottage in Rosroe, Connemara owned by Drury's brother. He also accepted an invitation from Norman Malcolm, then professor at Cornell University, to stay with him and his wife for several months at Ithaca, New York. He made the trip in April 1949, although he told Malcolm he was too unwell to do philosophical work: "I haven't done any work since the beginning of March & I haven't had the strength of even trying to do any." A doctor in Dublin had diagnosed anaemia and prescribed iron and liver pills. The details of Wittgenstein's stay in America are recounted in Norman Malcolm's Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir. During his summer in America, Wittgenstein began his epistemological discussions, in particular his engagement with philosophical scepticism, that would eventually become the final fragments On Certainty. He returned to London, where he was diagnosed with an inoperable prostate cancer, which had spread to his bone marrow. He spent the next two months in Vienna, where his sister Hermine died on 11 February 1950; he went to see her every day, but she was hardly able to speak or recognize him. "Great loss for me and all of us," he wrote. "Greater than I would have thought." He moved around a lot after Hermine's death staying with various friends: to Cambridge in April 1950, where he stayed with G.H. von Wright; to London to stay with Rush Rhees; then to Oxford to see Elizabeth Anscombe, writing to Norman Malcolm that he was hardly doing any philosophy. He went to Norway in August with Ben Richards, then returned to Cambridge, where on 27 November he moved into Storey's End at 76 Storey's Way, the home of his doctor, Edward Bevan, and his wife Joan; he had told them he did not want to die in a hospital, so they said he could spend his last days in their home instead. Joan at first was afraid of Wittgenstein, but they soon became good friends. By the beginning of 1951, it was clear that he had little time left. He wrote a new will in Oxford on 29 January, naming Rhees as his executor, and Anscombe and von Wright his literary administrators, and wrote to Norman Malcolm that month to say, "My mind's completely dead. This isn't a complaint, for I don't really suffer from it. I know that life must have an end once and that mental life can cease before the rest does." In February he returned to the Bevans' home to work on MS 175 and MS 176. These and other manuscripts were later published as Remarks on Colour and On Certainty. He wrote to Malcolm on 16 April, 13 days before his death: "An extraordinary thing happened to me. About a month ago I suddenly found myself in the right frame of mind for doing philosophy. I had been absolutely certain that I'd never again be able to do it. It's the first time after more than 2 years that the curtain in my brain has gone up. – Of course, so far I've only worked for about 5 weeks & it may be all over by tomorrow; but it bucks me up a lot now." Death Wittgenstein began work on his final manuscript, MS 177, on 25 April 1951. It was his 62nd birthday on 26 April. He went for a walk the next afternoon, and wrote his last entry that day, 27 April. That evening, he became very ill; when his doctor told him he might live only a few days, he reportedly replied, "Good!" Joan stayed with him throughout that night, and just before losing consciousness for the last time on 28 April, he told her: "Tell them I've had a wonderful life." Norman Malcolm describes this as a "strangely moving utterance". Four of Wittgenstein's former students arrived at his bedside – Ben Richards, Elizabeth Anscombe, Yorick Smythies, and Maurice O'Connor Drury. Anscombe and Smythies were Catholics; and, at the latter's request, a Dominican friar, Father Conrad Pepler, also attended. (Wittgenstein had asked for a "priest who was not a philosopher" and had met with Pepler several times before his death.) They were at first unsure what Wittgenstein would have wanted, but then remembered he had said he hoped his Catholic friends would pray for him, so they did, and he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. Wittgenstein was given a Catholic burial at Ascension Parish Burial Ground in Cambridge. Drury later said he had been troubled ever since about whether that was the right thing to do. In 2015 the ledger gravestone was refurbished by the British Wittgenstein Society. On his religious views, Wittgenstein was said to be greatly interested in Catholicism, and was sympathetic to it. However, he did not consider himself to be a Catholic. According to Norman Malcolm, Wittgenstein saw Catholicism more as a way of life than as a set of beliefs he personally held, considering that he did not accept any religious faith. Wittgenstein has no goal to either support or reject religion; his only interest is to keep discussions, whether religious or not, clear. — T. Labron (2006) Wittgenstein was said by some commentators to be agnostic, in a qualified sense. 1953: Publication of the Philosophical Investigations The Blue Book, a set of notes dictated to his class at Cambridge in 1933–1934, contains the seeds of Wittgenstein's later thoughts on language and is widely read as a turning-point in his philosophy of language. Philosophical Investigations was published in two parts in 1953. Most of Part I was ready for printing in 1946, but Wittgenstein withdrew the manuscript from his publisher. The shorter Part II was added by his editors, Elizabeth Anscombe and Rush Rhees. Wittgenstein asks the reader to think of language as a multiplicity of language-games within which parts of language develop and function. He argues the bewitchments of philosophical problems arise from philosophers' misguided attempts to consider the meaning of words independently of their context, usage, and grammar, what he called "language gone on holiday". According to Wittgenstein, philosophical problems arise when language is forced from its proper home into a metaphysical environment, where all the familiar and necessary landmarks and contextual clues are removed. He describes this metaphysical environment as like being on frictionless ice: where the conditions are apparently perfect for a philosophically and logically perfect language, all philosophical problems can be solved without the muddying effects of everyday contexts; but where, precisely because of the lack of friction, language can in fact do no work at all. Wittgenstein argues that philosophers must leave the frictionless ice and return to the "rough ground" of ordinary language in use. Much of the Investigations consists of examples of how the first false steps can be avoided, so that philosophical problems are dissolved, rather than solved: "The clarity we are aiming at is indeed complete clarity. But this simply means that the philosophical problems should completely disappear." Other posthumous publications Wittgenstein left a voluminous archive of unpublished papers, including 83 manuscripts, 46 typescripts and 11 dictations, amounting to an estimated 20,000 pages. Choosing among repeated drafts, revisions, corrections, and loose notes, editorial work has found nearly one third of the total suitable for print. An Internet facility hosted by the University of Bergen allows access to images of almost all the material and to search the available transcriptions. In 2011, two new boxes of Wittgenstein papers, thought to have been lost during the Second World War, were found. What became the Philosophical Investigations was already close to completion in 1951. Wittgenstein's three literary executors prioritized it, both because of its intrinsic importance and because he had explicitly intended publication. The book was published in 1953. At least three other works were more or less finished. Two were already "bulky typescripts", the Philosophical Remarks and Philosophical Grammar. Literary (co-)executor G. H. von Wright revealed "They are virtually completed works. But Wittgenstein did not publish them." The third was Remarks on Colour. "He wrote i.a. a fair amount on colour concepts, and this material he did excerpt and polish, reducing it to a small compass." Legacy Assessment Bertrand Russell described Wittgenstein as perhaps the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived; passionate, profound, intense, and dominating. As mentioned above, in 1999 a survey among American university and college teachers ranked the Investigations as the most important book of 20th-century philosophy, standing out as "the one crossover masterpiece in twentieth-century philosophy, appealing across diverse specializations and philosophical orientations." The Investigations also ranked 54th on a list of most influential twentieth-century works in cognitive science prepared by the University of Minnesota's Center for Cognitive Sciences. Duncan J. Richter of the Virginia Military Institute, writing for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, has described Wittgenstein as "one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, and regarded by some as the most important since Immanuel Kant." Peter Hacker argues that Wittgenstein's influence on 20th-century analytical philosophy can be attributed to his early influence on the Vienna Circle and later influence on the Oxford "ordinary language" school and Cambridge philosophers. He is considered by some to be one of the greatest philosophers of the modern era. But despite its deep influence on analytical philosophy, Wittgenstein's work did not always gain a positive reception. Scholarly interpretation There are diverging interpretations of Wittgenstein's thought. In the words of his friend and colleague Georg Henrik von Wright: He was of the opinion ... that his ideas were generally misunderstood and distorted even by those who professed to be his disciples. He doubted he would be better understood in the future. He once said he felt as though he was writing for people who would think in a different way, breathe a different air of life, from that of present-day men. Since Wittgenstein's death, scholarly interpretations of his philosophy have differed. Scholars have differed on the continuity between the so-called early Wittgenstein and the so-called late(r) Wittgenstein (that is, the difference between his views expressed in the Tractatus and those in Philosophical Investigations), with some seeing the two as starkly disparate and others stressing the gradual transition between the two works through analysis of Wittgenstein's unpublished papers (the Nachlass). One significant debate in Wittgenstein scholarship concerns the work of interpreters who are referred to under the banner of The New Wittgenstein school such as Cora Diamond, Alice Crary, and James F. Conant. While the Tractatus, particularly in its conclusion, seems paradoxical and self-undermining, New Wittgenstein scholars advance a "therapeutic" understanding of Wittgenstein's work – "an understanding of Wittgenstein as aspiring, not to advance metaphysical theories, but rather to help us work ourselves out of confusions we become entangled in when philosophizing." To support this goal, the New Wittgenstein scholars propose a reading of the Tractatus as "plain nonsense" – arguing it does not attempt to convey a substantive philosophical project but instead simply tries to push the reader to abandon philosophical speculation. The therapeutic approach traces its roots to the philosophical work of John Wisdom and the review of The Blue Book written by Oets Kolk Bouwsma. The therapeutic approach is not without critics: Hans-Johann Glock argues that the "plain nonsense" reading of the Tractatus "is at odds with the external evidence, writings and conversations in which Wittgenstein states that the Tractatus is committed to the idea of ineffable insight." Bertrand Russell In October 1944, Wittgenstein returned to Cambridge around the same time as did Russell, who had been living in America for several years. Russell returned to Cambridge after a backlash in America to his writings on morals and religion. Wittgenstein said of Russell's works to Drury:Russell's books should be bound in two colours…those dealing with mathematical logic in red – and all students of philosophy should read them; those dealing with ethics and politics in blue – and no one should be allowed to read them.Russell made similar disparaging comments about Wittgenstein's later work:I have not found in Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations anything that seemed to me interesting and I do not understand why a whole school finds important wisdom in its pages. Psychologically this is surprising. The earlier Wittgenstein, whom I knew intimately, was a man addicted to passionately intense thinking, profoundly aware of difficult problems of which I, like him, felt the importance, and possessed (or at least so I thought) of true philosophical genius. The later Wittgenstein, on the contrary, seems to have grown tired of serious thinking and to have invented a doctrine which would make such an activity unnecessary. I do not for one moment believe that the doctrine which has these lazy consequences is true. I realize, however, that I have an overpoweringly strong bias against it, for, if it is true, philosophy is, at best, a slight help to lexicographers, and at worst, an idle tea-table amusement. Saul Kripke Saul Kripke's 1982 book Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language contends that the central argument of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is a devastating rule-following paradox that undermines the possibility of our ever following rules in our use of language. Kripke writes that this paradox is "the most radical and original sceptical problem that philosophy has seen to date." Kripke's book generated a large secondary literature, divided between those who find his sceptical problem interesting and perceptive, and others, such as Gordon Baker, Peter Hacker, Colin McGinn, and Peter Winch who argue that his scepticism of meaning is a pseudo-problem that stems from a confused, selective reading of Wittgenstein. Kripke's position has, however recently been defended against these and other attacks by the Cambridge philosopher Martin Kusch (2006). Works A collection of Ludwig Wittgenstein's manuscripts is held by Trinity College, Cambridge. Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung, Annalen der Naturphilosophie, 14 (1921) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [TLP], translated by C.K. Ogden (1922) "Some Remarks on Logical Form" (1929), Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, Volume 9, Issue 1, 15 July 1929, pp. 162–171. Philosophische Untersuchungen (1953) Philosophical Investigations [PI], translated by G. E. M. Anscombe (1953) Bemerkungen über die Grundlagen der Mathematik, ed. by G. H. von Wright, R. Rhees, and G. E. M. Anscombe (1956), a selection of his work on the philosophy of logic and mathematics between 1937 and 1944. Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics, translated by G. E. M. Anscombe, rev. ed. (1978) Bemerkungen über die Philosophie der Psychologie, ed. G. E. M. Anscombe and G. H. von Wright (1980) Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology, Vols. 1 and 2, translated by G. E. M. Anscombe, ed. G. E. M. Anscombe and G. H. von Wright (1980), a selection of which makes up Zettel. Blue and Brown Books (1958), notes dictated in English to Cambridge students in 1933–1935. Philosophische Bemerkungen, ed. by Rush Rhees (1964) Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology, and Religious Belief, ed. by Y. Smythies, R. Rhees, and J. Taylor (1967) Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough, ed. by R. Rhees (1967) Philosophical Remarks (1975) Philosophical Grammar (1978) Bemerkungen über die Farben, ed. by G. E. M. Anscombe (1977) Remarks on Colour (1991), remarks on Goethe's Theory of Colours. On Certainty, collection of aphorisms discussing the relation between knowledge and certainty, extremely influential in the philosophy of action. Culture and Value, collection of personal remarks about various cultural issues, such as religion and music, as well as critique of Søren Kierkegaard's philosophy. Zettel, collection of Wittgenstein's thoughts in fragmentary/"diary entry" format as with On Certainty and Culture and Value. Works online Wittgenstein: Gesamtbriefwechsel/Complete Correspondence. Innsbrucker Electronic Edition: Ludwig Wittgenstein: Gesamtbriefwechsel/Complete Correspondence contains Wittgenstein's collected correspondence, edited under the auspices of the Brenner-Archiv's Research Institute (University of Innsbruck). Editors (first edition): Monika Seekircher, Brian McGuinness and Anton Unterkircher. Editors (second edition): Anna Coda, Gabriel Citron, Barbara Halder, Allan Janik, Ulrich Lobis, Kerstin Mayr, Brian McGuinness, Michael Schorner, Monika Seekircher and Joseph Wang. Wittgensteins Nachlass. The Bergen Electronic Edition: The collection includes all of Wittgenstein's unpublished manuscripts, typescripts, dictations, and most of his notebooks. The Nachlass was catalogued by G. H. von Wright in his "The Wittgenstein Papers", first published in 1969, and later updated and included as a chapter with the same title in his book Wittgenstein, published by Blackwell (and by the University of Minnesota Press in the U.S.) in 1982. Review of P. Coffey's Science of Logic (1913): a polemical book review, written in 1912 for the March 1913 issue of The Cambridge Review when Wittgenstein was an undergraduate studying with Russell. The review is the earliest public record of Wittgenstein's philosophical views. Nachlass online Bemerkungen über die Farben (Remarks on Colour) "Some Remarks on Logical Form" Cambridge (1932–3) lecture notes See also Definitions of philosophy International Wittgenstein Symposium Footnotes References Sources pp. 51ff Further reading Bergen and Cambridge archives Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen . Retrieved 16 September 2010. Wittgenstein News, University of Bergen. Retrieved 16 September 2010. Wittgenstein Source, University of Bergen. Retrieved 16 September 2010. The Cambridge Wittgenstein Archive. Retrieved 16 September 2010. Papers about his Nachlass Via HAL archives-ouvertes.fr Via zenodo Von Wright, G.H. "The Wittgenstein Papers", The Philosophical Review. 78, 1969. Other Agassi, J. Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: An Attempt at a Critical Rationalist Appraisal. Cham: Springer, 2018, Synthese Library, vol. 401. Baker, G.P. and Hacker, P. M. S. Wittgenstein: Understanding and Meaning. Blackwell, 1980. Baker, G.P. and Hacker, P. M. S. Wittgenstein: Rules, Grammar, and Necessity. Blackwell, 1985. Baker, G.P. and Hacker, P. M. S. Wittgenstein: Meaning and Mind. Blackwell, 1990. Baker, Gordon P., and Katherine J. Morris. Wittgenstein's Method: Neglected Aspects: Essays on Wittgenstein. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004. Brockhaus, Richard R. Pulling Up the Ladder: The Metaphysical Roots of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Open Court, 1990. Conant, James F. "Putting Two and Two Together: Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and the Point of View for Their Work as Authors" in The Grammar of Religious Belief, edited by D.Z. Phillips. St. Martins Press, NY: 1996 Engelmann, Paul. Letters from Ludwig Wittgenstein. Blackwell, 1967. Hacker, P. M. S. Insight and Illusion: Themes in the Philosophy of Wittgenstein. Clarendon Press, 1986. Hacker, P. M. S. "Wittgenstein, Ludwig Josef Johann", in Ted Honderich (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1995. Hacker, P. M. S. Wittgenstein's Place in Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy. Blackwell, 1996. Hacker, P. M. S. Wittgenstein: Mind and Will. Blackwell, 1996. Holt, Jim, "Positive Thinking" (review of Karl Sigmund, Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science, Basic Books, 449 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXIV, no. 20 (21 December 2017), pp. 74–76. Jormakka, Kari. "The Fifth Wittgenstein", Datutop 24, 2004, a discussion of the connection between Wittgenstein's architecture and his philosophy. Levy, Paul. Moore: G.E. Moore and the Cambridge Apostles. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1979. Luchte, James. "Under the Aspect of Time ("sub specie temporis"): Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and the Place of the Nothing", Philosophy Today, Volume 53, Number 2 (Spring, 2009) Lurie, Yuval. Wittgenstein on the Human Spirit.. Rodopi, 2012. Macarthur, David. "Working on Oneself in Philosophy and Architecture: A Perfectionist Reading of the Wittgenstein House." Architectural Theory Review, vol. 19, no. 2 (2014): 124–140. Padilla Gálvez, J., Wittgenstein, from a New Point of View. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 2003. . Padilla Gálvez, J., Philosophical Anthropology. Wittgenstein's Perspectives. Frankfurt a. M.: Ontos Verlag, 2010. . Pears, David F. "A Special Supplement: The Development of Wittgenstein's Philosophy", The New York Review of Books, 10 July 1969. Pears, David F. The False Prison, A Study of the Development of Wittgenstein's Philosophy, Volumes 1 and 2. Oxford University Press, 1987 and 1988. Pitcher, George. The Philosophy of Wittgenstein. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Richter, Duncan J. "Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)", Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 30 August 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2010. Rizzo, Francesco, "Kauffman lettore di Wittgenstein", Università degli studi di Palermo, Palermo, 2017. Scheman, Naomi and O'Connor, Peg (eds.). Feminist Interpretations of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Penn State Press, 2002. Schönbaumsfeld, Genia. A Confusion of the Spheres: Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein on Philosophy and Religion. Oxford University Press, 2007. Shyam Wuppuluri, N. C. A. da Costa (eds.), "Wittgensteinian (adj.): Looking at the World from the Viewpoint of Wittgenstein's Philosophy" Springer – The Frontiers Collection, 2019. Foreword by A. C. Grayling. Temelini, Michael. Wittgenstein and the Study of Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. Xanthos, Nicolas, "Wittgenstein's Language Games", in Louis Hebert (dir.), Signo (online), Rimouski (Quebec, Canada), 2006. Works referencing Wittgenstein Doctorow, E. L. City of God. Plume, 2001, depicts an imaginary rivalry between Wittgenstein and Einstein. Doxiadis, Apostolos and Papadimitriou, Christos. Logicomix. Bloomsbury, 2009. Duffy, Bruce. The World as I Found It. Ticknor & Fields, 1987, a re-creation of Wittgenstein's life. Jarman, Derek. Wittgenstein, a biopic of Wittgenstein with a script by Terry Eagleton, British Film Institute, 1993. Kerr, Philip. A Philosophical Investigation, Chatto & Windus, 1992, a dystopian thriller set in 2012. Markson, David. Wittgenstein's Mistress. Dalkey Archive Press, 1988, an experimental novel, a first-person account of what it would be like to live in the world of the Tractatus. Tully, James. Strange Multiplicity: Constitutionalism in an Age of Diversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995 Wallace, David Foster. The Broom of the System. Penguin Books, 1987, a novel. External links C.K. Ogden's English translation of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Gutenberg) Trinity College Chapel Chronology of Wittgenstein's Life and Work (constructed day-by-day, one hundred years on) BBC Radio 4 programme on Wittgenstein, broadcast 13 December 2011 "A. J. Ayer's Critique of Wittgenstein's Private Language Argument" Wittgenstein, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Ray Monk, Barry Smith & Marie McGinn (In Our Time, 4 December 2003) In Our Time, Ludwig Wittgenstein, broadcast 4 December 2003 on BBC Radio 4 1889 births 1951 deaths 20th-century Austrian mathematicians 20th-century Austrian philosophers 20th-century Austrian writers 20th-century British mathematicians 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century British philosophers 20th-century British writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century mathematicians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Analytic philosophers Austrian agnostics Austrian essayists Austrian expatriates in the United Kingdom Austrian expatriates in Norway Austrian Jews Austrian logicians Austrian non-fiction writers Austrian people of Czech-Jewish descent Austrian people of German-Jewish descent Austrian people of Jewish descent Austrian people of Slovenian descent Austrian prisoners of war Austrian refugees Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Bisexual academics Bisexual men Bisexual military personnel Bisexual writers British agnostics British expatriates in Norway British Jews British logicians British male essayists British people of Austrian-Jewish descent British people of Czech-Jewish descent British people of German-Jewish descent British people of Slovenian descent Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club Classical logic Cultural critics Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from prostate cancer Epistemologists Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Founders of philosophical traditions History of logic History of mathematics History of philosophy Intellectual history Jewish agnostics Jewish philosophers LGBT Jews LGBT writers from Austria LGBT writers from the United Kingdom Linguistic turn Metaphilosophers Metaphysicians Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Ontologists Ordinary language philosophy People associated with the University of Manchester People with post-traumatic stress disorder Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of language Philosophers of logic Philosophers of mathematics Philosophers of mind Philosophers of social science Philosophy academics Philosophy teachers Philosophy writers British social commentators Austrian social commentators Social critics Social philosophers Technical University of Berlin alumni Theorists on Western civilization Ludwig World War I prisoners of war held by Italy Writers from Vienna LGBT mathematicians LGBT philosophers	[ -0.29617857933044434, 0.4673784673213959, -0.7104907631874084, 0.022828100249171257, -0.5700101256370544, 1.0394327640533447, 1.1341897249221802, 0.2563384175300598, 0.28083083033561707, -0.5363798141479492, -0.4007500112056732, 0.0016513377195224166, -0.2412719577550888, 0.241887643933296...
17743	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low%20Saxon	Low Saxon	Low Saxon, also known as West Low German (; ) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two groups of mutually intelligible dialects, the other being East Low German dialects. A 2005 study found that there were approximately 1.8 million "daily speakers" of Low Saxon in the Netherlands. 53% spoke Low Saxon or Low Saxon and Dutch at home and 71% could speak it. According to another study the percentage of speakers among parents dropped from 34% in 1995 to 15% in 2011. The percentage of speakers among their children dropped from 8% to 2% in the same period. Extent The language area comprises the North German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia (the Westphalian part), Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt (the northwestern areas around Magdeburg) as well as the northeast of The Netherlands (i.e. Dutch Low Saxon, spoken in Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel and northern Gelderland) and the Schleswigsch dialect spoken by the North Schleswig Germans in the southernmost part of Denmark. In the south the Benrath line and Uerdingen line isoglosses form the border with the area, where West Central German variants of High German are spoken. List of dialects Germany West Low German Westphalian, including the region around Münster and the Osnabrück region of Lower Saxony Eastphalian, spoken in southeastern Lower Saxony (Hanover, Braunschweig, Göttingen) and in the Magdeburg Börde region Northern Low Saxon East Frisian Low Saxon in East Frisia Dithmarsisch Schleswig[i]sch Holsteinisch Hamburgisch Nordhannoversch Emsländisch Oldenburgisch in the Oldenburg region Netherlands While Dutch is a Low Franconian language, the Dutch Low Saxon varieties, which the Dutch government considers to be Dutch dialects, form a dialect continuum with the Westphalian language. They consist of: West Low German Westphalian Stellingwarfs in southeastern Friesland Midden-Drents Zuud-Drèents Tweants and Tweants-Groafschops in the Twente region of Overijssel and the adjacent Achterhoek region of Gelderland Veluws in the Veluwe region of Gelderland Gelders-Overijssels Achterhooks Sallaans in the Salland region of western Overijssel Urkers on the former island of Urk in Flevoland Northern Low Saxon Westerkwartiers, in western Groningen Gronings, in Groningen and northern Drenthe, by its Frisian substratum related to Friso-Saxon dialects Denmark West Low German Northern Low Saxon Schleswigsch dialect spoken in former South Jutland County (the northern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig) around Aabenraa (Apenrade) References Culture of Lower Saxony Dutch dialects German dialects Low German Articles with citation needed in ref field	[ 0.08655136823654175, -0.19168132543563843, -0.1899334192276001, -0.5805121660232544, 0.19579513370990753, 0.863936185836792, 0.2161777764558792, 0.5585322976112366, -0.022372432053089142, -0.28760185837745667, 0.21298451721668243, 0.1306544989347458, 0.5130149126052856, 0.02866897173225879...
17744	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanthanum	Lanthanum	Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air. It is the eponym of the lanthanide series, a group of 15 similar elements between lanthanum and lutetium in the periodic table, of which lanthanum is the first and the prototype. Lanthanum is traditionally counted among the rare earth elements. Like lots of other rare earth elements, the usual oxidation state is +3. Lanthanum has no biological role in humans but is essential to some bacteria. It is not particularly toxic to humans but does show some antimicrobial activity. Lanthanum usually occurs together with cerium and the other rare earth elements. Lanthanum was first found by the Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1839 as an impurity in cerium nitrate – hence the name lanthanum, from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'to lie hidden'. Although it is classified as a rare earth element, lanthanum is the 28th most abundant element in the Earth's crust, almost three times as abundant as lead. In minerals such as monazite and bastnäsite, lanthanum composes about a quarter of the lanthanide content. It is extracted from those minerals by a process of such complexity that pure lanthanum metal was not isolated until 1923. Lanthanum compounds have numerous applications as catalysts, additives in glass, carbon arc lamps for studio lights and projectors, ignition elements in lighters and torches, electron cathodes, scintillators, gas tungsten arc welding electrodes, and other things. Lanthanum carbonate is used as a phosphate binder in cases of high levels of phosphate in the blood seen with kidney failure. Characteristics Physical Lanthanum is the first element and prototype of the lanthanide series. In the periodic table, it appears to the right of the alkaline earth metal barium and to the left of the lanthanide cerium. Its placement has been disputed, but most who study the matter along with a 2021 IUPAC provisional report consider lanthanum to be best placed as the first of the f-block elements. The 57 electrons of a lanthanum atom are arranged in the configuration [Xe]5d16s2, with three valence electrons outside the noble gas core. In chemical reactions, lanthanum almost always gives up these three valence electrons from the 5d and 6s subshells to form the +3 oxidation state, achieving the stable configuration of the preceding noble gas xenon. Some lanthanum(II) compounds are also known, but they are much less stable. Among the lanthanides, lanthanum is exceptional as it has no 4f electrons as a single gas-phase atom. Thus it is only very weakly paramagnetic, unlike the strongly paramagnetic later lanthanides (with the exceptions of the last two, ytterbium and lutetium, where the 4f shell is completely full). However, the 4f shell of lanthanum can become partially occupied in chemical environments and participate in chemical bonding. For example, the melting points of the trivalent lanthanides (all but europium and ytterbium) are related to the extent of hybridisation of the 6s, 5d, and 4f electrons (lowering with increasing 4f involvement), and lanthanum has the second-lowest melting point among them: 920 °C. (Europium and ytterbium have lower melting points because they delocalise about two electrons per atom rather than three.) This chemical availability of f orbitals justifies lanthanum's placement in the f-block despite its anomalous ground-state configuration (which is merely the result of strong interelectronic repulsion making it less profitable to occupy the 4f shell, as it is small and close to the core electrons). The lanthanides become harder as the series is traversed: as expected, lanthanum is a soft metal. Lanthanum has a relatively high resistivity of 615 nΩm at room temperature; in comparison, the value for the good conductor aluminium is only 26.50 nΩm. Lanthanum is the least volatile of the lanthanides. Like most of the lanthanides, lanthanum has a hexagonal crystal structure at room temperature. At 310 °C, lanthanum changes to a face-centered cubic structure, and at 865 °C, it changes to a body-centered cubic structure. Chemical As expected from periodic trends, lanthanum has the largest atomic radius of the lanthanides. Hence, it is the most reactive among them, tarnishing quite rapidly in air, turning completely dark after several hours and can readily burn to form lanthanum(III) oxide, La2O3, which is almost as basic as calcium oxide. A centimeter-sized sample of lanthanum will corrode completely in a year as its oxide spalls off like iron rust, instead of forming a protective oxide coating like aluminium, scandium, yttrium, and lutetium. Lanthanum reacts with the halogens at room temperature to form the trihalides, and upon warming will form binary compounds with the nonmetals nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, boron, selenium, silicon and arsenic. Lanthanum reacts slowly with water to form lanthanum(III) hydroxide, La(OH)3. In dilute sulfuric acid, lanthanum readily forms the aquated tripositive ion : this is colorless in aqueous solution since La3+ has no d or f electrons. Lanthanum is the strongest and hardest base among the rare earth elements, which is again expected from its being the largest of them. Some lanthanum(II) compounds are also known, but they are much less stable. Therefore, in officially naming compounds of lanthanum its oxidation number always is to be mentioned. Isotopes Naturally occurring lanthanum is made up of two isotopes, the stable 139La and the primordial long-lived radioisotope 138La. 139La is by far the most abundant, making up 99.910% of natural lanthanum: it is produced in the s-process (slow neutron capture, which occurs in low- to medium-mass stars) and the r-process (rapid neutron capture, which occurs in core-collapse supernovae). It is the only stable isotope of lanthanum. The very rare isotope 138La is one of the few primordial odd–odd nuclei, with a long half-life of 1.05×1011 years. It is one of the proton-rich p-nuclei which cannot be produced in the s- or r-processes. 138La, along with the even rarer 180mTa, is produced in the ν-process, where neutrinos interact with stable nuclei. All other lanthanum isotopes are synthetic: with the exception of 137La with a half-life of about 60,000 years, all of them have half-lives less than a day, and most have half-lives less than a minute. The isotopes 139La and 140La occur as fission products of uranium. Compounds Lanthanum oxide is a white solid that can be prepared by direct reaction of its constituent elements. Due to the large size of the La3+ ion, La2O3 adopts a hexagonal 7-coordinate structure that changes to the 6-coordinate structure of scandium oxide (Sc2O3) and yttrium oxide (Y2O3) at high temperature. When it reacts with water, lanthanum hydroxide is formed: a lot of heat is evolved in the reaction and a hissing sound is heard. Lanthanum hydroxide will react with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form the basic carbonate. Lanthanum fluoride is insoluble in water and can be used as a qualitative test for the presence of La3+. The heavier halides are all very soluble deliquescent compounds. The anhydrous halides are produced by direct reaction of their elements, as heating the hydrates causes hydrolysis: for example, heating hydrated LaCl3 produces LaOCl. Lanthanum reacts exothermically with hydrogen to produce the dihydride LaH2, a black, pyrophoric, brittle, conducting compound with the calcium fluoride structure. This is a non-stoichiometric compound, and further absorption of hydrogen is possible, with a concomitant loss of electrical conductivity, until the more salt-like LaH3 is reached. Like LaI2 and LaI, LaH2 is probably an electride compound. Due to the large ionic radius and great electropositivity of La3+, there is not much covalent contribution to its bonding and hence it has a limited coordination chemistry, like yttrium and the other lanthanides. Lanthanum oxalate does not dissolve very much in alkali-metal oxalate solutions, and [La(acac)3(H2O)2] decomposes around 500 °C. Oxygen is the most common donor atom in lanthanum complexes, which are mostly ionic and often have high coordination numbers over 6: 8 is the most characteristic, forming square antiprismatic and dodecadeltahedral structures. These high-coordinate species, reaching up to coordination number 12 with the use of chelating ligands such as in La2(SO4)3·9H2O, often have a low degree of symmetry because of stereo-chemical factors. Lanthanum chemistry tends not to involve π bonding due to the electron configuration of the element: thus its organometallic chemistry is quite limited. The best characterized organolanthanum compounds are the cyclopentadienyl complex La(C5H5)3, which is produced by reacting anhydrous LaCl3 with NaC5H5 in tetrahydrofuran, and its methyl-substituted derivatives. Lanthanum telluride (La3-xTe4) is a rare-earth chalcogenide thermoelectric material with a promising conversion efficiency. The zT value of lanthanum telluride is reported to be peaked in the high temperature range of 1200-1400K. The value increases from 0.19×10-3K-1 at 900K to 1.41×10-3K-1 at 1550K. The quantum mechanics simulation suggests that the La-Te bond should have lengths of 3.279 and 3.428Å with x=0.0762. La3Te4 has the lowest ideal shear strength of 0.99GPa in the (001)/<100> slip system and is significantly lower than most other high-performance TE material like Mg2Si, CoSb3, and TiNiSn. The stretching force constant of the long bond (0.63eV Å-2) is smaller than that of the short bond (1.69eV Å-2), indicating that long bonds are easier to stretch under stress. Though La3Te4 is a promising TE material, the mechanical property is relatively poor. Thus, the material can be strengthened by doping Ce or Pr, which have isotypic structure and stronger stiffness. History In 1751, the Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt discovered a heavy mineral from the mine at Bastnäs, later named cerite. Thirty years later, the fifteen-year-old Wilhelm Hisinger, from the family owning the mine, sent a sample of it to Carl Scheele, who did not find any new elements within. In 1803, after Hisinger had become an ironmaster, he returned to the mineral with Jöns Jacob Berzelius and isolated a new oxide which they named ceria after the dwarf planet Ceres, which had been discovered two years earlier. Ceria was simultaneously independently isolated in Germany by Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Between 1839 and 1843, ceria was shown to be a mixture of oxides by the Swedish surgeon and chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander, who lived in the same house as Berzelius: he separated out two other oxides which he named lanthana and didymia. He partially decomposed a sample of cerium nitrate by roasting it in air and then treating the resulting oxide with dilute nitric acid. That same year, Axel Erdmann, a student also at the Karolinska Institute, discovered lanthanum in a new mineral from Låven island located in a Norwegian fjord. Finally, Mosander explained his delay, saying that he had extracted a second element from cerium, and this he called didymium. Although he didn't realise it, didymium too was a mixture, and in 1885 it was separated into praseodymium and neodymium. Since lanthanum's properties differed only slightly from those of cerium, and occurred along with it in its salts, he named it from the Ancient Greek λανθάνειν [lanthanein] (lit. to lie hidden). Relatively pure lanthanum metal was first isolated in 1923. Occurrence and production Lanthanum is the third-most abundant of all the lanthanides, making up 39 mg/kg of the Earth's crust, behind neodymium at 41.5 mg/kg and cerium at 66.5 mg/kg. It is almost three times as abundant as lead in the Earth's crust. Despite being among the so-called "rare earth metals", lanthanum is thus not rare at all, but it is historically so named because it is rarer than "common earths" such as lime and magnesia, and historically only a few deposits were known. Lanthanum is considered a rare earth metal because the process to mine it is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Lanthanum is rarely the dominant lanthanide found in the rare earth minerals, and in their chemical formulae it is usually preceded by cerium. Rare examples of La-dominant minerals are monazite-(La) and lanthanite-(La). The La3+ ion is similarly sized to the early lanthanides of the cerium group (those up to samarium and europium) that immediately follow in the periodic table, and hence it tends to occur along with them in phosphate, silicate and carbonate minerals, such as monazite (MIIIPO4) and bastnäsite (MIIICO3F), where M refers to all the rare earth metals except scandium and the radioactive promethium (mostly Ce, La, and Y). Bastnäsite is usually lacking in thorium and the heavy lanthanides, and the purification of the light lanthanides from it is less involved. The ore, after being crushed and ground, is first treated with hot concentrated sulfuric acid, evolving carbon dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, and silicon tetrafluoride: the product is then dried and leached with water, leaving the early lanthanide ions, including lanthanum, in solution. The procedure for monazite, which usually contains all the rare earths as well as thorium, is more involved. Monazite, because of its magnetic properties, can be separated by repeated electromagnetic separation. After separation, it is treated with hot concentrated sulfuric acid to produce water-soluble sulfates of rare earths. The acidic filtrates are partially neutralized with sodium hydroxide to pH 3–4. Thorium precipitates out of solution as hydroxide and is removed. After that, the solution is treated with ammonium oxalate to convert rare earths to their insoluble oxalates. The oxalates are converted to oxides by annealing. The oxides are dissolved in nitric acid that excludes one of the main components, cerium, whose oxide is insoluble in HNO3. Lanthanum is separated as a double salt with ammonium nitrate by crystallization. This salt is relatively less soluble than other rare earth double salts and therefore stays in the residue. Care must be taken when handling some of the residues as they contain 228Ra, the daughter of 232Th, which is a strong gamma emitter. Lanthanum is relatively easy to extract as it has only one neighbouring lanthanide, cerium, which can be removed by making use of its ability to be oxidised to the +4 state; thereafter, lanthanum may be separated out by the historical method of fractional crystallization of La(NO3)3·2NH4NO3·4H2O, or by ion-exchange techniques when higher purity is desired. Lanthanum metal is obtained from its oxide by heating it with ammonium chloride or fluoride and hydrofluoric acid at 300-400 °C to produce the chloride or fluoride: La2O3 + 6 NH4Cl → 2 LaCl3 + 6 NH3 + 3 H2O This is followed by reduction with alkali or alkaline earth metals in vacuum or argon atmosphere: LaCl3 + 3 Li → La + 3 LiCl Also, pure lanthanum can be produced by electrolysis of molten mixture of anhydrous LaCl3 and NaCl or KCl at elevated temperatures. Applications The first historical application of lanthanum was in gas lantern mantles. Carl Auer von Welsbach used a mixture of lanthanum oxide and zirconium oxide, which he called Actinophor and patented in 1886. The original mantles gave a green-tinted light and were not very successful, and his first company, which established a factory in Atzgersdorf in 1887, failed in 1889. Modern uses of lanthanum include: One material used for anodic material of nickel-metal hydride batteries is . Due to high cost to extract the other lanthanides, a mischmetal with more than 50% of lanthanum is used instead of pure lanthanum. The compound is an intermetallic component of the type. NiMH batteries can be found in many models of the Toyota Prius sold in the US. These larger nickel-metal hydride batteries require massive quantities of lanthanum for the production. The 2008 Toyota Prius NiMH battery requires of lanthanum. As engineers push the technology to increase fuel efficiency, twice that amount of lanthanum could be required per vehicle. Hydrogen sponge alloys can contain lanthanum. These alloys are capable of storing up to 400 times their own volume of hydrogen gas in a reversible adsorption process. Heat energy is released every time they do so; therefore these alloys have possibilities in energy conservation systems. Mischmetal, a pyrophoric alloy used in lighter flints, contains 25% to 45% lanthanum. Lanthanum oxide and the boride are used in electronic vacuum tubes as hot cathode materials with strong emissivity of electrons. Crystals of are used in high-brightness, extended-life, thermionic electron emission sources for electron microscopes and Hall-effect thrusters. Lanthanum trifluoride () is an essential component of a heavy fluoride glass named ZBLAN. This glass has superior transmittance in the infrared range and is therefore used for fiber-optical communication systems. Cerium-doped lanthanum bromide and lanthanum chloride are the recent inorganic scintillators, which have a combination of high light yield, best energy resolution, and fast response. Their high yield converts into superior energy resolution; moreover, the light output is very stable and quite high over a very wide range of temperatures, making it particularly attractive for high-temperature applications. These scintillators are already widely used commercially in detectors of neutrons or gamma rays. Carbon arc lamps use a mixture of rare earth elements to improve the light quality. This application, especially by the motion picture industry for studio lighting and projection, consumed about 25% of the rare-earth compounds produced until the phase out of carbon arc lamps. Lanthanum(III) oxide () improves the alkali resistance of glass and is used in making special optical glasses, such as infrared-absorbing glass, as well as camera and telescope lenses, because of the high refractive index and low dispersion of rare-earth glasses. Lanthanum oxide is also used as a grain-growth additive during the liquid-phase sintering of silicon nitride and zirconium diboride. Small amounts of lanthanum added to steel improves its malleability, resistance to impact, and ductility, whereas addition of lanthanum to molybdenum decreases its hardness and sensitivity to temperature variations. Small amounts of lanthanum are present in many pool products to remove the phosphates that feed algae. Lanthanum oxide additive to tungsten is used in gas tungsten arc welding electrodes, as a substitute for radioactive thorium. Various compounds of lanthanum and other rare-earth elements (oxides, chlorides, etc.) are components of various catalysis, such as petroleum cracking catalysts. Lanthanum-barium radiometric dating is used to estimate age of rocks and ores, though the technique has limited popularity. Lanthanum carbonate was approved as a medication (Fosrenol, Shire Pharmaceuticals) to absorb excess phosphate in cases of hyperphosphatemia seen in end-stage kidney disease. Lanthanum fluoride is used in phosphor lamp coatings. Mixed with europium fluoride, it is also applied in the crystal membrane of fluoride ion-selective electrodes. Like horseradish peroxidase, lanthanum is used as an electron-dense tracer in molecular biology. Lanthanum-modified bentonite (or phoslock) is used to remove phosphates from water in lake treatments. Lanthanum telluride (La3Te4) is considered to be applied in the field of radioisotope power system (nuclear power plant) due to its significant conversion capabilities. The transmuted elements and isotopes in the segment will not react with the material itself, thus presenting no harm to the safety of the power plant. Though iodine, which can be generated during transmutation, is suspected to react with La3Te4 segment, the quantity of iodine is small enough to possess threat to the power system. Biological role Lanthanum has no known biological role in humans. The element is very poorly absorbed after oral administration and when injected its elimination is very slow. Lanthanum carbonate (Fosrenol) was approved as a phosphate binder to absorb excess phosphate in cases of end stage renal disease. While lanthanum has pharmacological effects on several receptors and ion channels, its specificity for the GABA receptor is unique among trivalent cations. Lanthanum acts at the same modulatory site on the GABA receptor as zinc, a known negative allosteric modulator. The lanthanum cation La3+ is a positive allosteric modulator at native and recombinant GABA receptors, increasing open channel time and decreasing desensitization in a subunit configuration dependent manner. Lanthanum is an essential cofactor for the methanol dehydrogenase of the methanotrophic bacterium Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV, although the great chemical similarity of the lanthanides means that it may be substituted with cerium, praseodymium, or neodymium without ill effects, and with the smaller samarium, europium, or gadolinium giving no side effects other than slower growth. Precautions Lanthanum has a low to moderate level of toxicity and should be handled with care. The injection of lanthanum solutions produces hyperglycemia, low blood pressure, degeneration of the spleen and hepatic alterations. The application in carbon arc light led to the exposure of people to rare earth element oxides and fluorides, which sometimes led to pneumoconiosis. As the La3+ ion is similar in size to the Ca2+ ion, it is sometimes used as an easily traced substitute for the latter in medical studies. Lanthanum, like the other lanthanides, is known to affect human metabolism, lowering cholesterol levels, blood pressure, appetite, and risk of blood coagulation. When injected into the brain, it acts as a painkiller, similarly to morphine and other opiates, though the mechanism behind this is still unknown. See also References Bibliography Further reading The Industrial Chemistry of the Lanthanons, Yttrium, Thorium and Uranium, by R. J. Callow, Pergamon Press, 1967 Extractive Metallurgy of Rare Earths, by C. K. Gupta and N. Krishnamurthy, CRC Press, 2005 Nouveau Traite de Chimie Minerale, Vol. VII. Scandium, Yttrium, Elements des Terres Rares, Actinium, P. Pascal, Editor, Masson & Cie, 1959 Chemistry of the Lanthanons, by R. C. Vickery, Butterworths 1953 Chemical elements Lanthanides Reducing agents GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators	[ 0.7306575179100037, 0.4915435314178467, -0.432248592376709, -0.19813518226146698, 0.09038814157247543, -0.13981205224990845, 0.3435259759426117, 0.018624957650899887, 0.5511031150817871, 0.21049948036670685, -0.5704465508460999, 0.2967134416103363, -0.6408059597015381, 0.9907379150390625, ...
17745	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutetium	Lutetium	Lutetium is a chemical element with the symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted among the rare earths. Lutetium is generally considered the first element of the 6th-period transition metals by those who study the matter, although there has been some dispute on this point. Lutetium was independently discovered in 1907 by French scientist Georges Urbain, Austrian mineralogist Baron Carl Auer von Welsbach, and American chemist Charles James. All of these researchers found lutetium as an impurity in the mineral ytterbia, which was previously thought to consist entirely of ytterbium. The dispute on the priority of the discovery occurred shortly after, with Urbain and Welsbach accusing each other of publishing results influenced by the published research of the other; the naming honor went to Urbain, as he had published his results earlier. He chose the name lutecium for the new element, but in 1949 the spelling was changed to lutetium. In 1909, the priority was finally granted to Urbain and his names were adopted as official ones; however, the name cassiopeium (or later cassiopium) for element 71 proposed by Welsbach was used by many German scientists until the 1950s. Lutetium is not a particularly abundant element, although it is significantly more common than silver in the earth's crust. It has few specific uses. Lutetium-176 is a relatively abundant (2.5%) radioactive isotope with a half-life of about 38 billion years, used to determine the age of minerals and meteorites. Lutetium usually occurs in association with the element yttrium and is sometimes used in metal alloys and as a catalyst in various chemical reactions. 177Lu-DOTA-TATE is used for radionuclide therapy (see Nuclear medicine) on neuroendocrine tumours. Lutetium has the highest Brinell hardness of any lanthanide, at 890–1300 MPa. Characteristics Physical properties A lutetium atom has 71 electrons, arranged in the configuration [Xe] 4f145d16s2. When entering a chemical reaction, the atom loses its two outermost electrons and the single 5d-electron. The lutetium atom is the smallest among the lanthanide atoms, due to the lanthanide contraction, and as a result lutetium has the highest density, melting point, and hardness of the lanthanides. Chemical properties and compounds Lutetium's compounds always contain the element in the oxidation state +3. Aqueous solutions of most lutetium salts are colorless and form white crystalline solids upon drying, with the common exception of the iodide. The soluble salts, such as nitrate, sulfate and acetate form hydrates upon crystallization. The oxide, hydroxide, fluoride, carbonate, phosphate and oxalate are insoluble in water. Lutetium metal is slightly unstable in air at standard conditions, but it burns readily at 150 °C to form lutetium oxide. The resulting compound is known to absorb water and carbon dioxide, and it may be used to remove vapors of these compounds from closed atmospheres. Similar observations are made during reaction between lutetium and water (slow when cold and fast when hot); lutetium hydroxide is formed in the reaction. Lutetium metal is known to react with the four lightest halogens to form trihalides; all of them (except the fluoride) are soluble in water. Lutetium dissolves readily in weak acids and dilute sulfuric acid to form solutions containing the colorless lutetium ions, which are coordinated by between seven and nine water molecules, the average being . Oxidation states Lutetium is usually found in the +3 oxidation state, like most other lanthanides. However, it can also be in the 0, +1 and +2 states as well. Isotopes Lutetium occurs on the Earth in form of two isotopes: lutetium-175 and lutetium-176. Out of these two, only the former is stable, making the element monoisotopic. The latter one, lutetium-176, decays via beta decay with a half-life of 3.78×1010 years; it makes up about 2.5% of natural lutetium. To date, 32 synthetic radioisotopes of the element have been characterized, ranging in mass from 149.973 (lutetium-150) to 183.961 (lutetium-184); the most stable such isotopes are lutetium-174 with a half-life of 3.31 years, and lutetium-173 with a half-life of 1.37 years. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 9 days, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than half an hour. Isotopes lighter than the stable lutetium-175 decay via electron capture (to produce isotopes of ytterbium), with some alpha and positron emission; the heavier isotopes decay primarily via beta decay, producing hafnium isotopes. The element also has 42 nuclear isomers, with masses of 150, 151, 153–162, 166–180 (not every mass number corresponds to only one isomer). The most stable of them are lutetium-177m, with a half-life of 160.4 days, and lutetium-174m, with a half-life of 142 days; these are longer than the half-lives of the ground states of all radioactive lutetium isotopes except lutetium-173, 174, and 176. History Lutetium, derived from the Latin Lutetia (Paris), was independently discovered in 1907 by French scientist Georges Urbain, Austrian mineralogist Baron Carl Auer von Welsbach, and American chemist Charles James. They found it as an impurity in ytterbia, which was thought by Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac to consist entirely of ytterbium. The scientists proposed different names for the elements: Urbain chose neoytterbium and lutecium, whereas Welsbach chose aldebaranium and cassiopeium (after Aldebaran and Cassiopeia). Both of these articles accused the other man of publishing results based on those of the author. The International Commission on Atomic Weights, which was then responsible for the attribution of new element names, settled the dispute in 1909 by granting priority to Urbain and adopting his names as official ones, based on the fact that the separation of lutetium from Marignac's ytterbium was first described by Urbain; after Urbain's names were recognized, neoytterbium was reverted to ytterbium. Until the 1950s, some German-speaking chemists called lutetium by Welsbach's name, cassiopeium; in 1949, the spelling of element 71 was changed to lutetium. The reason for this was that Welsbach's 1907 samples of lutetium had been pure, while Urbain's 1907 samples only contained traces of lutetium. This later misled Urbain into thinking that he had discovered element 72, which he named celtium, which was actually very pure lutetium. The later discrediting of Urbain's work on element 72 led to a reappraisal of Welsbach's work on element 71, so that the element was renamed to cassiopeium in German-speaking countries for some time. Charles James, who stayed out of the priority argument, worked on a much larger scale and possessed the largest supply of lutetium at the time. Pure lutetium metal was first produced in 1953. Occurrence and production Found with almost all other rare-earth metals but never by itself, lutetium is very difficult to separate from other elements. Its principal commercial source is as a by-product from the processing of the rare earth phosphate mineral monazite (, which has concentrations of only 0.0001% of the element, not much higher than the abundance of lutetium in the Earth crust of about 0.5 mg/kg. No lutetium-dominant minerals are currently known. The main mining areas are China, United States, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. The world production of lutetium (in the form of oxide) is about 10 tonnes per year. Pure lutetium metal is very difficult to prepare. It is one of the rarest and most expensive of the rare earth metals with the price about US$10,000 per kilogram, or about one-fourth that of gold. Crushed minerals are treated with hot concentrated sulfuric acid to produce water-soluble sulfates of rare earths. Thorium precipitates out of solution as hydroxide and is removed. After that the solution is treated with ammonium oxalate to convert rare earths into their insoluble oxalates. The oxalates are converted to oxides by annealing. The oxides are dissolved in nitric acid that excludes one of the main components, cerium, whose oxide is insoluble in HNO3. Several rare earth metals, including lutetium, are separated as a double salt with ammonium nitrate by crystallization. Lutetium is separated by ion exchange. In this process, rare-earth ions are sorbed onto suitable ion-exchange resin by exchange with hydrogen, ammonium or cupric ions present in the resin. Lutetium salts are then selectively washed out by suitable complexing agent. Lutetium metal is then obtained by reduction of anhydrous LuCl3 or LuF3 by either an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal. Applications Because of production difficulty and high price, lutetium has very few commercial uses, especially since it is rarer than most of the other lanthanides but is chemically not very different. However, stable lutetium can be used as catalysts in petroleum cracking in refineries and can also be used in alkylation, hydrogenation, and polymerization applications. Lutetium aluminium garnet () has been proposed for use as a lens material in high refractive index immersion lithography. Additionally, a tiny amount of lutetium is added as a dopant to gadolinium gallium garnet, which is used in magnetic bubble memory devices. Cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate is currently the preferred compound for detectors in positron emission tomography (PET). Lutetium aluminium garnet (LuAG) is used as a phosphor in light-emitting diode light bulbs. Aside from stable lutetium, its radioactive isotopes have several specific uses. The suitable half-life and decay mode made lutetium-176 used as a pure beta emitter, using lutetium which has been exposed to neutron activation, and in lutetium–hafnium dating to date meteorites. The synthetic isotope lutetium-177 bound to octreotate (a somatostatin analogue), is used experimentally in targeted radionuclide therapy for neuroendocrine tumors. Indeed, lutetium-177 is seeing increased usage as a radionuclide in neuroendrocine tumor therapy and bone pain palliation. Research indicates that lutetium-ion atomic clocks could provide greater accuracy than any existing atomic clock. Lutetium tantalate (LuTaO4) is the densest known stable white material (density 9.81 g/cm3) and therefore is an ideal host for X-ray phosphors. The only denser white material is thorium dioxide, with density of 10 g/cm3, but the thorium it contains is radioactive. Precautions Like other rare-earth metals, lutetium is regarded as having a low degree of toxicity, but its compounds should be handled with care nonetheless: for example, lutetium fluoride inhalation is dangerous and the compound irritates skin. Lutetium nitrate may be dangerous as it may explode and burn once heated. Lutetium oxide powder is toxic as well if inhaled or ingested. Similarly to the other rare-earth metals, lutetium has no known biological role, but it is found even in humans, concentrating in bones, and to a lesser extent in the liver and kidneys. Lutetium salts are known to occur together with other lanthanide salts in nature; the element is the least abundant in the human body of all lanthanides. Human diets have not been monitored for lutetium content, so it is not known how much the average human takes in, but estimations show the amount is only about several micrograms per year, all coming from tiny amounts taken by plants. Soluble lutetium salts are mildly toxic, but insoluble ones are not. See also Notes References Chemical elements Lanthanides Chemical elements with hexagonal close-packed structure	[ 0.04539301246404648, 0.23656950891017914, -0.282069593667984, -0.5586937069892883, -0.6926224231719971, 0.39897117018699646, 0.05851496756076813, -0.14206598699092865, -0.08082877099514008, -0.029162989929318428, -0.2742871940135956, -0.016994783654808998, -0.6824421882629395, 0.8572025895...
17746	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrencium	Lawrencium	Lawrencium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Lr (formerly Lw) and atomic number 103. It is named in honor of Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron, a device that was used to discover many artificial radioactive elements. A radioactive metal, lawrencium is the eleventh transuranic element and is also the final member of the actinide series. Like all elements with atomic number over 100, lawrencium can only be produced in particle accelerators by bombarding lighter elements with charged particles. Fourteen isotopes of lawrencium are currently known; the most stable is 266Lr with a half-life of 11 hours, but the shorter-lived 260Lr (half-life 2.7 minutes) is most commonly used in chemistry because it can be produced on a larger scale. Chemistry experiments have confirmed that lawrencium behaves as a heavier homolog to lutetium in the periodic table, and is a trivalent element. It thus could also be classified as the first of the 7th-period transition metals: however, its electron configuration is anomalous for its position in the periodic table, having an s2p configuration instead of the s2d configuration of its homolog lutetium. This means that lawrencium may be more volatile than expected for its position in the periodic table and have a volatility comparable to that of lead. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, many claims of the synthesis of lawrencium of varying quality were made from laboratories in the Soviet Union and the United States. The priority of the discovery and therefore the naming of the element was disputed between Soviet and American scientists, and while the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) initially established lawrencium as the official name for the element and gave the American team credit for the discovery, this was reevaluated in 1997, giving both teams shared credit for the discovery but not changing the element's name. Introduction History In 1958, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory claimed the discovery of element 102, now called nobelium. At the same time, they also attempted to synthesize element 103 by bombarding the same curium target used with nitrogen-14 ions. A follow-up on this experiment was not performed, as the target was destroyed. Eighteen tracks were noted, with decay energy around and half-life around s; the Berkeley team noted that while the cause could be the production of an isotope of element 103, other possibilities could not be ruled out. While the data agrees reasonably with that later discovered for 257Lr (alpha decay energy 8.87 MeV, half-life 0.6 s), the evidence obtained in this experiment fell far short of the strength required to conclusively demonstrate the synthesis of element 103. Later, in 1960, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory attempted to synthesize the element by bombarding 252Cf with 10B and 11B. The results of this experiment were not conclusive. The first important work on element 103 was carried out at Berkeley by the nuclear-physics team of Albert Ghiorso, Torbjørn Sikkeland, Almon Larsh, Robert M. Latimer, and their co-workers on February 14, 1961. The first atoms of lawrencium were reportedly produced by bombarding a three-milligram target consisting of three isotopes of the element californium with boron-10 and boron-11 nuclei from the Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC). The Berkeley team reported that the isotope 257103 was detected in this manner, and that it decayed by emitting an 8.6 MeV alpha particle with a half-life of . This identification was later corrected to be 258103, as later work proved that 257Lr did not have the properties detected, but 258Lr did. This was considered at the time to be convincing proof of the synthesis of element 103: while the mass assignment was less certain and proved to be mistaken, it did not affect the arguments in favor of element 103 having been synthesized. Scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (then in the Soviet Union) raised several criticisms: all but one were answered adequately. The exception was that 252Cf was the most common isotope in the target, and in the reactions with 10B, 258Lr could only have been produced by emitting four neutrons, and emitting three neutrons was expected to be much less likely than emitting four or five. This would lead to a narrow yield curve, not the broad one reported by the Berkeley team. A possible explanation was that there was a low number of events attributed to element 103. This was an important intermediate step to the unquestioned discovery of element 103, although the evidence was not completely convincing. The Berkeley team proposed the name "lawrencium" with symbol "Lw", after Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron. The IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry accepted the name, but changed the symbol to "Lr". This acceptance of the discovery was later characterized as being hasty by the Dubna team. + → * → + 5 The first work at Dubna on element 103 came in 1965, when they reported to have created 256103 in 1965 by bombarding 243Am with 18O, identifying it indirectly from its granddaughter fermium-252. The half-life they reported was somewhat too high, possibly due to background events. Later 1967 work on the same reaction identified two decay energies in the ranges 8.35–8.50 MeV and 8.50–8.60 MeV: these were assigned to 256103 and 257103. Despite repeated attempts, they were unable to confirm assignment of an alpha emitter with a half-life of eight seconds to 257103. The Russians proposed the name "rutherfordium" for the new element in 1967: this name was later used for element 104. + → * → + 5 Further experiments in 1969 at Dubna and in 1970 at Berkeley demonstrated an actinide chemistry for the new element, so that by 1970 it was known that element 103 is the last actinide. In 1970, the Dubna group reported the synthesis of 255103 with half-life 20 s and alpha decay energy 8.38 MeV. However, it was not until 1971, when the nuclear physics team at the University of California at Berkeley successfully performed a whole series of experiments aimed at measuring the nuclear decay properties of the lawrencium isotopes with mass numbers from 255 through 260, that all previous results from Berkeley and Dubna were confirmed, apart from the Berkeley's group initial erroneous assignment of their first produced isotope to 257103 instead of the probably correct 258103. All final doubts were dispelled in 1976 and 1977 when the energies of X-rays emitted from 258103 were measured. In 1971, the IUPAC granted the discovery of lawrencium to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, even though they did not have ideal data for the element's existence. However, in 1992, the IUPAC Trans-fermium Working Group (TWG) officially recognized the nuclear physics teams at Dubna and Berkeley as the co-discoverers of lawrencium, concluding that while the 1961 Berkeley experiments were an important step to lawrencium's discovery, they were not yet completely convincing; and while the 1965, 1968, and 1970 Dubna experiments came very close to the needed level of confidence taken together, only the 1971 Berkeley experiments, which clarified and confirmed previous observations, finally resulted in complete confidence in the discovery of element 103. Because the name "lawrencium" had been in use for a long time by this point, it was retained by IUPAC, and in August 1997, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) ratified the name lawrencium and the symbol "Lr" during a meeting in Geneva. Characteristics Physical Lawrencium is the final member of the actinide series. Among those who study the matter, it is generally considered to be a group 3 element, along with scandium, yttrium, and lutetium, as its filled f-shell is expected to make it resemble the 7th-period transition metals: there has nevertheless been some dispute on this point. In the periodic table, it is located to the right of the actinide nobelium, to the left of the 6d transition metal rutherfordium, and under the lanthanide lutetium with which it shares many physical and chemical properties. Lawrencium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions and assume a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure (c/a = 1.58), similar to its lighter congener lutetium, though this is not yet known experimentally. The enthalpy of sublimation of lawrencium is estimated to be 352 kJ/mol, close to the value of lutetium and strongly suggesting that metallic lawrencium is trivalent with three electrons delocalized, a prediction also supported by a systematic extrapolation of the values of heat of vaporization, bulk modulus, and atomic volume of neighboring elements to lawrencium. Specifically, lawrencium is expected to be a trivalent, silvery metal, easily oxidized by air, steam, and acids, and having an atomic volume similar to that of lutetium and a trivalent metallic radius of 171 pm. It is expected to be a rather heavy metal with a density of around 14.4 g/cm3. It is also predicted to have a melting point of around 1900 K (1627 °C), not far from the value for lutetium (1925 K). Chemical In 1949, Glenn T. Seaborg, who devised the actinide concept that elements 89 to 103 formed an actinide series homologous to the lanthanide series from elements 57 to 71, predicted that element 103 (lawrencium) should be its final member and that the Lr3+ ion should be about as stable as Lu3+ in aqueous solution. It was not until decades later that element 103 was finally conclusively synthesized and this prediction was experimentally confirmed. 1969 studies on the element showed that lawrencium reacted with chlorine to form a product that was most likely the trichloride LrCl3. Its volatility was found to be similar to that of the chlorides of curium, fermium, and nobelium and much less than that of rutherfordium chloride. In 1970, chemical studies were performed on 1500 atoms of the isotope 256Lr, comparing it with divalent (No, Ba, Ra), trivalent (Fm, Cf, Cm, Am, Ac), and tetravalent (Th, Pu) elements. It was found that lawrencium coextracted with the trivalent ions, but the short half-life of the 256Lr isotope precluded a confirmation that it eluted ahead of Md3+ in the elution sequence. Lawrencium occurs as the trivalent Lr3+ ion in aqueous solution and hence its compounds should be similar to those of the other trivalent actinides: for example, lawrencium(III) fluoride (LrF3) and hydroxide (Lr(OH)3) should both be insoluble in water. Due to the actinide contraction, the ionic radius of Lr3+ should be smaller than that of Md3+, and it should elute ahead of Md3+ when ammonium α-hydroxyisobutyrate (ammonium α-HIB) is used as an eluant. Later 1987 experiments on the longer-lived isotope 260Lr confirmed lawrencium's trivalency and that it eluted in roughly the same place as erbium, and found that lawrencium's ionic radius was , larger than would be expected from simple extrapolation from periodic trends. Later 1988 experiments with more lawrencium atoms refined this value to and calculated an enthalpy of hydration value of . It was also pointed out that the actinide contraction at the end of the actinide series was larger than the analogous lanthanide contraction, with the exception of the last actinide, lawrencium: the cause was speculated to be relativistic effects. It has been speculated that the 7s electrons are relativistically stabilized, so that in reducing conditions, only the 7p1/2 electron would be ionized, leading to the monovalent Lr+ ion. However, all experiments to reduce Lr3+ to Lr2+ or Lr+ in aqueous solution were unsuccessful, similarly to lutetium. On the basis of this, the standard electrode potential of the E°(Lr3+→Lr+) couple was calculated to be less than −1.56 V, indicating that the existence of Lr+ ions in aqueous solution was unlikely. The upper limit for the E°(Lr3+→Lr2+) couple was predicted to be −0.44 V: the values for E°(Lr3+→Lr) and E°(Lr4+→Lr3+) are predicted to be −2.06 V and +7.9 V. The stability of the group oxidation state in the 6d transition series decreases as RfIV > DbV > SgVI, and lawrencium continues the trend with LrIII being more stable than RfIV. In the molecule lawrencium dihydride (LrH2), which is predicted to be bent, the 6d orbital of lawrencium is not expected to play a role in the bonding, unlike that of lanthanum dihydride (LaH2). LaH2 has La–H bond distances of 2.158 Å, while LrH2 should have shorter Lr–H bond distances of 2.042 Å due to the relativistic contraction and stabilization of the 7s and 7p orbitals involved in the bonding, in contrast to the core-like 5f subshell and the mostly uninvolved 6d subshell. In general, molecular LrH2 and LrH are expected to resemble the corresponding thallium species (thallium having a 6s26p1 valence configuration in the gas phase, like lawrencium's 7s27p1) more than the corresponding lanthanide species. The electron configurations of Lr+ and Lr2+ are expected to be 7s2 and 7s1 respectively, unlike the lanthanides which tend to be 5d1 as Ln2+. However, in species where all three valence electrons of lawrencium are ionized to give at least formally the Lr3+ cation, lawrencium is expected to behave like a typical actinide and the heavier congener of lutetium, especially because the first three ionization potentials of lawrencium are predicted to be similar to those of lutetium. Hence, unlike thallium but like lutetium, lawrencium would prefer to form LrH3 than LrH, and LrCO is expected to be similar to the also unknown LuCO, both metals having a valence configuration of σ2π1 in their respective monocarbonyls. The pπ–dπ bond is expected to be observed in LrCl3 just as it is for LuCl3 and more generally all the LnCl3, and the complex anion [Lr(C5H4SiMe3)3]− is expected to be stable just like its lanthanide congeners, with a configuration of 6d1 for lawrencium; this 6d orbital would be its highest occupied molecular orbital. Atomic A lawrencium atom has 103 electrons, of which three can act as valence electrons. In 1970, it was predicted that the ground-state electron configuration of lawrencium was [Rn]5f146d17s2 (ground state term symbol 2D3/2), following the Aufbau principle and conforming to the [Xe]4f145d16s2 configuration of lawrencium's lighter homolog lutetium. However, the next year, calculations were published that questioned this prediction, instead expecting an anomalous [Rn]5f147s27p1 configuration. Though early calculations gave conflicting results, more recent studies and calculations confirm the s2p suggestion. 1974 relativistic calculations concluded that the energy difference between the two configurations was small and that it was uncertain which was the ground state. Later 1995 calculations concluded that the s2p configuration should be energetically favored, because the spherical s and p1/2 orbitals are nearest to the atomic nucleus and thus move quickly enough that their relativistic mass increases significantly. In 1988, a team of scientists led by Eichler calculated that lawrencium's enthalpy of adsorption on metal sources would differ enough depending on its electron configuration that it would be feasible to carry out experiments to exploit this fact to measure lawrencium's electron configuration. The s2p configuration was expected to be more volatile than the s2d configuration, and be more similar to that of the p-block element lead. No evidence for lawrencium being volatile was obtained and the lower limit for the enthalpy of adsorption of lawrencium on quartz or platinum was significantly higher than the estimated value for the s2p configuration. In 2015, the first ionization energy of lawrencium was measured, using the isotope 256Lr. The measured value, , agreed very well with the relativistic theoretical prediction of 4.963(15) eV, and also provided a first step into measuring the first ionization energies of the transactinides. This value is the lowest among all the lanthanides and actinides, and supports the s2p configuration as the 7p1/2 electron is expected to be only weakly bound. This suggests that lutetium and lawrencium behave similarly to the d-block elements (and hence being the true heavier congeners of scandium and yttrium, instead of lanthanum and actinium). Although some alkali metal-like behaviour has been predicted, adsorption experiments suggest that lawrencium is trivalent like scandium and yttrium, not monovalent like the alkali metals. Isotopes Fourteen isotopes of lawrencium are known, with mass numbers 251–262, 264, and 266; all are radioactive. Additionally, one nuclear isomer is known, with mass number 253. The longest-lived lawrencium isotope, 266Lr, has a half-life of about ten hours and is one of the longest lived superheavy isotopes known to date. However, shorter-lived isotopes are usually used in chemical experiments because 266Lr currently can only be produced as a final decay product of even heavier and harder-to-synthesize elements: it was discovered in 2014 in the decay chain of 294Ts. The isotope 256Lr (half-life 27 seconds) was used in the first chemical studies on lawrencium: currently, the slightly longer lived isotope 260Lr (half-life 2.7 minutes) is usually used for this purpose. After 266Lr, the longest-lived lawrencium isotopes are 262Lr (3.6 h), 264Lr (about 3 h), 261Lr (44 min), 260Lr (2.7 min), 256Lr (27 s), and 255Lr (22 s). All other known lawrencium isotopes have half-lives under 20 seconds, and the shortest-lived of them (251Lr) has a half-life of 27 milliseconds. The half-lives of lawrencium isotopes mostly increase smoothly from 251Lr to 266Lr, with a dip from 257Lr to 259Lr. Preparation and purification While the lightest (251Lr to 254Lr) and heaviest (264Lr and 266Lr) lawrencium isotopes are produced only as alpha decay products of dubnium (Z = 105) isotopes, the middle isotopes (255Lr to 262Lr) can all be produced by bombarding actinide (americium to einsteinium) targets with light ions (from boron to neon). The two most important isotopes, 256Lr and 260Lr, are both in this range. 256Lr can be produced by bombarding californium-249 with 70 MeV boron-11 ions (producing lawrencium-256 and four neutrons), while 260Lr can be produced by bombarding berkelium-249 with oxygen-18 (producing lawrencium-260, an alpha particle, and three neutrons). Both 256Lr and 260Lr have half-lives too short to allow a complete chemical purification process. Early experiments with 256Lr therefore used rapid solvent extraction, with the chelating agent thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) dissolved in methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) as the organic phase, and with the aqueous phase being buffered acetate solutions. Ions of different charge (+2, +3, or +4) will then extract into the organic phase under different pH ranges, but this method will not separate the trivalent actinides and thus 256Lr must be identified by its emitted 8.24 MeV alpha particles. More recent methods have allowed rapid selective elution with α-HIB to take place in enough time to separate out the longer-lived isotope 260Lr, which can be removed from the catcher foil with 0.05 M hydrochloric acid. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Los Alamos National Laboratory's Chemistry Division: Periodic Table – Lawrencium Lawrencium at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham) Transition metals Synthetic elements Chemical elements Actinides Chemical elements with hexagonal close-packed structure	[ -0.05539056658744812, 0.4624876081943512, 0.08706425130367279, -0.5698434710502625, -0.0034360820427536964, -0.0256027989089489, 0.23758020997047424, 0.054471906274557114, 0.2370734065771103, 0.08077894151210785, -0.4570046365261078, 0.03490990400314331, -0.5950378179550171, 0.713818430900...
17747	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead	Lead	Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, lead is silvery with a hint of blue; it tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable element and three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier elements. Lead is a relatively unreactive post-transition metal. Its weak metallic character is illustrated by its amphoteric nature; lead and lead oxides react with acids and bases, and it tends to form covalent bonds. Compounds of lead are usually found in the +2 oxidation state rather than the +4 state common with lighter members of the carbon group. Exceptions are mostly limited to organolead compounds. Like the lighter members of the group, lead tends to bond with itself; it can form chains and polyhedral structures. Since lead is easily extracted from its ores, prehistoric people in the Near East were aware of it. Galena is a principal ore of lead which often bears silver. Interest in silver helped initiate widespread extraction and use of lead in ancient Rome. Lead production declined after the fall of Rome and did not reach comparable levels until the Industrial Revolution. Lead played a crucial role in the development of the printing press, as movable type could be relatively easily cast from lead alloys. In 2014, the annual global production of lead was about ten million tonnes, over half of which was from recycling. Lead's high density, low melting point, ductility and relative inertness to oxidation make it useful. These properties, combined with its relative abundance and low cost, resulted in its extensive use in construction, plumbing, batteries, bullets and shot, weights, solders, pewters, fusible alloys, white paints, leaded gasoline, and radiation shielding. In the late 19th century, lead's toxicity was recognized widely, although a number of well-educated ancient Greek and Roman writers were aware of this fact and even knew some of the symptoms of lead poisoning. Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in soft tissues and bones; it damages the nervous system and interferes with the function of biological enzymes, causing neurological disorders, such as brain damage and behavioral problems. Lead also affects general health, cardiovascular, and renal systems. Physical properties Atomic A lead atom has 82 electrons, arranged in an electron configuration of [Xe]4f145d106s26p2. The sum of lead's first and second ionization energies—the total energy required to remove the two 6p electrons—is close to that of tin, lead's upper neighbor in the carbon group. This is unusual; ionization energies generally fall going down a group, as an element's outer electrons become more distant from the nucleus, and more shielded by smaller orbitals. The similarity of ionization energies is caused by the lanthanide contraction—the decrease in element radii from lanthanum (atomic number 57) to lutetium (71), and the relatively small radii of the elements from hafnium (72) onwards. This is due to poor shielding of the nucleus by the lanthanide 4f electrons. The sum of the first four ionization energies of lead exceeds that of tin, contrary to what periodic trends would predict. Relativistic effects, which become significant in heavier atoms, contribute to this behavior. One such effect is the inert pair effect: the 6s electrons of lead become reluctant to participate in bonding, making the distance between nearest atoms in crystalline lead unusually long. Lead's lighter carbon group congeners form stable or metastable allotropes with the tetrahedrally coordinated and covalently bonded diamond cubic structure. The energy levels of their outer s- and p-orbitals are close enough to allow mixing into four hybrid sp3 orbitals. In lead, the inert pair effect increases the separation between its s- and p-orbitals, and the gap cannot be overcome by the energy that would be released by extra bonds following hybridization. Rather than having a diamond cubic structure, lead forms metallic bonds in which only the p-electrons are delocalized and shared between the Pb2+ ions. Lead consequently has a face-centered cubic structure like the similarly sized divalent metals calcium and strontium. Bulk Pure lead has a bright, silvery appearance with a hint of blue. It tarnishes on contact with moist air and takes on a dull appearance, the hue of which depends on the prevailing conditions. Characteristic properties of lead include high density, malleability, ductility, and high resistance to corrosion due to passivation. Lead's close-packed face-centered cubic structure and high atomic weight result in a density of 11.34 g/cm3, which is greater than that of common metals such as iron (7.87 g/cm3), copper (8.93 g/cm3), and zinc (7.14 g/cm3). This density is the origin of the idiom to go over like a lead balloon. Some rarer metals are denser: tungsten and gold are both at 19.3 g/cm3, and osmium—the densest metal known—has a density of 22.59 g/cm3, almost twice that of lead. Lead is a very soft metal with a Mohs hardness of 1.5; it can be scratched with a fingernail. It is quite malleable and somewhat ductile. The bulk modulus of lead—a measure of its ease of compressibility—is 45.8 GPa. In comparison, that of aluminium is 75.2 GPa; copper 137.8 GPa; and mild steel 160–169 GPa. Lead's tensile strength, at 12–17 MPa, is low (that of aluminium is 6 times higher, copper 10 times, and mild steel 15 times higher); it can be strengthened by adding small amounts of copper or antimony. The melting point of lead—at 327.5 °C (621.5 °F)—is very low compared to most metals. Its boiling point of 1749 °C (3180 °F) is the lowest among the carbon group elements. The electrical resistivity of lead at 20 °C is 192 nanoohm-meters, almost an order of magnitude higher than those of other industrial metals (copper at ; gold ; and aluminium at ). Lead is a superconductor at temperatures lower than 7.19 K; this is the highest critical temperature of all type-I superconductors and the third highest of the elemental superconductors. Isotopes Natural lead consists of four stable isotopes with mass numbers of 204, 206, 207, and 208, and traces of five short-lived radioisotopes. The high number of isotopes is consistent with lead's atomic number being even. Lead has a magic number of protons (82), for which the nuclear shell model accurately predicts an especially stable nucleus. Lead-208 has 126 neutrons, another magic number, which may explain why lead-208 is extraordinarily stable. With its high atomic number, lead is the heaviest element whose natural isotopes are regarded as stable; lead-208 is the heaviest stable nucleus. (This distinction formerly fell to bismuth, with an atomic number of 83, until its only primordial isotope, bismuth-209, was found in 2003 to decay very slowly.) The four stable isotopes of lead could theoretically undergo alpha decay to isotopes of mercury with a release of energy, but this has not been observed for any of them; their predicted half-lives range from 1035 to 10189 years (at least 1025 times the current age of the universe). Three of the stable isotopes are found in three of the four major decay chains: lead-206, lead-207, and lead-208 are the final decay products of uranium-238, uranium-235, and thorium-232, respectively. These decay chains are called the uranium chain, the actinium chain, and the thorium chain. Their isotopic concentrations in a natural rock sample depends greatly on the presence of these three parent uranium and thorium isotopes. For example, the relative abundance of lead-208 can range from 52% in normal samples to 90% in thorium ores; for this reason, the standard atomic weight of lead is given to only one decimal place. As time passes, the ratio of lead-206 and lead-207 to lead-204 increases, since the former two are supplemented by radioactive decay of heavier elements while the latter is not; this allows for lead–lead dating. As uranium decays into lead, their relative amounts change; this is the basis for uranium–lead dating. Lead-207 exhibits nuclear magnetic resonance, a property that has been used to study its compounds in solution and solid state, including in human body. Apart from the stable isotopes, which make up almost all lead that exists naturally, there are trace quantities of a few radioactive isotopes. One of them is lead-210; although it has a half-life of only 22.2 years, small quantities occur in nature because lead-210 is produced by a long decay series that starts with uranium-238 (that has been present for billions of years on Earth). Lead-211, −212, and −214 are present in the decay chains of uranium-235, thorium-232, and uranium-238, respectively, so traces of all three of these lead isotopes are found naturally. Minute traces of lead-209 arise from the very rare cluster decay of radium-223, one of the daughter products of natural uranium-235, and the decay chain of neptunium-237, traces of which are produced by neutron capture in uranium ores. Lead-210 is particularly useful for helping to identify the ages of samples by measuring its ratio to lead-206 (both isotopes are present in a single decay chain). In total, 43 lead isotopes have been synthesized, with mass numbers 178–220. Lead-205 is the most stable radioisotope, with a half-life of around 1.73 years. The second-most stable is lead-202, which has a half-life of about 52,500 years, longer than any of the natural trace radioisotopes. Chemistry Bulk lead exposed to moist air forms a protective layer of varying composition. Lead(II) carbonate is a common constituent; the sulfate or chloride may also be present in urban or maritime settings. This layer makes bulk lead effectively chemically inert in the air. Finely powdered lead, as with many metals, is pyrophoric, and burns with a bluish-white flame. Fluorine reacts with lead at room temperature, forming lead(II) fluoride. The reaction with chlorine is similar but requires heating, as the resulting chloride layer diminishes the reactivity of the elements. Molten lead reacts with the chalcogens to give lead(II) chalcogenides. Lead metal resists sulfuric and phosphoric acid but not hydrochloric or nitric acid; the outcome depends on insolubility and subsequent passivation of the product salt. Organic acids, such as acetic acid, dissolve lead in the presence of oxygen. Concentrated alkalis will dissolve lead and form plumbites. Inorganic compounds Lead shows two main oxidation states: +4 and +2. The tetravalent state is common for the carbon group. The divalent state is rare for carbon and silicon, minor for germanium, important (but not prevailing) for tin, and is the more important of the two oxidation states for lead. This is attributable to relativistic effects, specifically the inert pair effect, which manifests itself when there is a large difference in electronegativity between lead and oxide, halide, or nitride anions, leading to a significant partial positive charge on lead. The result is a stronger contraction of the lead 6s orbital than is the case for the 6p orbital, making it rather inert in ionic compounds. The inert pair effect is less applicable to compounds in which lead forms covalent bonds with elements of similar electronegativity, such as carbon in organolead compounds. In these, the 6s and 6p orbitals remain similarly sized and sp3 hybridization is still energetically favorable. Lead, like carbon, is predominantly tetravalent in such compounds. There is a relatively large difference in the electronegativity of lead(II) at 1.87 and lead(IV) at 2.33. This difference marks the reversal in the trend of increasing stability of the +4 oxidation state going down the carbon group; tin, by comparison, has values of 1.80 in the +2 oxidation state and 1.96 in the +4 state. Lead(II) Lead(II) compounds are characteristic of the inorganic chemistry of lead. Even strong oxidizing agents like fluorine and chlorine react with lead to give only PbF2 and PbCl2. Lead(II) ions are usually colorless in solution, and partially hydrolyze to form Pb(OH)+ and finally [Pb4(OH)4]4+ (in which the hydroxyl ions act as bridging ligands), but are not reducing agents as tin(II) ions are. Techniques for identifying the presence of the Pb2+ ion in water generally rely on the precipitation of lead(II) chloride using dilute hydrochloric acid. As the chloride salt is sparingly soluble in water, in very dilute solutions the precipitation of lead(II) sulfide is achieved by bubbling hydrogen sulfide through the solution. Lead monoxide exists in two polymorphs, litharge α-PbO (red) and massicot β-PbO (yellow), the latter being stable only above around 488 °C. Litharge is the most commonly used inorganic compound of lead. There is no lead(II) hydroxide; increasing the pH of solutions of lead(II) salts leads to hydrolysis and condensation. Lead commonly reacts with heavier chalcogens. Lead sulfide is a semiconductor, a photoconductor, and an extremely sensitive infrared radiation detector. The other two chalcogenides, lead selenide and lead telluride, are likewise photoconducting. They are unusual in that their color becomes lighter going down the group. Lead dihalides are well-characterized; this includes the diastatide and mixed halides, such as PbFCl. The relative insolubility of the latter forms a useful basis for the gravimetric determination of fluorine. The difluoride was the first solid ionically conducting compound to be discovered (in 1834, by Michael Faraday). The other dihalides decompose on exposure to ultraviolet or visible light, especially the diiodide. Many lead(II) pseudohalides are known, such as the cyanide, cyanate, and thiocyanate. Lead(II) forms an extensive variety of halide coordination complexes, such as [PbCl4]2−, [PbCl6]4−, and the [Pb2Cl9]n5n− chain anion. Lead(II) sulfate is insoluble in water, like the sulfates of other heavy divalent cations. Lead(II) nitrate and lead(II) acetate are very soluble, and this is exploited in the synthesis of other lead compounds. Lead(IV) Few inorganic lead(IV) compounds are known. They are only formed in highly oxidizing solutions and do not normally exist under standard conditions. Lead(II) oxide gives a mixed oxide on further oxidation, Pb3O4. It is described as lead(II,IV) oxide, or structurally 2PbO·PbO2, and is the best-known mixed valence lead compound. Lead dioxide is a strong oxidizing agent, capable of oxidizing hydrochloric acid to chlorine gas. This is because the expected PbCl4 that would be produced is unstable and spontaneously decomposes to PbCl2 and Cl2. Analogously to lead monoxide, lead dioxide is capable of forming plumbate anions. Lead disulfide and lead diselenide are only stable at high pressures. Lead tetrafluoride, a yellow crystalline powder, is stable, but less so than the difluoride. Lead tetrachloride (a yellow oil) decomposes at room temperature, lead tetrabromide is less stable still, and the existence of lead tetraiodide is questionable. Other oxidation states Some lead compounds exist in formal oxidation states other than +4 or +2. Lead(III) may be obtained, as an intermediate between lead(II) and lead(IV), in larger organolead complexes; this oxidation state is not stable, as both the lead(III) ion and the larger complexes containing it are radicals. The same applies for lead(I), which can be found in such radical species. Numerous mixed lead(II,IV) oxides are known. When PbO2 is heated in air, it becomes Pb12O19 at 293 °C, Pb12O17 at 351 °C, Pb3O4 at 374 °C, and finally PbO at 605 °C. A further sesquioxide, Pb2O3, can be obtained at high pressure, along with several non-stoichiometric phases. Many of them show defective fluorite structures in which some oxygen atoms are replaced by vacancies: PbO can be considered as having such a structure, with every alternate layer of oxygen atoms absent. Negative oxidation states can occur as Zintl phases, as either free lead anions, as in Ba2Pb, with lead formally being lead(−IV), or in oxygen-sensitive ring-shaped or polyhedral cluster ions such as the trigonal bipyramidal Pb52− ion, where two lead atoms are lead(−I) and three are lead(0). In such anions, each atom is at a polyhedral vertex and contributes two electrons to each covalent bond along an edge from their sp3 hybrid orbitals, the other two being an external lone pair. They may be made in liquid ammonia via the reduction of lead by sodium. Organolead Lead can form multiply-bonded chains, a property it shares with its lighter homologs in the carbon group. Its capacity to do so is much less because the Pb–Pb bond energy is over three and a half times lower than that of the C–C bond. With itself, lead can build metal–metal bonds of an order up to three. With carbon, lead forms organolead compounds similar to, but generally less stable than, typical organic compounds (due to the Pb–C bond being rather weak). This makes the organometallic chemistry of lead far less wide-ranging than that of tin. Lead predominantly forms organolead(IV) compounds, even when starting with inorganic lead(II) reactants; very few organolead(II) compounds are known. The most well-characterized exceptions are Pb[CH(SiMe3)2]2 and Pb(η5-C5H5)2. The lead analog of the simplest organic compound, methane, is plumbane. Plumbane may be obtained in a reaction between metallic lead and atomic hydrogen. Two simple derivatives, tetramethyllead and tetraethyllead, are the best-known organolead compounds. These compounds are relatively stable: tetraethyllead only starts to decompose if heated or if exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet light. With sodium metal, lead readily forms an equimolar alloy that reacts with alkyl halides to form organometallic compounds such as tetraethyllead. The oxidizing nature of many organolead compounds is usefully exploited: lead tetraacetate is an important laboratory reagent for oxidation in organic synthesis. Tetraethyllead, once added to gasoline, was produced in larger quantities than any other organometallic compound. Other organolead compounds are less chemically stable. For many organic compounds, a lead analog does not exist. Origin and occurrence In space Lead's per-particle abundance in the Solar System is 0.121 ppb (parts per billion). This figure is two and a half times higher than that of platinum, eight times more than mercury, and seventeen times more than gold. The amount of lead in the universe is slowly increasing as most heavier atoms (all of which are unstable) gradually decay to lead. The abundance of lead in the Solar System since its formation 4.5 billion years ago has increased by about 0.75%. The solar system abundances table shows that lead, despite its relatively high atomic number, is more prevalent than most other elements with atomic numbers greater than 40. Primordial lead—which comprises the isotopes lead-204, lead-206, lead-207, and lead-208—was mostly created as a result of repetitive neutron capture processes occurring in stars. The two main modes of capture are the s- and r-processes. In the s-process (s is for "slow"), captures are separated by years or decades, allowing less stable nuclei to undergo beta decay. A stable thallium-203 nucleus can capture a neutron and become thallium-204; this undergoes beta decay to give stable lead-204; on capturing another neutron, it becomes lead-205, which has a half-life of around 15 million years. Further captures result in lead-206, lead-207, and lead-208. On capturing another neutron, lead-208 becomes lead-209, which quickly decays into bismuth-209. On capturing another neutron, bismuth-209 becomes bismuth-210, and this beta decays to polonium-210, which alpha decays to lead-206. The cycle hence ends at lead-206, lead-207, lead-208, and bismuth-209. In the r-process (r is for "rapid"), captures happen faster than nuclei can decay. This occurs in environments with a high neutron density, such as a supernova or the merger of two neutron stars. The neutron flux involved may be on the order of 1022 neutrons per square centimeter per second. The r-process does not form as much lead as the s-process. It tends to stop once neutron-rich nuclei reach 126 neutrons. At this point, the neutrons are arranged in complete shells in the atomic nucleus, and it becomes harder to energetically accommodate more of them. When the neutron flux subsides, these nuclei beta decay into stable isotopes of osmium, iridium, and platinum. On Earth Lead is classified as a chalcophile under the Goldschmidt classification, meaning it is generally found combined with sulfur. It rarely occurs in its native, metallic form. Many lead minerals are relatively light and, over the course of the Earth's history, have remained in the crust instead of sinking deeper into the Earth's interior. This accounts for lead's relatively high crustal abundance of 14 ppm; it is the 38th most abundant element in the crust. The main lead-bearing mineral is galena (PbS), which is mostly found with zinc ores. Most other lead minerals are related to galena in some way; boulangerite, Pb5Sb4S11, is a mixed sulfide derived from galena; anglesite, PbSO4, is a product of galena oxidation; and cerussite or white lead ore, PbCO3, is a decomposition product of galena. Arsenic, tin, antimony, silver, gold, copper, and bismuth are common impurities in lead minerals. World lead resources exceed two billion tons. Significant deposits are located in Australia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Russia, and the United States. Global reserves—resources that are economically feasible to extract—totaled 88 million tons in 2016, of which Australia had 35 million, China 17 million, and Russia 6.4 million. Typical background concentrations of lead do not exceed 0.1 μg/m3 in the atmosphere; 100 mg/kg in soil; 4 mg/kg in vegetation and 5 μg/L in freshwater and seawater. Etymology The modern English word lead is of Germanic origin; it comes from the Middle English and Old English (with the macron above the "e" signifying that the vowel sound of that letter is long). The Old English word is derived from the hypothetical reconstructed Proto-Germanic ('lead'). According to linguistic theory, this word bore descendants in multiple Germanic languages of exactly the same meaning. There is no consensus on the origin of the Proto-Germanic . One hypothesis suggests it is derived from Proto-Indo-European ('lead'; capitalization of the vowel is equivalent to the macron). Another hypothesis suggests it is borrowed from Proto-Celtic ('lead'). This word is related to the Latin , which gave the element its chemical symbol Pb. The word is thought to be the origin of Proto-Germanic (which also means 'lead'), from which stemmed the German . The name of the chemical element is not related to the verb of the same spelling, which is derived from Proto-Germanic ('to lead'). History Prehistory and early history Metallic lead beads dating back to 7000–6500 BCE have been found in Asia Minor and may represent the first example of metal smelting. At that time lead had few (if any) applications due to its softness and dull appearance. The major reason for the spread of lead production was its association with silver, which may be obtained by burning galena (a common lead mineral). The Ancient Egyptians were the first to use lead minerals in cosmetics, an application that spread to Ancient Greece and beyond; the Egyptians may have used lead for sinkers in fishing nets, glazes, glasses, enamels, and for ornaments. Various civilizations of the Fertile Crescent used lead as a writing material, as coins, and as a construction material. Lead was used in the Ancient Chinese royal court as a stimulant, as currency, and as a contraceptive; the Indus Valley civilization and the Mesoamericans used it for making amulets; and the eastern and southern African peoples used lead in wire drawing. Classical era Because silver was extensively used as a decorative material and an exchange medium, lead deposits came to be worked in Asia Minor from 3000 BCE; later, lead deposits were developed in the Aegean and Laurion. These three regions collectively dominated production of mined lead until c. 1200 BCE. Beginning circa 2000 BCE, the Phoenicians worked deposits in the Iberian peninsula; by 1600 BCE, lead mining existed in Cyprus, Greece, and Sardinia. Rome's territorial expansion in Europe and across the Mediterranean, and its development of mining, led to it becoming the greatest producer of lead during the classical era, with an estimated annual output peaking at 80,000 tonnes. Like their predecessors, the Romans obtained lead mostly as a by-product of silver smelting. Lead mining occurred in Central Europe, Britain, the Balkans, Greece, Anatolia, and Hispania, the latter accounting for 40% of world production. Lead tablets were commonly used as a material for letters. Lead coffins, cast in flat sand forms, with interchangeable motifs to suit the faith of the deceased were used in ancient Judea. Lead was used to make sling bullets from the 5th century BC. In Roman times, lead sling bullets were amply used, and were effective at a distance of between 100 and 150 meters. The Balearic slingers, used as mercenaries in Carthaginian and Roman armies, were famous for their shooting distance and accuracy. Lead was used for making water pipes in the Roman Empire; the Latin word for the metal, , is the origin of the English word "plumbing". Its ease of working and resistance to corrosion ensured its widespread use in other applications, including pharmaceuticals, roofing, currency, and warfare. Writers of the time, such as Cato the Elder, Columella, and Pliny the Elder, recommended lead (or lead-coated) vessels for the preparation of sweeteners and preservatives added to wine and food. The lead conferred an agreeable taste due to the formation of "sugar of lead" (lead(II) acetate), whereas copper or bronze vessels could impart a bitter flavor through verdigris formation. The Roman author Vitruvius reported the health dangers of lead and modern writers have suggested that lead poisoning played a major role in the decline of the Roman Empire. Other researchers have criticized such claims, pointing out, for instance, that not all abdominal pain is caused by lead poisoning. According to archaeological research, Roman lead pipes increased lead levels in tap water but such an effect was "unlikely to have been truly harmful". When lead poisoning did occur, victims were called "saturnine", dark and cynical, after the ghoulish father of the gods, Saturn. By association, lead was considered the father of all metals. Its status in Roman society was low as it was readily available and cheap. Confusion with tin and antimony During the classical era (and even up to the 17th century), tin was often not distinguished from lead: Romans called lead ("black lead"), and tin ("bright lead"). The association of lead and tin can be seen in other languages: the word in Czech translates to "lead", but in Russian, its cognate () means "tin". To add to the confusion, lead bore a close relation to antimony: both elements commonly occur as sulfides (galena and stibnite), often together. Pliny incorrectly wrote that stibnite would give lead on heating, instead of antimony. In countries such as Turkey and India, the originally Persian name came to refer to either antimony sulfide or lead sulfide, and in some languages, such as Russian, gave its name to antimony (). Middle Ages and the Renaissance Lead mining in Western Europe declined after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, with Arabian Iberia being the only region having a significant output. The largest production of lead occurred in South and East Asia, especially China and India, where lead mining grew rapidly. In Europe, lead production began to increase in the 11th and 12th centuries, when it was again used for roofing and piping. Starting in the 13th century, lead was used to create stained glass. In the European and Arabian traditions of alchemy, lead (symbol in the European tradition) was considered an impure base metal which, by the separation, purification and balancing of its constituent essences, could be transformed to pure and incorruptible gold. During the period, lead was used increasingly for adulterating wine. The use of such wine was forbidden for use in Christian rites by a papal bull in 1498, but it continued to be imbibed and resulted in mass poisonings up to the late 18th century. Lead was a key material in parts of the printing press, and lead dust was commonly inhaled by print workers, causing lead poisoning. Lead also became the chief material for making bullets for firearms: it was cheap, less damaging to iron gun barrels, had a higher density (which allowed for better retention of velocity), and its lower melting point made the production of bullets easier as they could be made using a wood fire. Lead, in the form of Venetian ceruse, was extensively used in cosmetics by Western European aristocracy as whitened faces were regarded as a sign of modesty. This practice later expanded to white wigs and eyeliners, and only faded out with the French Revolution in the late 18th century. A similar fashion appeared in Japan in the 18th century with the emergence of the geishas, a practice that continued long into the 20th century. The white faces of women "came to represent their feminine virtue as Japanese women", with lead commonly used in the whitener. Outside Europe and Asia In the New World, lead production was recorded soon after the arrival of European settlers. The earliest record dates to 1621 in the English Colony of Virginia, fourteen years after its foundation. In Australia, the first mine opened by colonists on the continent was a lead mine, in 1841. In Africa, lead mining and smelting were known in the Benue Trough and the lower Congo Basin, where lead was used for trade with Europeans, and as a currency by the 17th century, well before the scramble for Africa. Industrial Revolution In the second half of the 18th century, Britain, and later continental Europe and the United States, experienced the Industrial Revolution. This was the first time during which lead production rates exceeded those of Rome. Britain was the leading producer, losing this status by the mid-19th century with the depletion of its mines and the development of lead mining in Germany, Spain, and the United States. By 1900, the United States was the leader in global lead production, and other non-European nations—Canada, Mexico, and Australia—had begun significant production; production outside Europe exceeded that within. A great share of the demand for lead came from plumbing and painting—lead paints were in regular use. At this time, more (working class) people were exposed to the metal and lead poisoning cases escalated. This led to research into the effects of lead intake. Lead was proven to be more dangerous in its fume form than as a solid metal. Lead poisoning and gout were linked; British physician Alfred Baring Garrod noted a third of his gout patients were plumbers and painters. The effects of chronic ingestion of lead, including mental disorders, were also studied in the 19th century. The first laws aimed at decreasing lead poisoning in factories were enacted during the 1870s and 1880s in the United Kingdom. Modern era Further evidence of the threat that lead posed to humans was discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mechanisms of harm were better understood, lead blindness was documented, and the element was phased out of public use in the United States and Europe. The United Kingdom introduced mandatory factory inspections in 1878 and appointed the first Medical Inspector of Factories in 1898; as a result, a 25-fold decrease in lead poisoning incidents from 1900 to 1944 was reported. Most European countries banned lead paint—commonly used because of its opacity and water resistance—for interiors by 1930. The last major human exposure to lead was the addition of tetraethyllead to gasoline as an antiknock agent, a practice that originated in the United States in 1921. It was phased out in the United States and the European Union by 2000. In the 1970s, the United States and Western European countries introduced legislation to reduce lead air pollution. The impact was significant: while a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States in 1976–1980 showed that 77.8% of the population had elevated blood lead levels, in 1991–1994, a study by the same institute showed the share of people with such high levels dropped to 2.2%. The main product made of lead by the end of the 20th century was the lead–acid battery. From 1960 to 1990, lead output in the Western Bloc grew by about 31%. The share of the world's lead production by the Eastern Bloc increased from 10% to 30%, from 1950 to 1990, with the Soviet Union being the world's largest producer during the mid-1970s and the 1980s, and China starting major lead production in the late 20th century. Unlike the European communist countries, China was largely unindustrialized by the mid-20th century; in 2004, China surpassed Australia as the largest producer of lead. As was the case during European industrialization, lead has had a negative effect on health in China. Production As of 2014, production of lead is increasing worldwide due to its use in lead–acid batteries. There are two major categories of production: primary from mined ores, and secondary from scrap. In 2014, 4.58 million metric tons came from primary production and 5.64 million from secondary production. The top three producers of mined lead concentrate in that year were China, Australia, and the United States. The top three producers of refined lead were China, the United States, and India. According to the International Resource Panel's Metal Stocks in Society report of 2010, the total amount of lead in use, stockpiled, discarded, or dissipated into the environment, on a global basis, is 8 kg per capita. Much of this is in more developed countries (20–150 kg per capita) rather than less developed ones (1–4 kg per capita). The primary and secondary lead production processes are similar. Some primary production plants now supplement their operations with scrap lead, and this trend is likely to increase in the future. Given adequate techniques, lead obtained via secondary processes is indistinguishable from lead obtained via primary processes. Scrap lead from the building trade is usually fairly clean and is re-melted without the need for smelting, though refining is sometimes needed. Secondary lead production is therefore cheaper, in terms of energy requirements, than is primary production, often by 50% or more. Primary Most lead ores contain a low percentage of lead (rich ores have a typical content of 3–8%) which must be concentrated for extraction. During initial processing, ores typically undergo crushing, dense-medium separation, grinding, froth flotation, and drying. The resulting concentrate, which has a lead content of 30–80% by mass (regularly 50–60%), is then turned into (impure) lead metal. There are two main ways of doing this: a two-stage process involving roasting followed by blast furnace extraction, carried out in separate vessels; or a direct process in which the extraction of the concentrate occurs in a single vessel. The latter has become the most common route, though the former is still significant. Two-stage process First, the sulfide concentrate is roasted in air to oxidize the lead sulfide: 2 PbS(s) + 3 O2(g) → 2 PbO(s) + 2 SO2(g)↑ As the original concentrate was not pure lead sulfide, roasting yields not only the desired lead(II) oxide, but a mixture of oxides, sulfates, and silicates of lead and of the other metals contained in the ore. This impure lead oxide is reduced in a coke-fired blast furnace to the (again, impure) metal: 2 PbO(s) + C(s) → 2 Pb(s) + CO2(g)↑ Impurities are mostly arsenic, antimony, bismuth, zinc, copper, silver, and gold. Typically they are removed in a series of pyrometallurgical processes. The melt is treated in a reverberatory furnace with air, steam, and sulfur, which oxidizes the impurities except for silver, gold, and bismuth. Oxidized contaminants float to the top of the melt and are skimmed off. Metallic silver and gold are removed and recovered economically by means of the Parkes process, in which zinc is added to lead. Zinc, which is immiscible in lead, dissolves the silver and gold. The zinc solution can be separated from the lead, and the silver and gold retrieved. De-silvered lead is freed of bismuth by the Betterton–Kroll process, treating it with metallic calcium and magnesium. The resulting bismuth dross can be skimmed off. Alternatively to the pyrometallurgical processes, very pure lead can be obtained by processing smelted lead electrolytically using the Betts process. Anodes of impure lead and cathodes of pure lead are placed in an electrolyte of lead fluorosilicate (PbSiF6). Once electrical potential is applied, impure lead at the anode dissolves and plates onto the cathode, leaving the majority of the impurities in solution. This is a high-cost process and thus mostly reserved for refining bullion containing high percentages of impurities. Direct process In this process, lead bullion and slag is obtained directly from lead concentrates. The lead sulfide concentrate is melted in a furnace and oxidized, forming lead monoxide. Carbon (as coke or coal gas) is added to the molten charge along with fluxing agents. The lead monoxide is thereby reduced to metallic lead, in the midst of a slag rich in lead monoxide. If the input is rich in lead, as much as 80% of the original lead can be obtained as bullion; the remaining 20% forms a slag rich in lead monoxide. For a low-grade feed, all of the lead can be oxidized to a high-lead slag. Metallic lead is further obtained from the high-lead (25–40%) slags via submerged fuel combustion or injection, reduction assisted by an electric furnace, or a combination of both. Alternatives Research on a cleaner, less energy-intensive lead extraction process continues; a major drawback is that either too much lead is lost as waste, or the alternatives result in a high sulfur content in the resulting lead metal. Hydrometallurgical extraction, in which anodes of impure lead are immersed into an electrolyte and pure lead is deposited onto a cathode, is a technique that may have potential, but is not currently economical except in cases where electricity is very cheap. Secondary Smelting, which is an essential part of the primary production, is often skipped during secondary production. It is only performed when metallic lead has undergone significant oxidation. The process is similar to that of primary production in either a blast furnace or a rotary furnace, with the essential difference being the greater variability of yields: blast furnaces produce hard lead (10% antimony) while reverberatory and rotary kiln furnaces produced semisoft lead (3–4% antimony). The ISASMELT process is a more recent smelting method that may act as an extension to primary production; battery paste from spent lead–acid batteries (containing lead sulfate and lead oxides) has its sulfate removed by treating it with alkali, and is then treated in a coal-fueled furnace in the presence of oxygen, which yields impure lead, with antimony the most common impurity. Refining of secondary lead is similar to that of primary lead; some refining processes may be skipped depending on the material recycled and its potential contamination. Of the sources of lead for recycling, lead–acid batteries are the most important; lead pipe, sheet, and cable sheathing are also significant. Applications Contrary to popular belief, pencil leads in wooden pencils have never been made from lead. When the pencil originated as a wrapped graphite writing tool, the particular type of graphite used was named plumbago (literally, act for lead or lead mockup). Elemental form Lead metal has several useful mechanical properties, including high density, low melting point, ductility, and relative inertness. Many metals are superior to lead in some of these aspects but are generally less common and more difficult to extract from parent ores. Lead's toxicity has led to its phasing out for some uses. Lead has been used for bullets since their invention in the Middle Ages. It is inexpensive; its low melting point means small arms ammunition and shotgun pellets can be cast with minimal technical equipment; and it is denser than other common metals, which allows for better retention of velocity. It remains the main material for bullets, alloyed with other metals as hardeners. Concerns have been raised that lead bullets used for hunting can damage the environment. Lead's high density and resistance to corrosion have been exploited in a number of related applications. It is used as ballast in sailboat keels; its density allows it to take up a small volume and minimize water resistance, thus counterbalancing the heeling effect of wind on the sails. It is used in scuba diving weight belts to counteract the diver's buoyancy. In 1993, the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was stabilized with 600 tonnes of lead. Because of its corrosion resistance, lead is used as a protective sheath for underwater cables. Lead has many uses in the construction industry; lead sheets are used as architectural metals in roofing material, cladding, flashing, gutters and gutter joints, and on roof parapets. Lead is still used in statues and sculptures, including for armatures. In the past it was often used to balance the wheels of cars; for environmental reasons this use is being phased out in favor of other materials. Lead is added to copper alloys, such as brass and bronze, to improve machinability and for its lubricating qualities. Being practically insoluble in copper the lead forms solid globules in imperfections throughout the alloy, such as grain boundaries. In low concentrations, as well as acting as a lubricant, the globules hinder the formation of swarf as the alloy is worked, thereby improving machinability. Copper alloys with larger concentrations of lead are used in bearings. The lead provides lubrication, and the copper provides the load-bearing support. Lead's high density, atomic number, and formability form the basis for use of lead as a barrier that absorbs sound, vibration, and radiation. Lead has no natural resonance frequencies; as a result, sheet-lead is used as a sound deadening layer in the walls, floors, and ceilings of sound studios. Organ pipes are often made from a lead alloy, mixed with various amounts of tin to control the tone of each pipe. Lead is an established shielding material from radiation in nuclear science and in X-ray rooms due to its denseness and high attenuation coefficient. Molten lead has been used as a coolant for lead-cooled fast reactors. The largest use of lead in the early 21st century is in lead–acid batteries. The lead in batteries undergoes no direct contact with humans, so there are fewer toxicity concerns. People who work in lead battery production plants may be exposed to lead dust and inhale it.} The reactions in the battery between lead, lead dioxide, and sulfuric acid provide a reliable source of voltage. Supercapacitors incorporating lead–acid batteries have been installed in kilowatt and megawatt scale applications in Australia, Japan, and the United States in frequency regulation, solar smoothing and shifting, wind smoothing, and other applications. These batteries have lower energy density and charge-discharge efficiency than lithium-ion batteries, but are significantly cheaper. Lead is used in high voltage power cables as sheathing material to prevent water diffusion into insulation; this use is decreasing as lead is being phased out. Its use in solder for electronics is also being phased out by some countries to reduce the amount of environmentally hazardous waste. Lead is one of three metals used in the Oddy test for museum materials, helping detect organic acids, aldehydes, and acidic gases. Compounds In addition to being the main application for lead metal, lead-acid batteries are also the main consumer of lead compounds. The energy storage/release reaction used in these devices involves lead sulfate and lead dioxide: (s) + (s) + 2(aq) → 2(s) + 2(l) Other applications of lead compounds are very specialized and often fading. Lead-based coloring agents are used in ceramic glazes and glass, especially for red and yellow shades. While lead paints are phased out in Europe and North America, they remain in use in less developed countries such as China, India, or Indonesia. Lead tetraacetate and lead dioxide are used as oxidizing agents in organic chemistry. Lead is frequently used in the polyvinyl chloride coating of electrical cords. It can be used to treat candle wicks to ensure a longer, more even burn. Because of its toxicity, European and North American manufacturers use alternatives such as zinc. Lead glass is composed of 12–28% lead oxide, changing its optical characteristics and reducing the transmission of ionizing radiation, a property used in old TVs and computer monitors with cathode-ray tubes. Lead-based semiconductors such as lead telluride and lead selenide are used in photovoltaic cells and infrared detectors. Biological effects Lead has no confirmed biological role, and there is no confirmed safe level of lead exposure. A 2009 Canadian–American study concluded that even at levels that are considered to pose little to no risk, lead may cause "adverse mental health outcomes". Its prevalence in the human body—at an adult average of 120 mg—is nevertheless exceeded only by zinc (2500 mg) and iron (4000 mg) among the heavy metals. Lead salts are very efficiently absorbed by the body. A small amount of lead (1%) is stored in bones; the rest is excreted in urine and feces within a few weeks of exposure. Only about a third of lead is excreted by a child. Continual exposure may result in the bioaccumulation of lead. Toxicity Lead is a highly poisonous metal (whether inhaled or swallowed), affecting almost every organ and system in the human body. At airborne levels of 100 mg/m3, it is immediately dangerous to life and health. Most ingested lead is absorbed into the bloodstream. The primary cause of its toxicity is its predilection for interfering with the proper functioning of enzymes. It does so by binding to the sulfhydryl groups found on many enzymes, or mimicking and displacing other metals which act as cofactors in many enzymatic reactions. Among the essential metals that lead interacts with are calcium, iron, and zinc. High levels of calcium and iron tend to provide some protection from lead poisoning; low levels cause increased susceptibility. Effects Lead can cause severe damage to the brain and kidneys and, ultimately, death. By mimicking calcium, lead can cross the blood–brain barrier. It degrades the myelin sheaths of neurons, reduces their numbers, interferes with neurotransmission routes, and decreases neuronal growth. In the human body, lead inhibits porphobilinogen synthase and ferrochelatase, preventing both porphobilinogen formation and the incorporation of iron into protoporphyrin IX, the final step in heme synthesis. This causes ineffective heme synthesis and microcytic anemia. Symptoms of lead poisoning include nephropathy, colic-like abdominal pains, and possibly weakness in the fingers, wrists, or ankles. Small blood pressure increases, particularly in middle-aged and older people, may be apparent and can cause anemia. Several studies, mostly cross-sectional, found an association between increased lead exposure and decreased heart rate variability. In pregnant women, high levels of exposure to lead may cause miscarriage. Chronic, high-level exposure has been shown to reduce fertility in males. In a child's developing brain, lead interferes with synapse formation in the cerebral cortex, neurochemical development (including that of neurotransmitters), and the organization of ion channels. Early childhood exposure has been linked with an increased risk of sleep disturbances and excessive daytime drowsiness in later childhood. High blood levels are associated with delayed puberty in girls. The rise and fall in exposure to airborne lead from the combustion of tetraethyl lead in gasoline during the 20th century has been linked with historical increases and decreases in crime levels. Exposure sources Lead exposure is a global issue since lead mining and smelting, and battery manufacturing/disposal/recycling, are common in many countries. Lead enters the body via inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. Almost all inhaled lead is absorbed into the body; for ingestion, the rate is 20–70%, with children absorbing a higher percentage than adults. Poisoning typically results from ingestion of food or water contaminated with lead, and less commonly after accidental ingestion of contaminated soil, dust, or lead-based paint. Seawater products can contain lead if affected by nearby industrial waters. Fruit and vegetables can be contaminated by high levels of lead in the soils they were grown in. Soil can be contaminated through particulate accumulation from lead in pipes, lead paint, and residual emissions from leaded gasoline. The use of lead for water pipes is a problem in areas with soft or acidic water. Hard water forms insoluble layers in the pipes whereas soft and acidic water dissolves the lead pipes. Dissolved carbon dioxide in the carried water may result in the formation of soluble lead bicarbonate; oxygenated water may similarly dissolve lead as lead(II) hydroxide. Drinking such water, over time, can cause health problems due to the toxicity of the dissolved lead. The harder the water the more calcium bicarbonate and sulfate it will contain, and the more the inside of the pipes will be coated with a protective layer of lead carbonate or lead sulfate. Ingestion of applied lead-based paint is the major source of exposure for children: a direct source is chewing on old painted window sills. Alternatively, as the applied dry paint deteriorates, it peels, is pulverized into dust and then enters the body through hand-to-mouth contact or contaminated food, water, or alcohol. Ingesting certain home remedies may result in exposure to lead or its compounds. Inhalation is the second major exposure pathway, affecting smokers and especially workers in lead-related occupations. Cigarette smoke contains, among other toxic substances, radioactive lead-210. Skin exposure may be significant for people working with organic lead compounds. The rate of skin absorption is lower for inorganic lead. Treatment Treatment for lead poisoning normally involves the administration of dimercaprol and succimer. Acute cases may require the use of disodium calcium edetate, the calcium chelate, and the disodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). It has a greater affinity for lead than calcium, with the result that lead chelate is formed by exchange and excreted in the urine, leaving behind harmless calcium. Environmental effects The extraction, production, use, and disposal of lead and its products have caused significant contamination of the Earth's soils and waters. Atmospheric emissions of lead were at their peak during the Industrial Revolution, and the leaded gasoline period in the second half of the twentieth century. Lead releases originate from natural sources (i.e., concentration of the naturally occurring lead), industrial production, incineration and recycling, and mobilization of previously buried lead. In particular, as lead has been phased out from other uses, in the Global South, lead recycling operations designed to extract cheap lead used for global manufacturing have become a well documented source of exposure. Elevated concentrations of lead persist in soils and sediments in post-industrial and urban areas; industrial emissions, including those arising from coal burning, continue in many parts of the world, particularly in the developing countries. Lead can accumulate in soils, especially those with a high organic content, where it remains for hundreds to thousands of years. Environmental lead can compete with other metals found in and on plants surfaces potentially inhibiting photosynthesis and at high enough concentrations, negatively affecting plant growth and survival. Contamination of soils and plants can allow lead to ascend the food chain affecting microorganisms and animals. In animals, lead exhibits toxicity in many organs, damaging the nervous, renal, reproductive, hematopoietic, and cardiovascular systems after ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption. Fish uptake lead from both water and sediment; bioaccumulation in the food chain poses a hazard to fish, birds, and sea mammals. Anthropogenic lead includes lead from shot and sinkers. These are among the most potent sources of lead contamination along with lead production sites. Lead was banned for shot and sinkers in the United States in 2017, although that ban was only effective for a month, and a similar ban is being considered in the European Union. Analytical methods for the determination of lead in the environment include spectrophotometry, X-ray fluorescence, atomic spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. A specific ion-selective electrode has been developed based on the ionophore S,S'-methylenebis (N,N-diisobutyldithiocarbamate). An important biomarker assay for lead poisoning is δ-aminolevulinic acid levels in plasma, serum, and urine. Restriction and remediation By the mid-1980s, there was significant decline in the use of lead in industry. In the United States, environmental regulations reduced or eliminated the use of lead in non-battery products, including gasoline, paints, solders, and water systems. Particulate control devices were installed in coal-fired power plants to capture lead emissions. In 1992, U.S. Congress required the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the blood lead levels of the country's children. Lead use was further curtailed by the European Union's 2003 Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive. A large drop in lead deposition occurred in the Netherlands after the 1993 national ban on use of lead shot for hunting and sport shooting: from 230 tonnes in 1990 to 47.5 tonnes in 1995. In the United States, the permissible exposure limit for lead in the workplace, comprising metallic lead, inorganic lead compounds, and lead soaps, was set at 50 μg/m3 over an 8-hour workday, and the blood lead level limit at 5 μg per 100 g of blood in 2012. Lead may still be found in harmful quantities in stoneware, vinyl (such as that used for tubing and the insulation of electrical cords), and Chinese brass. Old houses may still contain lead paint. White lead paint has been withdrawn from sale in industrialized countries, but specialized uses of other pigments such as yellow lead chromate remain. Stripping old paint by sanding produces dust which can be inhaled. Lead abatement programs have been mandated by some authorities in properties where young children live. Lead waste, depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the waste, may be treated as household waste (to facilitate lead abatement activities), or potentially hazardous waste requiring specialized treatment or storage. Lead is released into the environment in shooting places and a number of lead management practices have been developed to counter the lead contamination. Lead migration can be enhanced in acidic soils; to counter that, it is advised soils be treated with lime to neutralize the soils and prevent leaching of lead. Research has been conducted on how to remove lead from biosystems by biological means: Fish bones are being researched for their ability to bioremediate lead in contaminated soil. The fungus Aspergillus versicolor is effective at absorbing lead ions from industrial waste before being released to water bodies. Several bacteria have been researched for their ability to remove lead from the environment, including the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio and Desulfotomaculum, both of which are highly effective in aqueous solutions. See also Derek Bryce-Smith one of the earliest campaigners against lead in petrol in the UK Thomas Midgley Jr. – discovered that the addition of tetraethyllead to gasoline prevented "knocking" in internal combustion engines Clair Patterson - was instrumental in the banning of tetraethyllead in gasoline in the US and lead solder in food cans. Robert A. Kehoe - foremost medical advocate for the use of tetraethyllead as an additive in gasoline. Notes References Bibliography Further reading Table of contents External links The Toxicology of Heavy Metals: Getting the Lead Out, American Society for Clinical Pathology Chemical elements Post-transition metals Native element minerals Superconductors Endocrine disruptors IARC Group 2B carcinogens Nuclear reactor coolants Chemical elements with face-centered cubic structure	[ 0.022133519873023033, 0.7471988201141357, -0.6152211427688599, 0.1358865350484848, -0.28092828392982483, -0.5719144344329834, 0.28993117809295654, 0.1265328973531723, 0.3789359927177429, 0.4731169641017914, -0.1687871664762497, -0.2564149498939514, -0.635915994644165, 0.20263269543647766, ...
17748	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone	Limestone	Limestone is a common type of carbonate sedimentary rock. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (). Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils, and these provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, . Magnesian limestone is an obsolete and poorly-defined term used variously for dolomite, for limestone containing significant dolomite (dolomitic limestone), or for any other limestone containing a significant percentage of magnesium. Most limestone was formed in shallow marine environments, such as continental shelves or platforms, though smaller amounts were formed in many other environments. Much dolomite is secondary dolomite, formed by chemical alteration of limestone. Limestone is exposed over large regions of the Earth's surface, and because limestone is slightly soluble in rainwater, these exposures often are eroded to become karst landscapes. Most cave systems are found in limestone bedrock. Limestone has numerous uses: as a building material, an essential component of concrete (Portland cement), as aggregate for the base of roads, as white pigment or filler in products such as toothpaste or paints, as a chemical feedstock for the production of lime, as a soil conditioner, and as a popular decorative addition to rock gardens. Limestone formations contain about 30% of the world's petroleum reservoirs. Description Limestone is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (). Dolomite, , is an uncommon mineral in limestone, and siderite or other carbonate minerals are rare. However, the calcite in limestone often contains a few percent of magnesium. Calcite in limestone is divided into low-magnesium and high-magnesium calcite, with the dividing line placed at a composition of 4% magnesium. High-magnesium calcite retains the calcite mineral structure, which is distinct from dolomite. Aragonite does not usually contain significant magnesium. Most limestone is otherwise chemically fairly pure, with clastic sediments (mainly fine-grained quartz and clay minerals) making up less than 5% to 10% of the composition. Organic matter typically makes up around 0.2% of a limestone and rarely exceeds 1%. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragments (such as sponge spicules, diatoms, or radiolarians). Fossils are also common in limestone. Limestone is commonly white to gray in color. Limestone that is unusually rich in organic matter can be almost black in color, while traces of iron or manganese can give limestone an off-white to yellow to red color. The density of limestone depends on its porosity, which varies from 0.1% for the densest limestone to 40% for chalk. The density correspondingly ranges from 1.5 to 2.7 g/cm3. Although relatively soft, with a Mohs hardness of 2 to 4, dense limestone can have a crushing strength of up to 180 MPa. For comparison, concrete typically has a crushing strength of about 40 MPa. Although limestones show little variability in mineral composition, they show great diversity in texture. However, most limestone consists of sand-sized grains in a carbonate mud matrix. Because limestones are often of biological origin and are usually composed of sediment that is deposited close to where it formed, classification of limestone is usually based on its grain type and mud content. Grains Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera. These organisms secrete structures made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these structures behind when they die. Other carbonate grains composing limestones are ooids, peloids, and limeclasts (intraclasts and extraclasts). Skeletal grains have a composition reflecting the organisms that produced them and the environment in which they were produced. Low-magnesium calcite skeletal grains are typical of articulate brachiopods, planktonic (free-floating) foraminifera, and coccoliths. High-magnesium calcite skeletal grains are typical of benthic (bottom-dwelling) foraminifera, echinoderms, and coralline algae. Aragonite skeletal grains are typical of molluscs, calcareous green algae, stromatoporoids, corals, and tube worms. The skeletal grains also reflect specific geological periods and environments. For example, coral grains are more common in high-energy environments (characterized by strong currents and turbulence) while bryozoan grains are more common in low-energy environments (characterized by quiet water). Ooids (sometimes called ooliths) are sand-sized grains (less than 2mm in diameter) consisting of one or more layers of calcite or aragonite around a central quartz grain or carbonate mineral fragment. These likely form by direct precipitation of calcium carbonate onto the ooid. Pisoliths are similar to ooids, but they are larger than 2mm in diameter and tend to be more irregular in shape. Limestone composed mostly of ooids is called an oolite or sometimes an oolitic limestone. Ooids form in high-energy environments, such as the Bahama platform, and oolites typically show crossbedding and other features associated with deposition in strong currents. Oncoliths resemble ooids but show a radial rather than layered internal structure, indicating that they were formed by algae in a normal marine environment. Peloids are structureless grains of microcrystalline carbonate likely produced by a variety of processes. Many are thought to be fecal pellets produced by marine organisms. Others may be produced by endolithic (boring) algae or other microorganisms or through breakdown of mollusc shells. They are difficult to see in a limestone sample except in thin section and are less common in ancient limestones, possibly because compaction of carbonate sediments disrupts them. Limeclasts are fragments of existing limestone or partially lithified carbonate sediments. Intraclasts are limeclasts that originate close to where they are deposited in limestone, while extraclasts come from outside the depositional area. Intraclasts include grapestone, which is clusters of peloids cemented together by organic material or mineral cement. Extraclasts are uncommon, are usually accompanied by other clastic sediments, and indicate deposition in a tectonically active area or as part of a turbidity current. Mud The grains of most limestones are embedded in a matrix of carbonate mud. This is typically the largest fraction of an ancient carbonate rock. Mud consisting of individual crystals less than 5 microns in length is described as micrite. In fresh carbonate mud, micrite is mostly small aragonite needles, which may precipitate directly from seawater, be secreted by algae, or be produced by abrasion of carbonate grains in a high-energy environment. This is converted to calcite within a few million years of deposition. Further recrystallization of micrite produces microspar, with grains from 5 to 15 microns in diameter. Limestone often contains larger crystals of calcite, ranging in size from 0.02 to 0.1 mm, that are described as sparry calcite or sparite. Sparite is distinguished from micrite by a grain size of over 20 microns and because sparite stands out under a hand lens or in thin section as white or transparent crystals. Sparite is distinguished from carbonate grains by its lack of internal structure and its characteristic crystal shapes. Geologists are careful to distinguish between sparite deposited as cement and sparite formed by recrystallization of micrite or carbonate grains. Sparite cement was likely deposited in pore space between grains, suggesting a high-energy depositional environment that removed carbonate mud. Recrystallized sparite is not diagnostic of depositional environment. Other characteristics Limestone outcrops are recognized in the field by their softness (calcite and aragonite both have a Mohs hardness of less than 4, well below common silicate minerals) and because limestone bubbles vigorously when a drop of dilute hydrochloric acid is dropped on it. Dolomite is also soft but reacts only feebly with dilute hydrochloric acid, and it usually weathers to a characteristic dull yellow-brown color due to the presence of ferrous iron. This is released and oxidized as the dolomite weathers. Impurities (such as clay, sand, organic remains, iron oxide, and other materials) will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces. The makeup of a carbonate rock outcrop can be estimated in the field by etching the surface with dilute hydrochloric acid. This etches away the calcite and aragonite, leaving behind any silica or dolomite grains. The latter can be identified by their rhombohedral shape. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities (vugs) in the rock. Vugs are a form of secondary porosity, formed in existing limestone by a change in environment that increases the solubility of calcite. Dense, massive limestone is sometimes described as "marble". For example, the famous Portoro "marble" of Italy is actually a dense black limestone. True marble is produced by recrystallization of limestone during regional metamorphism that accompanies the mountain building process (orogeny). It is distinguished from dense limestone by its coarse crystalline texture and the formation of distinctive minerals from the silica and clay present in the original limestone. Classification Two major classification schemes, the Folk and Dunham, are used for identifying the types of carbonate rocks collectively known as limestone. Folk classification Robert L. Folk developed a classification system that places primary emphasis on the detailed composition of grains and interstitial material in carbonate rocks. Based on composition, there are three main components: allochems (grains), matrix (mostly micrite), and cement (sparite). The Folk system uses two-part names; the first refers to the grains and the second to the cement. For example, a limestone consisting mainly of ooids, with a crystalline matrix, would be termed an oosparite. It is helpful to have a petrographic microscope when using the Folk scheme, because it is easier to determine the components present in each sample. Dunham classification Robert J. Dunham published his system for limestone in 1962. It focuses on the depositional fabric of carbonate rocks. Dunham divides the rocks into four main groups based on relative proportions of coarser clastic particles, based on criteria such as whether the grains were originally in mutual contact, and therefore self-supporting, or whether the rock is characterized by the presence of frame builders and algal mats. Unlike the Folk scheme, Dunham deals with the original porosity of the rock. The Dunham scheme is more useful for hand samples because it is based on texture, not the grains in the sample. A revised classification was proposed by Wright (1992). It adds some diagenetic patterns to the classification scheme. Other descriptive terms Travertine is a term applied to calcium carbonate deposits formed in freshwater environments, particularly hot springs. Such deposits are typically massive, dense, and banded. When the deposits are highly porous, so that they have a spongelike texture, they are typically described as tufa. Secondary calcite deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters (groundwater) in caves is also sometimes described as travertine. This produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of abraded pieces of coral, shells, or other fossil debris. When better consolidated, it is described as coquinite. Chalk is a soft, earthy, fine-textured limestone composed of the tests of planktonic microorganisms such as foraminifera, while marl is an earthy mixture of carbonates and silicate sediments. Formation Limestone forms when calcite or aragonite precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium, which can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes. The solubility of calcium carbonate () is controlled largely by the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide () in the water. This is summarized in the reaction: Increases in temperature or decreases in pressure tend to reduce the amount of dissolved and precipitate . Reduction in salinity also reduces the solubility of , by several orders of magnitude for fresh water versus seawater. Near-surface water of the earth's oceans are oversaturated with by a factor of more than six. The failure of to rapidly precipitate out of these waters is likely due to interference by dissolved magnesium ions with nucleation of calcite crystals, the necessary first step in precipitation. Precipitation of aragonite may be suppressed by the presence of naturally occurring organic phosphates in the water. Although ooids likely form through purely inorganic processes, the bulk of precipitation in the oceans is the result of biological activity. Much of this takes place on carbonate platforms. The origin of carbonate mud, and the processes by which it is converted to micrite, continue to be a subject of research. Modern carbonate mud is composed mostly of aragonite needles around 5 microns in length. Needles of this shape and composition are produced by calcareous algae such as Penicillus, making this a plausible source of mud. Another possibility is direct precipitation from the water. A phenomenon known as whitings occurs in shallow waters, in which white streaks containing dispersed micrite appear on the surface of the water. It is uncertain whether this is freshly precipitated aragonite or simply material stirred up from the bottom, but there is some evidence that whitings are caused by biological precipitation of aragonite as part of a bloom of cyanobacteria or microalgae. However, stable isotope ratios in modern carbonate mud appear to be inconsistent with either of these mechanisms, and abrasion of carbonate grains in high-energy environments has been put forward as a third possibility. Formation of limestone has likely been dominated by biological processes throughout the Phanerozoic, the last 540 million years of the Earth's history. Limestone may have been deposited by microorganisms in the Precambrian, prior to 540 million years ago, but inorganic processes were probably more important and likely took place in an ocean more highly oversaturated in calcium carbonate than the modern ocean. Diagenesis Diagenesis is the process in which sediments are compacted and turned into solid rock. During diagenesis of carbonate sediments, significant chemical and textural changes take place. For example, aragonite is converted to low-magnesium calcite. Diagenesis is the likely origin of pisoliths, concentrically layered particles ranging from in diameter found in some limestones. Pisoliths superficially resemble ooids but have no nucleus of foreign matter, fit together tightly, and show other signs that they formed after the original deposition of the sediments. Silicification occurs early in diagenesis, at low pH and temperature, and contributes to fossil preservation. Silicification takes place through the reaction: Fossils are often preserved in exquisite detail as chert. Cementing takes place rapidly in carbonate sediments, typically within less than a million years of deposition. Some cementing occurs while the sediments are still under water, forming hardgrounds. Cementing accelerates after the retreat of the sea from the depositional environment, as rainwater infiltrates the sediment beds, often within just a few thousand years. As rainwater mixes with groundwater, aragonite and high-magnesium calcite are converted to low-calcium calcite. Cementing of thick carbonate deposits by rainwater may commence even before the retreat of the sea, as rainwater can infiltrate over into sediments beneath the continental shelf. As carbonate sediments are increasingly deeply buried under younger sediments, chemical and mechanical compaction of the sediments increases. Chemical compaction takes place by pressure solution of the sediments. This process dissolves minerals from points of contact between grains and redeposits it in pore space, reducing the porosity of the limestone from an initial high value of 40% to 80% to less than 10%. Pressure solution produces distinctive styolites, irregular surfaces within the limestone at which silica-rich sediments accumulate. These may reflect dissolution and loss of a considerable fraction of the limestone bed. At depths greater than , burial cementation completes the lithification process. Burial cementation does not produce styolites. When overlying beds are eroded, bringing limestone closer to the surface, the final stage of diagenesis takes place. This produces secondary porosity as some of the cement is dissolved by rainwater infiltrating the beds. This may include the formation of vugs, which are crystal-lined cavities within the limestone. Diagenesis may include conversion of limestone to dolomite by magnesium-rich fluids. There is considerable evidence of replacement of limestone by dolomite, including sharp replacement boundaries that cut across bedding. The process of dolomitization remains an area of active research, but possible mechanisms include exposure to concentrated brines in hot environments (evaporative reflux) or exposure to diluted seawater in delta or estuary environments (Dorag dolomitization). However, Dorag dolomitization has fallen into disfavor as a mechanism for dolomitization, with one 2004 review paper describing it bluntly as "a myth". Ordinary seawater is capable of converting calcite to dolomite, if the seawater is regularly flushed through the rock, as by the ebb and flow of tides (tidal pumping). Once dolomitization begins, it proceeds rapidly, so that there is very little carbonate rock containing mixed calcite and dolomite. Carbonate rock tends to be either almost all calcite/aragonite or almost all dolomite. Occurrence About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. Limestone is found in sedimentary sequences as old as 2.7 billion years. However, the compositions of carbonate rocks show an uneven distribution in time in the geologic record. About 95% of modern carbonates are composed of high-magnesium calcite and aragonite. The aragonite needles in carbonate mud are converted to low-magnesium calcite within a few million years, as this is the most stable form of calcium carbonate. Ancient carbonate formations of the Precambrian and Paleozoic contain abundant dolomite, but limestone dominates the carbonate beds of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Modern dolomite is quite rare. There is evidence that, while the modern ocean favors precipitation of aragonite, the oceans of the Paleozoic and middle to late Cenozoic favored precipitation of calcite. This may indicate a lower Mg/Ca ratio in the ocean water of those times. This magnesium depletion may be a consequence of more rapid sea floor spreading, which removes magnesium from ocean water. The modern ocean and the ocean of the Mesozoic have been described as "aragonite seas". Most limestone was formed in shallow marine environments, such as continental shelves or platforms. Such environments form only about 5% of the ocean basins, but limestone is rarely preserved in continental slope and deep sea environments. The best environments for deposition are warm waters, which have both a high organic productivity and increased saturation of calcium carbonate due to lower concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide. Modern limestone deposits are almost always in areas with very little silica-rich sedimentation, reflected in the relative purity of most limestones. Reef organisms are destroyed by muddy, brackish river water, and carbonate grains are ground down by much harder silicate grains. Unlike clastic sedimentary rock, limestone is produced almost entirely from sediments originating at or near the place of deposition. Limestone formations tend to show abrupt changes in thickness. Large moundlike features in a limestone formation are interpreted as ancient reefs, which when they appear in the geologic record are called bioherms. Many are rich in fossils, but most lack any connected organic framework like that seen in modern reefs. The fossil remains are present as separate fragments embedded in ample mud matrix. Much of the sedimentation shows indications of occurring in the intertidal or supratidal zones, suggesting sediments rapidly fill available accommodation space in the shelf or platform. Deposition is also favored on the seaward margin of shelves and platforms, where there is upwelling deep ocean water rich in nutrients that increase organic productivity. Reefs are common here, but when lacking, ooid shoals are found instead. Finer sediments are deposited close to shore. The lack of deep sea limestones is due in part to rapid subduction of oceanic crust, but is more a result of dissolution of calcium carbonate at depth. The solubility of calcium carbonate increases with pressure and even more with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, which is produced by decaying organic matter settling into the deep ocean that is not removed by photosynthesis in the dark depths. As a result, there is a fairly sharp transition from water saturated with calcium carbonate to water unsaturated with calcium carbonate, the lysocline, which occurs at the calcite compensation depth of . Below this depth, foraminifera tests and other skeletal particles rapidly dissolve, and the sediments of the ocean floor abruptly transition from carbonate ooze rich in foraminifera and coccolith remains (Globigerina ooze) to silicic mud lacking carbonates. In rare cases, turbidites or other silica-rich sediments bury and preserve benthic (deep ocean) carbonate deposits. Ancient benthic limestones are microcrystalline and are identified by their tectonic setting. Fossils typically are foraminifera and coccoliths. No pre-Jurassic benthic limestones are known, probably because carbonate-shelled plankton had not yet evolved. Limestones also form in freshwater environments. These limestones are not unlike marine limestone, but have a lower diversity of organisms and a greater fraction of silica and clay minerals characteristic of marls. The Green River Formation is an example of a prominent freshwater sedimentary formation containing numerous limestone beds. Freshwater limestone is typically micritic. Fossils of charophyte (stonewort), a form of freshwater green algae, are characteristic of these environments, where the charophytes produce and trap carbonates. Limestones may also form in evaporite depositional environments. Calcite is one of the first minerals to precipitate in marine evaporites. Limestone and living organisms Most limestone is formed by the activities of living organisms near reefs, but the organisms responsible for reef formation have changed over geologic time. For example, stromatolites are mound-shaped structures in ancient limestones, interpreted as colonies of cyanobacteria that accumulated carbonate sediments, but stromatolites are rare in younger limestones. Organisms precipitate limestone both directly as part of their skeletons, and indirectly by removing carbon dioxide from the water by photosynthesis and thereby decreasing the solubility of calcium carbonate. Limestone shows the same range of sedimentary structures found in other sedimentary rocks. However, finer structures, such as lamination, are often destroyed by the burrowing activities of organisms (bioturbation). Fine lamination is characteristic of limestone formed in playa lakes, which lack the burrowing organisms. Limestones also show distinctive features such as geopetal structures, which form when curved shells settle to the bottom with the concave face downwards. This traps a void space that can later be filled by sparite. Geologists use geopetal structures to determine which direction was up at the time of deposition, which is not always obvious with highly deformed limestone formations. The cyanobacterium Hyella balani can bore through limestone; as can the green alga Eugamantia sacculata and the fungus Ostracolaba implexa. Micritic mud mounds Micricitic mud mounds are subcircular domes of micritic calcite that lacks internal structure. Modern examples are up to several hundred meters thick and a kilometer across, and have steep slopes (with slope angles of around 50 degrees). They may be composed of peloids swept together by currents and stabilized by Thallasia grass or mangroves. Bryozoa may also contribute to mound formation by helping to trap sediments. Mud mounds are found throughout the geologic record, and prior to the early Ordovician, they were the dominant reef type in both deep and shallow water. These mud mounds likely are microbial in origin. Following the appearance of frame-building reef organisms, mud mounds were restricted mainly to deeper water. Organic reefs Organic reefs form at low latitudes in shallow water, not more than a few meters deep. They are complex, diverse structures found throughout the fossil record. The frame-building organisms responsible for organic reef formation are characteristic of different geologic time periods: Archaeocyathids appeared in the early Cambrian; these gave way to sponges by the late Cambrian; later successions included stromatoporoids, corals, algae, bryozoa, and rudists (a form of bivalve mollusc). The extent of organic reefs has varied over geologic time, and they were likely most extensive in the middle Devonian, when they covered an area estimated at . This is roughly ten times the extent of modern reefs. The Devonian reefs were constructed largely by stromatoporoids and tabulate corals, which were devastated by the late Devonian extinction. Organic reefs typically have a complex internal structure. Whole body fossils are usually abundant, but ooids and interclasts are rare within the reef. The core of a reef is typically massive and unbedded, and is surrounded by a talus that is greater in volume than the core. The talus contains abundant intraclasts and is usually either floatstone, with 10% or more of grains over 2mm in size embedded in abundant matrix, or rudstone, which is mostly large grains with sparse matrix. The talus grades to planktonic fine-grained carbonate mud, then noncarbonate mud away from the reef. Limestone landscape Limestone is partially soluble, especially in acid, and therefore forms many erosional landforms. These include limestone pavements, pot holes, cenotes, caves and gorges. Such erosion landscapes are known as karsts. Limestone is less resistant to erosion than most igneous rocks, but more resistant than most other sedimentary rocks. It is therefore usually associated with hills and downland, and occurs in regions with other sedimentary rocks, typically clays. Karst regions overlying limestone bedrock tend to have fewer visible above-ground sources (ponds and streams), as surface water easily drains downward through joints in the limestone. While draining, water and organic acid from the soil slowly (over thousands or millions of years) enlarges these cracks, dissolving the calcium carbonate and carrying it away in solution. Most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. Cooling groundwater or mixing of different groundwaters will also create conditions suitable for cave formation. Coastal limestones are often eroded by organisms which bore into the rock by various means. This process is known as bioerosion. It is most common in the tropics, and it is known throughout the fossil record. Bands of limestone emerge from the Earth's surface in often spectacular rocky outcrops and islands. Examples include the Rock of Gibraltar, the Burren in County Clare, Ireland; Malham Cove in North Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight, England; the Great Orme in Wales; on Fårö near the Swedish island of Gotland, the Niagara Escarpment in Canada/United States; Notch Peak in Utah; the Ha Long Bay National Park in Vietnam; and the hills around the Lijiang River and Guilin city in China. The Florida Keys, islands off the south coast of Florida, are composed mainly of oolitic limestone (the Lower Keys) and the carbonate skeletons of coral reefs (the Upper Keys), which thrived in the area during interglacial periods when sea level was higher than at present. Unique habitats are found on alvars, extremely level expanses of limestone with thin soil mantles. The largest such expanse in Europe is the Stora Alvaret on the island of Öland, Sweden. Another area with large quantities of limestone is the island of Gotland, Sweden. Huge quarries in northwestern Europe, such as those of Mount Saint Peter (Belgium/Netherlands), extend for more than a hundred kilometers. Uses Limestone is a raw material that is used globally in a variety of different ways including construction, agriculture and as industrial materials. Limestone is very common in architecture, especially in Europe and North America. Many landmarks across the world, including the Great Pyramid and its associated complex in Giza, Egypt, were made of limestone. So many buildings in Kingston, Ontario, Canada were, and continue to be, constructed from it that it is nicknamed the 'Limestone City'. Limestone, metamorphosed by heat and pressure produces marble, which has been used for many statues, buildings and stone tabletops. On the island of Malta, a variety of limestone called Globigerina limestone was, for a long time, the only building material available, and is still very frequently used on all types of buildings and sculptures. Limestone can be processed into many various forms such as brick, cement, powdered/crushed, or as a filler. Limestone is readily available and relatively easy to cut into blocks or more elaborate carving. Ancient American sculptors valued limestone because it was easy to work and good for fine detail. Going back to the Late Preclassic period (by 200–100 BCE), the Maya civilization (Ancient Mexico) created refined sculpture using limestone because of these excellent carving properties. The Maya would decorate the ceilings of their sacred buildings (known as lintels) and cover the walls with carved limestone panels. Carved on these sculptures were political and social stories, and this helped communicate messages of the king to his people. Limestone is long-lasting and stands up well to exposure, which explains why many limestone ruins survive. However, it is very heavy (density 2.6), making it impractical for tall buildings, and relatively expensive as a building material. Limestone was most popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Train stations, banks and other structures from that era were normally made of limestone. It is used as a facade on some skyscrapers, but only in thin plates for covering, rather than solid blocks. In the United States, Indiana, most notably the Bloomington area, has long been a source of high-quality quarried limestone, called Indiana limestone. Many famous buildings in London are built from Portland limestone. Houses built in Odessa in Ukraine in the 19th century were mostly constructed from limestone and the extensive remains of the mines now form the Odessa Catacombs. Limestone was also a very popular building block in the Middle Ages in the areas where it occurred, since it is hard, durable, and commonly occurs in easily accessible surface exposures. Many medieval churches and castles in Europe are made of limestone. Beer stone was a popular kind of limestone for medieval buildings in southern England. Limestone is the raw material for production of lime, primarily known for treating soils, purifying water and smelting copper. Lime is an important ingredient used in chemical industries. Limestone and (to a lesser extent) marble are reactive to acid solutions, making acid rain a significant problem to the preservation of artifacts made from this stone. Many limestone statues and building surfaces have suffered severe damage due to acid rain. Likewise limestone gravel has been used to protect lakes vulnerable to acid rain, acting as a pH buffering agent. Acid-based cleaning chemicals can also etch limestone, which should only be cleaned with a neutral or mild alkali-based cleaner.Other uses include: It is the raw material for the manufacture of quicklime (calcium oxide), slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), cement and mortar. Pulverized limestone is used as a soil conditioner to neutralize acidic soils (agricultural lime). Is crushed for use as aggregate—the solid base for many roads as well as in asphalt concrete. As a reagent in flue-gas desulfurization, where it reacts with sulfur dioxide for air pollution control. In glass making, particularly in the manufacture of soda-lime glass. As an additive toothpaste, paper, plastics, paint, tiles, and other materials as both white pigment and a cheap filler. To suppress methane explosions in underground coal mines. Purified, it is added to bread and cereals as a source of calcium. As a calcium supplement in livestock feed, such as for poultry (when ground up). For remineralizing and increasing the alkalinity of purified water to prevent pipe corrosion and to restore essential nutrient levels. In blast furnaces, limestone binds with silica and other impurities to remove them from the iron. It can aid in the removal of toxic components created from coal burning plants and layers of polluted molten metals. Many limestone formations are porous and permeable, which makes them important petroleum reservoirs. About 20% of North American hydrocarbon reserves are found in carbonate rock. Carbonate reservoirs are very common in the petroleum-rich Middle East, and carbonate reservoirs hold about a third of all petroleum reserves worldwide. Limestone formations are also common sources of metal ores, because their porosity and permeability, together with their chemical activity, promotes ore deposition in the limestone. The lead-zinc deposits of Missouri and the Northwest Territories are examples of ore deposits hosted in limestone. Scarcity Limestone is a major industrial raw material that is in constant demand. This raw material has been essential in the iron and steel industry since the nineteenth century. Companies have never had a shortage of limestone; however, it has become a concern as the demand continues to increase and it remains in high demand today. The major potential threats to supply in the nineteenth century were regional availability and accessibility. The two main accessibility issues were transportation and property rights. Other problems were high capital costs on plants and facilities due to environmental regulations and the requirement of zoning and mining permits. These two dominant factors led to the adaptation and selection of other materials that were created and formed to design alternatives for limestone that suited economic demands. Limestone was classified as a critical raw material, and with the potential risk of shortages, it drove industries to find new alternative materials and technological systems. This allowed limestone to no longer be classified as critical as replacement substances increased in production; minette ore is a common substitute, for example. Occupational safety and health Powdered limestone as a food additive is generally recognized as safe and limestone is not regarded as a hazardous material. However, limestone dust can be a mild respiratory and skin irritant, and dust that gets into the eyes can cause corneal abrasions. Because limestone contains small amounts of silica, inhalation of limestone dust could potentially lead to silicosis or cancer. United States The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for limestone exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 10 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. Graffiti Removing graffiti from weathered limestone is difficult because it is a porous and permeable material. The surface is fragile so usual abrasion methods run the risk of severe surface loss. Because it is an acid-sensitive stone some cleaning agents cannot be used due to adverse effects. Gallery See also References Further reading Industrial minerals	[ 0.2740743160247803, 0.8152197599411011, -0.8587597608566284, 0.05177060514688492, 0.30922606587409973, 0.59657222032547, 0.345481812953949, 0.8006171584129333, -0.2082856297492981, -0.2827000916004181, -0.4644642174243927, 0.4262825548648834, -0.0914478749036789, 0.7519083619117737, 0.17...
17750	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCbeck	Lübeck	Lübeck (; Low German also ; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, after its capital of Kiel, and is the 35th-largest city in Germany. The city lies in Holstein, northeast of Hamburg, on the mouth of the River Trave, which flows into the Bay of Lübeck in the borough of Travemünde, and on the Trave's tributary Wakenitz. The city is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and is the southwesternmost city on the Baltic, as well as the closest point of access to the Baltic from Hamburg. The port of Lübeck is the second-largest German Baltic port after the port of Rostock. The city lies in the Northern Low Saxon dialect area of Low German. Lübeck is famous for having been the cradle and the de facto capital of the Hanseatic League. Its city centre is Germany's most extensive UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the city's symbol is the Holsten Gate, Lübeck's skyline is dominated by the seven towers of its five main churches St Mary's, Lübeck Cathedral, St Jacob's (), St Peter's (), and St Giles'. The cathedral, finished around 1230, was the first large brickwork church in the Baltic region. St Mary's, finished in 1351, served as model for the other Brick Gothic churches around the Baltic. It has the second-tallest two-steeples façade after Cologne Cathedral, which only surpassed it in 1880, the tallest brick vault, and is the second-tallest brickwork structure after St Martin's in Landshut. Travemünde is a famous seaside resort, and its Maritim high-rise serves as the second-tallest lighthouse in the world at high. Lübeck is also known for Lübeck Marzipan. History Humans settled in the area around what today is Lübeck after the last Ice Age ended about 9700 BCE. Several Neolithic dolmens can be found in the area. Around 700 AD, Slavic peoples started moving into the eastern parts of Holstein, an area previously settled by Germanic inhabitants who had moved on in the Migration Period. Charlemagne, whose efforts to Christianise the area were opposed by the Germanic Saxons, expelled many of the Saxons and brought in Polabian Slavs allies. Liubice (the place-name means "lovely") was founded on the banks of the River Trave about north of the present-day city-center of Lübeck. In the 10th century, it became the most important settlement of the Obotrite confederacy and a castle was built. In 1128, the pagan Rani from Rügen razed Liubice. In 1143, Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founded the modern town as a German settlement on the river island of Bucu. He built a new castle, first mentioned by the chronicler Helmold as existing in 1147. Adolf had to cede the castle to the Duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, in 1158. After Henry's fall from power in 1181, the town became an Imperial city for eight years. Emperor Barbarossa (reigned 1152–1190) ordained that the city should have a ruling council of 20 members. With the council dominated by merchants, pragmatic trade interests shaped Lübeck's politics for centuries. The council survived into the 19th century. The town and castle changed ownership for a period afterwards and formed part of the Duchy of Saxony until 1192, of the County of Holstein until 1217, and of the kingdom of Denmark until the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227. Hanseatic city Around 1200, the port became the main point of departure for colonists leaving for the Baltic territories conquered by the Livonian Order, and later, by the Teutonic Order. In 1226, Emperor Frederick II elevated the town to the status of an Imperial free city, by which it became the Free City of Lübeck. In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the Hanseatic League", being by far the largest and most powerful member of that medieval trade organization. In 1375, Emperor Charles IV named Lübeck one of the five "Glories of the Empire", a title shared with Venice, Rome, Pisa, and Florence. Several conflicts about trading privileges resulted in fighting between Lübeck (with the Hanseatic League) and Denmark and Norway – with varying outcome. While Lübeck and the Hanseatic League prevailed in conflicts in 1435 and 1512, Lübeck lost when it became involved in the Count's Feud, a civil war that raged in Denmark from 1534 to 1536. Lübeck also joined the pro-Lutheran Schmalkaldic League of the mid-16th century. After its defeat in the Count's Feud, Lübeck's power slowly declined. The city remained neutral in the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648, but the combination of the devastation from the decades-long war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade caused the Hanseatic League – and thus Lübeck with it – to decline in importance. However, even after the de facto disbanding of the Hanseatic League in 1669, Lübeck still remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea. Old traditions, new challenges Franz Tunder was the organist in the Marienkirche. It was part of the tradition in this Lutheran congregation that the organist would pass on the duty in a dynastic marriage. In 1668, his daughter Anna Margarethe married the great Danish-German composer Dieterich Buxtehude, who was the organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck until at least 1703. Some of the greatest composers of the day came to the church to hear his renowned playing. In the course of the war of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleon, troops under Marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (who would later become King of Sweden) occupied Lübeck after a battle against Prussian General Gebhard Blücher on 6 November 1806 due to the latter's illegal use of the city as a fortress, in violation of Lübeck's neutrality, following the French pursuit of his corps after the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. Under the Continental System, the State bank went into bankruptcy. In 1811, the French Empire formally annexed Lübeck as part of France; the anti-Napoleonic allies liberated the area in 1813, and the Congress of Vienna of 1815 recognised Lübeck as an independent free city. The city became a member of the German Confederation (1815–1866) the North German Confederation (1866–1871) the German Reich (1871–1918) and the Weimar Republic (1919–1933). During the Franco-Prussian War, the battalion de Fusilier of Lübeck was part of the "2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 76". On the day of the Battle of Loigny the commander of the 17th Division, Hugo von Kottwitz, of the morning advanced in front of the Fusilier battalion of the regiment, urging them to "commemorate the bravery of the Hanseatic League". his attack in the north while the other battalions turned towards Loigny. This shock surprised the French so much that they were invaded by their flank. They fled to the Fougeu place and were kicked out of this. The battle was to become the founding myth of the last Lübeck regiment, 3rd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 162, which was founded in 1897. When the battalion commander returned to Lübeck with his battalion, he was appointed regimental commander. Under the Third Reich (1933–1945) the Nazis passed the Greater Hamburg Act, which incorporated the city of Lübeck into the Schleswig-Holstein province of Prussia, effective April 1, 1937. It thereby lost its status as an independent constituent state. Writer Thomas Mann was a member of the Mann family of Lübeck merchants. His well-known 1901 novel Buddenbrooks made readers in Germany (and later worldwide, through numerous translations) familiar with the manner of life and mores of the 19th-century Lübeck bourgeoisie. During World War II (1939–1945), Lübeck became the first German city to suffer substantial Royal Air Force (RAF) bombing. The attack of 28 March 1942 created a firestorm that caused severe damage to the historic centre. This raid destroyed three of the main churches and large parts of the built-up area; the bells of St Marienkircke plunged to the stone floor. Germany operated a prisoner-of-war camp for officers, Oflag X-C, near the city from 1940 until April 1945. The British Second Army entered Lübeck on 2 May 1945 and occupied it without resistance. On 3 May 1945, one of the biggest disasters in naval history occurred in the Bay of Lübeck when RAF bombers sank three ships: the SS Cap Arcona, the SS Deutschland, and the SS Thielbek – which, unknown to them, were packed with concentration-camp inmates. About 7,000 people died. Lübeck's population grew considerably, from about 150,000 in 1939 to more than 220,000 after the war, owing to an influx of ethnic German refugees expelled from the former eastern provinces of Germany in the Communist Bloc. Lübeck remained part of Schleswig-Holstein after World War II (and consequently lay within West Germany). It stood directly on what became the inner German border during the division of Germany into two states in the Cold War period. South of the city, the border followed the path of the river Wakenitz, which separated the Germanys by less than in many parts. The northernmost border crossing was in Lübeck's district of Schlutup. Lübeck spent decades restoring its historic city centre. In 1987, UNESCO designated this area a World Heritage Site. Lübeck became the scene of a notable art scandal in the 1950s. Lothar Malskat was hired to restore the medieval frescoes of the cathedral of the Marienkirche, which were discovered after the cathedral had been badly damaged during World War II. Instead, he painted new works, which he passed off as restorations, fooling many experts. Malskat later revealed the deception himself. Günter Grass featured this incident in his 1986 novel The Rat. On the night of 18 January 1996, a fire broke out in a home for foreign refugees, killing 10 people and severely injuring more than 30 others, mostly children. Most of the shelter's inhabitants thought it was a racist attack, as they stated that they had encountered other overt hostility in the city. The police and the local court were criticized at the time for ruling out racism as a possible motive before even beginning preliminary investigations. But by 2002, the courts found all the Germans involved not guilty; the perpetrators have not been caught. In April 2015, Lübeck hosted the G7 conference. Demographics In 2015, the city had a population of 218,523. The largest ethnic minority groups are Turks, Central Europeans (Poles), Southern Europeans (mostly Greeks and Italians), Eastern Europeans (e.g. Russians), Arabs, and several smaller groups. Population development since 1227: Population structure: Tourism In 2019 Lübeck reached 2 million overnight stays. Lübeck is famous for its medieval City Centre with the Churches, the Holstentor, its small alleys and so much more. Lübeck has been called "Die Stadt der 7 Türme" (The City of seven Towers) due to its seven prominent church towers. Buildings Much of the old town has kept a medieval appearance with old buildings and narrow streets. At one time, the town could only be entered by any of four town gates, two of which remain today, the well-known Holstentor (1478) and the Burgtor (1444). The old town centre is dominated by seven church steeples. The oldest are the Lübeck Cathedral and the Marienkirche (Saint Mary's), both dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Built in 1286, the Holy Spirit Hospital at Koberg is one of the oldest existing social institutions in the world and one of the most important buildings in the city. The Holy Spirit Hospital is in parts an old-folk and nursing home. Historic parts can be visited. Other sights include: The City Hall St. Catherine's Church, a church that belonged to a former monastery, now the Katharineum, a Latin school Thomas Mann's house Günter Grass's house Church of St Peter Church of St Lawrence, located on the site of a cemetery for people who died during the 16th-century plague Church of St Jacob, 1334 Church of the Sacred Heart Church of St Aegidien the Salzspeicher, historic warehouses where salt delivered from Lüneburg awaited shipment to Baltic ports The City of Travemünde on the Coast of the Baltic Sea. Like many other places in Germany, Lübeck has a long tradition of a Christmas market in December, which includes the famous handicrafts market inside the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital (Hospital of the Holy Spirit), located at the northern end of Königstrasse. Museums Lübeck has many small museums, such as the St. Anne's Museum Quarter, Lübeck, the Behnhaus, the European Hansemuseum, and the Holstentor. Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets is a privately run museum. Waterside attractions are a lightvessel that served Fehmarnbelt and the Lisa von Lübeck, a reconstruction of a Hanseatic 15th century caravel. The marzipan museum in the second floor of Café Niederegger in Breite Strasse explains the history of marzipan, and shows historical wood molds for the production of marzipan blocks and a group of historical figures made of marzipan. Food and drink Lübeck is famous for its marzipan industry. According to local legend, marzipan was first made in Lübeck, possibly in response either to a military siege of the city or a famine year. The story, perhaps apocryphal, is that the city ran out of all food except stored almonds and sugar, which were used to make loaves of marzipan "bread". Others believe that marzipan was actually invented in Persia a few hundred years before Lübeck claims to have invented it. The best known producer is Niederegger, which tourists often visit while in Lübeck, especially at Christmas time. The Lübeck wine trade dates back to Hanseatic times. One Lübeck specialty is Rotspon (), wine made from grapes processed and fermented in France and transported in wooden barrels to Lübeck, where it is stored, aged and bottled. Like other coastal North German communities, Fischbrötchen and Brathering are popular takeaway foods, given the abundance of fish varieties. Education Lübeck has three universities, the University of Lübeck, the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck, and the Lübeck Academy of Music. The Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences is a central faculty of the University and was founded by the German Excellence Initiative. The International School of New Media is an affiliated institute of the university. Districts The city of Lübeck is divided into 10 zones. These again are arranged into altogether 35 urban districts. The 10 zones with their official numbers, their associated urban districts and the numbers of inhabitants of the quarters: 01 City centre (~ 12,000 inhabitants) The Innenstadt is the main tourist attraction and consists of the old town as well as the former ramparts. It is the oldest and smallest part of Lübeck. 02 St. Jürgen (~ 40,000 inhabitants) Hüxtertor / Mühlentor / Gärtnergasse, Strecknitz / Rothebek, Blankensee, Wulfsdorf, Beidendorf, Krummesse, Kronsforde, Niederbüssau, Vorrade, Schiereichenkoppel, Oberbüssau Sankt Jürgen is one of three historic suburbs of Lübeck (alongside St. Lorenz and St. Gertrud). It is located south of the city centre and the biggest of all city parts. 03 Moisling (~ 10,000 inhabitants) Niendorf / Moorgarten, Reecke, Old-Moisling / Genin Moisling is situated in the far south-west. Its history dates back to the 17th century. 04 Buntekuh (~ 10,000 inhabitants) Buntekuh lies in the west of Lübeck. A big part consists of commercial zones such as the Citti-Park, Lübeck's biggest mall. 05 St. Lorenz-South (~ 12,000 inhabitants) Sankt Lorenz-Süd is located right in the south-west of the city centre and has the highest population density. The main train and bus station lie in its northern part. 06 St. Lorenz-North (~ 40,000 inhabitants) Holstentor-North, Falkenfeld / Vorwerk / Teerhof, Großsteinrade / Schönböcken, Dornbreite / Krempelsdorf Sankt Lorenz-Nord is situated in the north-west of Lübeck. It is split from its southern part by the railways. 07 St. Gertrud (~ 40,000 inhabitants) Burgtor / Stadtpark, Marli / Brandenbaum, Eichholz, Karlshof / Israelsdorf / Gothmund Sankt Gertrud is located in the east of the city centre. This part is mainly characterized by its nature. Many parks, the rivers Wakenitz and Trave and the forest Lauerholz make up a big part of its area. 08 Schlutup (~ 6,000 inhabitants) Schlutup lies in the far east of Lübeck. Due to forest Lauerholz in its west and river Trave in the north, Schlutup is relatively isolated from the other city parts. 09 Kücknitz (~ 20,000 inhabitants) Dänischburg / Siems / Rangenberg / Wallberg, Herrenwyk, Alt-Kücknitz / Dummersdorf / Roter Hahn, Poeppendorf North of river Trave lies Kücknitz. It is the old main industrial area of Lübeck. 10 Travemünde (~ 15,000 inhabitants) Ivendorf, Alt-Travemünde / Rönnau, Priwall, Teutendorf, Brodten Travemünde is located in far northeastern Lübeck at the Baltic Sea. With its long beach and coast line, Travemünde is the second biggest tourist destination. International relations Twin towns – sister cities Lübeck is twinned with: Kotka, Finland (1969) La Rochelle, France (1988) Wismar, Germany (1987) Klaipėda, Lithuania (1990) Gotland, Sweden (1999) Friendly cities Lübeck also has friendly relations with: Venice, Italy (1979) Kawasaki, Japan (1992) Shaoxing, China (2003) Transport Lübeck is connected to three Main Motorways (Autobahnen). The A1 Motorway is heading north to the Island of Fehmarn and Copenhagen (Denmark) and south to Hamburg, Bremen and Cologne. The A20 Motorway heads east towards Wismar, Rostock and Szczecin (Poland) and west to Bad Segeberg and to the North Sea. The A226 Motorway starts in central Lübeck and is heading to the north-east and the Seaport-City of Travemünde. Lübeck is served by multiple train stations. The principal one is Lübeck Hauptbahnhof, with about 31.000 passengers per day, is the busiest station in Schleswig-Holstein. The station is mostly served by regional rail services to Hamburg, Lüneburg, Kiel, the Island of Fehmarn and Szczecin (Poland). There are some long-distance trains to Munich, Frankfurt-am-Main and Cologne. During the summer holidays, there are many extra rail services. Until the end of 2019, Lübeck was a stop on the "Vogelfluglinie" train line from Hamburg to Copenhagen (Denmark). Public transport by bus is organized by the Lübeck City-Traffic-Company (Lübecker Stadtverkehr). There are 40 buslines serving the city and the area around Lübeck, in addition to regional bus services. The district of Travemünde is on the Baltic Sea and has the city's main port. The Scandinavienkai (the quay of Scandinavia) is the departure point for ferry routes to Malmö and Trelleborg (Sweden); Liepāja (Latvia); Helsinki (Finland) and Saint Petersburg (Russia). It is the second-biggest German port on the Baltic Sea. Lübeck Airport is located in the south of Lübeck in the town of Blankensee. It provides regional flights to Munich and Stuttgart and some charter flights to Italy and Croatia. Notable people Religion Laurentius Surius (1522–1578), Carthusian monk and hagiographer August Hermann Francke (1663–1727), pedagogue, theologian, founded the Francke Foundations Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693–1755), Lutheran church historian Ephraim Carlebach (1879–1936), rabbi and founder of the Higher Israelite School in Leipzig Joseph Carlebach (1883–1942), rabbi, victim of the Holocaust Felix Carlebach (1911–2008), rabbi Politics Johann Wittenborg (1321–1363), Mayor of Lübeck, lost the Battle of Helsingborg Jürgen Wullenwever (c.1492–1537), burgomaster of Lübeck from 1533 to 1535 George Wulweber, 16th-century Protestant who was tortured on the rack Friedrich Krüger (1819–1896), diplomat for the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen John Rugee (1827–1894), politician in Wisconsin, USA Gustav Radbruch (1878–1949), legal scholar and politician Hermann Lüdemann (1880–1959), CDU politician Otto-Heinrich Drechsler (1895–1945), Mayor of Lübeck 1933 to 1937, set up the Riga ghetto Haim Cohn (1911–2002), Israeli jurist and politician Willy Brandt (1913–1992), SPD politician, German chancellor Björn Engholm (born 1939), SPD politician Robert Habeck (born 1969), writer and politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens Birgitt Ory (born 1964), diplomat Beatrix von Storch (born 1971), AfD politician, former MEP Art Benjamin Block (1631–1690), German-Hungarian Baroque painter Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), court painter of several British monarchs Catharina Elisabeth Heinecken (1683–1757), artist and alchemist Carl Heinrich von Heineken (1707–1791), art historian Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869), painter and head of the Nazarenes Johann Wilhelm Cordes (1824–1869), landscape painter Gotthardt Kuehl (1850–1915), painter Maria Slavona (1865–1931), impressionist painter, sister of Cornelia Schorer Erich Ponto (1884–1957), actor Walter D. Asmus (born 1941), theatre director Justus von Dohnányi (born 1960), actor Jonas Nay (born 1990), actor Music Franz Tunder (1614–1667), organist and composer Thomas Baltzar (c. 1631–1663), violinist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude (c.1637–1707), composer and organist Andreas Kneller (1649–1724), composer and organist Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen (1761–1817), composer Anja Thauer (1945–1973), cellist Science Joachim Jungius (1587–1657), mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Heinrich Meibom (1638–1700), medical expert, discovered the Meibomian gland Hermann von Fehling (1811–1885), chemist Robert Christian Avé-Lallemant (1812–1884), physician and research traveler Ernst Curtius (1814–1896), classical archaeologist and historian Georg Curtius (1820–1885), philologist Friedrich Matthias Claudius (1822–1869), anatomist James Behrens (1824–1898), entomologist Friedrich Matz (1843–1874), archaeologist Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn (1853–1927), invented the taximeter Cornelia Schorer (1863–1939), one of Germany's first female physicians Heinrich Lüders (1869–1943), orientalist and indologist Justus Mühlenpfordt (1911–2000), nuclear physicist Writing Erasmus Finx (1627–1694), polyhistorian, author and church writer Christian Adolph Overbeck (1755–1821), mayor and poet Johann Bernhard Vermehren (1777–1803), romanticist and lecturer Emanuel Geibel (1815–1884), poet Gustav Falke (1853–1916), author Heinrich Mann (1871–1950), novelist Thomas Mann (1875–1955), novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 Friedrich Ranke (1882–1950), a German medievalist, philologist, folklorist and writer Jörg Wontorra (born 1948), sport journalist Sport Sandra Völker (born 1974), swimmer, won three medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics Marie-Louise Dräger (born 1981), five-time world champion lightweight sculler Tobias Kamke (born 1986), professional tennis player Maximilian Munski (born 1988), rower, silver medallist at the 2016 Summer Olympics Other Adam Brand (c. 1692–1746), merchant and researcher Christian Friedrich Heinecken (1721–1725), "the infant scholar of Lübeck", a child prodigy Kurd von Schlözer (1822–1894), diplomat and historian Hermann von der Hude (1830–1908), architect Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), shipbuilder and company founder Hermann Pister (1885–1948), Nazi SS commandant of Buchenwald Concentration Camp Walter Ewers (1892–1918), flying ace of WWI Hans Blumenberg (1920–1996), philosopher Jörg Ziercke (born 1947), chief commissioner of the Federal Criminal Police Office 2004–2014 See also Cap Arcona Lübeck Airport Lübeck Hauptbahnhof Lübeck Nordic Film Days Lübeck law Lübecker Nachrichten is Lübeck's only newspaper Oberschule zum Dom Ports of the Baltic Sea Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival VfB Lübeck, football and sports club Bombing of Lübeck in World War II References Bibliography External links Jewish Encyclopedia: "Lübeck" by Gotthard Deutsch (1906). Hanseatic City of Lübeck: UNESCO Official Website Official tourism site Panoramas of Lübeck Lovebridge Lübeck 1140s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1143 establishments in Europe Cities in Schleswig-Holstein Populated coastal places in Germany (Baltic Sea) Members of the Hanseatic League Landmarks in Germany Port cities and towns in Germany Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea World Heritage Sites in Germany Hanseatic Cities	[ -0.06979051977396011, -0.1712130904197693, 0.9018048644065857, -0.7528876066207886, 0.14955896139144897, 0.27813658118247986, -0.14106886088848114, 0.3514676094055176, -0.7704232931137085, -0.30269569158554077, -0.13850407302379608, -0.5881485939025879, -0.5306382775306702, 0.7191908359527...
17752	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos	Laos	Laos (, ), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic , is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th century to the 18th century as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into three separate kingdoms—Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, and Champasak. In 1893, the three territories came under a French protectorate and were united to form what is now known as Laos. It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation but was re-colonised by France until it won autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. A post-independence civil war began, which saw the communist resistance, supported by the Soviet Union, fight against the monarchy that later came under influence of military regimes supported by the United States. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the communist Pathet Lao came to power, ending the civil war. Laos was then dependent on military and economic aid from the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Laos is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, the ASEAN, East Asia Summit, and La Francophonie. Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization in 1997; on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership. It is a one-party socialist republic, espousing Marxism–Leninism and governed by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, under which non-governmental organisations have routinely characterised the country's human rights record as poor, citing repeated abuses such as torture, restrictions on civil liberties, and persecution of minorities. The politically and culturally dominant Lao people make up 53.2% of the population, mostly in the lowlands. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other indigenous hill tribes live in the foothills and mountains. Laos's strategies for development are based on generating electricity from rivers and selling the power to its neighbours, namely Thailand, China, and Vietnam, as well as its initiative to become a "land-linked" nation, as evidenced by the construction of four new railways connecting Laos and neighbours. Laos has been referred to as one of Southeast Asia and Pacific's fastest growing economies by the World Bank with annual GDP growth averaging 7.4% since 2009. Etymology The word Laos was coined by the French, who united the three Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in 1893 and named the country as the plural of the dominant and most common ethnic group, the Lao people. In English, the 's' is pronounced, and not silent. In the Lao language, the country's name is Muang Lao () or Pathet Lao (), both of which literally mean 'Lao Country'. History Prehistory and early history An ancient human skull was recovered in 2009 from the Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast Asia. Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos. Archaeological evidence suggests an agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers suggest a complex society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 BC, and iron tools were known from 700 BC. The proto-historic period is characterised by contact with Chinese and Indian civilisations. According to linguistic and other historical evidence, Tai-speaking tribes migrated southwestward to the modern territories of Laos and Thailand from Guangxi sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries. Lan Xang Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang ('million elephants'), which was founded in the 14th century by a Lao prince, Fa Ngum, whose father had his family exiled from the Khmer Empire. Fa Ngum, with 10,000 Khmer troops, conquered many Lao principalities in the Mekong river basin, culminating in the capture of Vientiane. Ngum was descended from a long line of Lao kings that traced back to Khoun Boulom. He made Theravada Buddhism the state religion, and Lan Xang prospered. His ministers, unable to tolerate his ruthlessness, forced him into exile to the present-day Thai province of Nan in 1373, where he died. Fa Ngum's eldest son, Oun Heuan, ascended to the throne under the name Samsenethai and reigned for 43 years. Lan Xang became an important trade centre during Samsenthai's reign, but after his death in 1421 it collapsed into warring factions for nearly a century. In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to avoid a Burmese invasion. Setthathirath became king in 1548, after his father was killed, and ordered the construction of what became the symbol of Laos, That Luang. Settathirath disappeared in the mountains on his way back from a military expedition into Cambodia, and Lan Xang fell into more than seventy years of instability, involving both Burmese invasion and civil war. In 1637, when Sourigna Vongsa ascended the throne, Lan Xang further expanded its frontiers. His reign is often regarded as Laos's golden age. When he died without an heir, the kingdom split into three principalities. Between 1763 and 1769, Burmese armies overran northern Laos and annexed Luang Prabang, while Champasak eventually came under Siamese suzerainty. Chao Anouvong was installed as a vassal king of Vientiane by the Siamese. He encouraged a renaissance of Lao fine arts and literature and improved relations with Luang Phrabang. Under Vietnamese pressure, he rebelled against the Siamese in 1826. The rebellion failed, and Vientiane was ransacked. Anouvong was taken to Bangkok as a prisoner, where he died. A Siamese military campaign in Laos in 1876 was described by a British observer as having been "transformed into slave-hunting raids on a large scale". French Laos (1893–1953) In the late 19th century, Luang Prabang was ransacked by the Chinese Black Flag Army. France rescued King Oun Kham and added Luang Phrabang to the protectorate of French Indochina. Shortly after, the Kingdom of Champasak and the territory of Vientiane were added to the protectorate. King Sisavang Vong of Luang Phrabang became ruler of a unified Laos, and Vientiane once again became the capital. Laos never held any importance for France other than as a buffer state between Thailand and the more economically important Annam and Tonkin. Laos produced tin, rubber, and coffee, but never accounted for more than one percent of French Indochina's exports. By 1940, around 600 French citizens lived in Laos. Under French rule, the Vietnamese were encouraged to migrate to Laos, which was seen by the French colonists as a rational solution to a labour shortage within the confines of an Indochina-wide colonial space. By 1943, the Vietnamese population stood at nearly 40,000, forming the majority in the largest cities of Laos and enjoying the right to elect its own leaders. As a result, 53% of the population of Vientiane, 85% of Thakhek, and 62% of Pakse were Vietnamese, with only the exception of Luang Prabang where the population was predominantly Lao. As late as 1945, the French drew up an ambitious plan to move massive Vietnamese population to three key areas, i.e., the Vientiane Plain, Savannakhet region, and the Bolaven Plateau, which was only derailed by the Japanese invasion of Indochina. Otherwise, according to Martin Stuart-Fox, the Lao might well have lost control over their own country. During World War II in Laos, Vichy France, Thailand, Imperial Japan and Free France occupied Laos. On 9 March 1945, a nationalist group declared Laos once more independent, with Luang Prabang as its capital, but on 7 April 1945 two battalions of Japanese troops occupied the city. The Japanese attempted to force Sisavang Vong (the King of Luang Phrabang) to declare Laotian independence, but on 8 April he instead simply declared an end to Laos's status as a French protectorate. The king then secretly sent Prince Kindavong to represent Laos to the Allied forces and Prince Sisavang as representative to the Japanese. When Japan surrendered, some Lao nationalists (including Prince Phetsarath) declared Laotian independence, but by early-1946, French troops had reoccupied the country and conferred limited autonomy on Laos. During the First Indochina War, the Indochinese Communist Party formed the Pathet Lao independence organisation. The Pathet Lao began a war against the French colonial forces with the aid of the Vietnamese independence organisation, the Viet Minh. In 1950, the French were forced to give Laos semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. France remained in de facto control until 22 October 1953, when Laos gained full independence as a constitutional monarchy. Independence and Communist rule (1953–present) The First Indochina War took place across French Indochina and eventually led to French defeat and the signing of a peace accord for Laos at the Geneva Conference of 1954. In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions in the Kingdom of Laos, fighting broke out between the Royal Lao Army (RLA) and the communist North Vietnamese and Soviet Union-backed Pathet Lao guerillas. A second Provisional Government of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962 was unsuccessful, and the situation steadily deteriorated into large scale civil war between the Royal Laotian government and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were backed militarily by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong. Laos was a key part of the Vietnam War since parts of Laos were invaded and occupied by North Vietnam for use as a supply route for its war against South Vietnam. In response, the United States initiated a bombing campaign against the PAVN positions, supported regular and irregular anticommunist forces in Laos, and supported Army of the Republic of Vietnam incursions into Laos. In 1968, the PAVN launched a multi-division attack to help the Pathet Lao fight the RLA. The attack resulted in the RLA largely demobilising, leaving the conflict to irregular ethnic Hmong forces of the "Secret Army" backed by the United States and Thailand, and led by General Vang Pao. Massive aerial bombardments against the PAVN/Pathet Lao forces were carried out by the United States to prevent the collapse of the Kingdom of Laos central government, and to deny the use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to attack US forces in South Vietnam. Between 1964 and 1973, the US dropped two million tons of bombs on Laos, nearly equal to the 2.1 million tons of bombs the US dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War II, making Laos the most heavily bombed country in history relative to the size of its population; The New York Times notes this was "nearly a ton for every person in Laos". Some 80 million bombs failed to explode and remain scattered throughout the country, rendering vast swaths of land impossible to cultivate. Currently unexploded ordnance (UXO), including cluster munitions and mines, kill or maim approximately 50 Laotians every year. Because of the particularly heavy impact of cluster bombs during this war, Laos was a strong advocate of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to ban the weapons and was host to the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010. In 1975 the Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December 1975. He later died under suspicious circumstances in a re-education camp. Between 20,000 and 62,000 Laotians died during the civil war. The royalists set up a government in exile in the United States. On 2 December 1975, after taking control of the country, the Pathet Lao government under Kaysone Phomvihane renamed the country as the Lao People's Democratic Republic and signed agreements giving Vietnam the right to station armed forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the country. The close ties between Laos and Vietnam were formalised via a treaty signed in 1977, which has since provided direction for Lao foreign policy, and provides the basis for Vietnamese involvement at all levels of Lao political and economic life. Laos was requested in 1979 by Vietnam to end relations with the People's Republic of China, leading to isolation in trade by China, the United States, and other countries. In 1979, there were 50,000 PAVN troops stationed in Laos and as many as 6,000 civilian Vietnamese officials including 1,000 directly attached to the ministries in Vientiane. The conflict between Hmong rebels and Laos continued in key areas of Laos, including in Saysaboune Closed Military Zone, Xaisamboune Closed Military Zone near Vientiane Province and Xiangkhouang Province. From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong. On 3 December 2021, the 422-kilometre Boten-Vientiane railway, a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was opened, making Laos transform from a landlocked country into a land-linked hub. Geography Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and it lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 23°N (a small area is south of 14°), and longitudes 100° and 108°E. Its thickly forested landscape consists mostly of rugged mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at , with some plains and plateaus. The Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand, where the mountains of the Annamite Range form most of the eastern border with Vietnam and the Luang Prabang Range the northwestern border with the Thai highlands. There are two plateaux, the Xiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven Plateau at the southern end. Laos can be considered to consist of three geographical areas: north, central, and south. Laos had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.59/10, ranking it 98th globally out of 172 countries. In 1993 the Laos government set aside 21% of the nation's land area for habitat conservation preservation. The country is one of four in the opium poppy growing region known as the "Golden Triangle". According to the October 2007 UNODC fact book Opium Poppy Cultivation in South East Asia, the poppy cultivation area was , down from in 2006. Climate The climate is mostly tropical savanna and influenced by the monsoon pattern. There is a distinct rainy season from May to October, followed by a dry season from November to April. Local tradition holds that there are three seasons (rainy, cool and hot) as the latter two months of the climatologically defined dry season are noticeably hotter than the earlier four months. Administrative divisions Laos is divided into 17 provinces (khoueng) and one prefecture (kampheng nakhon), which includes the capital city Vientiane (Nakhon Louang Viangchan). A new province, Xaisomboun Province, was established on 13 December 2013. Provinces are further divided into districts (muang) and then villages (ban). An "urban" village is essentially a town. Government and politics The Lao People's Democratic Republic is one of the world's few socialist states openly endorsing communism. The only legal political party is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). With one-party state status of Laos, the General Secretary (party leader) holds ultimate power and authority over state and government and serves as the supreme leader. the head of state is President Thongloun Sisoulith. He has been General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, a position making him the de facto leader of Laos, since January 2021. Government policies are determined by the party through the eleven-member Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the 61-member Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Laos's first French-written and monarchical constitution was promulgated on 11 May 1947, and declared Laos an independent state within the French Union. The revised constitution of 11 May 1957 omitted reference to the French Union, though close educational, health and technical ties with the former colonial power persisted. The 1957 document was abrogated in December 1975, when a communist people's republic was proclaimed. A new constitution was adopted in 1991 and enshrined a "leading role" for the LPRP. Foreign relations The foreign relations of Laos after the takeover by the Pathet Lao in December 1975 were characterised by a hostile posture toward the West, with the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic aligning itself with the Soviet Bloc, maintaining close ties with the Soviet Union and depending heavily on the Soviets for most of its foreign assistance. Laos also maintained a "special relationship" with Vietnam and formalised a 1977 treaty of friendship and cooperation that created tensions with China. Laos's emergence from international isolation has been marked through improved and expanded relations with other nations such as Russia, China, Thailand, Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland. Trade relations with the United States were normalised in November 2004 through Congress approved legislation. Laos was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1997 and acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2016. In 2005 it attended the inaugural East Asia Summit. Military On 17 May 2014, Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Douangchay Phichit was killed in a plane crash, along with other top ranking officials. The officials were to participate in a ceremony to mark the liberation of the Plain of Jars from the former Royal Lao government forces. Their Russian-built Antonov AN 74-300 with 20 people on board crashed in Xiangkhouang Province. Hmong conflict Some Hmong groups fought as CIA-backed units on the royalist side in the Laotian Civil War. After the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, the conflict continued in isolated pockets. In 1977, a communist newspaper promised the party would hunt down the "American collaborators" and their families "to the last root". As many as 200,000 Hmong went into exile in Thailand, with many ending up in the US. Other Hmong fighters hid out in mountains in Xiangkhouang Province for many years, with a remnant emerging from the jungle in 2003. In 1989, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the support of the US government, instituted the Comprehensive Plan of Action, a programme to stem the tide of Indochinese refugees from Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Under the plan, refugee status was evaluated through a screening process. Recognised asylum seekers were given resettlement opportunities, while the remaining refugees were to be repatriated under guarantee of safety. After talks with the UNHCR and the Thai government, Laos agreed to repatriate the 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including several thousand Hmong people. Very few of the Lao refugees, however, were willing to return voluntarily. Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. While some Hmong people returned to Laos voluntarily, with development assistance from UNHCR, allegations of forced repatriation surfaced. Of those Hmong who did return to Laos, some quickly escaped back to Thailand, describing discrimination and brutal treatment at the hands of Lao authorities. In 1993, Vue Mai, a former Hmong soldier and leader of the largest Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, who had been recruited by the US Embassy in Bangkok to return to Laos as proof of the repatriation programme's success, disappeared in Vientiane. According to the US Committee for Refugees, he was arrested by Lao security forces and was never seen again. Following the Vue Mai incident, debate over the Hmong's planned repatriation to Laos intensified greatly, especially in the United States, where it drew strong opposition from many American conservatives and some human rights advocates. In a 23 October 1995 National Review article, Michael Johns, the former Heritage Foundation foreign policy expert and Republican White House aide, labelled the Hmong's repatriation a Clinton administration "betrayal", describing the Hmong as a people "who have spilled their blood in defense of American geopolitical interests". Debate on the issue escalated quickly. In an effort to halt the planned repatriation, the Republican-led US Senate and House of Representatives both appropriated funds for the remaining Thailand-based Hmong to be immediately resettled in the United States; Clinton, however, responded by promising a veto of the legislation. In their opposition of the repatriation plans, Democratic and Republican Members of Congress challenged the Clinton administration's position that the government of Laos was not systematically violating Hmong human rights. US Representative Steve Gunderson, for instance, told a Hmong gathering: "I do not enjoy standing up and saying to my government that you are not telling the truth, but if that is necessary to defend truth and justice, I will do that." Republicans called several Congressional hearings on alleged persecution of the Hmong in Laos in an apparent attempt to generate further support for their opposition to the Hmong's repatriation to Laos. Although some accusations of forced repatriation were denied, thousands of Hmong people refused to return to Laos. In 1996 as the deadline for the closure of Thai refugee camps approached, and under mounting political pressure, the United States agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a new screening process. Around 5,000 Hmong people who were not resettled at the time of the camp closures sought asylum at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist monastery in central Thailand where more than 10,000 Hmong refugees had already been living. The Thai government attempted to repatriate these refugees, but the Wat Tham Krabok Hmong refused to leave and the Lao government refused to accept them, claiming they were involved in the illegal drug trade and were of non-Lao origin. Following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the United States, in a significant victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees in 2003. Several thousand Hmong people, fearing forced repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in the United States, fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a sizeable Hmong population has been present since the 19th century. In 2004 and 2005, thousands of Hmong fled from the jungles of Laos to a temporary refugee camp in the Thai province of Phetchabun. Lending further support to earlier claims that the government of Laos was persecuting the Hmong, filmmaker Rebecca Sommer documented first-hand accounts in her documentary, Hunted Like Animals, and in a comprehensive report that includes summaries of refugee claims and was submitted to the UN in May 2006. The European Union, UNHCHR, and international groups have since spoken out about the forced repatriation. The Thai foreign ministry has said that it will halt deportation of Hmong refugees held in Detention Centres in Nong Khai, while talks are underway to resettle them in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States. Plans to resettle additional Hmong refugees in the United States were stalled by provisions of President George W. Bush's Patriot Act and Real ID Act, under which Hmong veterans of the Secret War, who fought on the side of the United States, are classified as terrorists because of their historical involvement in armed conflict. Human rights Human rights violations remain a significant concern in Laos. In The Economist's Democracy Index 2016 Laos was classified as an "authoritarian regime", ranking lowest of the nine ASEAN nations included in the study. Prominent civil society advocates, human rights defenders, political and religious dissidents, and Hmong refugees have disappeared at the hands of Lao military and security forces. Ostensibly, the Constitution of Laos that was promulgated in 1991 and amended in 2003 contains most key safeguards for human rights. For example, Article 8 makes it clear that Laos is a multinational state and is committed to equality between ethnic groups. The constitution also contains provisions for gender equality, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of press and assembly. On 25 September 2009, Laos ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, nine years after signing the treaty. The stated policy objectives of both the Lao government and international donors remain focused upon achieving sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. However, the government of Laos frequently breaches its own constitution and the rule of law, since the judiciary and judges are appointed by the ruling communist party. According to independent non-profit/non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Civil Rights Defenders, along with the US State Department, serious human rights violations such as arbitrary detentions, disappearances, free speech restrictions, prison abuses and other violations are an ongoing problem. Amnesty International raised concerns about the ratification record of the Lao government on human rights standards and its lack of co-operation with the UN human rights mechanisms and legislative measures—both impact negatively upon human rights. The organisation also raised concerns in relation to freedom of expression, poor prison conditions, restrictions on freedom of religions, protection of refugees and asylum-seekers, and the death penalty. In October 1999, 30 young people were arrested for attempting to display posters calling for peaceful economic, political and social change in Laos. Five of them were arrested and subsequently sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment on charges of treason. They were to have been released by October 2009, but their whereabouts remain unknown. Later reports have contradicted this, claiming they were sentenced to 20 years in prison. In late February 2017, two of those imprisoned were finally released after 17 years. Laos and Vietnamese (SRV) troops were reported to have raped and killed four Christian Hmong women in Xiangkhouang Province in 2011, according to the US-based non-governmental public policy research organisation The Centre for Public Policy Analysis, which also said other Christian and independent Buddhist and animist believers were being persecuted. Human rights advocates including Vang Pobzeb, Kerry and Kay Danes, and others have also raised concerns about human rights violations, torture, the arrest and detention of political prisoners as well as the detention of foreign prisoners in Laos including at the infamous Phonthong Prison in Vientiane. According to estimates, around 300,000 people fled to Thailand as a consequence of governmental repressions. Amongst them, 100,000 Hmongs—30% of the entire Hmong population—and 90% of all of Lao intellectuals, specialists, and officials. Moreover, 130,000 deaths can be attributed to the civil war. Laos is an origin country for sexually trafficked persons. A number of citizens, primarily women and girls from all ethnic groups and foreigners, have been victims of sex trafficking in Laos. Economy The Lao economy depends on investment and trade with its neighbours, Thailand, Vietnam, and, especially in the north, China. Pakxe has also experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and Vietnam. In 2009, despite the fact that the government is still officially communist, the Obama administration in the US declared Laos was no longer a Marxist–Leninist state and lifted bans on Laotian companies receiving financing from the US Export-Import Bank. In 2016, China was the biggest foreign investor in Laos's economy, having invested in US$5.395 billion since 1989, according to Laos Ministry of Planning and Investment's 1989–2014 report. Thailand (invested US$4.489 billion) and Vietnam (invested US$3.108 billion) are the second and third largest investors respectively. The economy receives development aid from the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, and other international sources; and also foreign direct investment for development of the society, industry, hydropower and mining (most notably of copper and gold). Subsistence agriculture still accounts for half of the GDP and provides 80% of employment. Only 4% of the country is arable land and a mere 0.3% used as permanent crop land, the lowest percentage in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The irrigated areas under cultivation account for only 28% of the total area under cultivation which, in turn, represents only 12% of all of the agricultural land in 2012. Rice dominates agriculture, with about 80% of the arable land area used for growing rice. Approximately 77% of Lao farm households are self-sufficient in rice. Laos may have the greatest number of rice varieties in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The Lao government has been working with the International Rice Research Institute of the Philippines to collect seed samples of each of the thousands of rice varieties found in Laos. Laos is rich in mineral resources and imports petroleum and gas. Metallurgy is an important industry, and the government hopes to attract foreign investment to develop the substantial deposits of coal, gold, bauxite, tin, copper, and other valuable metals. The mining industry of Laos has received prominent attention with foreign direct investments. This sector has made significant contributions to the economic condition of Laos. More than 540 mineral deposits of gold, copper, zinc, lead and other minerals have been identified, explored and mined. In addition, the country's plentiful water resources and mountainous terrain enable it to produce and export large quantities of hydroelectric energy. Of the potential capacity of approximately 18,000 megawatts, around 8,000 megawatts have been committed for export to Thailand and Vietnam. As of 2021, despite cheap hydro power available in the country, Laos continues to also rely on fossil fuels, coal in particular, in the domestic electricity production. In 2018, the country ranked 139th on the Human Development Index (HDI), indicating medium development. According to the Global Hunger Index (2018), Laos ranks as the 36th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation(s). In 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights conducted an official visit to Laos and found that the country's top-down approach to economic growth and poverty alleviation "is all too often counterproductive, leading to impoverishment and jeopardising the rights of the poor and marginalised." The country's most widely recognised product may well be Beerlao, which in 2017 was exported to more than 20 countries worldwide. It is produced by the Lao Brewery Company. Tourism The tourism sector has grown rapidly, from 80,000 international visitors in 1990, to 1.876 million in 2010, when tourism had been expected to rise to US$1.5857 billion by 2020. In 2010, one in every 11 jobs was in the tourism sector. Export earnings from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 16% of total exports or US$270.3 million in 2010, growing in nominal terms to US$484.2 million (12.5% of the total) in 2020. The European Council on Trade and Tourism awarded the country the "World Best Tourist Destination" designation for 2013 for architecture and history. Luang Prabang and Vat Phou are both UNESCO World Heritage sites. Major festivals include Lao New Year celebrated around 13–15 April and involves a water festival similar but more subdued than that of Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. The Lao National Tourism Administration, related government agencies and the private sector are working together to realise the vision put forth in the country's National Ecotourism Strategy and Action Plan. This includes decreasing the environmental and cultural impact of tourism; increasing awareness in the importance of ethnic groups and biological diversity; providing a source of income to conserve, sustain and manage the Lao protected area network and cultural heritage sites; and emphasizing the need for tourism zoning and management plans for sites that will be developed as ecotourism destinations. Infrastructure The main international airports are Vientiane's Wattay International Airport and Luang Prabang International Airport with Pakse International Airport also having a few international flights. The national carrier is Lao Airlines. Other carriers serving the country include Bangkok Airways, Vietnam Airlines, AirAsia, Thai Airways and China Eastern Airlines. The mountainous geography of Laos had impeded Laos's ground transportation development throughout the 20th century. Its first railway line, a short 3-km long metre-gauge railway that connects southern Vientiane to Thailand, only opened in 2009. A major breakthrough occurred in December 2021, when the 414-km long standard-gauge Boten–Vientiane railway that runs from the capital Vientiane to Boten at the northern border with China, built as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, was opened. Two new lines connecting with Vietnam, namely the Vientiane–Vũng Áng and Savannakhet–Lao Bao railways, are also under planning, in line to meet the Laotian government's vision of becoming a land-linked nation. The major roads connecting to urban centres, in particular Route 13, have been significantly upgraded in recent years. Laos's first expressway, the Vientiane–Boten Expressway, parallels both Route 13 and the Boten–Vientiane railway; the first section from Vientiane to Vang Vieng was opened in 2020, with other sections under construction. However, villages far from major roads can be reached only through unpaved roads that may not be accessible year-round. There is limited external and internal telecommunication, but mobile phones have become widespread. Ninety-three percent of households have a telephone, either fixed line or mobile. Electricity is available to 93% of the population. Songthaews are used in the country for long-distance and local public transport. Water supply According to the World Bank data conducted in 2014, Laos has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets on water and sanitation regarding the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme. However, as of 2018, there are approximately 1.9 million of Lao's population who could not access an improved water supply and 2.4 million people without access to improved sanitation. Laos has made particularly noteworthy progress increasing access to sanitation. Laos's predominantly rural population makes investing in sanitation difficult. In 1990 only 8% of the rural population had access to improved sanitation. Access rose rapidly from 10 percent in 1995 to 38 percent in 2008. Between 1995 and 2008 approximately 1,232,900 more people had access to improved sanitation in rural areas. Laos's progress is notable in comparison to similar developing countries. The authorities in Laos have recently developed an innovative regulatory framework for public–private partnership contracts signed with small enterprises, in parallel with more conventional regulation of state-owned water enterprises. Demographics The term "Laotian" does not necessarily refer to the Lao language, ethnic Lao people, language or customs. It is a political term that includes the non-ethnic Lao groups within Laos and identifies them as "Laotian" because of their political citizenship. Laos has the youngest population of any country in Asia with a median age of 21.6 years. Laos's population was estimated at 7.45 million in 2020, dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Vientiane prefecture, the capital and largest city, had about 683,000 residents in 2020. Ethnicity The people of Laos are often categorised by their distribution by elevation: (lowlands, midlands and upper high lands) as this somewhat correlates with ethnic groupings. More than half of the nation's population is ethnic Lao—the principal lowland inhabitants, and the politically and culturally dominant people of Laos. The Lao belong to the Tai linguistic group who began migrating south from China in the first millennium CE. Ten percent belong to other "lowland" groups, which together with the Lao people make up the Lao Loum (lowland people). In the central and southern mountains, Mon-Khmer-speaking groups, known as Lao Theung or mid-slope Laotians, predominate. Other terms are Khmu, Khamu (Kammu) or Kha as the Lao Loum refer to them to indicate their Austroasiatic language affiliation. However, the latter is considered pejorative, meaning 'slave'. They were the indigenous inhabitants of northern Laos. Some Vietnamese, Laotian Chinese and Thai minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many left after independence in the late 1940s, many of whom relocated either to Vietnam, Hong Kong, or to France. Lao Theung constitute about 30% of the population. Hill people and minority cultures of Laos such as the Hmong, Yao (Mien) (Hmong-Mien), Dao, Shan, and several Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples have lived in isolated regions of Laos for many years. Mountain/hill tribes of mixed ethno/cultural-linguistic heritage are found in northern Laos, which include the Lua and Khmu people who are indigenous to Laos. Collectively, they are known as Lao Soung or highland Laotians. Lao Soung account for about 10% of the population. Languages The official and majority language is Lao, a language of the Tai-Kadai language family. However, only slightly more than half of the population speaks Lao natively. The remainder, particularly in rural areas, speak ethnic minority languages. The Lao alphabet, which evolved sometime between the 13th and 14th centuries, was derived from the ancient Khmer script and is very similar to Thai script. Languages like Khmu (Austroasiatic) and Hmong (Hmong-Mien) are spoken by minorities, particularly in the midland and highland areas. A number of Laotian sign languages are used in areas with high rates of congenital deafness. French is occasionally used in government and commerce. Laos is a member of the French-speaking organisation of La Francophonie. The organisation estimates that there are 173,800 French speakers in Laos (2010 est.). English, the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has become increasingly studied in recent years. Religion Sixty-six percent of Laotians were Theravada Buddhist, 1.5 percent Christian, 0.1 percent Muslim, 0.1 percent Jewish, and 32.3 percent were other or traditional (mostly practitioners of Satsana Phi) in 2010. Buddhism has long been one of the most important social forces in Laos. Theravada Buddhism has coexisted peacefully since its introduction to the country with the local polytheism. Health Male life expectancy at birth was at 62.6 years and female life expectancy was at 66.7 years in 2017. Healthy life expectancy was 54 years in 2007. Government expenditure on health is about four percent of GDP, about US$18 (PPP) in 2006. Education The adult literacy rate for women in 2017 was 62.9%; for adult men, 78.1%. In 2004 the net primary enrollment rate was 84%. The National University of Laos is the Lao state's public university. As a low-income country, Laos faces a brain-drain problem as many educated people migrate to developed countries. It is estimated that about 37% of educated Laotians live outside Laos. Laos was ranked 113th in the Global Innovation Index in 2020. Culture Theravada Buddhism is a dominant influence in Lao culture. It is evident throughout the country, expressed in language, temples and the arts and literature. Many elements of Lao culture predate Buddhism. For example, Laotian music is dominated by its national musical instrument, the khaen, a type of bamboo mouth organ that has prehistoric origins. The khaen traditionally accompanied the singer in mor lam, the dominant style of folk music. Sticky rice is a staple food and has cultural and religious significance to the Lao people. Sticky rice is generally preferred over jasmine rice, and sticky rice cultivation and production is thought to have originated in Laos. There are many traditions and rituals associated with rice production in different environments and among many ethnic groups. For example, Khammu farmers in Luang Prabang plant the rice variety khao kam in small quantities near the farm house in memory of dead parents, or at the edge of the rice field to indicate that parents are still alive. The sinh is a traditional garment worn by Lao women in daily life. It is a hand-woven silk skirt that can identify the woman who wears it in a variety of ways. Cinema Since the founding of the Lao PDR in 1975, very few films have been made in Laos. The first feature-length film made after the monarchy was abolished is Gun Voice from the Plain of Jars, directed by Somchith Pholsena in 1983, although its release was prevented by a censorship board. One of the first commercial feature-length films was Sabaidee Luang Prabang, made in 2008. The 2017 documentary feature film Blood Road was predominantly shot and produced in Laos with assistance from the Lao government, it was recognised with a News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2018. Australian filmmaker Kim Mordount's first feature film was made in Laos and features a Laotian cast speaking their native language. Entitled The Rocket, the film appeared at the 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival and won three awards at the Berlin International Film Festival. One production company's film that has succeeded to produce Lao feature films and gain international recognition is Lao New Wave Cinema's At the Horizon, directed by Anysay Keola, that was screened at the OzAsia Film Festival and Lao Art Media's Chanthaly (Lao: ຈັນທະລີ) directed by Mattie Do, which was screened at the 2013 Fantastic Fest. In September 2017, Laos submitted Dearest Sister (Lao: ນ້ອງຮັກ), Mattie Do's second feature film, to the 90th Academy Awards (or the Oscars) for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the country's first submission for the Oscars. As of 2018, Laos has three operating theatres dedicated to showing films. Festivals There are some public holidays, festivities and ceremonies in Laos. Hmong New Year (Nopejao) Bun Pha Wet Magha Puja Chinese New Year Boun Khoun Khao Boun Pimai Visakha Puja Pi Mai/Songkran(Lao New Year) Khao Phansaa Haw Khao Padap Din Awk Phansaa Bun Nam Lao National Day (2 December) Media All newspapers are published by the government, including two foreign language papers: the English-language daily Vientiane Times and the French-language weekly Le Rénovateur. Additionally, the Khao San Pathet Lao, the country's official news agency, publishes English and French versions of its eponymous paper. Laos has nine daily newspapers, 90 magazines, 43 radio stations, and 32 TV stations operating throughout the country. , Nhân Dân ('The People') and the Xinhua News Agency are the only foreign media organisations permitted to open offices in Laos—both opened bureaus in Vientiane in 2011. The Lao government controls all media channels to prevent critique of its actions. Lao citizens who have criticised the government have been subjected to enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture. Polygamy Polygamy is officially a crime in Laos, though the penalty is minor. The constitution and Family Code bar the legal recognition of polygamous marriages, stipulating that monogamy is the principal form of marriage in the country. Polygamy, however, is still customary among some Hmong people. Only 3.5% of women and 2.1% of men between the ages of 15–49 were in a polygynous union as of 2017. Sport The martial art of muay Lao, the national sport, is a form of kickboxing similar to Thailand's muay Thai, Burmese Lethwei and Cambodian Pradal Serey. Association football is the most popular sport in Laos. The Lao League is the top professional league for association football clubs in the country. Since the start of the league, Lao Army F.C. has been the most successful club with 8 titles, the highest number of championship wins. Laos has no tradition in other team sports. In 2017, the country sent a team for the first time to the team events at the Southeast Asian Games. The national basketball team competed at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games where it beat Myanmar in the eighth place game. See also Drug policy in Laos Laos Memorial Outline of Laos Energy in Laos Notes References External links Chief of State and Cabinet Members Country Profile at BBC News 1949 establishments in Laos Communist states Countries in Asia French-speaking countries and territories Landlocked countries Least developed countries Member states of ASEAN Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Current member states of the United Nations Republics Southeast Asian countries States and territories established in 1949 One-party states	[ 0.4950005114078522, 0.24041275680065155, -0.13325592875480652, 0.05336548388004303, 0.5526843070983887, 0.10224571824073792, -0.45846688747406006, 0.5587989687919617, -0.9163762331008911, 0.3129540681838989, -0.26132649183273315, -0.23489367961883545, -0.9301756024360657, -0.05313410982489...
17753	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20Laos	History of Laos	Evidence for modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of Indochina, that constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human migrants are Australo-Melanesians — associated with the Hoabinhian culture and have populated the highlands and the interior, less accessible regions of Laos and all of South-east Asia to this day. The subsequent Austroasiatic and Austronesian marine migration waves affected landlocked Laos only marginally and direct Chinese and Indian cultural contact had a greater impact on the country. The modern nation-state Laos emerged from the French Colonial Empire as an independent country in 1953. Laos exists in truncated form from the thirteenth century Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. Lan Xang existed as a unified kingdom from 1357 to 1707, divided into the three rival kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak from 1707 to 1779, fell to Siamese suzerainty from 1779 to 1893, and was reunified under the French Protectorate of Laos in 1893. The borders of the modern state of Laos were established by the French colonial government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Limitations and current state of research Archaeological exploration in Laos has been limited due to rugged and remote topography, a history of twentieth century conflicts which have left over two million tons of unexploded ordnance throughout the country, and local sensitivities to history which involve the Communist government of Laos, village authorities and rural poverty. The first archaeological explorations of Laos began with French explorers acting under the auspices of the École française d'Extrême-Orient. However, due to the Lao Civil War it is only since the 1990s that serious archaeological efforts have begun in Laos. Since 2005, one such effort, The Middle Mekong Archaeological Project (MMAP) has excavated and surveyed numerous sites along the Mekong and its tributaries around Luang Prabang in northern Laos, with the goal of investigating early human settlement of the valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Prehistory in Laos Anatomically modern human hunter-gatherer migration into Southeast Asia before 50,000 years ago has been confirmed by the fossil record of the region. These immigrants might have, to a certain extent, merged and reproduced with members of the archaic population of Homo erectus, as the 2009 fossil discoveries in the Tam Pa Ling Cave suggest. Dated to between 46,000 and 63,000 years old, it is the oldest fossil found in the region that bears modern human morphological features. Recent research also supports more accurate understanding of migration patterns of early humans, who migrated in successive waves moving west to east following the coastlines, but also used river valleys further inland and further north than previously theorized. An early tradition is discernible in the Hoabinhian, the name given to an industry and cultural continuity of stone tools and flaked cobble artifacts that appears around 10,000 BP in caves and rock shelters first described in Hòa Bình, Vietnam and later also in Laos. Neolithic Migrations The earliest inhabitants of Laos – Australo-Melanesians – were followed by members of the Austro-Asiatic language family. These earliest societies contributed to the ancestral gene pool of the upland Lao ethnicities known collectively as “Lao Theung,” with the largest ethnic groups being the Khamu of northern Laos, and the Brao and Katang in the south. Subsequent Neolithic immigration waves are considered dynamic, very complex and are intensely debated. Researchers resort to linguistic terms and argumentation for group identification and classification. Agriculture and bronze production Wet-rice and millet farming techniques were introduced from the Yangtze River valley in southern China since around 2,000 years BC. Hunting and gathering remained an important aspect of food provision; particularly in forested and mountainous inland areas. Earliest known copper and bronze production in Southeast Asia has been confirmed at the site of Ban Chiang in modern north-east Thailand and among the Phung Nguyen culture of northern Vietnam since around 2000 BCE. The Plain of Jars From the 8th century BCE to as late as the 2nd century CE an inland trading society emerged on the Xieng Khouang Plateau, around the megalithic site called the Plain of Jars. The Plain, nominated to the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 is still being cleared from unexploded ordnance since 1998. The jars are stone sarcophagi, date from the early Iron Age (500 BCE to 800 CE) and contained evidence of human remains, burial goods and ceramics. Some sites contain more than 250 individual jars. The tallest jars are more than in height. Little is known about the culture which produced and used the jars. The jars and the existence of iron ore in the region suggest that the creators of the site engaged in profitable overland trade. Early Indianised kingdoms Funan kingdom The first indigenous kingdom to emerge in Indochina was referred to in Chinese histories as the Kingdom of Funan and encompassed an area of modern Cambodia, and the coasts of southern Vietnam and southern Thailand since the 1st century CE. Funan was an Indianised kingdom, that had incorporated central aspects of Indian institutions, religion, statecraft, administration, culture, epigraphy, writing and architecture and engaged in profitable Indian Ocean trade. Champa kingdom By the 2nd century CE, Austronesian settlers had established an Indianised kingdom known as Champa along modern central Vietnam. The Cham people established the first settlements near modern Champasak in Laos. Funan expanded and incorporated the Champasak region by the sixth century CE, when it was replaced by its successor polity Chenla. Chenla occupied large areas of modern-day Laos as it accounts for the earliest kingdom on Laotian soil. Chenla kingdom The capital of early Chenla was Shrestapura which was located in the vicinity of Champasak and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wat Phu. Wat Phu is a vast temple complex in southern Laos which combined natural surroundings with ornate sandstone structures, which were maintained and embellished by the Chenla peoples until 900 CE, and were subsequently rediscovered and embellished by the Khmer in the 10th century. By the 8th century CE Chenla had divided into “Land Chenla” located in Laos, and “Water Chenla” founded by Mahendravarman near Sambor Prei Kuk in Cambodia. Land Chenla was known to the Chinese as “Po Lou” or “Wen Dan” and dispatched a trade mission to the Tang Dynasty court in 717 CE. Water Chenla, would come under repeated attack from Champa, the Medang sea kingdoms in Indonesia based in Java, and finally pirates. From the instability the Khmer emerged. Khmer kingdom Under the king Jayavarman II the Khmer Empire began to take shape in the 9th century CE. Dvaravati city state kingdoms In the area which is modern northern and central Laos, and northeast Thailand the Mon people established their own kingdoms during the 8th century CE, outside the reach of the contracting Chenla kingdoms. By the 6th century in the Chao Phraya River Valley, Mon peoples had coalesced to create the Dvaravati kingdoms. In the north, Haripunjaya (Lamphun) emerged as a rival power to the Dvaravati. By the 8th century the Mon had pushed north to create city states, known as “muang,” in Fa Daet (northeast Thailand), Sri Gotapura (Sikhottabong) near modern Tha Khek, Laos, Muang Sua (Luang Prabang), and Chantaburi (Vientiane). In the 8th century CE, Sri Gotapura (Sikhottabong) was the strongest of these early city states, and controlled trade throughout the middle Mekong region. The city states were loosely bound politically, but were culturally similar and introduced Therevada Buddhism from Sri Lankan missionaries throughout the region. The Tai Migrations There have been many theories proposing the origin of the Tai peoples — of which the Lao are a subgroup — including an association of the Tai people with the Kingdom of Nanzhao that has been proven to be invalid. The Chinese Han Dynasty chronicles of the southern military campaigns provide the first written accounts of Tai–Kadai speaking peoples who inhabited the areas of modern Yunnan China and Guangxi. James R. Chamberlain (2016) proposes that Tai-Kadai (Kra-Dai) language family was formed as early as the 12th century BCE in the middle Yangtze basin, coinciding roughly with the establishment of the Chu and the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. Following the southward migrations of Kra and Hlai (Rei/Li) peoples around the 8th century BCE, the Be-Tai people started to break away to the east coast in the present-day Zhejiang, in the 6th century BCE, forming the state of Yue. After the destruction of the state of Yue by Chu army around 333 BCE, Yue people (Be-Tai) began to migrate southwards along the east coast of China to what are now Guangxi, Guizhou and northern Vietnam, forming Luo Yue (Central-Southwestern Tai) and Xi Ou (Northern Tai). The Tai peoples, from Guangxi and northern Vietnam began moving south – and westwards in the first millennium CE, eventually spreading across the whole of mainland Southeast Asia. Based on layers of Chinese loanwords in proto-Southwestern Tai and other historical evidence, Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2014) proposes that the southwestward migration of Tai-speaking tribes from the modern Guangxi and northern Vietnam to the mainland of Southeast Asia must have taken place sometime between the 8th–10th centuries. Tai speaking tribes migrated southwestward along the rivers and over the lower passes into Southeast Asia, perhaps prompted by the Chinese expansion and suppression. Chinese historical texts record that, in 722, 400,000 'Lao' rose in revolt behind a leader who declared himself the king of Nanyue in Guangdong. After the 722 revolt, some 60,000 were beheaded. In 726, after the suppression of a rebellion by a 'Lao' leader in the present-day Guangxi, over 30,000 rebels were captured and beheaded. In 756, another revolt attracted 200,000 followers and lasted four years. In the 860s, many local people in what is now north Vietnam sided with attackers from Nanchao, and in the aftermath some 30,000 of them were beheaded. In the 1040s, a powerful matriarch-shamaness by the name of A Nong, her chiefly husband, and their son, Nong Zhigao, raised a revolt, took Nanning, besieged Guangzhou for fifty seven days, and slew the commanders of five Chinese armies sent against them before they were defeated, and many of their leaders were killed. As a result of these three bloody centuries, the Tai began to migrate southwestward. A 2016 mitochondrial genome mapping of Thai and Lao populations supports the idea that both ethnicities originate from the Tai–Kadai (TK) language family. The Tai, from their new home in Southeast Asia, were influenced by the Khmer and the Mon and most importantly Buddhist India. The Tai kingdom of Lanna was founded in 1259 (in the north of modern Thailand). The Sukhothai Kingdom was founded in 1279 (in modern Thailand) and expanded eastward to take the city of Chantaburi and renamed it to Vieng Chan Vieng Kham (modern Vientiane) and northward to the city of Muang Sua which was taken in 1271 and renamed the city to Xieng Dong Xieng Thong or “City of Flame Trees beside the River Dong,” (modern Luang Prabang, Laos). The Tai peoples had firmly established control in areas to the northeast of the declining Khmer Empire. Following the death of the Sukhothai king Ram Khamhaeng, and internal disputes within the kingdom of Lanna, both Vieng Chan Vieng Kham (Vientiane) and Xieng Dong Xieng Thong (Luang Prabang) were independent city-states until the founding of the kingdom of Lan Xang in 1354. The Sukhothai Kingdom and later the Ayutthaya kingdom were established and "...conquered the Khmers of the upper and central Menam valley and greatly extended their territory." The Legend of Khun Borom The history of the Tai migrations into Laos were preserved in myth and legends. The Nithan Khun Borom or "Story of Khun Borom" recalls the origin myths of the Lao, and follows the exploits of his seven sons to found the Tai kingdoms of Southeast Asia. The myths also recorded the laws of Khun Borom, which set the basis of common law and identity among the Lao. Among the Khamu the exploits of their folk hero Thao Hung are recounted in the Thao Hung Thao Cheuang epic, which dramatizes the struggles of the indigenous peoples with the influx of Tai during the migration period. In later centuries the Lao themselves would preserve the legend in written form, becoming one of the great literary treasures of Laos and one of the few depictions of life in Southeast Asia prior to Therevada Buddhism and Tai cultural influence. Lan Xang (1353–1707) Lan Xang (1353–1707) was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Also known as the "Land of a million elephants under the white parasol" the kingdom's name alludes to the power of the kingship and formidable war machine of the early kingdom. The founding of Lan Xang was recorded in 1353, after a series of conquests by Fa Ngum. From 1353 to 1560 the capital of Lan Xang was Luang Prabang (known alternately as Muang Sua and Xieng Dong Xieng Thong). Under successive kings the kingdom expanded its sphere of influence over an area that now incorporates all of modern Laos, the Sipsong Chu Tai of Vietnam, Sipsong Panna of Southern China, Khorat Plateau region of Thailand, and the Stung Treng region of Northern Cambodia. Lan Xang existed as a sovereign kingdom for over 350 years. The first serious foreign invasion came from the Dai Viet in 1479, which was defeated, though leaving the capital of Luang Prabang largely destroyed. The first half of the sixteenth century allowed for the power, prestige and cultural influence of the kingdom to be restored under a series of strong kings (see Souvanna Balang, Vixun, Photisarath). In the 1540s a series of succession disputes in the neighboring Kingdom of Lanna, created a regional rivalry between Burma, Ayutthaya and Lan Xang. In 1540, Lan Xang defeated an incursion from Ayutthaya. By 1545 the Kingdom of Lanna was attacked by the Burmese and then Ayutthaya. Lan Xang entered into an alliance with Lanna, and aided in the defense of the kingdom. In 1547, the kingdoms of Lan Xang and Lanna were briefly unified under Photisarath of Lan Xang and his son Setthathirath in Lanna. Setthathirath would go on to become the king of Lan Xang on the death of his father, and become one of the greatest kings of Lan Xang. The Burmese Toungoo Dynasty began a series of expansions during the late 1550s which culminated under King Bayinnaung. Setthathirath moved the capital of Lan Xang from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in 1560, to better defend against the threat of Burma and to more ably administer the central and southern provinces. Bayinnaung subjugated the Kingdom of Lanna and went on to destroy the kingdom and city of Ayutthaya in 1564. King Setthathirath fought two successful guerilla campaigns against the Burmese invasions, leaving Lan Xang the only independent Tai kingdom until his death in 1572, while on campaign against the Khmer. The Burmese succeeded with the third invasion of Lan Xang around 1573, and Lan Xang became a vassal state until 1591 when the son of Setthathirath, Nokeo Koumane, was able to successfully reassert independence. Lan Xang recovered and reached the apex of its political and economic power during the seventeenth century under King Sourigna Vongsa, who became the longest reigning of Lan Xang's monarchs (1637–1694). In the 1640s the first European explorers to leave a detailed account of the kingdom arrived looking to establish trade and secure Christian converts, both were ultimately largely unsuccessful. Upon the death of Sourigna Vongsa a succession dispute erupted and the kingdom of Lan Xang was ultimately divided into constituent kingdoms in 1707. Regional Kingdoms (1707–1779) Beginning in 1707 the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang was partitioned into regional kingdoms of Vientiane, Luang Prabang and later Champasak (1713). The Kingdom of Vientiane was the strongest of the three, with Vientiane extending influence across the Khorat Plateau (now part of modern Thailand) and conflicting with the Kingdom of Luang Prabang for control of the Xieng Khouang Plateau (on the border of modern Vietnam). The Kingdom of Luang Prabang was the first of the regional kingdoms to emerge in 1707, when King Xai Ong Hue of Lan Xang was challenged by Kingkitsarat, the grandson of Sourigna Vongsa. Xai Ong Hue and his family had sought asylum in Vietnam when they were exiled during the reign of Sourigna Vongsa. Xai Ong Hue gained the support of the Vietnamese Emperor Le Duy Hiep in exchange for recognition of Vietnamese suzerainty over Lan Xang. At the head of a Vietnamese army Xai Ong Hue attacked Vientiane and executed King Nantharat another claimant to the throne. In response Sourigna Vongsa’s grandson Kingkitsarat rebelled and moved with his own army from the Sipsong Panna toward Luang Prabang. Kingkitsarat then moved south to challenge Xai Ong Hue in Vientiane. Xai Ong Hue then turned toward the Kingdom of Ayutthaya for support, and an army was dispatched which rather than supporting Xai Ong Hue arbitrated the division between Luang Prabang and Vientiane. In 1713, the southern Lao nobility continued the rebellion against Xai Ong Hue under Nokasad, a nephew of Sourigna Vongsa, and the Kingdom of Champasak emerged. The Kingdom of Champasak comprised the area south of the Xe Bang River as far as Stung Treng together with the areas of the lower Mun and Chi rivers on the Khorat Plateau. Although less populous than either Luang Prabang or Vientiane, Champasak occupied an important position for regional power and international trade via the Mekong River. Throughout the 1760s and 1770s the kingdoms of Siam and Burma competed against each other in a bitter armed rivalry, and sought out alliances with the Lao kingdoms to strengthen their relative positions by adding to their own forces and denying them to their enemy. As a result, the use of competing alliances would further militarize the conflict between the northerly Lao kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Between the two major Lao kingdoms if an alliance with one was sought by either Burma or Siam, the other would tend to support the remaining side. The network of alliances shifted with the political and military landscape throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century. Siam and Suzerainty (1779–1893) By 1779 General Taksin had driven the Burmese from Siam, had overrun the Lao Kingdoms of Champasak and Vientiane, and forced Luang Prabang to accept vassalage (Luang Prabang had aided Siam during the siege of Vientiane). Traditional power relationships in Southeast Asia followed the Mandala model, warfare was waged to secure population centers for corvee labor, control regional trade, and confirm religious and secular authority by controlling potent Buddhist symbols (white elephants, important stupas, temples, and Buddha images). To legitimize the Thonburi Dynasty, General Taksin seized the Emerald Buddha and Phra Bang images from Vientiane. Taksin also demanded that the ruling elites of the Lao kingdoms and their royal families pledge vassalage to Siam in order to retain their regional autonomy in accordance with the Mandala model. In the traditional Mandala model, vassal kings retained their power to raise tax, discipline their own vassals, inflict capital punishment, and appoint their own officials. Only matters of war, and succession required approval from the suzerain. Vassals were also expected to provide annual tribute of gold and silver (traditionally modeled into trees), provide tax and tax in-kind, raise support armies in time of war, and provide corvee labor for state projects. However, by 1782 Taksin had been deposed and Rama I was king of Siam, and began a series of reforms which fundamentally altered the traditional Mandala. Many of the reforms took place to more closely administer and assimilate the Khorat Plateau(or Isan) which was traditionally and culturally part of the Lao kingdoms’ tributary networks. In 1778, only Nakhon Ratchasima was a tributary of Siam, yet by the end of the reign of Rama I Sisaket, Ubon, Roi Et, Yasothon, Khon Khaen, and Kalasin paid tribute directly to Bangkok. According to Thai records, by 1826 (less than fifty years) the number of towns and cities in Isan had grown from 13 to 35. Forced population transfers from Lao areas were further reinforced by corvee labor projects and increased taxes. Siam required labor to help rebuild from repeated Burmese invasions, and growing sea trade. Increasing the productivity and population living on the Khorat Plateau provided the labor and material access to strengthen Siam. Siribunnyasan the last independent king of Vientiane had died by 1780, and his sons Nanthasen, Inthavong, and Anouvong had been taken to Bangkok as prisoners during the sack of Vientiane in 1779. The sons would become successive kings of Vientiane (under Siamese suzerainty), beginning with Nanthasen in 1781. Nanthasen was allowed to return to Vientiane with the Phra Bang, the palladium of Lan Xang, the Emerald Buddha remained in Bangkok and became an important symbol to the Lao of their captivity. One of Nanthasen's first acts was to seize Chao Somphu a Phuan prince from Xieng Khouang who had entered into a tributary relationship with Vietnam, and released him only when it was agreed that Xieng Khouang would also acknowledge Vientiane as suzerain. In 1791, Anuruttha was confirmed by Rama I as king of Luang Prabang. By 1792 Nanthasen had convinced Rama I that Anuruttha was secretly dealing with the Burmese, and Siam allowed Nanthasen to lead an army and besiege and capture Luang Prabang. Anuruttha was sent to Bangkok as a prisoner, and only through diplomatic exchanges facilitated by China, was Anuruttha released in 1795. Soon after Anuruttha's release it was alleged that Nanthasen had been plotting with the governor of Nakhon Phanom to rebel against Siam. Rama I ordered the immediate arrest of Nanthasen, and soon after he died in captivity. Inthavong (1795–1804) became the next king of Vientiane, and dispatched armies to aide Siam against Burmese invasions in 1797 and 1802, and to capture the Sipsong Chau Tai (with his brother Anouvong as general). Anouvong’s Hero and Lao Nationalism Anouvong is a symbolic and controversial figure even today, his short lived rebellion against Siam from 1826–1829 ultimately proved futile and led to the total annihilation of Vientiane as a kingdom and a city, yet among the Lao he remains a potent symbol of unyielding defiance and national identity. Thai and Vietnamese histories record that Anouvong rebelled as the result of personal insult suffered at the funeral of Rama II in Bangkok. Yet, the Anouvong Rebellion lasted three years and engulfed the whole of the Khorat Plateau for more complex reasons. The history of forced population transfers, corvee labor projects, loss of national symbols and prestige (most notably the Emerald Buddha) formed the backdrop to specific actions taken by Rama III to directly annex the Isan region. In 1812, Siam and Vietnam were at odds over the succession of the Cambodian king, the Vietnamese gained the upper hand with their chosen successor and Siam compensated itself by annexing territory on the Dangrek Mountains and along the Mekong River in Stung Treng. As a result, Lao international trade along the Mekong was effectively blockaded, and heavy duties were imposed on Lao merchants who were viewed suspiciously by Siam for their trade with both the Cambodians and Vietnamese. In 1819, a rebellion in Champasak provided Anouvong with opportunity, and he dispatched an army under his son Nyo who managed to suppress the conflict. In exchange Anouvong successfully made the case that his son be crowned as king in Champasak, which was confirmed by Bangkok. Anouvong had successfully expanded his influence throughout Vientiane, Isan, Xieng Khouang and now Champasak. Anouvong dispatched a number of diplomatic missions to Luang Prabang, which were viewed suspiciously in light of his growing regional influence. By 1825 Rama II had died, and Rama III was consolidating his position against prince Mongkut (Rama IV). In the ensuing power struggle before the accession of Rama III one of Anouvong’s grandsons was killed. When Anouvong arrived for the funerary services, he made several requests of the king Rama III which were dismissed including the return of his sister who had been captured in 1779, and Lao families which had been relocated to Saraburi near Bangkok. Before returning to Vientiane, Anouvong’s son Ngau, the crown prince, was forced to perform manual labor during which he was beaten. Early in his reign, Rama III ordered a census of all peoples on the Khorat Plateau, the census involved the forced tattooing of each villager’s census number and name of their village. The aim of the policy was to more tightly administer Lao territories from Bangkok and was facilitated by the nobility Siam had installed in the newly created cities throughout the region. Popular resentment against the forced tattooing and increased taxes became casus belli for rebellion. Toward the end of 1826 Anouvong was making military preparations for armed rebellion. Anouvong’s strategy involved three objectives, first was to repatriate all ethnic Lao living in Siam to the right bank of the Mekong and execute any Siamese engaged in the tattooing of Lao, the second objective was to consolidate Lao power by forging an alliance with Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang, the third and final goal was to gain international support from either the Vietnamese, Chinese, Burmese or British. In January hostilities commenced, and the Lao armies were sent from Vientiane to capture Nakhon Ratchasima, Kalasin, and Lomsak. From Champasak forces rushed to take Ubon and Suvannaphum, while pursuing a scorched-earth policy ensuring the Lao time to retreat. Anouvong’s forces pushed south eventually to Saraburi to free the Lao there, but the flood of refugees pushing north slowed the armies’ retreat. Anouvong also severely underestimated the Siamese arms stockpile, which under the terms of Burney Treaty had provided Siam with weaponry from the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. A Lao defense was staged at Nong Bua Lamphu the traditional Lao stronghold in the Isan, but the Siamese emerged victorious and leveled the city. The Siamese pushed north to take Vientiane and Anouvong fled southeast to the border with Vietnam. By 1828 Anouvong had been captured, tortured and sent to Bangkok with his family to die in a cage. Rama III ordered Chao Bodin to return and level the city of Vientiane, and forcibly move the entire population of the former Lao capital to the Isan region. Aftermath and Vietnamese Intervention Following the Anouvong Rebellion Siam and Vietnam were increasingly at odds over control of the Indochinese Peninsula. In 1831, Emperor Minh Mang sent Vietnamese troops to seize Xieng Khouang and annexed the area as the province of Tran Ninh. Also in 1831 and again in 1833 King Mantha Tourath sent a tributary mission to the Vietnamese, which were quietly ignored so as not to antagonize the Siamese further. In 1893, these tributary missions from Luang Prabang were used by the French as part of a legal argument for all the territories on the east bank of the Mekong. In late 1831 Siam and Vietnam had a series of wars (Siamese-Vietnamese War 1831–1834, and Siamese-Vietnamese War 1841–1845) over control of Xieng Khouang and Cambodia. In the aftermath of Vientiane's destruction the Siamese divided the Lao lands into three administrative regions. In the north, the king of Luang Prabang and a small Siamese garrison controlled Luang Prabang, the Sipsong Panna, and Sipsong Chao Tai. The central region was administered from Nong Khai and extended to the borders of Tran Ninh (Xieng Khouang) and south to Champasak. The southern regions were controlled from Champasak and extended to areas bordering Cochin China and Cambodia. From the 1830s through the 1860s small rebellions took place across Lao lands and the Khorat Plateau, but they lacked both the scale and coordination of the Anouvong Rebellion. Importantly, at the end of each rebellion Siamese troops would return to their administrative centers, and no Lao region was allowed to have a buildup of force which could have been used in rebellion. Population Transfers and Slavery Population transfers of ethnic Lao to Siam began in 1779 with Siamese suzerainty. Artisans and members of the court were forcibly moved to Saraburi near Bangkok, and several thousand farmers and peasant who were transported throughout Siam to Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, and Nakhon Chaisi in the southwest and to Prachinburi and Chanthaburi in the southeast. However, massive deportations estimated between 100,000 and 300,000 people began following the defeat of King Anouvong in 1828, and would continue until the 1870s. From 1828 to 1830 over 66,000 people were forcibly relocated from Vientiane. In 1834, the first of several relocations of the Phuan areas of Xieng Khouang began, transferring more than 6,000 people. Most of those relocated were settled in the Isan region and were considered that cha loei or “war slaves” who were to serve as serfs in underpopulated areas for the Thai elite. The result changed the demographics and cultural traditions of Thailand and Laos and continues today with a five-fold disparity between the ethnic Lao living on the West Bank of the Mekong and those left in the East in what is today Laos. Although slavery existed in Lao areas before the rebellion in 1828, the defeat and subsequent removal of most ethnic Lao left a depopulated and vulnerable position for the remaining people of the East Bank of the Mekong. Lao Theung hill tribes which had little involvement in the 1828 rebellion bore the brunt of organized slave raids into Laos and became known collectively and pejoratively in Thai and Lao as kha or “slaves.” Lao Theung were hunted or sold into slavery frequent organized raiding parties from Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam, Laos and China. Larger tribes of Lao Theung, such as the Brao, would conduct slave raids against weaker tribes. The raids continued throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century, a Siamese military campaign in Laos in 1876 was described by a British observer as having been "transformed into slave-hunting raids on a large scale." The population transfers and slave raids ameliorated toward the end of the nineteenth century when European observers and anti-slavery groups made their presence increasingly difficult for the Bangkok elite. In 1880, both slave raiding and trading became illegal, although debt slavery would persist until 1905 by decree of King Chulalongkorn. The French would use the existence of slavery in Siam as one of the major professed motivations for establishing a Protectorate of Laos during the 1880s and 1890s. The Haw Wars In the 1840s sporadic rebellions, slave raids, and movement of refugees throughout the areas that would become modern Laos left whole regions politically and militarily weak. In China the Qing Dynasty was pushing south to incorporate hill peoples into the central administration, at first floods of refugees and later bands of rebels from the Taiping Rebellion pushed into Lao lands. The rebel groups became known by their banners and included the Yellow (or Striped) Flags, Red Flags and the Black Flags. The bandit groups rampaged throughout the countryside, with little response from Siam. During the early and mid-nineteenth century the first Lao Sung including the Hmong, Mien, Yao and other Sino-Tibetan groups began settling in the higher elevations of Phongsali province and northeast Laos. The influx of immigration was facilitated by the same political weakness which had given shelter to the Haw bandits and left large depopulated areas throughout Laos. By the 1860s the first French explorers were pushing north charting the path of the Mekong River, with hope of a navigable waterway to southern China. Among the early French explorers was an expedition led by Francis Garnier, who was killed during an expedition by Haw rebels in Tonkin. The French would increasingly conduct military campaigns against the Haw in both Laos and Vietnam (Tonkin) until the 1880s. Colonial period Origins of French colonialism in Laos French colonial interests in Laos began with the exploratory missions of Doudart de Lagree and Francis Garnier during the 1860s. France hoped to utilize the Mekong River as a route to southern China. Although the Mekong is unnavigable due to a number of rapids, the hope was that the river might be tamed with the help of French engineering and a combination of railways. In 1886, Britain secured the right to appoint a representative in Chiang Mai, in northern Siam. To counter British control in Burma and growing influence in Siam, that same year France sought to establish representation in Luang Prabang, and dispatched Auguste Pavie to secure French interests. Pavie and French auxiliaries arrived in Luang Prabang in 1887 in time to witness an attack on Luang Prabang by Chinese and Tai bandits who hoped to liberate the brothers of their leader Đèo Văn Trị, who were being held prisoner by the Siamese. Pavie prevented the capture of the ailing King Oun Kham by ferrying him away from the burning city to safety. The incident won the gratitude of the king, provided an opportunity for France to gain control of the Sipsong Chu Thai as part of Tonkin in French Indochina, and demonstrated the weakness of the Siamese in Laos. In 1892, Pavie became Resident Minister in Bangkok, where he encouraged a French policy which first sought to deny or ignore Siamese sovereignty over Lao territories on the east bank of the Mekong, and secondly to suppress the slavery of upland Lao Theung and population transfers of Lao Loum by the Siamese as a prelude to establishing a protectorate in Laos. Siam reacted by denying French trading interests, which by 1893 had increasingly involved military posturing and gunboat diplomacy. France and Siam would position troops to deny each other's interests, resulting in a Siamese siege of Khong Island in the south and a series of attacks on French garrisons in the north. The result was the Paknam Incident of 13 July 1893, the Franco-Siamese War (1893) and the ultimate recognition of French territorial claims in Laos. The French were aware that the east-bank territories of the Mekong were "a depopulated, devastated country" - the Siamese forced population transfers following the Anouvong Rebellion had left only a fifth of the original population on the east bank, the majority of Lao Loum and Phuan peoples had been resettled to the areas around the Khorat Plateau. Territorial gains in 1893 were only a springboard to secure French control of the Mekong, to deny Siam as much territorial control as possible by acquiring the Mekong's west-bank territories including the Khorat Plateau, and by negotiating stable borders with British Burma along the former territories which paid tribute to the Kingdom of Luang Prabang. France settled a treaty with China in 1895, gaining control of Luang Namtha and Phongsali. British control of the Shan States and French control of the upper Mekong increased tensions between the colonial rivals. A joint commission completed its work in 1896 and the city of Muang Sing was gained by France; in exchange France recognized Siamese sovereignty over the areas of the Chaophraya River basin. However, the issue of Siamese control over the Khorat Plateau, which was ethnically and historically Lao, was left open for the French, as was Siamese control over the Malay Peninsula which favored British interests. Political events in Europe would shape French Indochinese policy however, and between 1896 and 1904 a new political party took power in Paris which viewed Britain much more as an ally than as a colonial rival. In 1904, Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale, which developed ultimately into part of the alliance against Germany and Austria-Hungary that fought the First World War in 1914–1918. The Entente Cordiale agreement established respective spheres of influence in Southeast Asia, although French territorial demands would continue until 1907 in Cambodia. 1893-1939 The French Protectorate of Laos established two (and at times three) administrative regions governed from Vietnam in 1893. It was not until 1899 that Laos became centrally administered by a single Resident Superieur based in Savannakhet, and later in Vientiane. The French chose to establish Vientiane as the colonial capital for two reasons, firstly it was more centrally located between the central provinces and Luang Prabang, and secondly the French were aware of the symbolic importance of rebuilding the former capital of the Lan Xang Kingdom which the Siamese had destroyed. As part of French Indochina both Laos and Cambodia were seen as a source of raw materials and labor for the more important holdings in Vietnam. French colonial presence in Laos was light; the Resident Superieur was responsible for all colonial administration from taxation to justice and public works. The French maintained a military presence in the colonial capital under the Garde Indigene made up of Vietnamese soldiers under a French commander. In important provincial cities like Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse there would be an assistant resident, police, paymaster, postmaster, schoolteacher and a doctor. Vietnamese filled most upper level and mid-level positions within the bureaucracy, with Lao being employed as junior clerks, translators, kitchen staff and general laborers. Villages remained under the traditional authority of the local headmen or chao muang. Throughout the colonial administration in Laos the French presence never amounted to more than a few thousand Europeans. The French concentrated on the development of infrastructure, the abolition of slavery and indentured servitude (although corvee labor was still in effect), trade including opium production, and most importantly the collection of taxes. Under the French rule, the Vietnamese were encouraged to migrate to Laos, which was seen by the French colonists as a rational solution to a practical problem within the confines of an Indochina-wide colonial space. By 1943, the Vietnamese population stood at nearly 40,000, forming the majority in the largest cities of Laos and enjoying the right to elect their own leaders. As a result, 53% of the population of Vientiane, 85% of Thakhek and 62% of Pakse were Vietnamese, with only an exception of Luang Phrabang where the population was predominantly Lao. As late as 1945, the French even drew up an ambitious plan to move massive Vietnamese population to three key areas, i.e. the Vientiane Plain, Savannakhet region, Bolaven Plateau, which was only discarded by Japanese invasion of Indochina. Otherwise, according to Martin Stuart-Fox, the Lao might well have lost control over their own country. The Lao response to French colonialism was mixed, although the French were viewed as preferable to the Siamese by the nobility, the majority of Lao Loum, Lao Theung, and Lao Sung were burdened by regressive taxes and demands for corvee labor to establish colonial outposts. The first serious resistance to the French colonial presence began in southern Laos, as the Holy Man’s Rebellion led by Ong Keo, and would last until 1910. The rebellion began in 1901 when a French commissioner in Salavan was attempting to pacify Lao Theung tribes for taxation and corvee labor, Ong Keo provoked anti-French sentiment and in response the French burned a local temple. The commissioner and his troops were massacred and a general uprising began throughout the Bolaven Plateau. Ong Keo would be killed by French forces, but for several years his harassment and protests gained popularity in the southern Laos. It was not until the movement spread to the Khorat Plateau and threatened to become an international incident involving Siam that several French columns of the Garde Indigene converged to put down the rebellion. In the north Tai Lu groups from the areas around Phongsali and Muang Sing also began to rebel against French attempts at taxation and corvee labor. In 1914, the Tai Lu king had fled to the Chinese portions of the Sipsong Panna, where he began a two-year guerilla campaign against the French in northern Laos, which required three military expeditions to suppress and resulted in direct French control of Muang Sing. In northeast Laos, Chinese and Lao Theung rebelled against French attempts to tax the opium trade which resulted in another rebellion from 1914 to 1917. By 1915 most of northeast Laos was controlled by Chinese and Lao Theung rebels. The French dispatched the largest military presence yet to Laos which included 160 French officers and 2500 Vietnamese troops divided in two columns. The French drove the Chinese led rebels across the Chinese border and placed Phongsali under direct colonial control. Yet northeastern Laos was still not entirely pacified and a Hmong shaman named Pa Chay Vue attempted to establish a Hmong homeland through a rebellion (pejoratively termed the Madman's War) which lasted from 1919 to 1921. By 1920 the majority of French Laos was at peace and colonial order had been established. In 1928, the first school for the training of Lao civil servants was established, and allowed for the upward mobility of Lao to fill positions occupied by the Vietnamese. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s France attempted to implement Western, particularly French, education, modern healthcare and medicine, and public works with mixed success. The budget for colonial Laos was secondary to Hanoi, and the worldwide Great Depression further restricted funds. It was also in the 1920s and 1930s that the first strings of Lao nationalist identity emerged due to the work of Prince Phetsarath Rattanavongsa and the French Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Orient to restore ancient monuments, temples, and conduct general research into Lao history, literature, art and architecture. French interest in indigenous history served a dual purpose in Laos it reinforced the image of the colonial mission as protection against Siamese domination, and was also a legitimate route for scholarship. World War II Developing Lao national identity gained importance in 1938 with the rise of the ultranationalist prime minister Phibunsongkhram in Bangkok. Phibunsongkhram renamed Siam to Thailand, a name change which was part of a larger political movement to unify all Tai peoples under the central Thai of Bangkok. The French viewed these developments with alarm, but the Vichy Government was diverted by events in Europe and World War II. Despite a non-aggression treaty signed in June 1940, Thailand took advantage of the French position and initiated the Franco-Thai War. The war concluded unfavorably for Lao interests with the Treaty of Tokyo, and the loss of trans-Mekong territories of Xainyaburi and part of Champasak. The result was Lao distrust of the French and the first overtly national cultural movement in Laos, which was in the odd position of having limited French support. Charles Rochet the French Director of Public Education in Vientiane, and Lao intellectuals led by Nyuy Aphai and Katay Don Sasorith began the Movement for National Renovation. Yet the wider impact of World War II had little effect on Laos until February 1945, when a detachment from the Japanese Imperial Army moved into Xieng Khouang. The Japanese preempted that the Vichy administration of French Indochina under Admiral Decoux would be replaced by a representative of the Free French loyal to Charles DeGaulle and initiated Operation Meigo ("bright moon"). The Japanese succeeded in the internment of the French living in Vietnam and Cambodia, but in the remote areas of Laos the French were able with the help of the Lao and Garde Indigene to establish jungle bases which were supplied by British airdrops from Burma. However, French control in Laos had been sidelined. Lao Issara and Independence 1945 was a watershed year in the history of Laos, under Japanese pressure King Sisavangvong declared independence in April. The move allowed the various independence movements in Laos including the Lao Seri and Lao Pen Lao to coalesce into the Lao Issara or “Free Lao” movement which was led by Prince Phetsarath and opposed the return of Laos to the French. The Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 emboldened pro-French factions and Prince Phetsarath was dismissed by King Sisavangvong. Undeterred Prince Phetsarath staged a coup in September and placed the royal family in Luang Prabang under house arrest. On 12 October 1945 the Lao Issara government was declared under the civil administration of Prince Phetsarath. In the next six months the French rallied against the Lao Issara and were able to reassert control over Indochina in April 1946. The Lao Issara government fled to Thailand, where they maintained opposition to the French until 1949, when the group split over questions regarding relations with the Vietminh and the communist Pathet Lao was formed. With the Lao Issara in exile, in August 1946 France instituted a constitutional monarchy in Laos headed by King Sisavangvong, and Thailand agreed to return territories seized during the Franco-Thai War in exchange for a representation at the United Nations. The Franco-Lao General Convention of 1949 provided most members of the Lao Issara with a negotiated amnesty and sought appeasement by establishing the Kingdom of Laos a quasi-independent constitutional monarchy within the French Union. In 1950, additional powers were granted to the Royal Lao Government including training and assistance for a national army. On October 22, 1953, the Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association transferred remaining French powers to the independent Royal Lao Government. By 1954 the defeat at Dien Bien Phu brought eight years of fighting with the Vietminh, during the First Indochinese War, to an end and France abandoned all claims to the colonies of Indochina. The Kingdom of Laos and the Lao Civil War (1953–1975) Elections were held in 1955, and the first coalition government, led by Prince Souvanna Phouma, was formed in 1957. The coalition government collapsed in 1958. In 1960, Captain Kong Le staged a coup when the cabinet was away at the royal capital of Luang Prabang and demanded reformation of a neutralist government. The second coalition government, once again led by Souvanna Phouma, was not successful in holding power. Rightist forces under General Phoumi Nosavan drove out the neutralist government from power later that same year. The North Vietnamese invaded Laos between 1958–1959 to create the Ho Chi Minh Trail. A second Geneva conference, held in 1961–62, provided for the independence and neutrality of Laos, but the agreement meant little in reality and the war soon resumed. Growing North Vietnamese military presence in the country increasingly drew Laos into the Second Indochina War (1954–1975). As a result, for nearly a decade, eastern Laos was subjected to some of the heaviest bombing in the history of warfare , as the U.S. sought to destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail that passed through Laos and defeat the Communist forces. The North Vietnamese also heavily backed the Pathet Lao and repeatedly invaded Laos. The government and army of Laos were backed by the USA during the conflict. The United States trained both regular Royal Lao forces and irregular forces among whom many were the Hmong and other ethnic minorities. Shortly after the Paris Peace Accords led to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam, a ceasefire between the Pathet Lao and the government led to a new coalition government. However, North Vietnam never withdrew from Laos and the Pathet Lao remained little more than a proxy army for Vietnamese interests. After the fall of South Vietnam to communist forces in April 1975, the Pathet Lao with the backing of North Vietnam were able to take total power with little resistance. On December 2, 1975, the king was forced to abdicate his throne and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established. Around 300,000 people out of a total population of 3 million left Laos by crossing the border into Thailand following the end of the civil war. The Lao People's Democratic Republic (1975–present) The new communist government led by Kaysone Phomvihane imposed centralized economic decision-making and incarcerated many members of the previous government and military in "re-education camps" which also included the Hmongs. While nominally independent, the communist government was for many years effectively little more than a puppet regime run from Vietnam. The government's policies prompted about 10 percent of the Lao population to leave the country. Laos depended heavily on Soviet aid channeled through Vietnam up until the Soviet collapse in 1991. In the 1990s the communist party gave up centralised management of the economy but still has a monopoly of political power. Notes References Citations Works cited Further reading Conboy, K. The War in Laos 1960–75 (Osprey, 1989) Dommen, A. J. Conflict in Laos (Praeger, 1964) Gunn, G. Rebellion in Laos: Peasant and Politics in a Colonial Backwater (Westview, 1990) Kremmer, C. Bamboo Palace: Discovering the Lost Dynasty of Laos (HarperCollins, 2003) Pholsena, Vatthana. Post-war Laos: The politics of culture, history and identity (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006). Stuart-Fox, Martin. "The French in Laos, 1887–1945." Modern Asian Studies (1995) 29#1 pp: 111–139. Stuart-Fox, Martin. A history of Laos (Cambridge University Press, 1997) Stuart-Fox, M. (Ed.) Contemporary Laos (U of Queensland Press, 1982) External links Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts – an online library of historical Lao manuscripts and related background information Laos Travel Guide History of Laos Laos	[ 0.4278036952018738, 0.3845411539077759, -0.5264199376106262, -0.1761160045862198, 0.4594210088253021, 0.1933765560388565, 0.07468759268522263, 0.5976946353912354, -1.003883957862854, -0.18322132527828217, 0.1471351534128189, -0.24440674483776093, -0.5394582152366638, 0.10624472796916962, ...
17754	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography%20of%20Laos	Geography of Laos	Laos is an independent republic, and the only landlocked nation in Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam. It covers 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula and it is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Vietnam. About seventy percent of its geographic area is made up of mountain ranges, highlands, plateaux, and rivers cut through. Its location has often made it a buffer state between more powerful neighboring states, as well as a crossroads for trade and communication. Topography Most of the western border of Laos is demarcated by the Mekong river, which is an important artery for transportation. The Dong Falls at the southern end of the country prevent access to the sea, but cargo boats travel along the entire length of the Mekong in Laos during most of the year. Smaller power boats and pirogues provide an important means of transportation on many of the tributaries of the Mekong. The Mekong has thus not been an obstacle but a facilitator for communication, and the similarities between Laos and northeast Thai society—same people, almost same language—reflect the close contact that has existed across the river for centuries. Also, many Laotians living in the Mekong Valley have relatives and friends in Thailand. Prior to the twentieth century, Laotian kingdoms and principalities encompassed areas on both sides of the Mekong, and Thai control in the late nineteenth century extended to the left bank. Although the Mekong was established as a border by French colonial forces, travel from one side to the other has been significantly limited only since the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR, or Laos) in 1975. The eastern border with Vietnam extends for 2,130 kilometres, mostly along the crest of the Annamite Chain, and serves as a physical barrier between the Chinese-influenced culture of Vietnam and the Indianized states of Laos and Thailand. These mountains are sparsely populated by tribal minorities who traditionally have not acknowledged the border with Vietnam any more than lowland Lao have been constrained by the 1,754-kilometre Mekong River border with Thailand. Thus, ethnic minority populations are found on both the Laotian and Vietnamese sides of the frontier. Because of their relative isolation, contact between these groups and lowland Lao has been mostly confined to trading. Laos shares its short—only 541 kilometres—southern border with Cambodia, and ancient Khmer ruins at Wat Pho and other southern locations attest to the long history of contact between the Lao and the Khmer. In the north, the country is bounded by a mountainous 423-kilometre border with China and shares the 235-kilometre-long Mekong River border with Myanmar. The topography of Laos is largely mountainous, with the Annamite Range in the northeast and east and the Luang Prabang Range in the northwest, among other ranges typically characterized by steep terrain. Elevations are typically above 500 metres with narrow river valleys and low agricultural potential. This mountainous landscape extends across most of the north of the country, except for the plain of Vientiane and the Plain of Jars in the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The southern "panhandle" of the country contains large level areas in Savannakhét and Champasak provinces that are well suited for extensive paddy rice cultivation and livestock raising. Much of Khammouan Province and the eastern part of all the southern provinces are mountainous. Together, the alluvial plains and terraces of the Mekong and its tributaries cover only about 20% of the land area. Only about 4% of the total land area is classified as arable. The forested land area has declined significantly since the 1970s as a result of commercial logging and expanded swidden, or slash-and-burn, farming. Climate Laos has a tropical climate, with a pronounced rainy season from May through October, a cool dry season from November through February, and a hot dry season in March and April. Generally, monsoons occur at the same time across the country, although that time may vary significantly from one year to the next. Rainfall varies regionally, with the highest amounts— annually—recorded on the Bolovens Plateau in Champasak Province. City rainfall stations have recorded that Savannakhét averages of rain annually; Vientiane receives about , and Louangphrabang (Luang Prabang) receives about . Rainfall is not always adequate for rice cultivation and the relatively high average precipitation conceals years where rainfall may be only half or less of the norm, causing significant declines in rice yields. Such droughts often are regional, leaving production in other parts of the country unaffected. The average temperatures in January, coolest month, are, Luang Prabang 20.5 °C (minimum 0.8 °C), Vientiane 20.3 °C (minimum 3.9 °C), and Pakse 23.9 °C (minimum 8.2 °C); the average temperatures for April, usually the hottest month, are, Luang Prabang 28.1 °C (maximum 44.8 °C), Vientiane 39.4 °C). Temperature does vary according to the altitude, there is an average drop of 1.7 °C for every 1000 feet (or 300 meters). Temperatures in the upland plateux and in the mountains are considered lower than on the plains around Vientiane. Laos is highly vulnerable to the effects of global climate change; nearly all provinces in Laos are at high risks from climate change. Agriculture Agriculture in Laos is the most important sector of the economy. Five million out of 23,680,000 hectares of Laos's total land area is suitable for cultivation, and seventeen percent of the land area, between 850,000 and 900,000 hectares, was cultivated as of the early 1990s. Rice is the main crop grown during the rainy season. Agricultural cultivation is possible during with varying weather on a small portion of land area apart from the Vientiane plain and the lowlands along the Mekong Valley. These cultivated areas are situated in the valley cuts by the rivers or the plateau regions of Xieng Khouang in the North and in the Bolovens in the south. Typically there are only two ways to cultivate: either the wet-field paddy system practiced among the Lao Loum or lowland in Lao, or the swidden cultivation system practiced in the hills. Human geography The overall population density was only eighteen persons per square kilometer, and in many districts the density was fewer than ten persons per square kilometer. Population density per cultivated hectare was considerably high ranging from 3.3 to 7.8 persons per hectare. Natural resources and environmental issues The natural resources of Laos include timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, and gemstones. Laos is increasingly suffering from environmental problems, with deforestation a particularly significant issue, as expanding commercial exploitation of the forests, plans for additional hydroelectric facilities, foreign demand for wild animals and nonwood forest products for food and traditional medicines, and a growing population all create increasing pressure. The United Nations Development Programme warns: "Protecting the environment and sustainable use of natural resources in Lao PDR is vital for poverty reduction and economic growth." Area and boundaries Area: total: land: water: Area - comparative: slightly larger than Guyana slightly smaller than the United Kingdom Land boundaries: total: border countries: Myanmar , Cambodia , the People's Republic of China , Thailand , Vietnam Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mekong River highest point: Phou Bia See also National Biodiversity Conservation Areas Zomia Transport in Laos References Works cited bn:লাওস#ভূগোল	[ -0.12846003472805023, 0.10194811969995499, -0.02164570428431034, -0.17364241182804108, 0.7062619924545288, 0.25504928827285767, -0.04292827844619751, 0.7905598878860474, -0.9044855237007141, -0.36864763498306274, -0.15568974614143372, -0.6411166191101074, -0.46571242809295654, 0.1509370207...
17755	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics%20of%20Laos	Demographics of Laos	This article is about the demographic features of the population of Laos, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Laos' population was estimated at about million in , dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Vientiane Prefecture, which includes Vientiane, the capital and largest city of the country, had about 569,000 residents in 1999. The country's population density is 23.4/km2. In March 2005, the total population was 5.62 million (2.82 million females, 2.80 million males) in the 2005 census, an increase of 1.047 million since the previous 1995 census. Overview The demographic makeup of the population is uncertain as the government divides the people into three groups according to the altitude at which they live, rather than according to ethnic origin. The lowland Lao (Lao Loum) account for 68%, upland Lao (Lao Theung) for 22%, and the highland Lao (Lao Soung, including the Hmong and the Yao) for 9%. Ethnic Lao, the principal lowland inhabitants and politically and culturally dominant group, make up the bulk of the Lao Loum and around 60% of the total population. The Lao are a branch of the Tai people who began migrating southward from China in the first millennium A.D. In the north, there are mountain tribes of Miao–Yao, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman Hmong, Yao, Akha, and Lahu who migrated into the region in the 19th century. Collectively, they are known as Lao Sung or highland Lao. In the central and southern mountains, Mon–Khmer tribes known as Lao Theung or upland Lao, predominate. Some Chinese minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many Laotian Chinese were forced to leave during 1975-80 when Laos followed the anti-Chinese policy of Vietnam. The predominant religion is Theravada Buddhism. Animism is common among the mountain tribes. Buddhism and spirit worship coexist easily. There is a small number of Christians and Muslims. The official and dominant language is Lao, a tonal language of the Tai linguistic group. Midslope and highland Lao speak tribal languages. French, once common in government and commerce, has declined in use, while knowledge of English — the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — has increased in recent years. With a median age of 19.3, Laos has the youngest population of Asia. Population According to , the population of Laos increased from 1.7 million in 1950 to million in . Until the year 2000 the proportion of children 0–14 years of age was over 40% of the total population. Due to decreasing fertility rates this proportion decreased to 34.5% in 2010. The proportion of elderly people is still very low (3.9%), although the proportion doubled between 1950 and 2010. Structure of the population Structure of the population (March 2005; census): Structure of the population (01.03.2015) (Census) : Vital statistics UN estimates Births and deaths Fertility and Births Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Total fertility rate and other related statistics by province, as of 2011-2012: Life expectancy Source: UN World Population Prospects Ethnic groups Specialists are largely in agreement as to the ethnolinguistic classification of the ethnic groups of Laos. For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognized 149 ethnic groups within 47 main ethnicities. whereas the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) recently revised the list to include 49 ethnicities consisting of over 160 ethnic groups. The term ethnic minorities is used by some to classify the non-Lao ethnic groups, while the term indigenous peoples is not used by the Lao PDR. These 160 ethnic groups speak a total of 82 distinct living languages. Lao 53.2%, Khmu 11%, Hmong 9.2%, and other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26.6% (2015 census). CIA World Factbook demographic statistics The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Sex ratio: at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 62.39 years (2011 est.) male: 60.50 years (2011 est.) female: 64.36 years (2011 est.) Nationality: noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian Religions: Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5% (see Religion in Laos) Languages: Lao (official), French, English, Vietnamese, and various ethnic languages Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 73% male: 83% female: 63% (2005 est.) See also List of ethnic groups in Laos References Sources CIA World Factbook Lao Statistics Bureau pt:Laos#Demografia	[ 0.40382611751556396, 0.588903546333313, -0.5711340308189392, -0.4821845293045044, -0.06291956454515457, 0.658840537071228, 0.3433016538619995, 0.7127593755722046, -1.3878580331802368, -0.17100444436073303, -0.25303295254707336, -0.38785919547080994, -0.8337852954864502, -0.0912917032837867...
17756	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics%20of%20Laos	Politics of Laos	The politics of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (commonly known as Laos) takes place in the framework of a one-party parliamentary socialist republic. The only legal political party is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). The head of state is President Thongloun Sisoulith, who is also the LPRP general secretary, making him the supreme leader of Laos. The head of government is Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh. Government policies are determined by the party through the all-powerful nine-member Politburo and the 49-member Central Committee. Important government decisions are vetted by the Council of Ministers. The FY 2000 central government budget plan called for revenue of $180 million and expenditures of $289 million, including capital expenditures of $202 million. Political culture Laos' first, French-written and monarchical constitution was promulgated on May 11, 1947 and declared it to be an independent state within the French Union. The revised constitution of May 11, 1957, omitted reference to the French Union, though close educational, health and technical ties with the former colonial power persisted. The 1957 document was abrogated on December 3, 1975, when a communist state was proclaimed. A new constitution was adopted in 1991 and enshrined a "leading role" for the LPRP. The following year, elections were held for a new 85-seat National Assembly with members elected by secret ballot to five-year terms. This National Assembly approves all new laws, although the executive branch retains authority to issue binding decrees. The most recent election took place in March 2016. Insurgency In the early 2000s, bomb attacks against the government occurred, coupled with small exchanges of fire, across Laos. A variety of different groups have claimed responsibility including the Committee for Independence and Democracy in Laos and Lao Citizens Movement for Democracy. Executive branch \|President \|Bounnhang Vorachith \|Lao People's Revolutionary Party \|20 April 2016 \|- \|Prime Minister \|Thongloun Sisoulith \|Lao People's Revolutionary Party \|20 April 2016 \|} The president is elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term. The prime minister and the Council of Ministers are appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term. There are also four deputy prime ministers. As of a cabinet reshuffle on June 8, 2006, they are Maj. Gen. Douangchay Phichit (also defense minister), Thongloun Sisoulith (also foreign minister), Somsavat Lengsavad and Maj. Gen. Asang Laoly. The 28-member cabinet also includes Onechanh Thammavong as labour minister, Chaleuan Yapaoher as justice minister, Nam Vignaket as industry and commerce minister, Sitaheng Latsaphone as agriculture minister and Sommad Pholsena as transport minister. Legislative branch The National Assembly (Sapha Heng Xat) has 164 members (158 are LPRP, 6 independents), elected for a five-year term. Political parties and elections Parliamentary elections \|General Secretary \|Bounnhang Vorachith \|Lao People's Revolutionary Party \|22 January 2016 \|} Judicial branch Supreme People's Court According to Article 91 of the Constitution of the Lao PDR, the People's Court of the Lao People's Democratic Republic "consists of the Supreme People's Court, the local people's court and the military court as defined by law". The Supreme People's Court of the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established in 1982. As outlined in Article 92, the People's Supreme Court of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is the highest judicial body and "examines the judgments and judgments of the people's courts and military courts". There has been indications that women have served on the provincial courts. For instance, in 2018, it was announced that Napaporn Phong Thai was appointed as the President of Court Zone 2, Xayaburi Province. Per Article 93, the President, Vice President and the judges are appointed, transferred or removed by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly. Although the Standing Committee has decisive authority, the same article does state that President does have some power regarding the appointment, transferal or removal of the Vice President. In 1983, Oun Nue Phimmasone became the first President of the People's Supreme Court. Currently, the President is Khamphanh Sithidampha. Public Prosecutor's Office The Public Prosecutor's Office was established in 1990. Article 99 of the Constitution of Laos states that the office has the responsibility of "monitor[ing] the observance and implementation of laws throughout the country, protect[ing] the rights of the state and society...[and] the legitimate interests of the people, and prosecut[ing] detainees in accordance with the law". The office is organized in the following three ways: Supreme People's Prosecutor The Office of the Supreme People's Prosecutor The Office of the Public Prosecutor at the appellate level The Chief of the Supreme Public Prosecutor directs all the activities of the Public Prosecutor at every level. All activities are reported to the National Assembly. Local People's Procuratorate Provincial and city public prosecutors' offices District, Municipal Public Prosecutor's Office (district or municipal public prosecutors are called local public prosecutors) Military Prosecutor's Office Currently, the Supreme People's Prosecutor is Khamsane Souvong. Laos Bar Association As for attorneys in general, according to a 2016 article, there are 188 lawyers in Laos who are members of the Laos Bar Association. However, most of the attorneys have entered the government sector and do not practice law—seldom giving thought to practicing in the private sector. While there is evidence of female lawyers in Laos, there is no indication as to how women have fared in the legal field. Pursuant to the Resolution of the National Assembly No. 024 / NA (On the Adoption of the Law on Lawyers; November 9, 2016), requirements include possessing a baccalaureate degree, being a Laos citizen and passing an examination (separate requirements exist for foreign lawyers). Although the Laos Bar Association issues certificates to graduates of the legal profession, it is the Ministry of Justice of Laos that sets the legal training standards. Government Agriculture and Forestry Lien Thikeo Education and Sports Sengdeuan Lachanthaboun Energy and Mines Khammany Inthilath Finance Lien Thikeo Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith Home Affairs (Interior) Khammanh Sounvileuth Industry and Commerce Khemmani Pholsena Information, Culture and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdara Justice Saysi Santhivong Labour and Social Welfare Khampheng Saysompheng Minister of Post, Telecom and Communications Thansamay Kommasith National Defense Chansamone Chanyalath Natural Resources and Environment Sommath Pholsena Planning and Investment Souphanh Keomixay Ministry of Health Bounkong Syhavong Public Security Brigadier General Somkeo Silavong Public Works and Transport Bounchanh Sinthavong Presidential Palace Office Phongsavath Boupha, Minister to Presidential Palace's Office PM Office Sonxay Siphandone, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office, Head of the government Secretariat committee Bounpheng Mounphosay, Minister to Prime Minister's Office, Head the Public Administration and Civil Service Authority (PACSA) Bounheuang Douangphachanh, Minister to the Prime Minister's office, Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Reduction Dr Douangsavath Souphanouvong, Minister to Prime Minister's Office Dr Bounteim Phitsamai, Minister to Prime Minister's Office Khempheng Pholsena, Minister to Prime Minister's Office Phupeth Khamphounvong, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Somphao Phaysith, Governor of Lao PDR Central Bank National Assembly (April 2016) President of the National Assembly: Pany Yathotou (re-elected) Vice-President of the National Assembly: Somphanh Phengkhammy (re-elected), Sengnouan Sayalath, Bounpone Bouttanavong and Sisay Leudethmounsone Lao People's Revolutionary Party Politburo Lt. Gen. Choummaly Sayasone, General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister (since 23 December 2010) Colonel Bounnhang Vorachith, Vice President of Lao People's Democratic Republic, Standing Member of the Secretariat Pany Yathotou, Chairwoman of the National Assembly (since 23 December 2010) Dr Thongloun Sisoulith, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Head of the Party's National External Relations Committee Maj. Gen. Asang Laoly, Deputy Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Douangchay Phichith, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence (died in 2014) Somsavat Lengsavad, Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Bounthong Chitmany, Chairman of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Inspection, Chairman of the State Inspection Committee. Dr Bounpone Bouttanavong, Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Phankham Viphavanh, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Sports Secretariat Lt. Gen. Choummaly Sayasone Bounnhang Vorachit (PCC Standing Secretariat) Dr Bounthong Chitmany, Chairman of the Commission for Inspection, Chairman of the State Inspection Committee Dr Bounpone Bouttanavong, Head of Lao Party Central Office, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Thongban Seng-aphone, Minister of Public Security (died in 2014) Chansy Phosikham, Head of the Party's Central Organisation Commission Soukan Mahalath, Secretary of the Vientiane City Party Committee, Vientiane Mayor (died in 2014) Lt. Gen. Sengnuan Xayalath, Acting Minister of National Defense (June 2014) Cheuang Sombounkhanh, Head of the Central Propaganda and Training Commission (died in 2014) Inspection Committee of the Party Central Committee Bounthong Chitmany (President) Thongsy Ouanlasy Sinay Mienglavanh Khamsuan Chanthavong Thongsouk Bounyavong Singphet Bounsavatthiphan Bounpone Sangsomsak Party Central Committee Advisor: Khamtai Siphandon Administrative divisions Laos is divided into 17 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* ( nakhon luang vientiane, singular and plural): Attapu, Bokeo, Borikhamxay, Champassack, Houaphan, Khammouane, Louang Namtha, Luangphabang, Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Saravane, Savannakhet, Sekong, Vientiane*, Vientiane, Sayaboury, Xaisomboun, and Xieng Khouang. References Laos bn:লাওস#রাজনীতি	[ 0.7249017953872681, 0.3642567992210388, -0.24678896367549896, -0.156354621052742, 0.18383248150348663, -0.14621546864509583, -0.25134262442588806, 0.551055908203125, -0.977634608745575, 0.016412047669291496, -0.3129640221595764, 0.2048981636762619, -0.6418471932411194, -0.07720770686864853...
17757	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy%20of%20Laos	Economy of Laos	The economy of Laos is a lower-middle income developing economy. Being one of the socialist states (along with China, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam), the Lao economic model resembles the Chinese socialist market and/or Vietnamese socialist-oriented market economies by combining high degrees of state ownership with an openness to foreign direct investment and private ownership in a predominantly market-based framework. Following independence, Laos established a Soviet-type planned economy. As part of economic restructuring that aimed to integrate Laos into the globalized world market, Laos underwent reforms called the New Economic Mechanism in 1986 that decentralized government control and encouraged private enterprise alongside state-owned enterprises. Currently, Laos ranks amongst the fastest growing economies in the world, averaging 8% a year in GDP growth. It is also forecasted that Laos will sustain at least 7% growth through 2019 as well. The key goals for the government include pursuing poverty reduction and education for all children, also with its initiative to become a "land-linked" country. This is showcased through the ongoing construction of the nearly $6 billion high-speed rail from Kunming, China to Vientiane, Laos. The country opened a stock exchange, the Lao Securities Exchange in 2011, and has become a rising regional player in its role as a hydroelectric power supplier to neighbors such as China, Vietnam and Thailand. In the current period, the economy of Laos relies largely on foreign direct investment to attract the capital from overseas to support its continual economic rigorousness. The long-term goal of the Lao economy as enshrined in the constitution is economic development in the direction of socialism by creating the material conditions to move towards socialism. Despite rapid growth, Laos remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. A landlocked country, it has inadequate infrastructure and a largely unskilled work force. Nonetheless, Laos continues to attract foreign investment as it integrates with the larger ASEAN Economic Community, due to its plentiful, young workforce, and favorable tax treatment. Laos has significant hydropower resources with large-scale hydropower being widespread; the country has also significant potential for small-scale hydro and solar power. Excessive production of electricity from hydropower is exported to other countries; despite this, the country continues to also rely on coal in its electricity production. Economic history With the overthrow of the Laotian monarchy in 1975, the Pathet Lao's communist government instituted a planned economy of the Soviet-style command economy system, replacing the private sector with state enterprises and cooperatives; centralizing investment, production, trade, and pricing; and creating barriers to internal and foreign trade. Seizure of power by the Communists also resulted in a withdrawal of mainly American external investment, on which the country had become greatly dependent as a result of the destruction of domestic capital during the Indochina Wars. This changed in 1986 when the government announced its "new economic mechanism" (NEM). Initially timid, the NEM was expanded to include a range of reforms designed to create conditions conducive to private sector activity. Prices set by market forces replaced government-determined prices. Farmers were permitted to own land and sell crops on the open market. State firms were granted increased decision-making authority and lost most of their subsidies and pricing advantages. The government set the exchange rate close to real market levels, lifted trade barriers, replaced import barriers with tariffs, and gave private sector firms direct access to imports and credit. With the growing unrest in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, in 1989, the PDR Lao government reached agreement with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on additional reforms. The government agreed to introduce fiscal and monetary reform, promote private enterprise and foreign investment, privatize or close state firms, and strengthen banking. It also agreed to maintain a market exchange rate, reduce tariffs, and eliminate unneeded trade regulations. A liberal foreign investment code was also enacted. Enforcement of intellectual property rights is governed by two Prime Minister's Decrees dating from 1995 and 2002. In an attempt to stimulate further international commerce, the PDR Lao government accepted Australian aid to build a bridge across the Mekong River to Thailand. The "Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge", between Vientiane Prefecture and Nong Khai Province, Thailand, was inaugurated in April 1994. Although the bridge has created additional commerce, the Lao government does not yet permit a completely free flow of traffic across the span. These reforms led to economic growth and an increased availability of goods. However, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, coupled with the Lao government's own mismanagement of the economy, resulted in spiraling inflation and a steep depreciation of the kip, which lost 87% of its value from June 1997 to June 1999. Tighter monetary policies brought about greater macroeconomic stability in FY 2000, and monthly inflation, which had averaged about 10% during the first half of FY 1999, dropped to an average 1% over the same period in FY 2000. In FY 1999, foreign grants and loans accounted for more than 20% of GDP and more than 75% of public investment. The economy continues to be dominated by an unproductive agricultural sector operating largely outside the money economy and in which the public sector continues to play a dominant role. Still, a number of private enterprises have been founded in industries such as handicrafts, beer, coffee and tourism. With United Nations, Japanese, and German support, a formerly state-controlled chamber of commerce aims to promote private business: the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its provincial subdivisions. The latest round of state-owned enterprise reform in 2019 aims to ensure that the remaining SOEs become profitable ventures that are efficient and sustainable sources of income for the national treasury. These measures include closing unproductive enterprises, ensure businesses in which the state has investments are reformed into profitable ventures, and reduce corruption. As of 2019, the State-Owned Enterprise Development and Insurance Department of the Lao government has 183 enterprises under its supervision. Agriculture Agriculture, mostly subsistence rice farming, dominates the economy, employing an estimated 85% of the population and producing 51% of GDP. Domestic savings are low, forcing Laos to rely heavily on foreign assistance and concessional loans as investment sources for economic development. Agricultural products include sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry. In mid-2012, the Laos government issued a four-year moratorium for new mining projects. The reasons cited were environmental and social concerns relating to the use of agricultural land. In 2019 Laos produced: 3.4 million tons of rice; 3.1 million tons of roots and tubers; 2.2 million tons of cassava; 1.9 million tons of sugarcane; 1.5 million tons of vegetable; 1.0 million tons of banana; 717 thousand tons of maize; 196 thousand tons of watermelon; 165 thousand tons of coffee; 154 thousand tons of taro; 114 thousand tons of sweet potato; 56 thousand tons of tobacco; 53 thousand tons of peanut; 46 thousand tons of orange; 43 thousand tons of pineapple; 23 thousand tons of papaya; 8.6 thousand tons of tea; In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products. Tourism Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the economy and plays a vital role in the Lao economy. The government opened Laos to the world in the 1990s, and continues to be a popular destination amongst tourists. Other statistics GDP: purchasing power parity - $14.2 billion (2009 est.) Exchange rate - kips (LAK) per US dollar - 8,556.56 (2009), 8,760.69 (2008), 9,658 (2007), 10,235 (2006), 10,820 (2005) Oil - production: 0 bbl/d (2009 est.) Oil - consumption: (2009 est.) Oil - exports: 0 bbl/d (2007 est.) Oil - imports: (2007 est.) Of the total foreign investment in Laos in 2012, the mining industry got 27% followed by electricity generation which has 25% share. References External links Rice research in Lao PDR Rice Biodiversity in Lao PDR http://www.sdc.org.vn/index.php?navID=21483&langID=1] Economy of Laos	[ 0.5621713399887085, 0.7218870520591736, -0.27312833070755005, -0.1632908284664154, 0.3644547760486603, 0.3347649574279785, -0.16240930557250977, 1.3863657712936401, -1.1943777799606323, -0.15740181505680084, -0.2434464544057846, -0.022290177643299103, -0.8897395133972168, 0.143769815564155...
17758	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass%20media%20in%20Laos	Mass media in Laos	Mass media in Laos are based on a network of telephone lines and radiotelephone communications in remote areas, as well as mobile phone infrastructure. The system is not well-developed. Infrastructure and statistics In 1997 there were 25,000 telephone lines in use, and in 2007 there were 850,000 mobile cellular subscribers. Laos is served by a Russian Intersputnik satellite that covers the Indian Ocean region. In 1998 there were 12 AM stations and one FM station. In 1997 there were an estimated 730,000 radios in the country. In 2011 Laos had three television channels. In 2000 there was one Internet service provider, by 2002 serving about 10,000 users. The top-level domain for Laos is .la. See also Telephone numbers in Laos Internet in Laos References Laos Laos	[ 0.7259730696678162, 0.6260301470756531, -0.4440346360206604, -0.3659115731716156, -0.18222445249557495, 0.18742157518863678, -0.015610630623996258, 0.6648885607719421, -1.0116995573043823, -0.1256626397371292, -0.5866130590438843, 0.22969771921634674, -0.5792439579963684, -0.01480408385396...
17759	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport%20in%20Laos	Transport in Laos	This article concerns the systems of transportation in Laos. Laos is a country in Asia, which possesses a number of modern transportation systems, including several highways and a number of airports. As a landlocked country, Laos possesses no ports or harbours on the sea, and the difficulty of navigation on the Mekong means that this is also not a significant transport route. Geography and transport limits Because of its mountainous topography and lack of development, Laos has few reliable transportation routes. This inaccessibility has historically limited the ability of any government to maintain a presence in areas distant from the national or provincial capitals and has limited interchange and communication among villages and ethnic groups. The Mekong and Nam Ou are the only natural channels suitable for large-draft boat transportation, and from December through May low water limits the size of the draft that may be used over many routes. Laotians in lowland villages located on the banks of smaller rivers have traditionally traveled in pirogues for fishing, trading, and visiting up and down the river for limited distances. Otherwise, travel is by ox-cart over level terrain or by foot. The steep mountains and lack of roads have caused upland ethnic groups to rely entirely on pack baskets and horse packing for transportation. The road system is not extensive. A rudimentary network begun under French colonial rule and continued from the 1950s has provided an important means of increased intervillage communication, movement of market goods, and a focus for new settlements. As of mid-1994, travel in most areas was difficult and expensive, and most Laotians traveled only limited distances, if at all. As a result of ongoing improvements in the road system started during the early 1990s, it is expected that in the future villagers will more easily be able to seek medical care, send children to schools at district centers, and work outside the village. Rail Laos has two railway lines: the standard gauge Boten–Vientiane railway spanning northern and central Laos, and a shorter metre gauge spur line connecting Thanaleng with the Thai railway network. Rail transport has not played a significant part in Laos's transport sector, since the country largely lacks the required infrastructure, though that is expected to change after the opening of the Boten–Vientiane railway. Highways In Laos, there are of roadway, of which are paved, leaving unpaved. Right-hand traffic (RHT) is observed in Laos. Laos constructed a new highway in 2007 connecting Savannakhet to the Vietnamese border at Lao Bao, with funding from the Japanese government. This has greatly improved transport across Laos. This highway can be traversed in a few hours, while in 2002 the trip took over nine hours. Laos is connected across the Mekong River to Thailand by First and Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridges. Vientiane is linked to Nong Khai by the First Friendship Bridge. The Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge began construction in March 2009 linking Nakhon Phanom Province in northeastern Thailand and Khammouane Province in Laos. It was completed on 11 November 2011. Laos opened a highway connection to Kunming in April 2008. The Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge opened to the public on 11 December 2013 linking Kunming to Bokeo, Laos and Chiang Rai. It reduces travel time to five hours. Expressway On 20 December 2020, the Vientiane–Vang Vieng Expressway, the first expressway in Laos, was completed. Construction began at the end of 2018 and was initially scheduled to finish in 2021. The road, which includes twin tunnels almost 900 metres long through Phoupha Mountain, shortens the route by 43 km as compared with the existing Route No 13. The expressway toll is 550 kip per kilometre, or about 62,000 kip for a one-way trip between Vientiane and Vang Vieng. The Vientiane-Vang Vieng expressway is the first section of a planned expressway from Vientiane through the northern provinces to Boten in Luang Namtha Province, which borders China. National Route list Route 1 Rantouy, Phongsaly (China)-Attapeu (Cambodia) Route 2 Thai Chang border-Muang Ngeun border Route 3 Nateuy-Ban Houayxay (Thailand) Route 4 Luang prabang-Kenethao Route 5 Tha Heua-Xaysomboun (Vietnam) Route 7 Phou Khoun-Namcan border Route 8 Vienkham-Laksao-Namphao border Route 9 Savannakhet-Lao bao (Vietnam) Route 10 Vientiane-Bankeun-Phonhone Route 11 Vientiane-Paklay Route 12 Thakhek-Mụ Giạ Pass(Vietnam) Route 13 Boten (China)-Vientiane-Veunkham(Cambodia) Route 14 Pakse-Champasak town-Cambodia border Route 15 Napong-Salavan-Lalay border Route 16 Chongmek-Pakse-Paxong-xekong-Namgiang border Route 17 Luang Namtha-Muang Sing-Xieng Kok (Myanmar) Route 18 Thang Beng-Attapeu-Phukuea border Route 19 Ban Pakha Kao-Boun Neua-Phongsali-Hatsa Route 20 Pakse-Salavan Water transport About of navigable water routes exist in Laos, primarily the Mekong and its tributaries. There are an additional of water routes, which is sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than . Laos has an ocean-going merchant marine consisting of one cargo ship of . Pipelines Laos has of pipelines for the transport of petroleum products. Airports Laos possesses 52 airports, of which nine have paved runways. Of the airports with paved runways, Wattay International Airport in Vientiane has a runway length of . Of the remainder, four have runways to length, and a further four have lengths between and . Of the airports without unpaved runways, one has a runway length of more than . Seventeen have runway lengths between and , leaving 25 with a lengths below . See also Laos Lao Airlines Vientiane Railway stations in Laos References External links UN Map of Laos Map of railways in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam – does not show Thailand or China	[ 0.1940067857503891, 0.5466609597206116, -0.43403172492980957, 0.06934582442045212, 0.12573543190956116, 0.73768150806427, 0.25191164016723633, 0.9445419907569885, -1.2791032791137695, -0.586020827293396, -0.01724907010793686, -0.23994682729244232, -0.6237237453460693, -0.108152836561203, ...
17760	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao%20People%27s%20Armed%20Forces	Lao People's Armed Forces	The Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF; ) is the armed forces of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the institution of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, who are charged with protecting the country. Leadership Commander-in-chief: Thongloun Sisoulith (General Secretary and President) Defense Minister: General Chansamone Chanyalath Chief of General Staff: major General Khamlieng Outhakaysone Active forces The army of 29,100 is equipped with 30 main battle tanks. The army marine section, equipped with 16 patrol craft, has 600 personnel. The air force, with 3,500 personnel, is equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and 24 combat aircraft (no longer in service). Militia self-defence forces number approximately 100,000 organised for local defence. The small arms utilised mostly by the Laotian Army are the Soviet AKM assault rifle, PKM machine gun, Makarov PM pistol, and the RPD light machine gun. History Until 1975, the Royal Lao Armed Forces were the armed forces of the Kingdom of Laos. Serving one of the world's least developed countries, the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) is small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced. Its mission focus is border and internal security, primarily in internal suppression of Laotian dissident and opposition groups. This includes the suppression of the 1999 Lao Students Movement of Democracy demonstrations in Vientiane, and in countering ethnic Hmong insurgent groups and other groups of Laotian and Hmong people opposing the one-party Marxist-Leninist LPRP government and the support it receives from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Together with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the government, the Lao People's Army (LPA) is the third pillar of state machinery, and as such is expected to suppress political and civil unrest and similar national emergencies faced by the government in Vientiane. The LPA also has reportedly upgraded skills to respond to avian influenza outbreaks. At present, there is no major perceived external threat to the state and the LPA maintains very strong ties with the neighbouring Vietnamese military (2008). According to some journalists, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), humanitarian and human rights organisations, the Lao People's Army has repeatedly engaged in egregious human rights violations and the practice of corruption in Laos. The LPAF and its military intelligence play a major role in the arrest, imprisonment and torture of foreign prisoners in Vientiane's notorious Phonthong Prison and the communist Lao gulag system where Australians Kerry and Kay Danes were imprisoned and where civic activist Sombath Somphone may be imprisoned following his arrest in December 2012. In 2013, attacks by the Lao People's Army against the Hmong people intensified, with soldiers killing four unarmed Hmong school teachers in addition to engaging in other human rights abuses according to the Lao Human Rights Council, the Centre for Public Policy Analysis and others. Equipment Tanks, armored vehicles and trucks Artillery Air defense Weapons Mortars 81mm 82mm M1938 mortar 120mm: M-43 M2 4.2 inch mortar See also Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force Military ranks of the Lao People's Armed Forces References External links The AMR Regional Air Force Directory 2011 Military of Laos 1975 establishments in Laos bn:লাওসের সামরিক বাহিনী	[ 0.7317888140678406, 0.5629155039787292, -0.2721434533596039, -0.6916716694831848, 0.14587604999542236, 0.24845780432224274, -0.5607861876487732, 0.23798508942127228, -0.9350998401641846, 0.27115920186042786, -0.600655734539032, 0.5752599239349365, -0.4626444876194, -0.6050569415092468, -...
17761	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign%20relations%20of%20Laos	Foreign relations of Laos	The foreign relations of Laos, internationally designated by its official name as the Lao People's Democratic Republic, after the takeover by the Pathet Lao in December 1975, were characterized by a hostile posture toward the West, with the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic aligning itself with the Soviet bloc, maintaining close ties with the Soviet Union and depending heavily on the Soviets for most of its foreign assistance. Laos also maintained a "special relationship" with Vietnam and formalized a 1977 treaty of friendship and cooperation that created tensions with China. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and with Vietnam's decreased ability to provide assistance, Laos has sought to improve relations with its regional neighbors and has emerged from international isolation through improved and expanded relations with other nations such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey, Australia, France, Japan, and Sweden. Trade relations with the United States were normalized in 2004. Laos was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1997 and applied to join the World Trade Organization in 1998. In 2005 it attended the inaugural East Asia Summit. Membership of international bodies Laos is a member of the following international organizations: Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT), ASEAN, ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), ASEAN Regional Forum, Asian Development Bank, Colombo Plan, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Group of 77, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Development Association (IDA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Intelsat (nonsignatory user), and Interpol. Laos is also a member of the International Olympic Commission (IOC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mekong Group, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Pacific Alliance (as observer), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), United Nations, United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization (WHO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), World Tourism Organization, World Trade Organization (observer). Bilateral relations Diplomatic relations See also List of diplomatic missions in Laos List of diplomatic missions of Laos References	[ 0.22158221900463104, 0.5902828574180603, -0.5783527493476868, -0.37491118907928467, 0.22781746089458466, 0.14114418625831604, -0.15645481646060944, 1.0133795738220215, -0.6729193329811096, -0.035377781838178635, -0.3986075222492218, 0.06470563262701035, -0.6760257482528687, 0.1071811169385...
17762	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20Latvia	History of Latvia	The history of Latvia began around 9000 BC with the end of the last glacial period in northern Europe. Ancient Baltic peoples arrived in the area during the second millennium BC, and four distinct tribal realms in Latvia's territory were identifiable towards the end of the first millennium AD. Latvia's principal river Daugava, was at the head of an important trade route from the Baltic region through Russia into southern Europe and the Middle East that was used by the Vikings and later Nordic and German traders. In the early medieval period, the region's peoples resisted Christianisation and became subject to attack in the Northern Crusades. Latvia's capital city Riga, founded in 1201 by Germans at the mouth of the Daugava, became a strategic base in a papally-sanctioned conquest of the area by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. It was to be the first major city of the southern Baltic and, after 1282, a principal trading centre in the Hanseatic League. By the 16th century, Baltic German dominance in Terra Mariana was increasingly challenged by other powers. Due to Latvia's strategic location and prosperous trading city of Riga, its territories were a frequent focal point for conflict and conquest between at least four major powers: the State of the Teutonic Order, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and Russian Empire. The last period of external hegemony began in 1710, when control over Riga and parts of modern-day Latvia switched from Sweden to Russia during the Great Northern War. Under Russian control, Latvia was in the vanguard of industrialisation and the abolition of serfdom, so that by the end of the 19th century, it had become one of the most developed parts of the Russian Empire. The increasing social problems and rising discontent that this brought meant that Riga also played a leading role in the 1905 Russian Revolution. The First Latvian National Awakening began in the 1850s and continued to bear fruit after World War I when, after two years of struggle in the Latvian War of Independence, Latvia finally won sovereign independence, as recognised by Soviet Russia in 1920 and by the international community in 1921. The Constitution of Latvia was adopted in 1922. Political instability and effects of the Great Depression led to the May 15, 1934 coup d'état by Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis. Latvia's independence was interrupted in June–July 1940, when the country was occupied and incorporated into the Soviet Union. In 1941 it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany, then reconquered by the Soviets in 1944–45. From the mid-1940s Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic was subject to Soviet economic control and saw considerable Russification of its peoples. However, Latvian culture and infrastructures survived and, during the period of Soviet liberalisation under Mikhail Gorbachev, Latvia once again took a path towards independence, eventually succeeding in August 1991 to be recognised by Russia the following month. Since then, under restored independence, Latvia has become a member of the United Nations, entered NATO and joined the European Union. Latvia's economy suffered greatly during the Great Recession which caused the 2008 Latvian financial crisis. Worsening economic conditions and better job opportunities in Western Europe have caused a massive Latvian emigration. Prehistory The Ice Age in the territory of present-day Latvia ended 14,000–12,000 years ago. The first human settlers arrived here during the Paleolithic Age 11,000–12,000 years ago. They were hunters, who following the reindeer herds camped along the rivers and shore of the Baltic Ice Lake. As geology of the Baltic Sea indicates, the coastline then reached further inland. The earliest tools found near Salaspils date to the late Paleolithic age, circa 12,000 years ago, and belong to the Swiderian culture. During the Mesolithic Age (9000–5400 BC) permanent settlements of hunter-gatherers were established. They hunted and fished, establishing camps near rivers and lakes; 25 settlements have been found near Lake Lubāns. These people from the Kunda culture made weapons and tools from flint, antler, bone and wood. Neolithic Age, 5000–1800 BC The early Neolithic (5400–4100 BC) was marked by the beginnings of pottery-making, animal husbandry and agriculture. During the Middle Neolithic (4100–2900 BC) the local Narva culture developed in the region. Inhabitants of this age were Finnic peoples, forefathers of Livonians who are closely related to Estonians and Finns and belonged to Pit–Comb Ware culture. At the beginning of the Late Neolithic (2900–1800 BC), present-day Latvia was settled by Baltic people belonging to the Corded Ware culture. They were forefathers of Latvians, who have inhabited most of Latvian territory since the third millennium BCE. Bronze Age, 1800 BC – 500 BC Iron Age, 500 BC–1200 AD With introduction of iron tools during the early Iron Age (500 BC – 1st cent. BC) agriculture was greatly improved and emerged as the dominant economic activity. Bronze, which was traded from foreigners because Latvia has no copper or tin, was used for making a wide variety of decorative ornaments. Starting from the Middle Iron Age (400–800 AD) the local inhabitants began to form distinct ethnic and regional identities. Baltic peoples eventually became the Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians and Selonians, while Finnic peoples became the Livonians, Estonians and Vends; local chiefdoms emerged. At the beginning of the current era, the territory known today as Latvia became famous as a trading crossroads. The renowned trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks mentioned in ancient chronicles stretched from Scandinavia through Latvian territory via Daugava to the ancient Kievan Rus' and Byzantine Empire. The ancient Balts actively participated in this trading network. Across Europe, Latvia's coast was known as a place for obtaining amber and Latvia sometimes is still called Dzintarzeme (Amberland). Up to and into the Middle Ages, amber was more valuable than gold in many places. Latvian amber was known in places as far away as Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, and the Amber Road was intensively used for the transfer of amber to the south of Europe. During the Vendel Period near the town of Grobiņa a Scandinavian settlement was established, most likely, by people from Gotland. This colony which numbered a few hundred people existed sometime from 650 – 850 AD. Multiple chronicles mention that Curonians paid a tribute to Swedish kings. During the Late Iron Age (800–1200 AD) the three-field system was introduced, rye cultivation began, quality of local craftsmanship improved with the introduction of potter's wheel and better metal working techniques. Arab, Western European and Anglo-Saxon coins dating from this era have been found. A network of wooden hill-forts was built, which provided control and security over the land. Early state formations In the 10th century, the various ancient Baltic tribal chiefdoms started forming early realms. Regional tribal cultures developed in the territory of modern-day Latvia and northern Lithuania, including the Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians () and The Western Finnic Livonians, who united under their local chiefs. The largest tribe was the Latgalians who also were the most advanced in their socio-political development. The main Latgalian principality, Jersika, was ruled by Greek Orthodox princes from the Latgalian-Polotsk branch of the Rurik dynasty. The last ruler of Jersika, mentioned in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia (a document that describes events of the late 12th and early 13th centuries) was King Visvaldis (Vissewalde, rex de Gercike). When he divided his realm in 1211, part of the country was called "Lettia" (terra, quae Lettia dicitur), probably the first time this name is mentioned in written sources. In contrast, the Couronians, whose territories extended into today's Lithuania and Curonian Spit, maintained a lifestyle of sea invasions that included looting and pillaging. On the west coast of the Baltic Sea they became known as the "Baltic Vikings." Selonians and Semgallians, closely related to Aukštaitians and Samogitians, were known as prosperous farmers and resisted Germans the longest under such chiefs as Viestards. Livonians lived along the shores of the Gulf of Riga and were fishers and traders, and they gave the first German name to this territory – Livland. Before the German invasions started in the late 12th century, Latvia was inhabited by about 135,000 Baltic people and 20,000 Livonians. German period, 1185–1561 By the end of the 12th century, Latvia was increasingly often visited by traders from Western Europe who set out on trading journeys along Latvia's longest river, the Daugava, to Kievan Rus'. Among them were German traders who came with Christian preachers who attempted to convert the pagan Baltic and Finnic nations to the Christian faith. In early 1180s Saint Meinhard began his mission among Daugava Livonians. They did not willingly convert to the new beliefs and practices, they particularly opposed the ritual of baptism. News of this reached Pope Celestine III in Rome, and it was decided in 1195 that Livonian Crusade would be undertaken to convert pagans by force. Meinhard was followed by Berthold of Hanover, who was killed in 1198 near the present-day Riga by Livonians. The real founder of the German power in Latvia was Berthold's successor, Bishop Albert of Riga who spent almost 30 years conquering local rulers. Much of this period is described in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry. Bishop Albert of Riga founded Riga in 1201, and gradually it became the largest city in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. A state known as Terra Mariana, later Livonian Confederation, was established in 1207. It consisted of various territories that belonged to the Church and Order in what is now Latvia and Estonia and was under the direct authority of the Pope of Rome. In 1228 the Livonian Confederation was established. The Order of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword was founded in 1202 to subjugate the local population. The Livonians were conquered by 1207 and most of the Latgalians by 1214. When Brothers of the Sword were decimated at the Battle of Saule in 1236, they asked for incorporation into the Teutonic Order as the Livonian Order. In 1260, the Battle of Durbe destroyed Teuton hopes for a wide land bridge between their territories in Prussia and Courland. By the end of the 13th century, the Curonians and Semigallians were subjugated (in 1290 the majority of Semigallians left German-conquered areas and moved to Lithuania), and the development of the separate tribal realms of the ancient Latvians came to an end as Germans introduced direct rule over subjected peoples. In 1282, Riga (and later Cēsis, Limbaži, Koknese and Valmiera) were included in the Northern German Trading Organisation, better known as the Hanseatic League (Hansa). From this time, Riga became an important point in west-east trading, and it formed closer cultural contacts with Western Europe. Between 1297 and 1330 the Livonian Civil War raged, which started as a conflict between the Bishop of Riga and the Livonian Order. Native people initially retained much of their personal freedoms as the number of Germans was too small to implement a total control beyond the requirements to follow Christian rites, pay the required taxes and participate as soldier in wars. In case of Curonian Kings the former tribal nobility retained a privileged status until the proclamation of independent Latvia. During the 14th century peasants had to pay 10% to the Church and work 4 days of socage per year. In the 15th–16th centuries, the hereditary landed class of Baltic nobility gradually evolved from the German vassals of the Order and bishops. In time, their descendants came to own vast estates over which they exercised absolute rights. At the end of the Middle Ages this Baltic German minority had established themselves as the governing elite, partly as an urban trading population in the cities, and partly as rural landowners, via a vast manorial network of estates in Latvia. The titled landowners wielded economic and political power; they had a duty to care for the peasants dependent on them, however in practice the latter were forced into serfdom. By 16th century sockage had increased to 4 – 6 days per week and various taxes to 25%. Peasants increasingly tried to escape to freedom, either by moving to Riga (they could gain freedom if they lived there for one year and one day) or another manor. In 1494 a law was passed which forbade peasants to leave their land, virtually enslaving them. The Reformation reached Livonia in 1521 with Luther's follower Andreas Knöpken. During the Protestant riot of 1524 Catholic churches were attacked and in 1525 freedom of religion was allowed. First Latvian parishes were established and services were held in Latvian. Protestants gained support in the cities, and by the middle of the 16th century, the majority of the population had converted to Lutheranism. The Livonian Confederation ceased to exist during the long Livonian War of 1558–82. The Livonian Order was dissolved by the Treaty of Vilnius in 1561. The following year, the Livonian Landtag decided to ask protection from King Sigismund II of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the end of government by the last Archbishop of Riga, William of Brandenburg, Riga became a Free Imperial City and the rest of the territory was divided into Polish-Lithuanian vassal states - Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Polish vassal) and the Duchy of Livonia (Lithuanian vassal). Livonian War, 1558–1583 Livonian war put an end to the Livonian Confederacy. Despite the very real threat of Muscovite rule over the whole Livonia, Western Christian countries managed to establish their control over this area for the next 150 – 200 years. In September 1557 the Livonian Confederation and the Polish–Lithuanian union signed the Treaty of Pozvol, which created a mutual defensive and offensive alliance. Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Muscovy regarded this as a provocation, and in January 1558 he reacted with the invasion of Livonia that began the Livonian War of 1558–83. On August 2, 1560, the forces of Ivan the Terrible destroyed the last few hundred soldiers of the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga at the Battle of Ērģeme. In 1561 the weakened Livonian Order was dissolved by the Treaty of Vilnius. Very much following the earlier model of Prussian Homage its lands were secularised as the Duchy of Livonia (Lithuanian vassal) and the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Polish vassal) were created. The last Master of the Order Gotthard Kettler became the first Duke of Courland and converted to Lutheranism. Kingdom of Livonia, 1570–1578 In 1560 Johannes IV von Münchhausen, the prince-bishop of Ösel-Wiek and Courland, sold his lands to king Frederick II of Denmark for 30,000 thalers. To avoid the partition of his lands, King Frederick II gave these territories to his younger brother Magnus, Duke of Holstein on condition that he renounce his rights to succession in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Magnus was recognised as sovereign by the Bishop of Ösel-Wiek and Courland and as the prospective ruler of his lands by the authorities of The Bishopric of Dorpat. The Bishopric of Reval with the Harrien-Wierland gentry took his side. Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Livonian Order, gave Magnus the portions of Livonia he had taken possession of, along with Archbishop Wilhelm von Brandenburg of the Archbishopric of Riga and his coadjutor Christoph von Mecklenburg. On June 10, 1570 Duke Magnus of Holstein arrived in Moscow, where he was crowned King of Livonia. Magnus took an oath of allegiance to Ivan the Terrible as his overlord and received from him the corresponding charter for the vassal kingdom of Livonia in what Ivan termed his patrimony. The armies of Ivan the Terrible were initially successful, taking Polotsk in 1563 and Pärnu in 1575 and overrunning much of Grand Duchy of Lithuania up to Vilnius. In the next phase of the conflict, in 1577 Ivan IV took the opportunity of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's internal strife (called the war against Gdańsk in Polish historiography), and during the reign of Stefan Batory invaded Livonia, quickly taking almost the entire territory, with the exception of Riga and Revel. In 1578 Magnus of Livonia recognized the sovereignty of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (not ratified by the Sejm of Poland-Lithuania, or recognized by Denmark). In 1578 Magnus retired to The Bishopric of Courland where he lived in Piltene Castle and accepted Polish pension. After he died in 1583, Poland annexed his territories to the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and Frederick II decided to sell his rights of inheritance. Except for the island of Œsel, Denmark was out of the Baltic by 1585. Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish rule, 1561–1721/95 Duchy of Livonia, 1561–1621 Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz became the first Governor of the Duchy (1566–1578) with the seat in Sigulda Castle. It was a province of Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1569. After the Union of Lublin in 1569, it became a joint domain of the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy. Muscovy recognized Polish–Lithuanian control of Ducatus Ultradunensis in 1582. In 1598 Duchy of Livonia was divided onto: Wenden Voivodeship (województwo wendeńskie, Kieś) Dorpat Voivodeship (województwo dorpackie, Dorpat) Parnawa Voivodeship (województwo parnawskie, Parnawa) Inflanty Voivodeship, 1621–1772 The larger part of the Duchy was conquered by Swedish Kingdom during the Polish–Swedish War (1626–29), and was recognized as Swedish territory in the Truce of Altmark. The Commonwealth retained southeastern parts of the Wenden Voivodeship, renamed to Inflanty Voivodeship with the capital in Daugavpils (Dyneburg). Catholicism became the dominant religion in this territory, known as Inflanty or Latgale, as a result of Counter-Reformation. During the first Partition of Poland in 1772, when it was annexed by Catherine the Great's Russian Empire and title "Grand Duke of Livonia" was added to the grand title of Russian Emperors. Swedish Livonia, 1629–1721 During the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1629) Riga and the largest part of Duchy of Livonia came under Swedish rule in 1621. During the Swedish rule, this region was known as the "Swedish Bread Basket" because it supplied the larger part of the Swedish Kingdom with wheat. Riga was the second largest city in the Swedish Empire at the time. Together with other Baltic Sea dominions, Livonia served to secure the Swedish Dominium maris baltici. In contrast to Swedish Estonia, which had submitted to Swedish rule voluntarily in 1561 and where traditional local laws remained largely untouched, the uniformity policy was applied in Swedish Livonia under Karl XI of Sweden: serfdom was abolished in the estates owned by the Swedish crown, peasants were offered education and military, administrative or ecclesiastical careers, and nobles had to transfer domains to the king in the Great Reduction. These reforms were subsequently reversed by Peter I of Russia when he conquered Livonia. In 1632 the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus founded Dorpat University which became the intellectual focus for population of Livonia. The translation of the whole Bible into Latvian in 1685 by Johann Ernst Glück was subsidized by the Swedish government. Schools for Latvian speaking peasantry were set up in the country parishes. In Latvian history this period is generally praised as the "good Swedish times". Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, 1562–1795 After Gotthard Kettler became the first duke, other members of the Order became the nobility, with their fiefdoms becoming their estates. Kettler received nearly one-third of the land in the new duchy. Mitau (Jelgava) was designated as the capital and a Landtag was to meet there twice a year. When Gotthard Kettler died in 1587, his sons Friedrich and Wilhelm became the dukes of Courland. They divided the Duchy into two parts in 1596. Friedrich controlled the eastern part, Semigalia (Zemgale), with his residence in Mitau (Jelgava). Wilhelm owned the western part, Courland (Kurzeme), with his residence in Goldingen (Kuldīga). Wilhelm regained the Grobiņa district when he married the daughter of the Duke of Prussia. Here he developed metalworking, shipyards, and the new ships delivered the goods of Courland to other countries. Wilhelm's conflict with local nobles ended with his removal from the duke's seat in 1616 and Friedrich became the only duke of Courland after 1616. Under the next duke, Jacob Kettler, the Duchy reached the peak of its prosperity. During his travels in Western Europe, Jacob became the eager proponent of mercantilist ideas. Metalworking and ship building became much more developed, and powder mills began producing gunpowder. Trading relations developed not only with nearby countries but also with Britain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal. Jacob established the merchant fleet of the Duchy of Courland, with its main harbours in Windau and Libau. In Windau 120 ships were built, of which over 40 were warships. The duchy owned a large fleet and established two colonies — St. Andrews Island in the estuary of Gambia River (in Africa) and Tobago Island (in the Caribbean Sea). Courland related place names from this period still survive today in these places. The last duke, Peter von Biron who ruled under heavy Russian influence founded Academia Petrina in 1775. In April 1786 he purchased the Duchy of Sagan from the Bohemian Lobkovic family, from then additionally using the title of Duke of Żagań. In 1795, Russia determined the further fate of Courland when with its allies it began the third division of Poland. Given a "nice recommendation" by Russia, Duke gave up his rights in return for a large payment, signing the final document on March 28, 1795. Enlightenment and Latvians Enlightenment ideas influenced local Baltic Germans, two of whom played great role in the creation of Latvian nation. Gotthard Friedrich Stender wrote the first Latvian-German and German-Latvian dictionaries. He also wrote the first encyclopedia “The book of high wisdom of the world and nature” (1774) and the first illustrated Latvian alphabet book (1787). Garlieb Merkel in 1796 published his book “The Latvians” in which exposed the horrible conditions of serfdom under which Latvians were forced to live because of cruelty of their German masters. Russian period, 1721/95–1915/18 In 1700 the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia started largely because Peter the Great wanted to secure and enlarge Russian access to the Baltic ports. In 1710 Russians conquered Riga and Estonia and Livonia capitulated. Losses from the military actions were multiplied by the Great Northern War plague outbreak which killed up to 75% of people in some areas. In 1713 Peter established the Riga Governorate, and after various administrative and territorial reforms, Governorate of Livonia was finally established in 1796. Latvians call it Vidzeme Governorate (Vidzemes guberņa). Sweden officially gave up its claims to Swedish Livonia with the 1721 Treaty of Nystad. The Treaty enshrined the existing privileges and freedoms of the German Baltic nobility. They were allowed to maintain their financial system, existing customs border, self-governing provincial Landtags and city councils, Lutheran religion and German language. This special position in the Russian Empire was reconfirmed by all Russian Emperors from Peter the Great (reigned 1682–1725) to Alexander II (reigned 1855-1881). Only the 1889 judicial reform imposed Russian laws and a program of Russification enforced school education in Russian. After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 Russia gained Inflanty Voivodeship which was first included in the Mogilev Governorate and after 1802 in Vitebsk Governorate. This led to the increased cultural and linguistic separation of Latgalians from the rest of ethnic Latvians. A large Daugavpils fortress was built here. After the Third Partition of Poland and financial settlement with the last Duke of Courland and Semigallia in 1795 the Courland Governorate was created in which the Germans retained their privileges and autonomy for another century. Russian empire now possessed all the territories inhabited by Latvians. In 1812 Napoleon's troops invaded Russia and the Prussian units under the leadership of the field marshal Yorck occupied Courland and approached Riga and the Battle of Mesoten was fought. Napoleon proclaimed restoration of Duchy of Courland and Semigallia under French and Polish protectorate. The Russian governor-general of Riga Ivan Essen was expecting attack, and set the wooden houses of Riga suburbs on fire to deflect the invaders leaving thousands of city residents homeless. However, Yorck did not attack Riga and in December Napoleon's army retreated. Emancipation of peasantry Livonian peasant law, 1804 After the October 1802 Kauguri rebellion, czarist authorities reacted with the law of February 20, 1804, which was aimed at improving peasant condition in the Livonian Governorate. Peasants no longer were tied to the land owner, but to the land, so they could be sold only together with the land. Peasants were divided in two classes – people of manors and plowmen. Plowmen were divided into farm-owners and free people. Farms from now on could be inherited within the family. Amount and length of socage now was regulated and limited. This law was opposed by the nobles, who in 1809 secured changes in the law which again gave them more power over peasants and socage. Emancipation in Courland, 1819 In 1816 Governorate of Estonia proposed a law for emancipation of serfs which was based on the model of the Prussian reforms. Czarist authorities ordered Courland Landtag to come up with a similar proposal, which was accepted on August 25, 1817 and proclaimed in Jelgava on August 30, 1818 in presence of Czar Alexander I. Emancipation came into force in 1819 and continued until 1832 as only selected number of peasants was emancipated each year. Emancipation gave peasants personal freedom, but no land, which they had to lease from land-owners. Peasants were not completely free, as they still could not move to another governorate or city without land-lord's permit. Emancipation in Livonia, 1820 After Emancipation in Estonia and Courland, the situation in Livonia was resolved by the law of March 26, 1819, which was very similar to the Emancipation law of Courland. It was proclaimed on early 1820 and was in force until 1832. Emancipation in Latgale, 1861 As Latgale was part of the Russian Vitebsk Governorate, serfdom here lasted until 1861, when the Emancipation reform of 1861 was proclaimed in the Russian Empire. Initially peasants kept their land, but had to continue performing socage and rent payments. This was ended by the new law of March 1, 1863. Further reforms After 1832 peasants were allowed freedom of settlement within the governorate, but only in 1848 Courland peasants were allowed to settle in towns and cities, many of which until then had mostly German and Jewish populations. The provisional Livonian agrarian law of July 9, 1849 which came int force on November 20, 1850 maintained German nobility's property rights, but allowed peasants to rent or buy the land. By 1856 only 23% of farmers were paying land rent, while the rest were still performing socage. In 1860 this law became permanent and allowed increasing number of farmers to purchase their homes. An 1864 law permitted creation of credit unions, and this improved access to capital for farmers wanting to buy their homes from German land-lords. Just before the start of World War I about 99% of houses in Courland were bought and 90% in Livonia. This created a land-owning Latvian farmer class which increased in prosperity and sent its sons to schools of higher education. In 1870-80's many peasants who were unable or unwilling to purchase their land, used the opportunity to emigrate to Siberia, where land was given for free. By the start of World War I approximately 200,000 Latvian farmers had moved to farming colonies in Siberia. Giving of family names While there are records of Latvian last names going as far back as 15th century, almost all of them were inhabitants of large cities and often adopted Germanic family names. Some peasants had family names in the 17th century, but majority had only first name until the emancipation. Most people were identified by the name of their house or manor. Emancipation created the need for identity papers and with this, for family names. Livonian peasants had to choose family names by 1826, in Courland majority names were selected in the campaign that lasted from October 1834 until July 1835. Peasants were prohibited from choosing family names of German nobility and majority chose names related to animals, plants and trees, especially popular were diminutive forms – Bērzs (birch), Bērziņš (small birch), Kalns (hill), Kalniņš (small hill). Religion Latvia was predominantly Lutheran and Catholic, but in 1729 Herrnhuter Brethren started their mission in Livonia, with center in Valmiera, their missionaries made significant headway despite the opposition of the German landlords who controlled the Lutheran clergy. The Imperial government proscribed the Moravians 1743–1764. This was the first Christian movement where Latvians become involved voluntarily. Brethren operated independently from the German landlords and their meeting houses were run by Latvians, giving them a chance to create their own communities. Brethren reached the peak of their popularity around 1820, a few years after serfdom was abolished in Livonia Governorate. 30 parishes had almost 100 meeting houses and 20,000 members. The Imperial government sponsored the Russian Orthodox Church, as part of its program of russification, but Lutheranism remained the dominant religion, except Latgale where Catholicism was dominant. Other Protestant missions had some success including the Baptists, Methodists and Seventh Day Adventists. In 1571 the first Jews were invited to settle in Piltene and a Courland Jewish community was formed. After incorporation into Russian Empire more Jews from the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth settled here. Latvian National Awakening Latvian national awakening could start after the emancipation of serfs and growth in literacy and education rates. Educated Latvians no longer wanted to be Germanized. In 1822 Latviešu avīzes the first weekly in Latvian began publishing. In 1832 weekly Tas Latviešu Ļaužu Draugs began publishing. The first Latvian writers who wrote in Latvian appeared – Ansis Liventāls (1803–77), Jānis Ruģēns (1817–76) and others. In 1839 institute for the elementary school teachers led by Jānis Cimze opened in Valmiera. By the middle of 19th century, the First Latvian National Awakening began among ethnic Latvian intellectuals, a movement that partly reflected similar nationalist trends elsewhere in Europe. This revival was led by the "Young Latvians" (in Latvian: jaunlatvieši) from the 1850s to the 1880s. Primarily a literary and cultural movement with significant political implications, the Young Latvians soon came into severe conflict with the Baltic Germans. During this time the notion of a united Latvian nation was born. Young Latvians also began to research Latvian folklore (See:Latvian dainas) and ancient beliefs. In the 1880s and 1890s the russification policy was begun by Alexander III aimed at reducing German autonomy in the Baltic provinces. Introduction of the Russian language in administration, court and education was meant to reduce predominance of German language. At the same time these policies banned Latvian language from public sphere, especially schools, which was a heavy blow to the new Latvian culture. With increasing poverty in many rural areas and growing urbanization and industrialization (especially of Riga), a loose but broad leftist movement called the "New Current" arose in the late 1880s. It was led by the future National poet Rainis and his brother-in-law Pēteris Stučka, editors of the newspaper Dienas Lapa. This movement was soon influenced by Marxism and led to the creation of the Latvian Social Democratic Labour Party. While Rainis remained a social democrat until his death, Stučka become allied with Lenin, established the first Bolshevik state in Latvia and died in Moscow. 1905 Revolution Latvia welcomed the 20th century with an explosion of popular discontent during the 1905 Revolution. It started with the shooting of demonstrators in Riga on January 13, progressed to mass strikes in October and armed uprising in December. The revolution was aimed not only against the czarist authorities, but against the hated German barons. For in Latvia most did not feel primarily oppressed by Russia or Russians, but by the Baltic Germans —roughly seven percent of the population— who had instituted a feudal system with themselves at the top and Latvian-speakers being left mostly poor and landless. As such, it involved not only left wing social democrats and industrial workers, but also more conservative peasants and Latvian intelligentsia since —despite being second class citizens in their own country— Latvia was also a highly literate and industrialised society. Riga was behind only St. Petersburg and Moscow by the number of industrial workers, and at the turn of the century over 90% of Latvians could read. In this regard, Latvia was equally primed for radical leftism and nationalism. In all, spearheaded by the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (LSDSP), the governorates making up what is now Latvia were probably the most ungovernable in the whole Russian Empire. Following the shooting of demonstrators in St. Petersburg on January 9, 1905 a wide-scale general strike began in Riga. On January 13 Russian army troops opened fire on demonstrators in Riga killing 73 and injuring 200 people. During the summer of 1905 the main revolutionary events moved to the countryside. 470 new parish administrative bodies were elected in 94% of the parishes in Latvia. The Congress of Parish Representatives was held in Riga in November. Mass meetings and demonstrations took place including violent attacks against Baltic German nobles, burning estate buildings and seizure of estate property, including weapons. In total 449 German manor houses were burned. In the autumn of 1905 armed conflict between the German nobility and the Latvian peasants began in the rural areas of Vidzeme and Courland. In Courland, the peasants seized or surrounded several towns where they established revolutionary councils. In Vidzeme the fighters controlled the Rūjiena-Pärnu railway line. Altogether, a thousand armed clashes were registered in Latvia in 1905. Martial law was declared in Courland in August 1905 and in Vidzeme in late November. Special punitive expeditions by Cossack cavalry units and Baltic Germans were dispatched in mid-December to suppress the movement. They executed over 2000 people without trial or investigation and burned 300 houses and public buildings. The executed often were local teachers or peasant activists who had shown disrespect to German nobles, not necessarily hardened revolutionaries. 427 people were court martialed and executed. 2652 people were exiled to Siberia, over 5000 went into exile to Western Europe or the US. In 1906 the revolutionary movement gradually subsided but some local protests and actions of forest guerrillas continued until 1907. They executed some daring raids – freeing their imprisoned comrades from Riga police HQ on January 17, 1906, February 26, 1906 Helsinki bank robbery and the 1910 Siege of Sidney Street in London. Among the exiles were activists from the left and right who in just 10 years would fight against each other over the future of Latvia, such as the future Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis, National poet Jānis Rainis and early Cheka leader Jēkabs Peterss. World War I On August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia. Since Courland Governorate had a direct border with Germany it was immediately involved in warfare. On August 2 German warships SMS Augsburg and SMS Magdeburg shelled port city Liepāja, causing it light damage. On August 19 German navy tried to capture Užava Lighthouse but were repelled, after which German artillery destroyed it. In October British submarines HMS E1 and HMS E9 from the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic arrived in Liepāja. On November 17 German navy again shelled Liepāja and military installations of Karosta damaging some 100 buildings. Many Latvians served in the Russian units stationed at German border and took part in Russian invasion of East Prussia. They participated in the early battles of First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes and Battle of Augustow; total Latvian losses during these battles might have reached 25,000 dead. German attack and refugees By May 1915 the war reached most of Latvia. On April 30 Russian Commander-in-Chief ordered the evacuation of all Jews from Courland within 24. hours. On May 2, 1915, German attack against Jelgava was repelled. On May 7 the Germans captured Liepāja and Kuldīga. On June 29 the Russian Supreme Command ordered the whole population of Courland evacuated, and around 500,000 refugees fled to the east. Much of the crops and housing was destroyed by the army to prevent them from falling into the German hands. Some of the refugees settled in Vidzeme but most continued their way to Russia where they had to settle in primitive conditions, suffering from hunger and diseases. In August 1915 the Latvian Refugee Aid Central Committee was established in Petrograd, it was run by future politicians Vilis Olavs, Jānis Čakste and Arveds Bergs. Committee organized refugee housing, organized 54 schools, 25 hospitals and distributed aid. Many refugees returned to Latvia only after 1920, when a peace treaty was signed between Latvia and Soviet Russia. Many Latvians stayed in the new Bolshevik state, achieving high army and party offices, only to be purged and executed by Stalin during 1937–38. On July 19, 1915, the Russian War Minister ordered the factories of Riga evacuated together with their workers. In the summer of 1915, 30,000 railway wagons loaded with machines and equipment from factories were taken away reducing the population of Riga by some 50%. This action effectively destroyed Riga as a great industrial center until the later industrialization under the Soviet regime. On August 1, the Germans captured the capital of Courland, Jelgava. A week later Battle of the Gulf of Riga started and eventually was lost by Germany. By October 23, Germans captured Ilūkste and were within the striking distance of Daugavpils with its fortress. Latvian Riflemen After on July 17 and 18, 1915 Germans captured Dobele, Talsi, Tukums and Ventspils, a public proclamation by State Duma members, written by Kārlis Skalbe, called for the formation of volunteer Latvian Riflemen units. In August the formation of Latvian battalions started. From 1915 to 1917, the Riflemen fought in the Russian army against the Germans in defensive positions along the Daugava River, notably the Nāves sala (Island of Death) bridgehead position. In December 1916 and January 1917, they suffered heavy casualties in month-long Christmas Battles. Many of them were buried in the newly created Riga Brothers' Cemetery. After the great offensive of 1915, the front line stabilized along the Daugava river until the Russian army started to collapse in early 1917. In February 1917 Revolution broke out in Russia and in the summer the Russian army collapsed. By this time the Riflemen had overwhelmingly transferred their allegiances to the Bolsheviks. The following German offensive was successful and on September 3, 1917 they entered Riga. In November 1917, the Communist Bolsheviks took power in Russia. Even though ethnic Latvians had become important assets in the task of securing Soviet power military (with the first ever commander-in-chief of the Red Army being Latvian Jukums Vācietis) the Bolshevik government tried to end the war and in March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed which gave Courland and Livonian Governorate to the Germans, who quickly established occupational regime which lasted until November 11, 1918. During this time Germans tried to create the United Baltic Duchy in perpetual union with the Crown of Prussia. War damages A survey in 1920 established that 56,7% of parishes had war damages. Population had decreased from 2,55 million to 1,59 million. The number of ethnic Latvians has never again reached the 1914 levels. 87,700 buildings were destroyed. 27% of the arable land laid in waste. Much of the industry was evacuated to Russia and lost forever. Ports were damaged by sunken ships, bridges blown up and railways damaged. 25,000 farms were destroyed, 70,000 horses, 170,000 cattle lost. Competing statehood movements, 1917–20 The course of World War I, which directly involved Latvians and Latvian territory, led to the idea of Latvian statehood. During the summer of 1915 German army conquered Kurzeme and Zemgale, which caused a virtual exodus of Latvians from these two provinces. Local politicians gained experience organizing refugee relief and Latvian refugee cultural life. Caught between the attacking Germans and incompetent Russians, Latvian riflemen (latviešu strēlnieki) fought on the Russian side during this war and became increasingly radicalized after repeated setbacks under czarist generals. During the Russian Civil War a significant group (known as Red riflemen) fought for Bolsheviks. Meanwhile, German Empire and local Baltic Germans were planning to annex the ancient Livonian and Estonian lands to their Empire. During the chaotic period of Russian and German empire collapses, February Revolution and Bolshevik revolution, Soviet westward offensive and onset of the Russian Civil War there were various efforts to establish a state in Latvia. Not all of them were aimed at establishing an independent state or even a Latvian state. Provisional Land Councils After the February Revolution in Russian Empire majority of Latvians were not expecting more than a federated status in a Russian state. "Free Latvia in Free Russia" was the slogan of the day. During March 12–13, 1917 in Valmiera the Vidzeme Land Congress was held which created the Provisional Land Council of Vidzeme. Courland was occupied by Germans, who increasingly supported idea of creating a puppet Duchy of Courland and Semigallia in order to annex it to Germany. Latgalian inhabited counties of the Vitebsk Governorate were demanding unity with other Latvian provinces (unification of Latgalian Latvians and Baltic Latvians), which came only after the Bolshevik revolution. Iskolat On July 5, 1917 the Russian Provisional Government recognized the elected Land councils of Vidzeme and Kurzeme. Encouraged by the liberalism of the Provisional government, Latvians put forward proposals which envisioned a broad local autonomy. On August 12, 1917 Latvian organizations jointly asked the Provisional government for autonomy and self-determination. During this Congress from August 11–12 (July 29–30, Old Style) in Riga, the left wing Social Democrats, heavily influenced by the Bolsheviks, established Iskolat government. After Riga was occupied by Germans on September 3, 1917 Iskolat retreated to Vidzeme, where it assumed executive powers. The so-called Iskolat Republic existed from November 21, 1917 until March 3, 1918. Under German attacks it evacuated to Cēsis, then Valka and was disbanded on March 1918 after the Brest-Litovsk treaty left Latvian lands (except Latgale) to Germany. Democratic bloc After the preliminary meeting on September 14, on September 23, 1917, in the German-occupied Riga, the Latvian Social Democratic party together with Latvian Farmers' Union and some smaller republican and socialist parties created the Democratic bloc which petitioned Ober Ost for the restoration of elected Riga City Council, re-opening of schools and press freedoms. Democratic Bloc was not a formal organization, but a coalition of politicians, who shared similar political goals. Latvian Social Democrats used their old contacts with the German Social Democrat Party to directly lobby politicians in Berlin. On October 19, 1918, Democratic bloc representatives delivered a petition to the German Imperial chancellor Prince Maximilian of Baden, in which they asked for the removal of occupational forces, release of POWs and recognition of independent Latvian state. Latvian National Council In October 1917 centrist politicians met in Petrograd and agreed to create a united Council of all Latvian parties, refugee support organizations and soldiers committees. On November 29, 1917 the Latvian Provisional National Council was established in Valka. On December 2, 1917 it proclaimed the creation of Latvia's autonomy in Latvian inhabited lands and proclaimed itself to be the only representative organ of Latvians. The Council announced three main goals – convening of a Constitutional Assembly, creation of political autonomy and uniting of all ethnic Latvian inhabited lands. The National Council, which was led by Voldemārs Zāmuēls sent a delegation, led by the future Minister of Foreign Affairs Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics to the Allied countries, to get their support for independent Latvia. Provisional National Council existed in the same place and time as the Bolshevik controlled Iskolat – the small city of Valka, which is situated on the border between ethnic Estonian and ethnic Latvian lands and for a couple of months was the virtual capital of Latvians. Iskolat moved to ban the Provisional Council in December 1917. On January 5, 1918, during the only meeting of democratically elected Constituent Assembly of Russia, which was abolished by Bolsheviks, Latvian deputy Jānis Goldmanis, the initiator in 1915 of creation of Latvian Riflemen units, read a declaration of separation of Latvia from Russia. On its second meeting, which was held in Petrograd, the Latvian National Council on January 30, 1918 declared that Latvia should be an independent, democratic republic, uniting Latvian regions Kurzeme (which includes Zemgale), Vidzeme and Latgale. On March 3, 1918 Soviet Russia signed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk with German Empire, by which Russia gave up Kurzeme and Vidzeme (but not Latgale). The National Council protested against the splitting of Latvian lands and annexation of Kurzeme by Germany. On November 11, 1918 British Empire recognized Latvian National Council as de facto government, confirming a prior verbal communication of October 23 to Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics by the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, A. J. Balfour. Despite these successes, the National Council had a major problem, the Social Democrats and the Democratic Bloc refused to join it. This prevented the creation of a truly national consensus for proclaiming Independence. This was overcome only on November 17, 1918, when the People's Council (Tautas padome) was created. United Baltic Duchy On September 22, 1918 German Emperor Wilhelm II proclaimed Baltic provinces to be free and on November 5 Germans proclaimed United Baltic Duchy headed by the Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg, however, this project (just like the similar Kingdom of Lithuania) collapsed together with the German Empire on November 9 and the Armistice of November 11. On November 26, 1918 the new General Plenipotentiary of Germany August Winnig recognized the Latvian Provisional Government which was established by the People's Council. On November 28 the Regency Council of the United Baltic Duchy disbanded itself. People's Council After the German collapse on November 9, the National Council and Democratic bloc began unity talks. Social Democrats insisted that the new Latvia should be a socialistic state, which was not acceptable to other parties. They also refused to join the National Council, instead insisting on creating a new unity organization. The unity talks were led by Farmers' Union leaders Kārlis Ulmanis and Miķelis Valters, while National Council leaders Voldemārs Zāmuēls, Arveds Bergs and Ādolfs Klīve were sidelined. On November 17, 1918 competing Latvian factions finally united in the People's Council, which on November 18, 1918 proclaimed the Independence of Republic of Latvia and created the Latvian Provisional Government. A few days later Soviet Russia started westward offensive aimed at regaining its western provinces and the War of Independence began. The left wing of Latvian Social Democrats had become allied with Bolsheviks and during its conference of November 18–19, 1918 proclaimed that Latvian commune is a part of Russian Soviet Federation. War of Independence On December 1, 1918 Soviet Russia invaded Latvia. Much of the invading army in Latvia consisted of Red Latvian Riflemen, which made the invasion easier. Soviet offensive met little resistance coming just a few weeks after the collapse of German Empire and proclamation of independent Latvia. Social Democratic party at this point decided to leave People's Council and rejoined it only in April 1918. On December 17, 1918 the Provisional government of Workers and Peasants, led by the veteran left-wing politician Pēteris Stučka proclaimed the Soviet rule. On December 18 Lenin officially recognized the new Soviet Latvia. Riga was captured by the Soviet Army on January 3, 1919. By the end of January Provisional Government and remaining German units had retreated all the way to Liepāja, but then the Red offensive stalled along the Venta river. The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic was officially proclaimed on January 13 with the political, economic, and military backing of the Soviet Russia. Stučka established a radical communist regime of nationalizations, expropriations and executions of class enemies. Revolutionary tribunals were established, condemning to death German nobles, pastors, wealthy traders as well as peasants, who refused to surrender their grain, in total some 1000 people were executed. Due to food supply disruptions 8590 people starved to death in Riga. On March 3, 1919 German and Latvian forces commenced a counterattack against the forces of Soviet Latvia. On April 16 the Baltic nobility organized a coup d'état in Liepāja and the puppet government under the leadership of Andrievs Niedra was established. The provisional national government took the refuge aboard steamship Saratov under British protection in Liepaja harbour. On May 22, 1919 Riga was recaptured by Freikorps and White Terror against any suspected Soviet sympathizers began. The same time Estonian Army including the North Latvian Brigade loyal to Ulmanis government starts a major offensive against the Soviets in north Latvia. By the middle of June Soviet rule was reduced to Latgale. In June 1919 collisions started between the Baltische Landeswehr on one side and the Estonian 3rd division, including the 2nd Cēsis regiment of North Latvian brigade on the other. The 3rd division defeated the German forces in the Battle of Wenden on June 23. An armistice was signed at Strazdumuiža, under the terms of which the Germans had to leave Latvia. Instead the German forces were incorporated into the West Russian Volunteer Army. On October 5 it commenced an offensive on Riga taking the west bank of the Daugava River with front line splitting Riga in half. On November 11 the Latvian counteroffensive began and by the end of the month they were driven from Latvia. During battles in Riga, Latvian forces were supported by British naval artillery. On January 3, 1920 the united Latvian and Polish forces launched an attack on the Soviet army in Latgale and after the Battle of Daugavpils liberated Daugavpils. By the end of January they reached the ethnographic border of Latvia and peace negotiations with Soviets soon began. Peace and international recognition During the 1919 Paris Peace conference Latvia had unsuccessfully lobbied for international de jure recognition of its independence by the Allied countries. Allies still hoped for a quick end of the Bolshevik regime and establishment of a democratic Russian state which will grant Latvia large degree of autonomy. The internal situation also was unstable, as during 1919 three different governments (Latvians, Germans-White Russians, Soviets) were fighting for the control. According to Latvian diplomats, during that time the US and France were against recognizing Latvia, Italy and Japan supported it while the United Kingdom gave limited support and waited for the events to play out. On August 11, 1920 according to the Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty the Soviet Russia relinquished authority over the Latvian nation and claims to Latvian territory as "Russia recognizes without objection the independence and sovereignty of the Latvian State and forever renounces all sovereign rights held by Russia in relation to the Latvian nation and land on the basis of the previous State legal regime as well as any international agreements, all of which lose their force and effect for all future time as herein provided. The Latvian nation and land shall have no obligations arising from their previous possession by Russia." In 1920 Latvia, together with Lithuania and Estonia, tried to join the League of Nations but was denied the membership. As the Soviet victory in the Russian Civil War became clear and after heavy lobbying by the Foreign Minister Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, the Allied Supreme War Council, which included United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy and Japan, recognized Latvia's independence on January 26, 1921. Recognition from many other countries followed soon. Latvia also became a member of the League of Nations on September 22, 1921. The US recognized Latvia only in July 1922. Before 1940 Latvia was recognized by 42 countries. Parliamentary era, 1920–34 After Latgale was finally liberated from the Soviets in January 1920, on April 17–18, 1920 elections to the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia were held. While the population of Latvia had fallen by almost a million, from 2,552,000 to 1,596,000 in 1920 (in Riga from 520,000 to 225,000), they were represented by 50 lists of parties and candidates that competed for 150 seats. Close to 85% eligible voters participated in elections and 16 parties were elected. Social Democratic Workers' Party won 57, Farmers' Union 26, Latgalian Peasant Party won 17 seats. This voting pattern marked all the future parliaments – high number of parties representing small interest groups required formation of unstable coalition governments, while the largest single party, Social Democrats, held the post of Speaker of the Saeima, they avoided participating in governments. Between 1922 and 1934 Latvia had 13 governments led by 9 Prime Ministers. On February 15, 1922 the Constitution of Latvia and in June the new Law on Elections were passed, opening the way to electing the parliament – Saeima. During the Parliamentary era, four elections were held which elected 1st Saeima (1922–25), 2nd Saeima (1925–28), 3rd Saeima (1928–31), 4th Saeima (1931–34). Three State Presidents were elected – Jānis Čakste (1922–27) who died in office, Gustavs Zemgals (1927–30) who refused to be re-elected and Alberts Kviesis (1930–36) who accepted the May 15 coup d'état. Border conflicts The Latvian-Soviet peace treaty had set the eastern border between Latvia and Soviet Russia. After 1944 parts of Abrene District were annexed by Russia as Pytalovsky District. Latvia gave up all legal claims to these lands in 2007. During 1919 Estonia had provided military assistance to Latvia on a condition that some of its territorial claims in Vidzeme will be met. This was refused by Latvians and Estonia withdrew its support. Estonian claims centered on Valka district as well as territories in Ape, Veclaicene, Ipiķi and Lode. On March 22, 1920 Estonia and Latvia agreed to a settlement commission led by British colonel Stephen Tallents. Latvia retained Ainaži parish, and most of other contested lands, but lost most of Valka city (now Valga, Estonia). Issue of the ethnic Swedish inhabited Ruhnu island in the Gulf of Riga was left for both countries to decide. Latvia finally renounced all claims on Ruhnu island after signing military alliance with Estonia on November 1, 1923. Latvia proposed to retain the southern border or former Courland governorate with Lithuania unchanged, but Lithuanians wanted to gain access to the sea, as at this time they did not control German lands of Klaipėda. In September 1919, during attack against the Soviets, Lithuanian army occupied much of Ilūkste Municipality and threatened to take Daugavpils as well. Between late August and early September 1920 Latvian army pushed Lithuanians out. Lithuanians were weakened by Żeligowski's Mutiny and did not escalate this confrontation. On September 25, 1920 Latvia and Lithuania agreed to seek international arbitration committee led by James Young Simpson to settle this dispute. On March 1921, Lithuania was given port town Palanga, village of Šventoji, parts of Rucava Municipality and railroad junction of Mažeikiai on Riga – Jelgava – Liepāja railroad line, which meant that Latvia had to build a new railway line. Latvia received town of Aknīste and some smaller territories in Aknīste Municipality, Ukri parish and Bauska Municipality. Latvia gave up 283,3 square km, while receiving 290 km2. About 16–20 000 ethnic Latvians thus became Lithuanian citizens. As a result of Polish–Soviet War, Poland secured a 105 km long border with Latvia. In July 1919 Poland announced annexation of all lands south of Daugavpils and their inclusion in Braslaw district. Latvia could not complain, as it still needed Polish military help for the decisive Battle of Daugavpils against the Soviets. The issue was solved by renewed Soviet attack against Poland, and later, by Polish-Lithuanian conflict over Vilnius. During the Soviet attack in July 1920, Polish forces retreated from this area which then was occupied by Latvian forces. After Żeligowski's Mutiny Poland wanted to have good diplomatic relations with Latvia and did not raise any serious territorial claims. The issue was solved in February 1929, when Latvian-Polish trade treaty was signed, which included a secret agreement about compensations to Polish landowners over lost properties. By 1937 Latvia had paid the full amount of 5 million golden lats. Over some protests from Lithuania, Latvian-Polish border was demarcated between 1933 and 1938. Foreign relations The earliest foreign policy goals were securing peace with Soviet Russia and Germany, gaining international recognition and joining the League of Nations. All this was achieved by the efforts of Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics. The hope of union of Baltic countries – Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland – faded after 1922. After that Latvia was the most energetic proponent of Baltic unity and Baltic Entente. On November 1, 1923 Latvia and Estonia signed a military alliance, followed by trade agreements. Latvia tried to maintain good relations with regional hegemons Russia and Germany and hoped for more support from the Great Britain. 21 foreign embassies and 45 consulates were opened in Latvia by 1928, some of these consulates were located in port cities Liepāja and Ventspils. Latvia purchased embassy buildings in Berlin (1922), Tallinn, Warsaw (1923), London (1925), Paris (1927), Geneva (1938). Politics Social Democratic Workers' Party, as the largest party, held the position of the Speaker of the Saeima in all the interwar Saeimas. 1st Saeima was chaired by Frīdrihs Veismanis, Second, Third and Fourth Saeimas were chaired by Pauls Kalniņš. The refusal of Social Democrats to participate in governments (except twice in short-lived cabinets) meant that government was usually led by the center-right Farmers' Union, or a coalition of smaller parties, as Saeima was split among many parties with just a few MPs. Social Democrats were split between the main Social Democratic Workers' Party led by Pauls Kalniņš, Ansis Rudevics and Fricis Menders (which first won 30 seats but had a tendency to lose votes in subsequent elections) and the splinter Social Democrat Minority Party, led by Marģers Skujenieks, who were more centrist and managed even to lead governments on two occasions. The mainstream Social Democrat party maintained strong policy of Socialist International ideals, criticized the existing capitalist system, avoided using State flag and singing National anthem, instead using the Red flag and singing the Internationale in their meetings. Their popularity increasingly fell and in the 4th Saeima they had only 21 seats. The officially banned Communist Party of Latvia in 1928 elections managed to get 5 seats as the Left Trade Union which was banned in 1930. In 1931 elections Communists won 6 seats as the Trade Union Workers and Peasants Group, but were once again banned in 1933. Latvian Farmers' Union was the second largest parliamentary faction with 14–17 MPs and the largest of the conservative parties. It increasingly had to compete with some smaller farmer, catholic farmer and Latgale farmer parties which won more votes in each elections. Farmer's Union was led by Kārlis Ulmanis, Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics and Hugo Celmiņš. The decreasing popularity of Ulmanis and Farmers' Union might have been one of the reasons behind the May 15, 1934 Latvian coup d'état, as Ulmanis tried to prevent further loss of his political influence and power after the elections, scheduled for October 1934. Democratic Centre Party, led by Gustavs Zemgals represented mostly urban, middle-class office workers and state employees. National Union, led by Arveds Bergs was nationalistic, anti-Soviet, center-right party that attracted urban followers. The extreme nationalists were represented by anti-semitic Pērkonkrusts, led by Gustavs Celmiņš. Most of the remaining small parties were either ethnic – German, Jewish, Polish or represented single-issue economic groups – small-holders, house owners, even railroad workers. The small parties usually formed larger coalitions (blocks) and then used their influence to join governing coalition. One of the most influential was coalition of Latgale parties. Referendums During this time four referendums took place, all indicative of the issues facing the new state. On July 19, 1922 a Concordat was signed with Vatican. This was motivated by the need to better integrate the heavily Catholic Latgale in the Lutheran dominated state. In traditionally Lutheran Riga some buildings belonging to Russian Orthodox Church were given to Catholics and the Lutheran St. James's Cathedral was transferred to Catholics as their new cathedral. On September 1–2, 1923 the Church property referendum was held in order to prevent any further forcible transfer of churches and properties from one confession to another. About 200,000 or 20% of voters participated, and it failed. On June 2, 1927 Saeima once again changed the Citizenship law. In earlier version Latvian citizenship was granted to anyone who had lived in Latvia for 20 years before the August 1, 1914 (start of the WWI). Now this was shortened to 6 months before the August 1, 1914. This was mainly done to allow many Latvian farming colonists, who now were fleeing Soviet Russia, to receive citizenship. However, this also meant that many Soviet Jews now could claim Latvian citizenship. On December 17–18, 1927 the Latvian citizenship referendum was held to prevent these new changes, but it failed, as only 250,000 or 20% of voters participated. The Concordate with Vatican caused another church property referendum in 1931. After the St. Jame's Cathedral was given to Catholics, Latvian Lutherans had lost their bishop's cathedral and were sharing the Riga Cathedral with Baltic German congregation, which belonged to the autonomous German Lutheran confession. The anti-German sentiment was widespread and initiative to give Riga Cathedral to Latvian Lutherans gained strength. On September 5–6, 1931 almost 400,000 voters supported this idea, but referendum failed, as it did not gather over 50% of votes. In any case, Saeima soon passed a law confiscating the church from Germans and giving it to Latvians. On February 24–25, 1934 the Insurance Law referendum was held in order to introduce a new old-age and unemployment benefit scheme which would be funded by taxing employers, higher wage earners and municipalities. The referendum was initiated by Social Democrats, who managed to get over 400,000 votes for this idea, but referendum failed. Economy The new state had to deal with two main issues: restoration of industrial plants, especially in Riga and implementation of Land reform that would transfer most of the land from German nobles to Latvian farmers. Constituent Assembly passed the law of the Land reform, which expropriated the manor lands. Landowners were left with 50 hectares each and their land was distributed to the landless peasants without cost. In 1897, 61.2% of the rural population had been landless; by 1936, that percentage had been reduced to 18%. The extent of cultivated land surpassed the pre-war level already in 1923. Before the World War I some 2% of landowners owned 53% of land in Kurzeme and Vidzeme, in Latgale it was 38%. The Agrarian reform Law of September 16, 1920 created State Land Fund which took over 61% of all land. The German nobles were left with no more than 50 ha of land. This destroyed their manor house system. Many of them sold their possessions and left for Germany. Former manor house buildings often were used as local schools, administrative buildings or hospitals. The land was distributed to a new class of small-holding farmers – over 54,000 Jaunsaimnieki (New farmers) with average farm size of 17,1 ha, who usually had to create their farms from nothing, in process building new houses and clearing fields. Due to their small size and unfavorable grain prices, the new farmers rapidly developed dairy farming. Butter, bacon and eggs became new export industries. Flax and state owned forests were another export revenue source. On March 27, 1919 the Latvian rublis was introduced with an exchange rate of 1 Latvian rublis equal to 1 ostruble, 2 German marks and 1,5 czar rubles. On March 18, 1920 Latvian rublis was made the only legal currency. Due to high inflation, the new Latvian lats currency was introduced at a rate 1 lat to 50 rublis. In 1923 the Bank of Latvia was established and lats replaced rublis in 1925. Between 1923 and 1930 state budget was with a surplus. On average 25,5% went to defense, 11,2% to education and 23,4% to capital investment projects. Around 15% of income was generated by state spirits monopoly. The restoration of industry was more complicated. Before World War I 80% of industrial production was made for internal Russian Empire markets. Trade agreement with Soviet Union was signed in 1927 but did not result in high trade volumes. By the end of 1920s Latvia's largest export markets were Germany (35,6%), United Kingdom (20,8%), France, Belgium, Netherlands (22,9%). Latvia had to import almost all of modern machinery and fuels. In 1929 Latvia had 3 state owned banks, 19 private banks, 605 credit unions and many more mutual credit unions. The Great Depression reached Latvia in the middle of 1930. Exports fell and imports were strictly limited, to save foreign exchange reserves. State monopolies of sugar and bacon were created. To prevent banks from collapse, between July 31, 1931 and September 1, 1933 a law was in force which prohibited withdrawal of more than 5% of the total deposit per week. In 1932 the trade agreement with Soviet Union expired and industrial unemployment reached its peak in January 1932. The national income fell from 600 lats per capita in 1930 to 390 lats per capita in 1932. In place of free international trade came interstate clearing agreements which set the volumes and types of goods that states then would trade. In 1932 clearing agreements were signed with France and Germany, in 1934 with the United Kingdom, in 1935 with Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania. Economic recovery started in 1933 as production increased by some 30%. The state budget deficit was reduced from the record 24,2 million lats in 1931/32 to 7,8 million lats in 1933/34 budget. Ulmanis dictatorship, 1934–40 On the night from May 15 to 16, 1934 the Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis and Minister of War Jānis Balodis, fathers of Latvian independence, took power by a bloodless coup d'état. Parliament and Constitution were suspended, State of War introduced, all political parties banned and press censorship established. Economy Just as in politics, in economy, the new Ulmanis regime was very active in increasing state control and planning mechanisms. In 1934 regime created the Chamber of Trade and Industry was established, followed by the Chamber of Agriculture and the Chamber of Artisans in 1935 and the Chamber of Labour in 1936. The state helped bankrupt farmers by postponing bankruptcy auctions and refinanced their debt at a lower rate. On May 29, 1934, the state took control over cooperative societies and associations. The dairy industry was placed under the control of the Central Union of Dairy Farmers. On April 9, 1935 a state controlled Credit Bank of Latvia was created which reduced the role of foreign capital by creating many state owned industry monopolies and joint stock companies. Buyouts and liquidations of foreign, Baltic German and Jewish owned companies become a norm. In place of many competing companies large state owned companies were created. In 1939 the state owned 38 such companies. The new JSC Vairogs produced railway carriages and Ford-Vairogs automobiles under the Ford licence. VEF made world's smallest Minox cameras and such experimental aircraft as VEF JDA-10M, VEF I-12 and others. Between 1936 and 1939 the Ķegums Hydroelectric Power Station, with 70,000 kWh capacity largest in the Baltics, was built by Swedish companies. After Western countries abandoned the gold standard, the Latvian lats was pegged to the British pound in September 1936. It was a devaluation that further strengthened Latvian exports. By 1939, following an export boom propelled primarily by agricultural goods, Latvia was the richest of the Baltic countries, and had a GDP per capita higher than Finland or Austria. However, the recovery from the Great Depression took almost ten years. National income was 444 lats per capita in 1933 and reached 637 lats per capita in 1938, thus finally overtaking the 1929 levels. After the start of World War II Latvia declared complete neutrality, but it was now completely cut off from the market of United Kingdom, as Germany had sealed off the Baltic sea. Austerity was introduced on September 3, 1939. The politically disastrous October 5, 1939 Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty provided new export and import opportunities. On October 18, 1939 a new trade agreement was signed with the Soviet Union. Latvia exported its food products in return receiving oil, fuel and chemicals. On December 15, 1939 a new trade agreement was also signed with the Nazi Germany. Latvian farmers had traditionally relied on seasonal farmworkers from Poland, this was now cut-off by the war, and in spring 1940 new regulations introduced compulsory work service for state employees, students and school pupils. Foreign relations In October 1936 Latvia was elected as non-permanent member of the Council of the League of Nations and retained this place for three years. In 1935 embassy in Washington was re-opened, which later served as important center for Latvian Diplomatic Service during 50 years of Soviet occupation. After the Munich Agreement demonstrated the failure of collective security system, Latvia on December 13, 1938 proclaimed absolute neutrality. On March 28, 1939 Soviet Union without any discussions announced that it is interested in maintaining and defending Latvia's independence. On June 7, 1939 Latvia and Germany signed non-aggression treaty. World War II Soviet occupation The Soviet Union guaranteed its interests in the Baltics with the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany on August 23, 1939. Under threat of invasion, Latvia (along with Estonia and Lithuania) signed the Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty with Soviet Union, providing for the stationing of up to 25,000 Soviet troops on Latvian soil. Following the initiative from Nazi Germany, Latvia on October 30, 1939 concluded an agreement to "repatriate" ethnic Germans, most of whom had lived in the region for generations, in the wake of the impending Soviet takeover. Seven months later, the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov accused the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union. On June 16, 1940, threatening an invasion, Soviet Union issued an ultimatum demanding that the government be replaced and that an unlimited number of Soviet troops be admitted. Knowing that the Red Army had entered Lithuania a day before, that its troops were massed along the eastern border and mindful of the Soviet military bases in Western Latvia, the government acceded to the demands, and Soviet troops occupied the country on June 17. Staged elections were held July 14–15, 1940, and the results were announced in Moscow 12 hours before the polls closed; Soviet documents show the election results were forged. The newly elected "People's Assembly" declared Latvia a Socialist Soviet Republic and applied for admission into the Soviet Union on July 21. Latvia was incorporated into the Soviet Union on August 5, 1940. Latvian diplomatic service continued to function in exile while the republic was under the Soviet control. In the spring of 1941, the Soviet central government began planning the mass deportation of anti-Soviet elements from the occupied Baltic states. In preparation, General Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commissar of Public Security of the Soviet Union, signed the Serov Instructions, "Regarding the Procedure for Carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia." During the night of June 13–14, 1941, 15,424 inhabitants of Latvia — including 1,771 Jews and 742 ethnic Russians — were deported to camps and special settlements, mostly in Siberia. 35,000 people were deported in the first year of Soviet occupation (131,500 across the Baltics). Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany (1941–1944) The Nazi invasion, launched a week later, cut short immediate plans to deport several hundred thousand more from the Baltics. Nazi troops occupied Riga on July 1, 1941. Immediately after the installation of German authority, a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, the Wehrmacht and Marines (in Liepāja), as well as by Latvian collaborators, including the 500–1500 members of the infamous Arajs Commando (which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and the 2000 or more Latvian members of the SD. By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population was killed or placed in the concentration camps. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed. The Holocaust claimed approximately 85,000 lives in Latvia, the vast majority of whom were Jews. A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation. The resistance movement was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council and the pro-Soviet units under the Latvian Partisan Movement Headquarters (Латвийский штаб партизанского движения) in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis. The Nazis planned to Germanise the Baltics after the war. In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen-SS were formed from Latvian conscripts and volunteers to help Germany against the Red Army. Soviet era, 1944–1990 In 1944, when the Soviet military advances reached the area heavy fighting took place in Latvia between German and Soviet troops, which ended with another German defeat. Riga was re-captured by the Soviet Red Army on October 13, 1944 while the Courland Pocket held out until May 9, 1945. During the course of the war, both occupying forces conscripted Latvians into their armies, in this way increasing the loss of the nation's "live resources". In 1944, part of the Latvian territory once more came under Soviet control and Latvian national partisans began their fight against another occupier – the Soviet Union. 160,000 Latvian inhabitants took refuge from the Soviet army by fleeing to Germany and Sweden. On the other side, many Latvians who had previously supported Bolshevism had chosen to remain in Soviet Russia, where they wielded disproportionate influence in the party. Latvian theatres, Latvian publishing houses, Latvian clubs, were all present in Soviet Russia, a whole culture all wiped out from 1937 onwards when, accused of fascist, nationalist or counter-revolutionary sympathies, Latvians were purged in their thousands. Stalinist terror The first post-war years were marked by particularly dismal and sombre events in the fate of the Latvian nation. On March 25, 1949, 43,000 rural residents ("kulaks") and Latvian patriots ("nationalists") were deported to Siberia in a sweeping repressive Operation Priboi in all three Baltic States, which was carefully planned and approved in Moscow already on January 29, 1949. Altogether 120,000 Latvian inhabitants were imprisoned or deported to Soviet concentration camps (the Gulag). Some managed to escape arrest and joined the partisans. In the post-war period, Latvia was forced to adopt Soviet farming methods and the economic infrastructure developed in the 1920s and 1930s was eradicated. Rural areas were forced into collectivisation. The massive influx of labourers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from Russia and other Soviet republics started. By 1959 about 400,000 persons arrived from other Soviet republics and the ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 62%. An extensive programme to impose bilingualism was initiated in Latvia, limiting the use of Latvian language in favor of Russian. All of the minority schools (Jewish, Polish, Belarusian, Estonian, Lithuanian) were closed down leaving only two languages of instructions in the schools- Latvian and Russian. The Russian language were taught notably, as well as Russian literature, music and history of Soviet Union (actually- history of Russia). Purge of national communists On March 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin died and his successor became Nikita Khrushchev. The period known as the Khrushchev Thaw began but attempts by the national communists led by Eduards Berklavs to gain a degree of autonomy for the republic and protect the rapidly deteriorating position of the Latvian language were not successful. In 1959 after Krushchev's visit in Latvia national communists were stripped of their posts and Berklavs was deported to Russia. Influx of Soviet immigrants Because Latvia had still maintained a well-developed infrastructure and educated specialists it was decided in Moscow that some of the Soviet Union's most advanced manufacturing factories were to be based in Latvia. New industry was created in Latvia, including a major machinery factory RAF in Jelgava, electrotechnical factories in Riga, chemical factories in Daugavpils, Valmiera and Olaine, as well as food and oil processing plants. However, there were not enough people to operate the newly built factories. In order to expand industrial production, more immigrants from other Soviet republics were transferred into the country, noticeably decreasing the proportion of ethnic Latvians. By 1989, the ethnic Latvians comprised about 52% of the population (1,387,757), compared to a pre-war proportion of 77% (1,467,035). In 2005 there were 1,357,099 ethnic Latvians, showing a real decrease in the titular population. Proportionately, however, the titular nation already comprises approximately 60% of the total population of Latvia (2,375,000). Restoration of independence Liberalization in the communist regime began in the mid-1980s in the USSR with the perestroika and glasnost instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev. In Latvia, several mass political organizations were constituted that made use of this opportunity – Popular Front of Latvia (Tautas Fronte), Latvian National Independence Movement (Latvijas Nacionālās Neatkarības Kustība) and Citizens' Congress (Pilsoņu kongress). These groups began to agitate for the restoration of national independence. On the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (August 23, 1989) to the fate of the Baltic nations, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians joined hands in a human chain, the Baltic Way, that stretched 600 kilometers from Tallinn, to Riga, to Vilnius. It symbolically represented the united wish of the Baltic States for independence. Subsequent steps toward full independence were taken on May 4, 1990. The Latvian SSR Supreme Council, elected in the first democratic elections since the 1930s, adopted a declaration restoring independence that included a transition period between autonomy within the Soviet Union and full independence. In January 1991, however, pro-communist political forces attempted to restore Soviet power with the use of force. Latvian demonstrators managed to stop the Soviet troops from re-occupying strategic positions (January 1991 events in Latvia). On August 21, after the unsuccessful attempt at a coup d'état in Moscow, parliament voted for an end to the transition period, thus restoring Latvia's pre-war independence. On September 6, 1991 Latvian independence was once again recognized by the Soviet Union. Modern history Soon after reinstating independence, Latvia, which had been a member of the League of Nations prior to World War II, became a member of the United Nations. In 1992, Latvia became eligible for the International Monetary Fund and in 1994 took part in the NATO Partnership for Peace program in addition to signing the free trade agreement with the European Union. Latvia became a member of the European Council as well as a candidate for the membership in the European Union and NATO. Latvia was the first of the three Baltic nations to be accepted into the World Trade Organization. At the end of 1999 in Helsinki, the heads of the European Union governments invited Latvia to begin negotiations regarding accession to the European Union. In 2004, Latvia's most important foreign policy goals, membership of the European Union and NATO, were fulfilled. On April 2, Latvia became a member of NATO and on May 1, Latvia, along with the other two Baltic States, became a member of the European Union. Around 67% had voted in favor of EU membership in a September 2003 referendum with turnout at 72.5%. Regional timeline Affiliations of the areas that comprise modern Latvia in historical and regional context: See also Dissolution of the Soviet Union History of Riga Latvian independence movement (1940–1991) Latvian diplomatic service (1940–1991) List of presidents of Latvia Prime Minister of Latvia Livonia Politics of Latvia Notes References Further reading Bilmanis, Alfreds. A History of Latvia (1970). Eglitis, Daina Stukuls. Imagining the Nation: History, Modernity, and Revolution in Latvia (Post-Communist Cultural Studies) (2005). Lumans; Valdis O. Latvia in World War II (Fordham University Press, 2006) online edition. O'Connor, Kevin. "The History of the Baltic States," 2nd ed. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015). Palmer, Alan. The Baltic: A new history of the region and its people New York: Overlook Press, 2006; published In London with the title Northern shores: a history of the Baltic Sea and its peoples (John Murray, 2006). Plakans, Andrejs. Historical Dictionary of Latvia (2008). Plakans, Andrejs. The Latvians: A Short History (1995). External links National History Museum of Latvia History of Latvia The Route from the Vikings to the Greeks History of Latvia; A Brief Survey (en) History of Latvia: Primary Documents Issues of the History of Latvia: 1939–1991 Castle ruins in Latvia Myths of Latvian History (en) Occupation of Latvia (PDF file 2.85MB) Latvia: Year of horror (1940) The Story of Latvia, by Arveds Svabe Historical maps of Latvia in the 16th, 17th and 18th century Medieval Castles of Latvia	[ 0.034632597118616104, 0.06159166619181633, -0.3298704922199249, 0.27081507444381714, -0.3346185088157654, 0.5522716045379639, 0.9095390439033508, 0.8388928771018982, -0.4424743950366974, -0.3506772816181183, 0.4457082748413086, -0.8890966176986694, -0.5524762272834778, 0.9876981973648071, ...
17763	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography%20of%20Latvia	Geography of Latvia	Latvia lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea on the level northwestern part of the rising East European platform, between Estonia and Lithuania. About 98% of the country lies under elevation. With the exception of the coastal plains, the ice age divided Latvia into three main regions: the morainic Western and Eastern uplands and the Middle lowlands. Latvia holds over 12,000 rivers, only 17 of which are longer than , and over 3,000 small lakes, most of which are eutrophic. The major rivers include the Daugava, the Lielupe, the Gauja, the Venta and the Salaca. Woodlands cover around 52% of the country (Pine – 34%, Spruce – 18%, Birch – 30%). Other than peat, dolomite, and limestone, natural resources are scarce. Latvia has of sandy coastline, and the ports of Liepāja and Ventspils provide important warm-water harbors for the Baltic coast. Latvia is a small country with a land size of . However, it is larger than many other European countries (Albania, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia or Switzerland). Its strategic location has instigated many wars between rival powers on its territory. As recently as 1944, the USSR granted Russia the Abrene region, which Latvia contested after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Physical environment Latvia encompasses 64,589 square kilometers and is an extension of the East European Plain. Its flat terrain differs little from that of its surrounding neighbors. Latvia's only distinct border is the Baltic Sea coast, which extends for 496 kilometers. Its neighbors include Lithuania on the south (453 kilometers of common border), Estonia on the north (267 kilometers), Russia on the east (217 kilometers), and Belarus on the southeast (141 kilometers). Prior to World War II, Latvia bordered eastern Poland, but as a result of boundary changes by the Soviet Union, this territory was attached to Belarus. Geographic features The physiography of Latvia and its neighboring areas was formed, to a large degree, during the Quaternary period and the Pleistocene ice age, when soil and debris were pushed by glaciers into mounds and hills. Undulating plains cover 75% of Latvia's territory and provide the main areas for farming; 25% of the territory lies in uplands of moderate-sized hills. About 27% of the total territory is cultivable, with the central south of Riga being the most fertile and profitable. The three main upland areas, in the provinces of Kurzeme (western Latvia), Vidzeme (central Latvia, Vidzeme Upland and Aluksne Upland), and Latgale (eastern Latvia), provide a picturesque pattern of fields interspersed with forests and numerous lakes and rivers. In this area, the extensive glacial moraines, eskers, and drumlins have limited the profitability of agriculture by fragmenting fields and presenting serious erosion problems. About 10% of Latvian territory consists of peat bogs, swamps, and marshes, some of which are covered by stunted forest growth. Forests are the outstanding feature of Latvia, claiming 42% of the territory. Over the past 100 years the amount of forest territories in Latvia has doubled, and the process is still ongoing. Forest territories are expanding naturally, as well as due to intentional afforestation of barren land and land that cannot be used for agricultural purposes. More than half of the forests consist of Scots pine or Norway spruce. Nearly all forests in Latvia are publicly accessible, and therefore one of the most widespread pastimes of the population is picking bilberries, cranberries, mushrooms, and other bounties of the natural environment. Latvia's legislation on forestry is among the strictest in Europe firmly regulating wood harvesting. Each year the forests produce 25 million cubic meters of timber, while only about 12 - 13 million cubic meters are felled, therefore the amount of mature and old forests continue to increase. Thanks to the significant amount of forest resources, Latvia has a well-developed wood processing industry, therefore timber and wood products are among the country's most important exports. Latvian wood processing companies are important players in many European markets. The traditional Latvian approach to forestry with its small system of clear-cut areas combined with the network of forest territories that have seen little human influence, as well as the outflow of people from rural areas to urban ones have facilitated the emergence of a unique biological diversity in forests which home animal and bird species, that have died out or are very rare elsewhere in Europe. According to a World Wildlife Fund study in 1992, Latvia has sizable populations of black stork, lesser spotted eagle, Eurasian otter, European beaver, Eurasian lynx, and grey wolf. Also in great numbers are red deer and roe deer (total 86,000), wild boar (32,000), elk (25,000) and red fox (13,000). The variegated and rapidly changing physiography of glacial moraines and lowlands has also allowed temperate flora, such as oaks, to grow within a few hundred meters of northern flora, such as bog cotton and cloudberries. This variety and the rapid change in natural ecosystems are among the unique features of the republic. The Soviet system left behind another windfall for naturalists. The Latvian western seacoast was a carefully guarded border region. Almost all houses near the sea were razed or evacuated. As a result, about 300 kilometers of undeveloped seashore are graced only by forests of pine and spruce and ecologically unique sand dunes. The temptation for fast profit, however, may foster violation of laws that clearly forbid any construction within one kilometer of the sea. This could lead to one of the last remaining wild shorelines in Europe becoming non-existent. The seashore adjoining the population centers around Riga was a major focus of tourism during the Soviet era. Jūrmala has many sanitoriums and tourist accommodations, tall pines, sandy beaches, and antique architecture. Latvia has an abundant network of rivers, contributing to the visual beauty and the economy of the country. The largest river is the Daugava, which has been an important route for several thousand years. It has been used by local tribes as well as by Vikings, Russians, and other Europeans for trade, war, and conquest. With a total length of 1,020 kilometers, the Daugava (or Zapadnaya Dvina in its upper reaches) originates in the Valday Hills in Russia's Tver' Oblast, meanders through northern Belarus, and then winds through Latvia for before emptying into the Gulf of Riga. It is about 200 meters wide when it enters Latvia, increasing to between 650 and 750 meters at Riga and to 1.5 kilometers at its mouth. The river carries an average annual flow of 21 cubic kilometers. Its total descent within Latvia of ninety-eight meters has made it an attractive source of hydroelectric power production. The first hydroelectric station—Ķegums Hydro Power Plant—was built during Latvia's independence period. The second dam—Pļaviņas Hydro Power Plant—aroused an unusual wave of protest in 1958. Most Latvians opposed the flooding of historical sites and a particularly scenic gorge with rare plants and natural features, such as the Staburags, a cliff comparable in cultural significance to the Lorelei in Germany. The construction of the dam was endorsed in 1959, however, after the purge of relatively liberal and nationally oriented leaders under Eduards Berklavs and their replacement by Moscow-oriented, ideologically conservative cadres led by Arvīds Pelše. The third dam—Riga Hydroelectric Power Plant—just above Riga, did not provoke much protest because of the seeming hopelessness of the cause. The proposed fourth dam, at the town of Daugavpils on the Daugava River, became the rallying point for protest in 1986-87 by hundreds of thousands of Latvians. This dam was not constructed, in spite of the vast expenditures already poured into the project. Smaller rivers include the Lielupe, in central Latvia, with an average annual flow of 3.6 cubic kilometers; the Venta, in the west, with 2.9 cubic kilometers; the Gauja, in the northeast, with 2.5 cubic kilometers; and the Aiviekste, in the east, with 2.1 cubic kilometers. Very little hydroelectric power is generated by their waters, although planners are now thinking of reactivating some of the abandoned older dams and turbines. The Gauja is one of Latvia's most attractive, relatively clean rivers and has an adjoining large Gauja National Park along both of its banks as one of its notable features. Its cold waters attract trout and salmon, and its sandstone cliff and forest setting are increasingly a magnet for tourists interested in the environment. More than 60% of the annual water volume of Latvia's six largest rivers comes from neighboring countries, mainly from Belarus and Lithuania. These adjoining resources create obvious needs for cooperation, especially in pollution control. The dangers from a lack of cooperation were brought home to Latvians in November 1990, when a polymer complex in Navapolatsk, Belarus, accidentally spilled 128 tons of cyanide derivatives into the Daugava River with no warning to downstream users in Latvia. Only the presence of numerous dead fish alerted Latvian inhabitants to the danger. Climate In the summer, daylight hours are long and in the winter short. In December it is still pitch dark at 9:00 A.M., and daylight disappears before 4:00 P.M. The climate is tempered by the Gulf Stream flowing across the Atlantic Ocean from Mexico. Average temperatures in winter are reasonably mild, ranging in January from in Liepāja, on the western coast, to in the southeastern town of Daugavpils. July temperatures range from in Liepāja to in Daugavpils. Latvia's proximity to the sea brings high levels of humidity and precipitation, with average annual precipitation of in Riga. There, an average of 180 days per year have precipitation, forty-four days have fog, and only seventy-two days are sunny. Continuous snow cover lasts eighty-two days, and the frost-free period lasts 177 days. This precipitation has helped provide the abundant water for Latvia's many rivers and lakes, but it has created many problems as well. A large part of agricultural land requires drainage. Much money has been spent for land amelioration projects involving the installation of drainage pipes, the straightening and deepening of natural streams, the digging of drainage ditches, and the construction of polder dams. During the 1960s and 1970s, drainage work absorbed about one-third of all agricultural investments in Latvia. Although accounting for only one-third of 1% of the territory, Latvia was responsible for 11% of all artificially drained land in the former Soviet Union. An additional problem associated with precipitation is the difficulty of early mechanized sowing and harvesting because of waterlogged fields. Heavy precipitation occurs, especially during harvest time in August and September, requiring heavy investment outlays in grain-drying structures and ventilation systems. In 1992 Latvia experienced the driest summer in recorded weather history, but unusually heavy rains in the preceding spring kept crop damage below the extent expected. The moist climate has been a major factor orienting Latvian agriculture toward animal husbandry and dairying. Even most of the field crops, such as barley, oats, and potatoes, are grown for animal feed. Natural resources Latvia cannot claim valuable natural resources. Nevertheless, the abundant presence of such materials as limestone for cement (6 billion cubic meters or 8 billion cubic yards), gypsum (165 million cubic meters or 216 million cubic yards), high-quality clay (375 million cubic meters or 490 million cubic yards), dolomite (615 million cubic meters or 804 million cubic yards), peat (), and construction materials, including gravel and sand, satisfy local needs. Fish from the Baltic Sea is another potential export resource. Amber, million-year-old chunks of petrified pine pitch, is often found on the beaches of the Baltic Sea and is in high demand for jewelry. It has also had a symbolic impact on the country, which is often called Dzintarzeme, or Amberland. The future may hold potentially more valuable resources if oil fields are discovered in Latvian territorial waters, as some geologists have predicted. Latvia has an Exclusive Economic Zone of . Area and boundaries Area: total: land: water: Land boundaries: total: border countries: Belarus , Estonia , Lithuania , Russia Coastline: Maritime claims: territorial sea: exclusive economic zone: with continental shelf: depth or to the depth of exploitation Extreme points: North : () South : () West : () East : () Elevation extremes: lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Gaizinkalns Resources and land use Natural resources: peat, limestone, dolomite, amber, hydropower, timber, arable land Land use: arable land: 17.96% permanent crops: 0.11% other: 81.93% (2011) Irrigated land: note: land in Latvia is often too wet and in need of drainage not irrigation; approximately or 85% of agricultural land has been improved by drainage (2007) Total renewable water resources: 35.45 km3 (2011) Environmental concerns Natural hazards: none Environment - current issues: Latvia's environment has benefited from a shift to service industries after the country regained independence; the main environmental priorities are improvement of drinking water quality and sewage system, household, and hazardous waste management, as well as reduction of air pollution; in 2001, Latvia closed the EU accession negotiation chapter on environment committing to full enforcement of EU environmental directives by 2010 Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements See also Cultural regions of Latvia Dobele crater References External links	[ -0.0591600239276886, -0.03063155710697174, 0.08560901880264282, -0.07582643628120422, 0.07624932378530502, 0.43687117099761963, 0.5668137073516846, 0.8818421363830566, -0.5394095778465271, -0.7888004183769226, -0.1485544741153717, -0.4827514588832855, -0.017839498817920685, 0.7229675650596...
17764	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics%20of%20Latvia	Demographics of Latvia	This article is about the demographic features of the population of the historical territory of Latvia, including population density, ethnic background, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Background Latvia was settled by the Baltic tribes some three millennia ago. The territories along the eastern Baltic first came under foreign domination at the beginning of the 13th century, with the formal establishment of Riga in 1201 under the German Teutonic Knights. Latvia, in whole or in parts, remained under foreign rule for the next eight centuries, finding itself at the cross-roads of all the regional superpowers of their day, including Denmark (the Danes held on lands around the Gulf of Riga), Sweden, and Russia, with southern (Courland) Latvia being at one time a vassal to Poland-Lithuania as well as Latgale falling directly under Poland-Lithuania rule. Through all this time, Latvia remained largely under Baltic German hegemony, with Baltic Germans comprising the largest land-owners, a situation which did not change until Latvia's independence. Historically, Latvia has had significant German, Russian, Jewish, Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian minorities. The majority (roughly two thirds) of Latvians, under Swedish influences, adopted Lutheranism, while the minority (the remaining third) of Latvians under Poland-Lithuania, Latgale in particular, retained their Catholicism. Aglona, in Latgale, has been the site of annual Catholic pilgrimage for centuries, even through to today. Recently introduced immigration law in Latvia provides framework for immigration through investment in various financial areas or real estate. In 2012, solely 2,435 applications for residence permit by investment in real estate were received by Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. Main immigrant countries are Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania (Lithuania is in the European Union, thus no investment is needed). Moreover, Latvia receives residence permit applications from people of nationalities such as Afghans, Chinese, Libyans and people from various other distant countries. Historical shifts Latvia's indigenous population has been ravaged numerous times throughout history. The earliest such event occurred during the conquest of Latvia by Peter the Great in the Great Northern War with Sweden. In 1897, the first official census in this area indicated that Latvians formed 68.3% of the total population of 1.93 million; Russians accounted for 12%, Jews for 7.4%, Germans for 6.2%, and Poles for 3.4%. The remainder were Lithuanians, Estonians, Gypsies, and various other nationalities. The demographics shifted greatly in the 20th century due to the world wars, the expulsion of the Baltic Germans, the Holocaust, and occupation by the Soviet Union. Today, only the Russian minority, which has tripled in numbers since 1935, remains important. The share of ethnic Latvians fell from 75% (1,472,612) in 1935 to 52% (1,387,757) in 1989, after human loss in World War II and human deportation and other repressive measures. In 2005, there were even fewer Latvians than in 1989, though their share of the population was larger 1,357,099 (58.8% of the inhabitants). People who arrived in Latvia during the Soviet era, and their descendants born before 21 August 1991, have to pass a naturalization process to receive Latvian citizenship. Their children born after the restoration of independence in 1991 are registered as citizens, if one of the parents requests it. Ethnic Latvians have been one of the world's slowest-growing ethnic groups for a century. The number of Latvians today is actually less than it was in the 1920s. Over 130,000 persons have been naturalized as Latvian citizens since 1995, but 290,660 persons, as of March 2011, live in Latvia with non-citizen's passports. Large numbers of Russians, as well as some Ukrainians and Belarusians remained in Latvia after the fall of the Soviet Union. According to the provisional results of the Population and Housing Census 2011, the total population of Latvia on 1 March 2011 was 2,067,887. Since the previous census in 2000 the country's population decreased by 309,000 or 13%. The proportion of ethnic Latvians increased to 62.1% of the population. Livonians are the other indigenous ethnic group, with about 250 of them remaining. Latgalians are a distinctive subgroup of Latvians inhabiting or coming from Eastern Latvia. According to rankings provided by the United States Census Bureau—International Data Base (IDB)—Country Rankings, Latvia is estimated to have a population of 1,249,812 in the year 2050. Immigration Illegal immigration in Latvia has traditionally been from neighboring countries but now migrants also come from other areas such as Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. The Latvian government have sought to work with Russia to stem the problem. In 2009 the US State Department criticized Latvia for its treatment of illegal immigrants. For an immigrant not to become an illegal resident, a permit is required for a foreign national or a stateless person wishing to reside in the Republic of Latvia for more than 90 days within a 6-month period, thus if the person does not acquire himself a residence permit, he will be considered an illegal immigrant. Population On 1 January 2011 the average age was 41.6 years—6 months more than the average age published earlier. Vital statistics Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia Current vital statistics Ethnic groups Latvians have always been the largest ethnic group in Latvia during the past century, but minority peoples have always been numerous. Never in late modern history have they accounted for more than 80% of the population in Latvia. Before World War 2, the proportion of non-Latvians was approximately 25%, the Russians being the largest minority (approx. 10%), followed by Jews (approx. 5%), Germans and Poles (2–3%). After World War 2 only small numbers of Jews and Germans remained and following mass colonization of Russians, Latvians almost became a minority. There were also settlers from Belarus and Ukraine. In 1989, the proportion of Latvians had decreased to only 52% (from 75.5% in 1935). Despite the decreasing number of Latvians due to low fertility rates, the proportion of Latvians has considerably increased during the past two decades and reached 62.1% in 2011 (slightly higher than the 62.0% in 1959). This is due to large scale emigration of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The number of these peoples almost halved between 1989 and 2011. Languages official: Latvian considered indigenous in some legislation: Livonian, Latgalian other languages registered as main language spoken at home by at least 500 speakers in 2011 census (in declining order): Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romani, Tatar, Yiddish and Hebrew, Estonian, German other languages widely spoken: English (46%) Latvian Sign Language (legally recognised and supported) and Russian Sign Language In the 2011 census, 1,164,894 persons in Latvia reported Latvian as their main language spoken at home; 698,757 respondents listed Russian as their main language spoken at home, representing 37.2% of the total population, whereas Latvian was recorded as the main language spoken at home for 62.1%. Latvian was spoken as a second language by 20.8% of the population, and 43.7% spoke Russian as a second language. In total, 71% of ethnic Latvians said they could speak Russian, and 52% of Russians could speak Latvian in the 2000 census. In August 2019, the Central Statistical Bureau published new data indicating that Latvian was the native language of 60.8% of Latvia's population per 1 January 2018, a 2.6% increase compared to the 2000 census. 62.2% of the population was 'ethnically Latvian'. The percentage of native Latvian speakers increased in all statistical regions, especially in the Rīga capital region and Pierīga region around it (4.6%). The number of native Russian speakers dropped in all regions; in Latgale, the number of native Russian speakers also dropped, although their percentage remained the same at 55.5%, the highest of the country. Compared to the 2011 census, the share of people speaking Latvian at home rose by 1.9%, while the number of Russian home speakers dropped by 2.6%. 90.7% of ethnic Russians indicated they spoke Russian at home, while 8.5% of them indicated they spoke Latvian at home. Inter-linguistic marriage was an important factor why, for example, some non-native Latvian speakers who married native Latvian speakers switched to speaking Latvian at home. The percentage of Russian home speakers gradually increased with age from 30.0% amongst 0–4-year-olds to 44.2% amongst 55–64-year-olds, while Latvian home speakers gradually decreased with age from 69.2% amongst 0–4-year-olds to 55.0% amongst 55–64-year-olds, indicating that children in Latvia are increasingly being raised and educated in Latvian. Religion The largest religion in Latvia is Christianity (79%), though only about 7% of the population attends religious services regularly. The largest groups were: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia – 708,773 Roman Catholic – 500,000 Russian Orthodox – 370,000 In the Eurobarometer Poll 2010, 38% of Latvian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", while 48% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 11% stated that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". Lutheranism was more prominent before the Soviet occupation, when it was a majority religion of ~60% due to strong historical links with the Nordic countries and influence of the Hansa, and Germany in general. Since then, Lutheranism has declined to a slightly greater extent than Roman Catholicism in all three Baltic states. The Evangelical Lutheran Church, with an estimated 600,000 members in 1956, was affected most adversely. An internal document of 18 March 1987, near the end of communist rule, spoke of an active membership that had shrunk to only 25,000 in Latvia, but the faith has since experienced a revival. Moreover, modern Evangelical Protestant denominations are spreading worldwide, including Latvia. The country's Orthodox Christians belong to the Latvian Orthodox Church, a semi-autonomous body within the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2011, there were 416 Jews and 319 Muslims living in Latvia. There are more than 600 Latvian neopagans, Dievturi, whose religion is based on Latvian mythology. About 21% of the total population is not affiliated with a specific religion. See also Aging of Europe List of cities in the Baltic states by population References External links Naturalization Board of the Republic of Latvia: Figures and facts Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs: Statistics Latvian society	[ 0.2922215461730957, -0.10900041460990906, -0.5267257690429688, 0.012893438339233398, -0.24981097877025604, 0.8701004385948181, 1.1144602298736572, 0.8642264008522034, -0.5377264022827148, -0.7882773280143738, -0.13542355597019196, -0.7774832844734192, -0.3566945493221283, 0.428746193647384...
17765	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics%20of%20Latvia	Politics of Latvia	The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Saeima. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Political developments since independence On March 19, 1991, the Supreme Council passed a law explicitly guaranteeing "equal rights to all nationalities and ethnic groups" and "guarantees to all permanent residents in the Republic regardless of their nationality, equal rights to work and wages." The law also prohibits "any activity directed toward nationality discrimination or the promotion of national superiority or hatred." In autumn 1992 Latvia re-implemented significant portions of its 1922 constitution and in spring 1993 the government took a census to determine eligibility for citizenship. After almost three years of deliberations, Latvia finalized a citizenship and naturalization law in summer 1994. In the 5–6 June 1993 elections, with a turnout of over 90%, eight of Latvia's 23 registered political parties passed the four per cent threshold to enter parliament. The Popular Front, which spearheaded the drive for independence two years previously with a 75% majority in the last parliamentary elections in 1990, did not qualify for representation. The centrist Latvian Way party received a 33% plurality of votes and joined with the Farmer's Union to head a centre-right coalition government. Led by the opposition National Conservative Party, right-wing nationalists won a majority of the seats nationwide and also captured the Riga mayoralty in the 29 May 1994 municipal elections. OSCE and COE observers pronounced the elections free and fair, and turnout averaged about 60%. In February 1995, the Council of Europe granted Latvia membership. With President Bill Clinton's assistance, on 30 April 1994 Latvia and Russia signed a troop withdrawal agreement. Russia withdrew its troops by 31 August 1994 but maintained several hundred technical specialists to staff an OSCE-monitored phased-array ABM radar station at Skrunda until 31 August 1998. The 30 September-1 October 1995 elections produced a deeply fragmented parliament with nine parties represented and the largest party - the newly founded centrist Democratic Party "Saimnieks" - commanding only 18 of 100 seats. Attempts to form right-of-centre and left-wing governments failed; 7 weeks after the election, a broad but fractious coalition government of six of the nine parties was voted into office under Prime Minister Andris Šķēle, a nonpartisan businessman. The also-popular president, Guntis Ulmanis, had limited constitutional powers but played a key role in leading the various political forces to agree finally to this broad coalition. In June 1996, the Saeima re-elected Ulmanis to another 3-year term. In the summer of 1997, the daily newspaper Diena revealed that half the cabinet ministers and two-thirds of parliamentarians appeared to violate the 1996 anti-corruption law, which bars senior officials from holding positions in private business. Under pressure from Šķēle, several ministers subsequently resigned or were fired. However, after months of increasing hostility between Šķēle and leading coalition politicians, the coalition parties demanded and received the prime minister's resignation on 28 July. The new government was formed by the recent Minister of Economy Guntars Krasts. It included the same parties and mostly the same ministers as Šķēle's government. It pursued the same course of reform, albeit not as vigorously. In the 1998 elections, the Latvian party structure began to consolidate with only six parties winning seats in the Saeima. Andris Šķēle's newly formed People's Party garnered a plurality with 24 seats. Though the election represented a victory for the centre-right, personality conflicts and scandals within the two largest right of centre parties – Latvian Way and the People's Party – prevented stable coalitions from forming. Two shaky governments under Vilis Krištopans and Andris Šķēle quickly collapsed in less than a year. In May 2000, a compromise candidate was found in the form of Andris Bērziņš, the Latvian Way mayor of Rīga. His four-party coalition government lasted till the next elections in 2002. In 1999, the Saeima elected Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, a compromise candidate with no party affiliation, to the presidency. Though born in Rīga in 1937, she settled in Canada during the years of the Soviet occupation, becoming a well-respected academic in the subject of Latvian culture. Since her election, she has become one of the most popular political figures in Latvia. Local elections in 2001 represented a victory for the left-of-center parties in several municipalities, including Rīga. A leftist coalition in the Rīga City Council elected Gundars Bojārs, a Social Democrat, to the office of mayor. Between local elections in 2001 and Saeima elections in 2002, two new parties formed: the conservative New Era Party led by Einars Repše and Christian Democratic Latvia's First Party. Both of them promised to fight corruption and made that the most important issue in the 2002 elections. Six parties were elected to Saeima in 2002 elections. New Era Party with 26 seats out of 100 became the largest party in the parliament. Several previously successful parties such as Latvian Way and the Social Democrats did not reach the 5% threshold of the popular vote needed to be in the parliament. This was mostly due to voters perceiving these parties as corrupt. After elections, Einars Repše formed a government consisting of his New Era Party and three other parties. In 2003, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was re-elected to the presidency for the second term, until 2007. On 20 September 2003, Latvia voted to join the European Union in a referendum. Virtually all of the major political parties and major Latvian-language media supported the 'YES' vote. Latvian government also spent a significant amount of money for the 'YES' campaign. The 'NO' campaign lacked both funding and media access. Out of voters who participated in the referendum, 66.9% of cast votes in favour of EU. The vote was largely along the ethnic lines. It is estimated that 84% of ethnic Latvians voted 'YES', while 91% of ethnic Russians voted 'NO'. After the referendum, Repše's government started to fall apart and he eventually resigned in January 2004. A new government, led by Indulis Emsis, head of the conservative Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) was approved by the parliament in March 2004. The government was a coalition of the ZZS, the People's Party (TP), and the Latvia's First Party (LPP); the coalition had only 46 out of 100 seats in Latvia's parliament, but was also supported by the leftist National Harmony Party (TSP). After the Saeima did not accept the budget for 2005 proposed by the government of Indulis Emsis, the government resigned. On 2 December 2004, Aigars Kalvītis became the new Prime Minister and thus head of the government. Kalvītis was the first prime minister in the history of post-soviet independent Latvia whose government was reelected by an election in 2006. New Era Party, however, weakened, so a coalition reshuffle took place, and a 4-party centre-right coalition emerged. The government lasted only until 5 December 2007, when Kalvitis resigned due to his continuous and unsuccessful attempts to dismiss Aleksejs Loskutovs, the head of KNAB, the State Anti-Corruption Agency, after Loskutov's had investigated shadowy matters of the PM's party. After negotiations, a "crisis-handling" government was formed, with the participation of the same parties, led by former PM Ivars Godmanis, a respectable public figure, and member of Latvian Way. The government tried to impose austerity measures, with moderate success. This was accompanied, though, with a widespread public opposition, which resulted in two referenda, one on pensions, the other on constitutional amendments, which would have allowed the electorate to initiate the dissolution of the parliament. Both of the referenda failed, but the country entered into the worst political crisis since the independence from the Soviet Union, together with the economic situation severely deteriorating, due to the world financial crisis. The popularity of the governing parties melted and was below the parliamentary threshold. By the end of 2008, parties had a hard time agreeing on further budget cuts, (mainly in the social sphere) the planned reorganization of the government, and layoffs. On 13 January 2009, there were severe riots in Riga, with protesters attacking the building of the parliament. The President Valdis Zatlers gave an ultimatum to parties, saying that should they not agree on constitutional amendments about the dissolution of the Saeima, he would dissolve the parliament by the end of March. After background talks and a failed vote of no confidence, PM Ivars Godmanis chose to resign in late February. On the 26 February, Zatlers nominated the candidate of New Era Party, MEP Valdis Dombrovskis to the post of prime minister. After talks, on 4 March 2009 five parties confirmed their participation in the coalition: New Era, People's Party, Union of Greens and Peasants, For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK, and Civic Union. In 2010 parliamentary election ruling centre-right coalition won 63 out of 100 parliamentary seats. Left-wing opposition Harmony Centre supported by Latvia's Russian-speaking minority got 29 seats. In 2014 parliamentary election was won again by the ruling centre-right coalition formed by the Latvian Unity Party, the National Alliance and the Union of Greens and Farmers. They got 61 seats and Harmony got 24. In 2018 parliamentary election pro-Russian Harmony was again the biggest party securing 23 out of 100 seats. the second and third were the populist KPV LV and New Conservative Party. Ruling coalition, comprising the Union of Greens and Farmers, the National Alliance and the Unity party, lost. In November 2013, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, in office since 2009, resigned after at least 54 people were killed and dozens injured in the collapse at a supermarket in Riga. In December 2015, country’s first female Prime Minister, in office since January 2014, Laimdota Straujuma resigned. In February 2016, a coalition of Union of Greens and Farmers, The Unity and National Alliance was formed by new Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis. In January 2019, Latvia got a government led by new Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins of the centre-right New Unity. Karins’ coalition was formed by five of the seven parties in parliament, excluding only the pro-Russia Harmony party and the Union of Greens and Farmers. Citizenship and language issues The current edition of the citizenship law was adopted in 1998 after much debate and pressure from Russia and European Union, amending a more restrictive law, initially passed in 1994. In accordance with the law, Latvian citizens are those who had Latvian citizenship prior to June 17, 1940, and their descendants. Those who settled in Latvia during the Soviet occupation, with exception of those who did so subsequent to retirement from the Soviet Army, or were employees, informers, agents or safehouse keepers of the KGB, or of the security services, intelligence services or other special services of some other foreign state, can obtain Latvian citizenship via naturalization. Other categories of persons not eligible for naturalization include convicted criminals, state officials and servicemen of armed forces of a foreign state, members of Communist Party as well as members of certain affiliate organizations, who, after 13 January 1991, have acted against the Latvian State. Naturalization criteria include a conversational knowledge of Latvian, an oath of loyalty, renunciation of former citizenship, a 5-year residency requirement, and a knowledge of the Latvian constitution. As of November 2005, about 109,000 persons applied for naturalization and about 103,000 of them were granted Latvian citizenship. In 2006 approximately 18 per cent of the total population (420,000 inhabitants of Latvia, slightly less than half of ethnically non-Latvian population) had no Latvian citizenship. Most of them have Latvian non-Citizen Passports, which give them a status similar to permanent residency in other countries. They can reside in Latvia indefinitely and obtain most of the public services (e.g., education and healthcare) according to the same conditions as the citizens of Latvia. Non-citizens of Latvia cannot vote during municipal and state elections and are not allowed to work in government, the police and civil services. Several foreign nations also treat citizens and non-citizens of Latvia differently, admitting citizens of Latvia without a visa but requiring visas from non-citizens. Russia used to have an opposite practice, requiring visas from both citizens and non-citizens of Latvia, but allowing non-citizens to travel to Russia with a cheaper visa. As a transitional clause, the Latvian law allows dual citizenship for those who were forced to leave Latvia during the Soviet or Nazi occupation and adopted another citizenship while away from Latvia. In order to be eligible for dual citizenship, they had to claim it by July 1, 1995. After that date the other citizenship must be renounced upon the acceptance of Latvian citizenship. Latvian is the sole state language in Latvia; while the threatened Livonian language is recognized as "the language of the indigenous (autochthon) population". The Latgalian written language is also protected "as a historic variant of the Latvian language." All other languages are considered foreign by the law on state languages. Two parliamentary parties, Harmony Centre and ForHRUL, have requested that Russian (26.9% of inhabitants, according to the 2011 census, are Russians) be given official status. Since 1999, the education laws have forbidden the public universities to instruct students in languages other than Latvian (there are exclusions made for linguistics, some international projects and non-budget groups). The law included a provision allowing for instruction in Latvian only in public high schools since 2004. Following large-scale protests in 2003—2004, the law was amended, requiring instruction in Latvian within at least 60% of the curriculum. Executive branch !scope="row"\| President \|Egils Levits \|Independent \|8 July 2019 \|- !scope="row"\| Prime Minister \|Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš \|New Unity \|23 January 2019 \|} The president is elected by Parliament for a maximum of two terms of four years, by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of the vote (Constitution of Latvia, Articles 35, 36 and 39). The president is a largely ceremonial head of state, and in common with other presidents in parliamentary republics, the President of Latvia has influence and authority rather than power. Although the president is formally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, signs treaties, represents Latvia abroad, and officially appoints ambassadors and other key officials, these powers are constitutionally exercised on the binding advice of the prime minister, who is politically responsible for them (Constitution of Latvia, Article 53). The president does, however, have personal discretion over the proposal of legislation to the Parliament, vetoing legislation, calling referendums on legislation, and nominating the prime minister. The president also has the right, , to call a referendum on the premature dissolution of Parliament: if the referendum is passed, Parliament is dissolved; but if the referendum fails, the president must resign. The prime minister is appointed by the president. The prime minister then chooses the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) which has to be accepted by the Parliament. The Parliament can remove the prime minister and Cabinet by means of a vote of no-confidence (Constitution of Latvia, Article 59). Legislative branch The unicameral Parliament (Saeima) has 100 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation with a 5% threshold. The parliamentary elections are held on the first Saturday of October. Locally, Latvia elects municipal councils, consisting of 7 to 60 members, depending on the size of the municipality, also by proportional representation for a four-year term. Political parties and elections Summary of the 6 October 2018 Latvian Saeima election results Judicial branch Judges' appointments are confirmed by Parliament and are irrevocable, except on the decision of the Judicial Disciplinary Board or on the judgment of a criminal court. There is a special Constitutional Court, with the authority to rule on the constitutionality of laws, whose members must be confirmed by an absolute majority vote of Parliament, by secret ballot. International organization participation BIS, CBSS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, ITUC, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, WTrO (applicant) References	[ 0.3762563467025757, -0.1152232438325882, 0.1686158925294876, 0.34613656997680664, -0.20230507850646973, 0.16920575499534607, 0.5055119395256042, 0.39356786012649536, -0.49420228600502014, -0.20757359266281128, -0.561574399471283, -0.2243088334798813, -0.1395329236984253, 0.3505164384841919...
17766	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy%20of%20Latvia	Economy of Latvia	The economy of Latvia is an open economy in Eastern Europe and is part of the European Single Market. Latvia is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1999, a member of the European Union since 2004, a member of the Eurozone since 2014 and a member of the OECD since 2016. Latvia is ranked the 14th in the world by the Ease of Doing Business Index prepared by the World Bank Group. According to the Human Development Report 2011, Latvia belongs to the group of very high human development countries. Due to its geographical location, transit services are highly developed, along with timber and wood-processing, agriculture and food products, and manufacturing of machinery and electronic devices. Latvia's economy has had rapid GDP growth of more than 10% per year during 2006–07, but entered a severe recession in 2009 as a result of an unsustainable current account deficit, collapse of the real estate market, and large debt exposure amid the softening world economy. Triggered by the collapse of Parex Bank, the second largest bank, GDP decreased by almost 18% in 2009, and the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and other international donors provided substantial financial assistance to Latvia as part of an agreement to defend the currency's peg to the euro in exchange for the government's commitment to stringent austerity measures. In 2011 Latvia achieved GDP growth by 5.5% and thus Latvia again was among the fastest growing economies in the European Union. The IMF/EU program successfully concluded in December 2011. Privatization is mostly complete, except for some of the large state-owned utilities. Export growth contributed to the economic recovery, however, the bulk of the country's economic activity is in the services sector. Economic history For centuries under Hanseatic and German influence and then during its inter-war independence, Latvia used its geographic location as an important East-West commercial and trading centre. Industry served local markets, while timber, paper and agricultural products were Latvia's main exports. Conversely, years in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union tended to integrate Latvia's economy with their markets and also serve those countries' large internal industrial needs. After reestablishing its independence, Latvia proceeded with market-oriented reforms, albeit at a measured pace. Its freely traded currency, the lat, was introduced in 1993 and held steady, or appreciated, against major world currencies. Inflation was reduced from 958.6% in 1992 to 25% by 1995 and 1.4% by 2002. After contracting substantially between 1991–95, the economy steadied in late 1994, led by a recovery in light industry and a boom in commerce and finance. This recovery was interrupted twice, first by a banking crisis and the bankruptcy of Banka Baltija, Latvia's largest bank, in 1995 and second by a severe crisis in the financial system of neighbouring Russia in 1998. After 2000, Latvian GDP grew by 6–8% a year for 4 consecutive years. Latvia's state budget was balanced in 1997 but the 1998 Russian financial crisis resulted in large deficits, which were reduced from 4% of GDP in 1999 to 1.8% in 2003. These deficits were smaller than in most of the other countries joining the European Union in 2004. Until the middle of 2008, Latvia had the fastest developing economy in Europe. In 2003, GDP growth was 7.5% and inflation was 2.9%. The centrally planned system of the Soviet period was replaced with a structure based on free-market principles. In 2005, private sector share in GDP was 70%. Recovery in light industry and Riga's emergence as a regional financial and commercial centre offset shrinkage of the state-owned industrial sector and agriculture. The official unemployment figure was held steady in the 7%–10% range. Economic contraction in 2008–2010 The financial crisis of 2007–2008 severely disrupted the Latvian economy, primarily as a result of the easy credit bubble that began building up during 2004. The bubble burst leading to a rapidly weakening economy, resulting in a budget, wage and unemployment crisis. Latvia had the worst economic performance in 2009, with annual growth rate averaging −18%. The Latvian economy entered a phase of fiscal contraction during the second half of 2008 after an extended period of credit-based speculation and unrealistic inflation of real estate values. The national account deficit for 2007, for example, represented more than 22% of the GDP for the year while inflation was running at 10%. By 2009 unemployment rose to 23% and was the highest in the EU. Paul Krugman, the Nobel Laureate in economics for 2008, wrote in his New York Times Op-Ed column for 15 December 2008: "The acutest problems are on Europe's periphery, where many smaller economies are experiencing crises strongly reminiscent of past crises in Latin America and Asia: Latvia is the new Argentina". By August 2009, Latvia's GDP had fallen by 20% year on year, with Standard & Poor's predicting a further 16% contraction to come. The International Monetary Fund suggested a devaluation of Latvia's currency, but the European Union objected to this, on the grounds that the majority of Latvia's debt was denominated in foreign currencies. Financial economist Michael Hudson has advocated for redenominating foreign currency liabilities in Latvian lats before devaluing. However, by 2010 there were indications that Latvia's policy of internal devaluation was successful. Economic recovery 2010–2012 The economic situation has since 2010 improved, and by 2012 Latvia was described as a success by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde showing strong growth forecasts. The Latvian economy grew by 5.5% in 2011 and by 5.6% in 2012 reaching the highest rate of growth in Europe. The GDP surpassed the pre-crisis level in 2018. Privatisation Privatisation in Latvia is almost complete. Virtually all of the previously state-owned small and medium companies have been privatized, leaving only a small number of politically sensitive large state companies. In particular, the country's main energy and utility company, Latvenergo remains state-owned and there are no plans to privatize it. The government also holds minority shares in Ventspils Nafta oil transit company and the country's main telecom company Lattelecom but it plans to relinquish its shares in the near future. Foreign investment in Latvia is still modest compared with the levels in north-central Europe. A law expanding the scope for selling land, including land sales to foreigners, was passed in 1997. Representing 10.2% of Latvia's total foreign direct investment, American companies invested $127 million in 1999. In the same year, the United States exported $58.2 million of goods and services to Latvia and imported $87.9 million. Eager to join Western economic institutions like the World Trade Organization, OECD, and the European Union, Latvia signed a Europe Agreement with the EU in 1995 with a 4-year transition period. Latvia and the United States have signed treaties on investment, trade, and intellectual property protection and avoidance of double taxation. Employment Average wages are higher in Riga and its surroundings and in Ventspils and its surroundings, with inland border regions lacking behind, mainly the region of Latgale. Sectors Primary Agriculture Latvia produced in 2018: 1.4 million tons of wheat; 426 thousand tons of potato; 306 thousand tons of barley; 229 thousand tons of rapeseed; 188 thousand tons of oat; 81 thousand tons of rye; 80 thousand tons of bean; In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products. Services Infrastructure Energy Almost all of Latvian electricity is produced with Hydroelectricity. Biggest hydroelectric power stations are Pļaviņas Hydroelectric Power Station, Riga Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ķegums Hydroelectric Power Station. In 2017 about 4381 GWh were produced in hydro power and 150 GWh in wind power. There is a steady increase in Wind electricity production, and by 2022 the biggest wind farm is supposed to open which would produce 0.7 terawatt hours of energy (10% of country total) Latvia imports 100% of its natural gas from Russia. Transport Key ports are located in Riga (Freeport of Riga and Riga Passenger Terminal), Ventspils (Free port of Ventspils), and Liepāja (Port of Liepāja). Most transit traffic uses these and half the cargo is crude oil and oil products. Latvian Railways is the main state-owned railway company in Latvia. Its daughter companies both carry out passengers services as well as carry a large quantity of freight cargo, and freight trains operate over the whole current passenger network, and a number of lines currently closed to passenger services. Riga International Airport is the only major airport in Latvia, carrying around 5 million passengers annually. It is the largest airport in the Baltic states and has direct flights to over 80 destinations in 30 countries. It is also the main hub of airBaltic. Statistics Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 25.9% (1998) Industries: synthetic fibres, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, radios, electronics, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, textiles, timber; note – dependent on imports for energy and raw materials Industrial production growth rate: 8.5% (2004 est.) Electricity – production: 4,547 GWh (2002) Electricity – production by source: fossil fuel: 29.1% hydro: 70.9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) Electricity – consumption: 5,829 GWh (2002) Electricity – exports: 1,100 GWh (2002) Electricity – imports: 2,700 GWh (2002) Agriculture – products: wheat, barley, potatoes, vegetables; beef, milk, eggs; fish Foreign direct investments in Latvia: Lursoft statistics on the remaining amount of investments at the end of each year. Packet of 20 cigarettes: On Average 3.30 – 4.50 EUR. See also Baltic Tiger Baltic states housing bubble Economy of Europe References External links Latvia's Tiger Economy Loses Its Bite by Kristina Rizga, The Nation, 28 October 2009 Latvia's Internal Devaluation: A Success Story?, from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, December 2011 European Commission's DG ECFIN's country page on Latvia. World Bank Summary Trade Statistics 2012 Latvia Latvia Latvia	[ 0.5042561888694763, -0.1560080200433731, 0.13334259390830994, 0.3550471067428589, 0.1440020203590393, 0.5892800688743591, 0.42159053683280945, 1.0183826684951782, -0.5860310792922974, -0.23365168273448944, -0.32155054807662964, -0.5562771558761597, -0.28700539469718933, 0.706946849822998, ...
17767	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications%20in%20Latvia	Telecommunications in Latvia	Telecommunications in Latvia include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Radio and television Radio stations: Publicly owned broadcaster operates 6 radio networks with dozens of stations throughout the country; dozens of private broadcasters also operate radio stations (2007); AM 1, FM 234 (2016). Radios: 1.76 million (1997). The state public radio broadcaster is Latvijas Radio. Television stations: Several national and regional commercial TV stations are foreign-owned, 2 national TV stations are publicly owned; system supplemented by privately owned regional and local TV stations; cable and satellite multi-channel TV services with domestic and foreign broadcasts available (2007); 44 plus 31 repeaters (1995). Televisions: 1.22 million (1997). The state public television broadcaster is Latvijas Televīzija. Telephones Calling code: +371 International call prefix: 00 Main lines: ~501,000 lines in use, 97th in the world (2012); ~644,000 lines in use (2007). Mobile cellular: ~2.3 million lines (2012); ~2.2 million lines (2007). Telephone system: Recent efforts have focused on bringing competition to the telecommunications sector; the number of fixed lines is decreasing as mobile-cellular telephone service expands; the number of telecommunications operators has grown rapidly since the fixed-line market opened to competition in 2003; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership is roughly 150 per 100 persons; the Latvian network is now connected via fiber optic cable to Estonia, Finland, and Sweden (2008). Until 2003 Lattelecom had a monopoly in the fixed telecommunications market. This led to overwhelming use of cellular phones for private customers, fixed lines being requested mostly by companies. In Latvia exist more than 2 million mobile phones but only 644,000 fixed phone connections. Since the fixed-line voice communication monopoly ended on January 1, 2003, several companies entered the market for fixed voice communication services: Aeronavigācijas serviss, Baltcom TV, Beta Telecom, Latvenergo Tehniskais Centrs, OPTRON, Rigatta, Telecentrs, Telenets, Telekom Baltija, CSC Telecom and Bite Latvija. These voice telephony providers provide services for cheaper foreign calls, as well as local calls. The telecom regulator SPRK tries to provide a competitive environment so that new operators can compete with Lattelecom which owns most of the last-mile connections. Internet Top-level domain: .lv Internet users: 1.5 million users, 79,2% of the population, 110th in the world (2015); 1.1 million users (2007). Internet hosts: 359,604 hosts, 58th in the world (2012). Internet Service Providers: 150+ ISPs (2007). The Internet in Latvia began to experience significant growth in 1999, as the consolidation of regional Internet providers began to drive down prices for dial-up access. By 2000, there were 75,000 Internet users and about a dozen e-commerce shops in Latvia. Back then the average salary for a web programmer was 500Ls/month. High-speed access costs remained prohibitive; for example, an ADSL service was introduced in July 2000 and planned to charge a monthly fee of 50,00Ls. By 2003, however, only 5.4% of Latvians used the Internet at home, and 60% did not use it at all; those who did instead accessed it in public areas or through their place of work, as high subscription prices for home usage remained a barrier. By 2008, access prices had fallen to 11,90Ls (€17) per month for the Lattelecom ADSL line. By July 2015, 79,2% of the population use internet at home. Latvia has the 7th fastest internet in the world. Internet censorship and surveillance There is no OpenNet Initiative (ONI) country profile, but Latvia is shown as no evidence of Internet filtering in all areas for which ONI tests (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) on the ONI global Internet filtering maps. The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press. There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. In September 2010 the government's Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), which enforces campaign laws, removed a satirical film, The Last Bear Slayer, from the on-demand playlist of the partially state-owned cable provider, Lattelecom. The KNAB stated that the film might have constituted election advertising. Reporters Without Borders charged that the prohibition constituted improper censorship, but noted it was ineffective because the film was widely available on the Internet. On June 1, 2014 new subsection 22 of section 19 of Electronic Communications Law was enforced to enable blocking unlicensed gambling websites. Since then, the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of Latvia has been maintaining the list of blocked websites. See also Latvian Internet Exchange Latvia References External links Public Utilities Commission Latvian State Department of Communications NIC.lv, .lv domain registrar. CERT.lv, the Information Technology Security Incident Response Institution of the Republic of Latvia. Telecommunications operators in Latvia TelTel Bite Latvia (GSM) CSC Telecom Lattelecom Latvia Mobile Telephone (GSM) Optron Tele2 (GSM) TELEFANT Telepele, prefix code 1030 in Lattelecom network. Triatel (CDMA)	[ 0.6946415901184082, 0.21756766736507416, -0.2403353601694107, 0.102662093937397, 0.09024680405855179, 0.755670964717865, 0.6302838325500488, 0.6779953241348267, -0.7308921813964844, -0.3808404505252838, -0.5547170042991638, -0.10833777487277985, -0.4609220325946808, 0.2909215986728668, -...
17768	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport%20in%20Latvia	Transport in Latvia	This article provides an overview of the transport infrastructure of Latvia. Road system It is mandatory to keep headlights on while driving, even in daylight; most cars commercially sold in Latvia are equipped to make this automatic. Highways Length of the road system Railways Latvian Railways is the main state-owned railway company in Latvia. Its daughter companies both carry out passengers services as well as carry a large quantity of freight cargo, and freight trains operate over the whole current passenger network, and a number of lines currently closed to passenger services. There is also a narrow gauge railway between Gulbene and Aluksne, operated by the Industrial Heritage Trust, using Russian and Polish built heritage rolling stock. Three narrow gauge trains a day operate on the 33 km route between the two towns. total: 2,347 km Russian gauge: 2,314 km gauge (270 km electrified) narrow gauge: 33 km gauge (2002) Passenger Train Pasažieru Vilciens is a daughter company of Latvian Railways and the only passenger-carrying company in Latvia. Domestic passenger lines with current service are: Torņakalns – Tukums II Railway Riga – Jelgava Railway Jelgava – Liepāja Railway Riga – Daugavpils Railway Krustpils – Rēzekne – Zilupe (border of Russia) Rīga – Sigulda – Cēsis – Valmiera – Valga (border of Estonia) Zemitāni – Skulte Railway Pļaviņas – Gulbene Rail links with adjacent countries Russia - yes Lithuania - yes Belarus - yes Estonia - yes Airports Riga International Airport is the only major airport in Latvia, carrying around 5 million passengers annually. It is the largest airport in the Baltic states and has direct flights to over 80 destinations in 30 countries. It is also the main hub of airBaltic. In the recent years airBaltic also operated from Liepāja International Airport as well as Ventspils International Airport but operations in both of these airports were ceased until 2017, when airBaltic relaunched flights from Riga to Liepaja. Currently there are plans for further development in several regional airports, including Jūrmala Airport, Liepāja, Ventspils as well as Daugavpils International Airport. Airfields As of 2003, there were a total of 51 airfields in Latvia, with 27 of them having paved runways. Airports - with paved runways total: 27 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 16 (2003) Airports - with unpaved runways total: 24 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,523 to 2,438 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 20 (2003) Ports and harbors Key ports are located in Riga (Freeport of Riga and Riga Passenger Terminal), Ventspils (Free port of Ventspils), and Liepāja (Port of Liepāja). Most transit traffic uses these and half the cargo is crude oil and oil products. Waterways 300 km (perennially navigable) Pipelines crude oil 412 km; refined products 421 km; natural gas 1,097 km (2003) Merchant marine total: 11 ships (with a volume of or over) totaling / note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 1, Greece 1, Ukraine 1 (2002 est.) ships by type: cargo ship 6, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off ship 1, short-sea/passenger 1 References External links History of railroad construction in Latvia Ministry of Transport of Republic of Latvia Transport in Latvia	[ 0.416671484708786, -0.12289214134216309, -0.2745665907859802, 0.24668340384960175, -0.10986563563346863, 0.9363941550254822, 0.7314969897270203, 0.8111599087715149, -0.8805159330368042, -0.9015668630599976, -0.05205180495977402, -0.5343793630599976, -0.35937559604644775, 0.377009779214859,...
17769	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian%20National%20Armed%20Forces	Latvian National Armed Forces	The Latvian National Armed Forces () are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile professional rapid response force and reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should the need arise. The National Armed Forces consists of Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force and National Guard. Its main tasks are to protect the territory of the State; participate in international military operations; and to prevent threats to national security. Mission The mission of the National Armed Forces (NAF) is to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation and to defend its population against foreign or domestic armed aggression. In order to implement these tasks, the NAF provide for the defence of the nation, its air space and national territorial waters, participate in large scale crisis response operations, perform emergency rescue operations, and participate in international peacekeeping operations. The main mission of the National Armed Forces is to: Provide for the inviolability of all national territory, its waters and air space; Participate in international operations; Participate in national threat elimination; Provide for the training of personnel and military reserves. Ensure modernization and enhancement of professional combat training; History War of Independence, peacetime (1919–1940) The Latvian armed forces were first formed soon after the new state was proclaimed in November 1918 after World War I, with the official founding of the () on July 10, 1919, when the and , which were loyal to the Latvian Provisional Government, were merged. Seasoned general Dāvids Sīmansons was appointed as the first Commander-in-Chief. At the end of the Latvian War of Independence (1918-1920), the Latvian Army consisted of 69,232 men. In terms of equipment, the Latvian military during its first independence period (1919-1940) was armed mostly with British weapons and gear. The average Latvian infantry soldier in the 1930s is believed to have carried 31,4 kg of equipment in the winter months, and around 29,1 kg in the summer. The main service rifle was the British Pattern 1914 Enfield, and the amount of standard issue ammunition for an infantry soldier was 45 rounds of .303 (7,7mm) caliber. In addition, troops had access to three different types of hand grenades (defense, attack and rifle grenades). The Latvian Army had acquired a wide variety of machine guns in different calibers, through various means: trophies acquired from hostile forces during the War of Independence, allied donations and subsequent official state purchases. Light machine guns included the French Chauchat, Danish Madsen, and British Lewis gun (which became the main light machine gun of the Latvian Army). The main heavy machine gun was the British Vickers machine gun in the .303 (7,7mm) caliber, although the army also kept Russian PM M1910 machine guns in reserve. In general, the Latvian Army lacked automatic weapons of all calibers, and the ones it did have were becoming increasingly outdated towards the start of World War II (most of the weapons in service were from World War I). In terms of heavy weapons, the Latvian military had acquired a rather large number of different artillery systems in different calibers, around 400 artillery pieces in total (although most of these were outdated and worn out due to heavy use and age). The main artillery gun for infantry support was the British Ordnance QF 18-pounder field gun and British QF 4.5-inch howitzer, although there were also several types of French, German and Russian artillery guns in reserve. For anti-tank weapons, in 1938 the army received the Austrian 47 mm Cannone da 47/32 anti-tank cannons, which were reasonably effective against early World War II tanks. For infantry mortars, a number of 81mm mortars were acquired from Finland some time around the late 1930s, but it is unclear how many were delivered and in service at the start of World War II. In terms of vehicles, the Latvian military was seriously lacking in motorized transport, and thus had to rely mostly on railroads and horse-drawn carriages for most of its logistics needs. The military leadership did make an effort to solve this problem at the end of the 1930s by purchasing a small number of cars, trucks, artillery tractors and motorbikes, but at the start of World War II, only a small portion of the Latvian military had access to motorized vehicles. In terms of armoured vehicles, the Latvian military had six armoured trains, 18 units of Carden Loyd tankettes, six armoured cars and 27 tanks of various designs and combat abilities. In terms of air power, at the start of World War II the Latvian Air Force had around 52 fighter planes and 48 scout planes, of which only 25 were the relatively modern Gloster Gladiator fighters. Thus, the Latvian military during the interwar era was more or less comparable both in equipment and size to its other Baltic neighbours, such as Estonia, Lithuania and Finland. The Armed Forces were also supported by the volunteer Aizsargi Organization. World War II and the occupation of the Baltic states (1939–1991) However, the most crucial problem and flaw for both the Latvian military and other militaries of the Baltic states on the eve of World War II had to do with the failure to organize effective military cooperation between all the Baltic states in case of a new war in the region. The Latvian command in the interwar period had given very little attention towards any possible coordination of forces with either the Estonian or Lithuanian armies against a possible enemy, and so the Latvian military planned its actions and doctrine in almost complete isolation, oblivious to whatever its neighbours to the north (Estonia) or south (Lithuania) did. This ultimately led to flawed and questionable choices in creating defense plans against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (there were separate plans towards both of these possible aggressors), since the Latvian higher command was unsure as to how Latvia's neighbours would react in the event such a conflict started. After the Soviet occupation of Latvia in June 1940, the annihilation of the Latvian Army began. The army was first renamed the People's Army of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Tautas armija) and in September–November 1940 the Red Army's 24th Territorial Rifle Corps. The corps comprised the 181st and 183rd Rifle Divisions. In September the corps contained 24,416 men but in autumn more than 800 officers and about 10,000 instructors and soldiers were discharged. The arrests of soldiers continued in the following months. In June 1940, the entire Territorial Corps was sent to Litene camp. Before leaving the camp, Latvians drafted in 1939 were demobilised, and replaced by about 4,000 Russian soldiers from the area around Moscow. On June 10, the corps' senior officers were sent to Russia where they were arrested and most of them shot. On June 14 at least 430 officers were arrested and sent to Gulag camps. After the German attack against the Soviet Union, from June 29 to July 1 more than 2080 Latvian soldiers were demobilised, fearing that they might turn their weapons against the Russian commissars and officers. Simultaneously, many soldiers and officers deserted and when the corps crossed the Latvian border into the Russian SFSR, only about 3,000 Latvian soldiers remained. During and after World War II, many former veterans were a part of the fighters of the anti-Soviet National Partisan resistance movement opposing the continued Soviet occupation. After restoration of independence (1991–present) The origin of the current Latvian armed forces can be traced to the establishment of the Latvian National Guard or Zemessardze on August 23, 1991, which served as the first organized defence force after the restoration of the independence of Latvia. Unlike other Soviet republics, it is one of the military forces in the Baltic states that were not formed from the Baltic Military District. From the beginning, the reconstituted defense forces were modeled according to NATO standards with assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden etc. A notable moment in the history of the armed forces is the accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 29 March 2004, after Latvia received a Membership Action Plan in 1999 and, ultimately, an invite was extended to it and six other countries during the 2002 Prague summit. Previously, Latvia co-founded the North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1991 and joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994. Since the 1990s, personnel of the NAF has been deployed to a number of peacekeeping, training and support missions – the NATO Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) from 1996 to 2004; the Kosovo Force (KFOR) from 2000 to 2009; the NATO training mission in Iraq (NTM-I) from 2005 to 2006, the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2003 to 2015, the Resolute Support Mission from 2015 to 2021 and others. Structure National Armed Forces consist of: NAF Joint Headquarters NAF Commander's Personal Staff Land Forces Naval Forces Air Force National Guard Special Operations Command Military Police NAF Staff Battalion Training and Doctrine Command Support Command The Security Service of Parliament and State President was a part of the National Armed Forces until its merger with the Military Police in 2009. Personnel Latvian National Armed Forces consist of the Regular Force, National Guard and Reserve. On January 1, 2007, conscription was abolished and since then the Regular Force consists of only professional soldiers. Recruits must be 18 years of age or older. As of June 2018, there were 5500 active duty soldiers, 8000 national guards. By the end of 2017, there were 7800 registered reserve soldiers, of whom about 5000 were retired professional soldiers. According to the National Defence Concept, the National Armed Forces are to maintain 17500 militarily trained personnel, including 6500 professional soldiers, 8000 National Guards and 3000 (trained) reserve soldiers. Reserve training began in 2015. Operations International cooperation Along with providing for national defence, the NAF will also react immediately to threats to other allies and to international crises. Latvia cooperates with Estonia and Lithuania in the joint infantry battalion BALTBAT and naval squadron BALTRON which are available for peacekeeping operations. Currently, NATO is involved in the patrolling and protection of the Latvian air space as the Latvian military does not have the means to do so. For this goal a rotating force of four NATO fighters, which comes from different nations and switches at two or three month intervals, is based in Lithuania to cover all three Baltic states (see Baltic Air Policing). Current operations Modernization After joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Latvia has undertaken obligations to strengthen common defence within the scope of its capabilities. For this purpose, every NATO member state delegates its military formations — fast response, well-armed and well-equipped units capable to operate beyond the NATO's borders. After joining NATO, the foundation of the Latvian defence system has shifted from total territorial defence to collective defence. Latvia has acquired small but highly professional troop units that have been fully integrated into NATO structures. NAF soldiers have participated in international operations since 1996. Specialized units (e.g. units of military medics, military police, unexploded ordnance neutralizers, military divers and special forces) have been established in order to facilitate and enhance NAF participation in international operations. Special attention has been paid to establishing a unit to deal with the identification and clearance of nuclear pollution. The successful participation of Latvian soldiers in international exercises, operations and missions demonstrates that their professional skills already comply with the performance requirements set by the Alliance. Citations References External links National Armed Forces of Latvia Official Website Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia Mission of Latvia to NATO Camopedia (a collection of Latvian camouflage patterns Sargs.lv (The official news site of the National Armed Forces) Stefan Marx, "The Latvian Defence System", Jane's Intelligence Review, December 1993, pp. 557–559. Permanent Structured Cooperation Defence agencies Government agencies of Latvia 1919 establishments in Latvia	[ 0.39160820841789246, -0.14532025158405304, -0.21520748734474182, -0.29270830750465393, -0.28583016991615295, 0.5521160960197449, 0.8543241024017334, 0.5259634852409363, -0.7069826126098633, -0.014552253298461437, -0.6346905827522278, -0.013284126296639442, -0.18706178665161133, 0.148948356...
17770	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign%20relations%20of%20Latvia	Foreign relations of Latvia	Foreign relations of Latvia are the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Today's Republic of Latvia regards itself as a continuation of the 1918–1940 republic. After the declaration on the restoration of its full independence on August 21, 1991, Latvia became a member of the United Nations on September 17, 1991, and is a signatory to a number of UN organizations and other international agreements. Latvia welcomes further cooperation and integration with NATO, European Union, OECD and other Western organizations. It also seeks more active participation in UN peacekeeping efforts worldwide. Council of Europe, CERCO, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, UNESCO, UNICEF, International Criminal Court, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It also is a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and of the North Atlantic Coordinating Council. On September 20, 2003, in a nationwide referendum, the Latvians voted to join the European Union and Latvia's EU membership took effect on May 1, 2004. Latvia became a member state of NATO on March 29, 2004. Diplomatic relations Latvia maintains diplomatic relations with all UN members except Bhutan and Marshall Islands. Relations by country See also Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Latvia in Lviv List of diplomatic missions in Latvia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Latvia) References Government of Latvia	[ 0.30978232622146606, 0.6401084661483765, -0.3359908163547516, 0.12562842667102814, -0.07914462685585022, 0.6199665665626526, 0.5931029915809631, 1.096348524093628, -0.5355303287506104, -0.3243710398674011, -0.5768634676933289, -0.3386878967285156, -0.00022050063125789165, 0.570620238780975...
17771	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon	Lebanon	Lebanon ( , , ), officially the Republic of Lebanon or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lies to its west across the Mediterranean Sea; its location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has contributed to its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious diversity. Lebanon is home to roughly six million people and covers an area of , making it one of the smallest countries in the world. The official language of the state is Arabic, while French is also formally recognized; the Lebanese dialect of Arabic is used alongside Modern Standard Arabic throughout the country. The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back over 7000 years, predating recorded history. Modern-day Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for almost 3000 years (). In 64 BCE, the Roman Empire conquered the region, and it eventually became among the empire's leading centers of Christianity. The Mount Lebanon range saw the emergence of a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church. Upon the region's conquest by the early Arab Muslims, the Maronites held onto their religion and identity. However, a new religious group known as the Druze eventually established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church and asserted their communion with Rome. The Maronite Catholic and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. Lebanon was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and remained under its rule for the next 400 years. Following the empire's collapse after World War I, the five Ottoman provinces constituting modern-day Lebanon came under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, under which its French-ruled predecessor state of Greater Lebanon was established. Following the invasion and occupation of the French Third Republic by Nazi Germany during World War II, French rule over the region weakened. Upon gaining its independence from Free France in 1943, Lebanon established a unique confessionalist form of government, with the state's major religious sects being apportioned specific political powers. Lebanon initially was relatively stable. This stability was short-lived and was ultimately shattered by the outbreak of large-scale fighting in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) between various political and sectarian factions. During this period, Lebanon was also subjected to overlapping foreign military occupations by Syria from 1976 to 2005 and by Israel from 1985 to 2000. Since the end of the war, there have been extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. Lebanon is a developing country, ranking 92nd on the Human Development Index and among the highest in the Arab world outside of the oil-rich economies of the Persian Gulf. Its has been classified as an upper middle income state. However, the Lebanese liquidity crisis, corruption as well as recent events have precipitated the collapse of currency, political instability, widespread shortages, high unemployment and poverty. Despite the country's small size, Lebanese culture is renowned both in the Middle East and globally, primarily powered by its extensive diaspora. Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and is a member of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Etymology The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root (𐤋𐤁𐤍) meaning "white", apparently from its snow-capped peaks. Occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn (𓂋𓏠𓈖𓈖𓈉), where R stood for Canaanite L. The name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as . Lebanon as the name of an administrative unit (as opposed to the mountain range) that was introduced with the Ottoman reforms of 1861, as the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (; ), continued in the name of the State of Greater Lebanon ( ; ) in 1920, and eventually in the name of the sovereign Republic of Lebanon ( ) upon its independence in 1943. History The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920. Its territory was in the core of the Bronze Age Canaanite (Phoenician) city-states. As part of the Levant, it was part of numerous succeeding empires throughout ancient history, including the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Achaemenid Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Sasanid Persian empires. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid Seljuk and Fatimid empires. The crusader state of the County of Tripoli, founded by Raymond IV of Toulouse in 1102, encompassed most of present-day Lebanon, falling to the Mamluk Sultanate in 1289 and finally to the Ottoman Empire in 1516. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943. Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of relative political stability and prosperity based on Beirut's position as a regional center for finance and trade, interspersed with political turmoil and armed conflict (1948 Arab–Israeli War, Lebanese Civil War 1975–1990, 2005 Cedar Revolution, 2006 Lebanon War, 2007 Lebanon conflict, 2006–08 Lebanese protests, 2008 conflict in Lebanon, 2011 Syrian Civil War spillover, and 2019–20 Lebanese protests). Ancient Lebanon Evidence dating back to an early settlement in Lebanon was found in Byblos, considered among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The evidence dates back to earlier than 5000 BC. Archaeologists discovered remnants of prehistoric huts with crushed limestone floors, primitive weapons, and burial jars left by the Neolithic and Chalcolithic fishing communities who lived on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea over 7,000 years ago. Lebanon was part of northern Canaan, and consequently became the homeland of Canaanite descendants, the Phoenicians, a seafaring people who spread across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC. The most prominent Phoenician cities were Byblos, Sidon and Tyre, while their most famous colonies were Carthage in present-day Tunisia and Cádiz in present-day Spain. The Phoenicians are credited with the invention of the oldest verified alphabet, which subsequently inspired the Greek alphabet and the Latin one thereafter. The cities of Phoenicia were incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. The Phoenician city-states were later incorporated into the empire of Alexander the Great following the Siege of Tyre in 332 BC. Medieval Lebanon The region that is now Lebanon, as with the rest of Syria and much of Anatolia, became a major center of Christianity in the Roman Empire during the early spread of the faith. During the late 4th and early 5th century, a hermit named Maron established a monastic tradition focused on the importance of monotheism and asceticism, near the Mediterranean mountain range known as Mount Lebanon. The monks who followed Maron spread his teachings among Lebanese in the region. These Christians came to be known as Maronites and moved into the mountains to avoid religious persecution by Roman authorities. During the frequent Roman-Persian Wars that lasted for many centuries, the Sassanid Persians occupied what is now Lebanon from 619 till 629. During the 7th century the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria establishing a new regime to replace the Byzantines. Though Islam and the Arabic language were officially dominant under this new regime, the general populace nonetheless only gradually converted from Christianity and the Syriac language. The Maronite community, in particular, managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Lebanon and Syria. The relative (but not complete) isolation of the Lebanese mountains meant the mountains served as a refuge in the times of religious and political crises in the Levant. As such, the mountains displayed religious diversity and existence of several well established sects and religions, notably, Maronites, Druze, Shiite Muslims, Ismailis, Alawites and Jacobites. During the 11th century the Druze religion emerged from a branch of Shia Islam. The new religion gained followers in the southern portion of Mount Lebanon. The southern portion of Mount Lebanon was ruled by Druze feudal families to the early 14th century. The Maronite population increased gradually in Northern Mount Lebanon and the Druze have remained in Southern Mount Lebanon until the modern era. Keserwan, Jabal Amel and the Beqaa Valley was ruled by Shia feudal families under the Mamluks and the Ottoman Empire. Major cities on the coast, Sidon, Tyre, Acre, Tripoli, Beirut, and others, were directly administered by the Muslim Caliphs and the people became more fully absorbed by the Arab culture. Following the fall of Roman Anatolia to the Muslim Turks, the Byzantines put out a call to the Pope in Rome for assistance in the 11th century. The result was a series of wars known as the Crusades launched by the Franks from Western Europe to reclaim the former Byzantine Christian territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Syria and Palestine (the Levant). The First Crusade succeeded in temporarily establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli as Roman Catholic Christian states along the coast. These crusader states made a lasting impact on the region, though their control was limited, and the region returned to full Muslim control after two centuries following the conquest by the Mamluks. Among the most lasting effects of the Crusades in this region was the contact between the Franks (i.e., the French) and the Maronites. Unlike most other Christian communities in the Eastern Mediterranean, who swore allegiance to Constantinople or other local patriarchs, the Maronites proclaimed allegiance to the Pope in Rome. As such the Franks saw them as Roman Catholic brethren. These initial contacts led to centuries of support for the Maronites from France and Italy, even after the fall of the Crusader states in the region. Ottoman Lebanon and French Mandate During this period Lebanon was divided into several provinces: Northern and Southern Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Baalbek and Beqaa Valley, and Jabal Amel.In southern Mount Lebanon in 1590, Fakhr-al-Din II became the successor to Korkmaz. He soon established his authority as paramount prince of the Druze in the Shouf area of Mount Lebanon. Eventually, Fakhr-al-Din II was appointed Sanjakbey (Governor) of several Ottoman sub-provinces, with responsibility for tax-gathering. He extended his control over a substantial part of Mount Lebanon and its coastal area, even building a fort as far inland as Palmyra. This over-reaching eventually became too much for Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, who sent a punitive expedition to capture him in 1633. He was taken to Istanbul, kept in prison for two years and then executed along with one of his sons in April 1635. Surviving members of Fakhr al-Din's family ruled a reduced area under closer Ottoman control until the end of the 17th century. On the death of the last Maan emir, various members of the Shihab clan ruled Mount Lebanon until 1830. The relationship between the Druze and Christians in Lebanon has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence, with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war; Approximately 10,000 Christians were killed by the Druzes during inter-communal violence in 1860. Shortly afterwards, the Emirate of Mount Lebanon, which lasted about 400 years, was replaced by the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, as a result of a European-Ottoman treaty called the Règlement Organique. The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, ; ) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform. After 1861 there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian mutasarrıf, which had been created as a homeland for the Maronites under European diplomatic pressure following the 1860 massacres. The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. The Baalbek and Beqaa Valley and Jabal Amel was ruled intermittently by various Shia feudal families, especially the Al Ali Alsagheer in Jabal Amel that remained in power until 1865 when Ottomans took direct ruling of the region. Youssef Bey Karam, a Lebanese nationalist played an influential role in Lebanon's independence during this era. Around 100,000 people in Beirut and Mount Lebanon died of starvation during World War I. In 1920, following World War I, the area of the Mutasarrifate, plus some surrounding areas which were predominantly Shia and Sunni, became a part of the state of Greater Lebanon under the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. In the first half of 1920, Lebanese territory was claimed as part of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, but shortly the Franco-Syrian War resulted in Arab defeat and capitulation of the Hashemites. On 1 September 1920, France reestablished Greater Lebanon after the Moutasarrifiya rule removed several regions belonging to the Principality of Lebanon and gave them to Syria. Lebanon was a largely Christian country (mainly Maronite territory with some Greek Orthodox enclaves) but it also included areas containing many Muslims and Druze. On 1 September 1926, France formed the Lebanese Republic. A constitution was adopted on 25 May 1926 establishing a democratic republic with a parliamentary system of government. Independence from France Lebanon gained a measure of independence while France was occupied by Germany. General Henri Dentz, the Vichy High Commissioner for Syria and Lebanon, played a major role in the independence of the nation. The Vichy authorities in 1941 allowed Germany to move aircraft and supplies through Syria to Iraq where they were used against British forces. The United Kingdom, fearing that Nazi Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and Syria by pressure on the weak Vichy government, sent its army into Syria and Lebanon. After the fighting ended in Lebanon, General Charles de Gaulle visited the area. Under political pressure from both inside and outside Lebanon, de Gaulle recognized the independence of Lebanon. On 26 November 1941, General Georges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the Free French government. Elections were held in 1943 and on 8 November 1943 the new Lebanese government unilaterally abolished the mandate. The French reacted by imprisoning the new government. In the face of international pressure, the French released the government officials on 22 November 1943. The allies occupied the region until the end of World War II. Following the end of World War II in Europe the French mandate may be said to have been terminated without any formal action on the part of the League of Nations or its successor the United Nations. The mandate was ended by the declaration of the mandatory power, and of the new states themselves, of their independence, followed by a process of piecemeal unconditional recognition by other powers, culminating in formal admission to the United Nations. Article 78 of the UN Charter ended the status of tutelage for any member state: "The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories which have become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which shall be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality." So when the UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, after ratification of the United Nations Charter by the five permanent members, as both Syria and Lebanon were founding member states, the French mandate for both was legally terminated on that date and full independence attained. The last French troops withdrew in December 1946. Lebanon's unwritten National Pact of 1943 required that its president be Maronite Christian, its speaker of the parliament to be a Shia Muslim, its prime minister be Sunni Muslim, and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Deputy Prime Minister be Greek Orthodox. Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of political stability and turmoil interspersed with prosperity built on Beirut's position as a regional center for finance and trade. In May 1948, Lebanon supported neighbouring Arab countries in a war against Israel. While some irregular forces crossed the border and carried out minor skirmishes against Israel, it was without the support of the Lebanese government, and Lebanese troops did not officially invade. Lebanon agreed to support the forces with covering artillery fire, armoured cars, volunteers and logistical support. On 5–6 June 1948, the Lebanese army – led by the then Minister of National Defense, Emir Majid Arslan – captured Al-Malkiyya. This was Lebanon's only success in the war. 100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon because of the war. Israel did not permit their return after the cease-fire. As of 2017 between 174,000 and 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon with about half in refugee camps (although these are often decades old and resemble neighborhoods). Palestinians often cannot obtain Lebanese citizenship or even Lebanese identity cards and are legally barred from owning property or performing certain occupations (including law, medicine, and engineering). According to Human Rights Watch, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live in "appalling social and economic conditions." In 1958, during the last months of President Camille Chamoun's term, an insurrection broke out, instigated by Lebanese Muslims who wanted to make Lebanon a member of the United Arab Republic. Chamoun requested assistance, and 5,000 United States Marines were briefly dispatched to Beirut on 15 July. After the crisis, a new government was formed, led by the popular former general Fuad Chehab. With the 1970 defeat of the PLO in Jordan, many Palestinian militants relocated to Lebanon, increasing their armed campaign against Israel. The relocation of Palestinian bases also led to increasing sectarian tensions between Palestinians versus the Maronites and other Lebanese factions. Civil war (1975–1990) and occupation (1976–2005) In 1975, following increasing sectarian tensions, largely boosted by Palestinian militant relocation into South Lebanon, a full-scale civil war broke out in Lebanon. The Lebanese Civil War pitted a coalition of Christian groups against the joint forces of the PLO, left-wing Druze and Muslim militias. In June 1976, Lebanese President Elias Sarkis asked for the Syrian Army to intervene on the side of the Christians and help restore peace. In October 1976 the Arab League agreed to establish a predominantly Syrian Arab Deterrent Force, which was charged with restoring calm. PLO attacks from Lebanon into Israel in 1977 and 1978 escalated tensions between the countries. On 11 March 1978, eleven Fatah fighters landed on a beach in northern Israel and hijacked two buses full of passengers on the Haifa – Tel-Aviv road, shooting at passing vehicles in what became known as the Coastal Road massacre. They killed 37 and wounded 76 Israelis before being killed in a firefight with Israeli forces. Israel invaded Lebanon four days later in Operation Litani. The Israeli Army occupied most of the area south of the Litani River. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 calling for immediate Israeli withdrawal and creating the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with attempting to establish peace. Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, but retained control of the southern region by managing a security zone along the border. These positions were held by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a Christian militia under the leadership of Major Saad Haddad backed by Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister, Likud's Menachem Begin, compared the plight of the Christian minority in southern Lebanon (then about 5% of the population in SLA territory) to that of European Jews during World War II. The PLO routinely attacked Israel during the period of the cease-fire, with over 270 documented attacks. People in Galilee regularly had to leave their homes during these shellings. Documents captured in PLO headquarters after the invasion showed they had come from Lebanon. Arafat refused to condemn these attacks on the grounds that the cease-fire was only relevant to Lebanon. In April 1980 the presence of UNIFIL soldiers in the buffer zone led to the At Tiri incident. On 17 July 1981, Israeli aircraft bombed multi-story apartment buildings in Beirut that contained offices of PLO associated groups. The Lebanese delegate to the United Nations Security Council claimed that 300 civilians had been killed and 800 wounded. The bombing led to worldwide condemnation, and a temporary embargo on the export of U.S. aircraft to Israel. In August 1981, defense minister Ariel Sharon began to draw up plans to attack PLO military infrastructure in West Beirut, where PLO headquarters and command bunkers were located.In 1982, the PLO attacks from Lebanon on Israel led to an Israeli invasion, aiming to support Lebanese forces in driving out the PLO. A multinational force of American, French and Italian contingents (joined in 1983 by a British contingent) were deployed in Beirut after the Israeli siege of the city, to supervise the evacuation of the PLO. The civil war re-emerged in September 1982 after the assassination of Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel, an Israeli ally, and subsequent fighting. During this time a number of sectarian massacres occurred, such as in Sabra and Shatila, and in several refugee camps. The multinational force was withdrawn in the spring of 1984, following a devastating bombing attack during the previous year. In the late 1980s, as Amine Gemayel’s second term as President drew to an end, the Lebanese Lira collapsed. At the end of 1987 a US Dollar was worth 500 Lira. This meant the legal minimum wage was worth $17 a month. Most goods in shops were priced in dollars and a Save the Children director estimated that 2-300,000 children were need of assistance and were living almost entirely on bread which was subsidised by the government. Those that could depended on foreign assistance. Hizbullah was receiving about $3-5 million a month from Iran. In September 1988, the Parliament failed to elect a successor to President Gemayel as a result of differences between the Christians, Muslims, and Syrians. The Arab League Summit of May 1989 led to the formation of a Saudi–Moroccan–Algerian committee to solve the crisis. On 16 September 1989 the committee issued a peace plan which was accepted by all. A ceasefire was established, the ports and airports were re-opened and refugees began to return. In the same month, the Lebanese Parliament agreed to the Taif Agreement, which included an outline timetable for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and a formula for the de-confessionalisation of the Lebanese political system. The civil war ended at the end of 1990 after sixteen years; it had caused massive loss of human life and property, and devastated the country's economy. It is estimated that 150,000 people were killed and another 200,000 wounded. Nearly a million civilians were displaced by the war, and some never returned. Parts of Lebanon were left in ruins. The Taif Agreement has still not been implemented in full and Lebanon's political system continues to be divided along sectarian lines. Conflict between Israel and Lebanese militants continued, leading to a series of violent events and clashes including the Qana massacre. In May 2000, Israeli forces fully withdrew from Lebanon. Since then, the 25th of May is regarded by the Lebanese as the Liberation Day. Lebanon (2005–present) The internal political situation in Lebanon significantly changed in the early 2000s. After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the death of former president Hafez Al-Assad in 2000, the Syrian military presence faced criticism and resistance from the Lebanese population. On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a car bomb explosion. Leaders of the March 14 Alliance accused Syria of the attack, while Syria and the March 8 Alliance claimed that Israel was behind the assassination. The Hariri assassination marked the beginning of a series of assassinations that resulted in the death of many prominent Lebanese figures. The assassination triggered the Cedar Revolution, a series of demonstrations which demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the establishment of an international commission to investigate the assassination. Under pressure from the West, Syria began withdrawing, and by 26 April 2005 all Syrian soldiers had returned to Syria. UNSC Resolution 1595 called for an investigation into the assassination. The UN International Independent Investigation Commission published preliminary findings on 20 October 2005 in the Mehlis report, which cited indications that the assassination was organized by Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services. On 12 July 2006, Hezbollah launched a series of rocket attacks and raids into Israeli territory, where they killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others. Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, resulting in the 2006 Lebanon War. The conflict was officially ended by the UNSC Resolution 1701 on 14 August 2006, which ordered a ceasefire. Some 1,191 Lebanese and 160 Israelis were killed in the conflict. Beirut's southern suburb was heavily damaged by Israeli airstrikes. Instability and Syrian War spillover In 2007, the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp became the center of the 2007 Lebanon conflict between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam. At least 169 soldiers, 287 insurgents and 47 civilians were killed in the battle. Funds for the reconstruction of the area have been slow to materialize. Between 2006 and 2008, a series of protests led by groups opposed to the pro-Western Prime Minister Fouad Siniora demanded the creation of a national unity government, over which the mostly Shia opposition groups would have veto power. When Émile Lahoud's presidential term ended in October 2007, the opposition refused to vote for a successor unless a power-sharing deal was reached, leaving Lebanon without a president. On 9 May 2008, Hezbollah and Amal forces, sparked by a government declaration that Hezbollah's communications network was illegal, seized western Beirut, leading to the 2008 conflict in Lebanon. The Lebanese government denounced the violence as a coup attempt. At least 62 people died in the resulting clashes between pro-government and opposition militias. On 21 May 2008, the signing of the Doha Agreement ended the fighting. As part of the accord, which ended 18 months of political paralysis, Michel Suleiman became president and a national unity government was established, granting a veto to the opposition. The agreement was a victory for opposition forces, as the government caved in to all their main demands. In early January 2011, the national unity government collapsed due to growing tensions stemming from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was expected to indict Hezbollah members for the Hariri assassination. The parliament elected Najib Mikati, the candidate for the Hezbollah-led March 8 Alliance, Prime Minister of Lebanon, making him responsible for forming a new government. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah insists that Israel was responsible for the assassination of Hariri. A report leaked by the Al-Akhbar newspaper in November 2010 stated that Hezbollah has drafted plans for a takeover of the country in case the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues an indictment against its members. In 2012, the Syrian civil war threatened to spill over in Lebanon, causing more incidents of sectarian violence and armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. According to UNHCR, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon increased from around 250,000 in early 2013 to 1,000,000 in late 2014. In 2013, The Lebanese Forces Party, the Kataeb Party and the Free Patriotic Movement voiced concerns that the country's sectarian based political system is being undermined by the influx of Syrian refugees. On 6 May 2015, UNHCR suspended registration of Syrian refugees at the request of the Lebanese government. In February 2016, the Lebanese government signed the Lebanon Compact, granting a minimum of €400 million of support for refugees and vulnerable Lebanese citizens. As of October 2016, the government estimates that the country hosts 1.5 million Syrians. 2019–2021 crisis On 17 October 2019, the first of a series of mass civil demonstrations erupted; they were initially triggered by planned taxes on gasoline, tobacco and online phone calls such as through WhatsApp, but quickly expanded into a country-wide condemnation of sectarian rule, a stagnant economy and liquidity crisis, unemployment, endemic corruption in the public sector, legislation (such as banking secrecy) that is perceived to shield the ruling class from accountability and failures from the government to provide basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation. As a result of the protests, Lebanon entered a political crisis, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri tendering his resignation and echoing protestors' demands for a government of independent specialists. Other politicians targeted by the protests have remained in power. On 19 December 2019, former Minister of Education Hassan Diab was designated the next prime minister and tasked with forming a new cabinet. Protests and acts of civil disobedience have since continued, with protesters denouncing and condemning the designation of Diab as prime minister. Lebanon is suffering the worst economic crisis in decades. Lebanon is the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to see its inflation rate exceed 50% for 30 consecutive days, according to Steve H. Hanke, professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University. On 4 August 2020, an explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon's main port, destroyed the surrounding areas, killing over 200 people, and injuring thousands more. The cause of the explosion was later determined to be 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been unsafely stored, and accidentally set on fire that Tuesday afternoon. Protests resumed within days following the explosion, which resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet on 10 August 2020, nonetheless continuing to stay in office in a caretaker capacity. Demonstrations continued into 2021 with Lebanese blocking the roads with burned tires protesting against the poverty and the economic crisis. On 11 March 2021 the caretaker minister of energy Raymond Ghajar warned that Lebanon was threatened with "total darkness" at the end of March if no money was secured to buy fuel for power stations. In August 2021, a large fuel explosion in northern Lebanon killed 28 people. September saw the formation of a new cabinet led by former prime minister Najib Mikati. On 9 October 2021, the entire nation lost power for 24 hours after its two main power stations ran out of power due to the currency and fuel shortage. Days later, sectarian violence in Beirut killed a number of people in the deadliest clashes in the country since 2008. By January 2022, BBC News reported that the crisis in Lebanon had deepened further, with the value of the Lebanese pound plummeting and a scheduled general election expected to be delayed indefinitely. Geography Lebanon is located in Western Asia between latitudes 33° and 35° N and longitudes 35° and 37° E. Its land straddles the "northwest of the Arabian plate". The country's surface area is of which is land. Lebanon has a coastline and border of on the Mediterranean Sea to the west, a border shared with Syria to the north and east and a long border with Israel to the south. The border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights is disputed by Lebanon in a small area called Shebaa Farms. Lebanon is divided into four distinct physiographic regions: the coastal plain, the Lebanon mountain range, the Beqaa valley and the Anti-Lebanon mountains. The narrow and discontinuous coastal plain stretches from the Syrian border in the north where it widens to form the Akkar plain to Ras al-Naqoura at the border with Israel in the south. The fertile coastal plain is formed of marine sediments and river deposited alluvium alternating with sandy bays and rocky beaches. The Lebanon mountains rise steeply parallel to the Mediterranean coast and form a ridge of limestone and sandstone that runs for most of the country's length. The mountain range varies in width between and ; it is carved by narrow and deep gorges. The Lebanon mountains peak at above sea level in Qurnat as Sawda' in North Lebanon and gradually slope to the south before rising again to a height of in Mount Sannine. The Beqaa valley sits between the Lebanon mountains in the west and the Anti-Lebanon range in the east; it is a part of the Great Rift Valley system. The valley is long and wide, its fertile soil is formed by alluvial deposits. The Anti-Lebanon range runs parallel to the Lebanon mountains, its highest peak is in Mount Hermon at . The mountains of Lebanon are drained by seasonal torrents and rivers foremost of which is the long Leontes that rises in the Beqaa Valley to the west of Baalbek and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Lebanon has 16 rivers all of which are non navigable; 13 rivers originate from Mount Lebanon and run through the steep gorges and into the Mediterranean Sea, the other three arise in the Beqaa Valley. Climate Lebanon has a moderate Mediterranean climate. In coastal areas, winters are generally cool and rainy whilst summers are hot and humid. In more elevated areas, temperatures usually drop below freezing during the winter with heavy snow cover that remains until early summer on the higher mountaintops. Although most of Lebanon receives a relatively large amount of rainfall, when measured annually in comparison to its arid surroundings, certain areas in north-eastern Lebanon receives only little because of the rain shadow created by the high peaks of the western mountain range. Environment In ancient times, Lebanon was covered by large forests of cedar trees, the national emblem of the country. Millennia of deforestation have altered the hydrology in Mount Lebanon and changed the regional climate adversely. As of 2012, forests covered 13.4% of the Lebanese land area; they are under constant threat from wildfires caused by the long dry summer season. As a result of longstanding exploitation, few old cedar trees remain in pockets of forests in Lebanon, but there is an active program to conserve and regenerate the forests. The Lebanese approach has emphasized natural regeneration over planting by creating the right conditions for germination and growth. The Lebanese state has created several nature reserves that contain cedars, including the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, the Jaj Cedar Reserve, the Tannourine Reserve, the Ammouaa and Karm Shbat Reserves in the Akkar district, and the Forest of the Cedars of God near Bsharri. Lebanon had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.76/10, ranking it 141st globally out of 172 countries. In 2010, the Environment Ministry set a 10-year plan to increase the national forest coverage by 20%, which is equivalent to the planting of two million new trees each year. The plan, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and implemented by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), through the Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI), was inaugurated in 2011 by planting cedar, pine, wild almond, juniper, fir, oak and other seedlings, in ten regions around Lebanon. As of 2016, forests covered 13.6% of Lebanon, and other wooded lands represented a further 11%. Since 2011, over 600,000 trees, including cedars and other native species, have been planted throughout the country as part of the Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI). Lebanon contains two terrestrial ecoregions: Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests and Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests. Beirut and Mount Lebanon have been facing a severe garbage crisis. After the closure of the Bourj Hammoud dump in 1997, the al-Naameh dumpsite was opened by the government in 1998. The al-Naameh dumpsite was planned to contain 2 million tons of waste for a limited period of six years at the most. It was designed to be a temporary solution, while the government would have devised a long-term plan. Sixteen years later al-Naameh was still open and exceeded its capacity by 13 million tons. In July 2015 the residents of the area, already protesting in the recent years, forced the closure of the dumpsite. The inefficiency of the government, as well as the corruption inside of the waste management company Sukleen in charge of managing the garbage in Lebanon, have resulted in piles of garbage blocking streets in Mount Lebanon and Beirut. In December 2015, the Lebanese government signed an agreement with Chinook Industrial Mining, part owned by Chinook Sciences, to export over 100,000 tons of untreated waste from Beirut and the surrounding area. The waste had accumulated in temporary locations following the government closure of the county's largest land fill site five months earlier. The contract was jointly signed with Howa International which has offices in the Netherlands and Germany. The contract is reported to cost $212 per ton. The waste, which is compacted and infectious, would have to be sorted and was estimated to be enough to fill 2,000 containers. Initial reports that the waste was to be exported to Sierra Leone have been denied by diplomats. In February 2016, the government withdrew from negotiations after it was revealed that documents relating to the export of the trash to Russia were forgeries. On 19 March 2016, the Cabinet reopened the Naameh landfill for 60 days in line with a plan it passed few days earlier to end the trash crisis. The plan also stipulates the establishment of landfills in Bourj Hammoud and Costa Brava, east and south of Beirut respectively. Sukleen trucks began removing piled garbage from Karantina and heading to Naameh. Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk announced during a chat with activists that over 8,000 tons of garbage had been collected up to that point in only 24 hours as part of the government's trash plan. The plan's execution was ongoing at last report. In 2017, Human Rights Watch found that Lebanon's garbage crisis, and open burning of waste in particular, was posing a health risk to residents and violating the state's obligations under international law. In September 2018, Lebanon's parliament passed a law that banned open dumping and burning of waste. Despite penalties set in case of violations, Lebanese municipalities have been openly burning the waste, putting the lives of people in danger. In October 2018, Human Rights Watch researchers witnessed the open burning of dumps in al-Qantara and Qabrikha. On Sunday 13 October 2019 at night, a series of about 100 forest fires according to Lebanese Civil Defense, broke out and spread over large areas of Lebanon's forests. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri confirmed his contact with a number of countries to send assistance via helicopters and firefighting planes, Cyprus, Jordan, Turkey and Greece participated in firefighting. According to press reports on Tuesday (15 October), fire has decreased in different places due to the rains, after churches and mosques called on citizens to perform raining prayers. Government and politics Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy that includes confessionalism, in which high-ranking offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups. The President, for example, has to be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi’a Muslim, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eastern Orthodox. This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and to represent fairly the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups in government. Until 1975, Freedom House considered Lebanon to be among only two (together with Israel) politically free countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. The country lost this status with the outbreak of the Civil War, and has not regained it since. Lebanon was rated "Partly Free" in 2013. Even so, Freedom House still ranks Lebanon as among the most democratic nations in the Arab world. Until 2005, Palestinians were forbidden to work in over 70 jobs because they did not have Lebanese citizenship. After liberalization laws were passed in 2007, the number of banned jobs dropped to around 20. In 2010, Palestinians were granted the same rights to work as other foreigners in the country. Lebanon's national legislature is the unicameral Parliament of Lebanon. Its 128 seats are divided equally between Christians and Muslims, proportionately between the 18 different denominations and proportionately between its 26 regions. Prior to 1990, the ratio stood at 6:5 in favor of Christians; however, the Taif Agreement, which put an end to the 1975–1990 civil war, adjusted the ratio to grant equal representation to followers of the two religions. The Parliament is elected for a four-year term by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation. The executive branch consists of the President, the head of state, and the Prime Minister, the head of government. The parliament elects the president for a non-renewable six-year term by a two-thirds majority. The president appoints the Prime Minister, following consultations with the parliament. The president and the prime minister form a cabinet, which must also adhere to the sectarian distribution set out by confessionalism. In an unprecedented move, the Lebanese parliament has extended its own term twice amid protests, the last being on 5 November 2014, an act which comes in direct contradiction with democracy and article #42 of the Lebanese constitution as no elections have taken place. Lebanon was without a President between May 2014 and October 2016. Nationwide elections were finally scheduled for May 2018. As of August 2019, the Lebanese cabinet included two ministers directly affiliated with Hezbollah, in addition to a close but officially non-member minister. Law There are 18 officially recognized religious groups in Lebanon, each with its own family law legislation and set of religious courts. The Lebanese legal system is based on the French system, and is a civil law country, with the exception for matters related to personal status (succession, marriage, divorce, adoption, etc.), which are governed by a separate set of laws designed for each sectarian community. For instance, the Islamic personal status laws are inspired by the Sharia law. For Muslims, these tribunals deal with questions of marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance and wills. For non-Muslims, personal status jurisdiction is split: the law of inheritance and wills falls under national civil jurisdiction, while Christian and Jewish religious courts are competent for marriage, divorce, and custody. Catholics can additionally appeal before the Vatican Rota court. The most notable set of codified laws is the Code des Obligations et des Contrats promulgated in 1932 and equivalent to the French Civil Code. Capital punishment is still de facto used to sanction certain crimes, but no longer enforced. The Lebanese court system consists of three levels: courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the court of cassation. The Constitutional Council rules on constitutionality of laws and electoral frauds. There also is a system of religious courts having jurisdiction over personal status matters within their own communities, with rules on matters such as marriage and inheritance. In 1990 article 95 was amended to provide that the parliament shall take necessary measures to abolish political structure based on religious affiliation, but that until such time only the highest positions in public civil service, including the judiciary, military, security forces, public and mixed institutions, shall be divided equally between Christians and Muslims without regard to the denominational affiliation within each community. Foreign relations Lebanon concluded negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union in late 2001, and both sides initialled the accord in January 2002. It is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer. Lebanon also has bilateral trade agreements with several Arab states and is working toward accession to the World Trade Organization. Lebanon enjoys good relations with virtually all of the other Arab countries (despite historic tensions with Libya and Syria), and hosted an Arab League Summit in March 2002 for the first time in over 35 years. Lebanon is a member of the Francophonie countries and hosted the Francophonie Summit in October 2002 as well as the Jeux de la Francophonie in 2009. Military The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has 72,000 active personnel, including 1,100 in the air force, and 1,000 in the navy. The Lebanese Armed Forces' primary missions include defending Lebanon and its citizens against external aggression, maintaining internal stability and security, confronting threats against the country's vital interests, engaging in social development activities, and undertaking relief operations in coordination with public and humanitarian institutions. Lebanon is a major recipient of foreign military aid. With over $400 million since 2005, it is the second largest per capita recipient of American military aid behind Israel. LGBT rights Male homosexuality is illegal in Lebanon. Discrimination against LGBT people in Lebanon is widespread. According to 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center, 85% of Lebanese respondents believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. Administrative divisions Lebanon is divided into nine governorates (muḥāfaẓāt, ; singular muḥāfaẓah, ) which are further subdivided into twenty-five districts (, ; singular: qadāʾ ). The districts themselves are also divided into several municipalities, each enclosing a group of cities or villages. The governorates and their respective districts are listed below: Beirut Governorate Beirut Governorate comprises the city of Beirut and is not divided into districts. Akkar Governorate Akkar Baalbek-Hermel Governorate Baalbek Hermel Beqaa Governorate Rashaya Western Beqaa (al-Beqaa al-Gharbi) Zahle Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate Byblos (Jbeil) Keserwan Mount Lebanon Governorate (Jabal Lubnan/Jabal Lebnen) Aley Baabda Chouf Matn Nabatieh Governorate (Jabal Amel) Bint Jbeil Hasbaya Marjeyoun Nabatieh North Governorate (ash-Shamal/shmel) Batroun Bsharri Koura Miniyeh-Danniyeh Tripoli Zgharta South Governorate (al-Janoub/Jnub) Jezzine Sidon (Saida) Tyre (Sur) Economy Lebanon's constitution states that 'the economic system is free and ensures private initiative and the right to private property'. Lebanon's economy follows a laissez-faire model. Most of the economy is dollarized, and the country has no restrictions on the movement of capital across its borders. The Lebanese government's intervention in foreign trade is minimal. The Lebanese economy went through a significant expansion after the war of 2006, with growth averaging 9.1% between 2007 and 2010. After 2011 the local economy was affected by the Syrian civil war, growing by a yearly average of 1.7% on the 2011–2016 period and by 1.5% in 2017. In 2018, the size of the GDP was estimated to be $54.1 billion. Lebanon has a very high level of public debt and large external financing needs. The 2010 public debt exceeded 150.7% of GDP, ranking fourth highest in the world as a percentage of GDP, though down from 154.8% in 2009. At the end 2008, finance minister Mohamad Chatah stated that the debt was going to reach $47 billion in that year and would increase to $49 billion if privatization of two telecoms companies did not occur. The Daily Star wrote that exorbitant debt levels have "slowed down the economy and reduced the government's spending on essential development projects". The urban population in Lebanon is noted for its commercial enterprise. Emigration has yielded Lebanese "commercial networks" throughout the world. Remittances from Lebanese abroad total $8.2 billion and account for one-fifth of the country's economy. Lebanon has the largest proportion of skilled labor among Arab States. The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon was established with the aim of promoting investment in Lebanon. In 2001, Investment Law No.360 was enacted to reinforce the organisation's mission.The agricultural sector employs 12% of the total workforce. Agriculture contributed to 5.9% of the country's GDP in 2011. Lebanon's proportion of cultivable land is the highest in the Arab world, Major produce includes apples, peaches, oranges, and lemons. The commodities market in Lebanon includes substantial gold coin production, however according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards, they must be declared upon exportation to any foreign country. Oil has recently been discovered inland and in the seabed between Lebanon, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt and talks are underway between Cyprus and Egypt to reach an agreement regarding the exploration of these resources. The seabed separating Lebanon and Cyprus is believed to hold significant quantities of crude oil and natural gas. Industry in Lebanon is mainly limited to small businesses that reassemble and package imported parts. In 2004, industry ranked second in workforce, with 26% of the Lebanese working population, and second in GDP contribution, with 21% of Lebanon's GDP. Nearly 65% of the Lebanese workforce attain employment in the services sector. The GDP contribution, accordingly, amounts to roughly 67.3% of the annual Lebanese GDP. However, dependence on the tourism and banking sectors leaves the economy vulnerable to political instability. Lebanese banks are high on liquidity and reputed for their security. Lebanon was among only seven countries in the world where the value of the stock markets increased in 2008. On 10 May 2013 the Lebanese minister of energy and water clarified that seismic images of the Lebanese's sea bed are undergoing detailed explanation of their contents and that up till now, approximately 10% have been covered. Preliminary inspection of the results showed, with over 50% probability, that 10% of Lebanon's exclusive economic zone held up to 660 million barrels of oil and up to 30×1012 cu ft of gas. The Syrian crisis has significantly affected Lebanese economic and financial situation. The demographic pressure imposed by the Syrian refugees now living in Lebanon has led to competition in the labour market. As a direct consequence unemployment has doubled in three years, reaching 20% in 2014. A loss of 14% of wages regarding the salary of less-skilled workers has also been registered. The financial constraints were also felt: the poverty rate increased with 170,000 Lebanese falling under the poverty threshold. In the period between 2012 and 2014, the public spending increased by $1 billion and losses amounted to $7.5 billion. Expenditures related only to the Syrian refugees were estimated by the Central Bank of Lebanon as $4.5 billion every year. History In the 1950s, GDP growth was the second highest in the world. Despite having no oil reserves, Lebanon, as the Middle East's banking center and among its trading center, had a high national income. The 1975–1990 civil war heavily damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a West Asian entrepôt and banking hub. The subsequent period of relative peace enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. Economic recovery has been helped by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers, with family remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and international aid as the main sources of foreign exchange.Until July 2006, Lebanon enjoyed considerable stability, Beirut's reconstruction was almost complete, and increasing numbers of tourists poured into the nation's resorts. The economy witnessed growth, with bank assets reaching over 75 billion US dollars, Market capitalization was also at an all-time high, estimated at $10.9 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2006. The month-long 2006 war severely damaged Lebanon's fragile economy, especially the tourism sector. According to a preliminary report published by the Lebanese Ministry of Finance on 30 August 2006, a major economic decline was expected as a result of the fighting. Over the course of 2008 Lebanon rebuilt its infrastructure mainly in the real estate and tourism sectors, resulting in a comparatively robust post war economy. Major contributors to the reconstruction of Lebanon include Saudi Arabia (with US$1.5 billion pledged), the European Union (with about $1 billion) and a few other Persian Gulf countries with contributions of up to $800 million. Tourism The tourism industry accounts for about 10% of GDP. Lebanon attracted around 1,333,000 tourists in 2008, thus placing it as 79th out of 191 countries. In 2009, The New York Times ranked Beirut the No. 1 travel destination worldwide due to its nightlife and hospitality. In January 2010, the Ministry of Tourism announced that 1,851,081 tourists had visited Lebanon in 2009, a 39% increase from 2008. In 2009, Lebanon hosted the largest number of tourists to date, eclipsing the previous record set before the Lebanese Civil War. Tourist arrivals reached two million in 2010, but fell by 37% for the first 10 months of 2012, a decline caused by the war in neighbouring Syria. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Japan are the three most popular origin countries of foreign tourists to Lebanon. The recent influx of Japanese tourists has caused the recent rise in popularity of Japanese cuisine in Lebanon. Infrastructure Education According to surveys from the World Economic Forum's 2013 Global Information Technology Report, Lebanon has been ranked globally as the fourth best country for math and science education, and as the tenth best overall for quality of education. In quality of management schools, the country was ranked 13th worldwide. The United Nations assigned Lebanon an education index of 0.871 in 2008. The index, which is determined by the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio, ranked the country 88th out of the 177 countries participating. All Lebanese schools are required to follow a prescribed curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education. Some of the 1400 private schools offer IB programs, and may also add more courses to their curriculum with approval from the Ministry of Education. The first eight years of education are, by law, compulsory. Lebanon has forty-one nationally accredited universities, several of which are internationally recognized. The American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) were the first Anglophone and the first Francophone universities to open in Lebanon, respectively. Universities in Lebanon, both public and private, largely operate in French or English.The top-ranking universities in the country are the American University of Beirut (#220 worldwide, #2 in the Middle East as of 2021), University of Balamand (#501 worldwide as of 2021 Lebanese American University (#551 worldwide as of 2021), Université Saint Joseph de Beyrouth (#541 worldwide as of 2021), Université Libanaise (#3,826 worldwide) and Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (#600s worldwide as of 2020). Notre Dame University-Louaize NDU #701 as of 2021. Health In 2010, spending on healthcare accounted for 7.03% of the country's GDP. In 2009, there were 31.29 physicians and 19.71 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants. The life expectancy at birth was 72.59 years in 2011, or 70.48 years for males and 74.80 years for females. By the end of the civil war, only one-third of the country's public hospitals were operational, each with an average of 20 beds. By 2009 the country had 28 public hospitals, with a total of 2,550 beds, while the country had approximatel 25 public hospitals. At public hospitals, hospitalized uninsured patients pay 5% of the bill, in comparison with 15% in private hospitals, with the Ministry of Public Health reimbursing the remainder. The Ministry of Public Health contracts with 138 private hospitals and 25 public hospitals. In 2011, there were 236,643 subsidized admissions to hospitals; 164,244 in private hospitals, and 72,399 in public hospitals. More patients visit private hospitals than public hospitals, because the private beds supply is higher. According to the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon, the top 10 leading causes of reported hospital deaths in 2017 were: malignant neoplasm of bronchus or lung (4.6%), Acute myocardial infarction (3%), pneumonia (2.2%), exposure to unspecified factor, unspecified place (2.1%), acute kidney injury (1.4%), intra-cerebral hemorrhage (1.2%), malignant neoplasm of colon (1.2%), malignant neoplasm of pancreas (1.1%), malignant neoplasm of prostate (1.1%), malignant neoplasm of bladder (0.8%). Recently, there has been an increase in foodborne illnesses in Lebanon. This has raised public awareness on the importance of food safety, including in the realms of food storage, preservation, and preparation. More restaurants are seeking information and compliance with International Organization for Standardization. Demographics The population of Lebanon was estimated to be in , with the number of Lebanese nationals estimated to be 4,680,212 (July 2018 est.); however, no official census has been conducted since 1932 due to the sensitive confessional political balance between Lebanon's various religious groups. Identifying all Lebanese as ethnically Arab is a widely employed example of panethnicity since in reality, the Lebanese "are descended from many different peoples who are either indigenous, or have occupied, invaded, or settled this corner of the world", making Lebanon, "a mosaic of closely interrelated cultures". While at first glance, this ethnic, linguistic, religious and denominational diversity might seem to cause civil and political unrest, "for much of Lebanon’s history this multitudinous diversity of religious communities has coexisted with little conflict". The fertility rate fell from 5.00 in 1971 to 1.75 in 2004. Fertility rates vary considerably among the different religious groups: in 2004, it was 2.10 for Shiites, 1.76 for Sunnis and 1.61 for Maronites. Lebanon has witnessed a series of migration waves: over 1,800,000 people emigrated from the country in the 1975–2011 period. Millions of people of Lebanese descent are spread throughout the world, mostly Christians, especially in Latin America. Brazil and Argentina have large expatriate population. (See Lebanese people). Large numbers of Lebanese migrated to West Africa, particularly to the Ivory Coast (home to over 100,000 Lebanese) and Senegal (roughly 30,000 Lebanese). Australia is home to over 270,000 Lebanese (1999 est.). In Canada, there is also a large Lebanese diaspora of approximately 250,000–700,000 people having Lebanese descent. (see Lebanese Canadians). United States also has one the largest Lebanese population, at around 2,000,000. Another region with a significant diaspora are Gulf Countries, where the countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar (around 25,000 people), Saudi Arabia and UAE act as host countries to many Lebanese. 269,000 Lebanese citizens currently reside in Saudi Arabia. Around a third of the Lebanese workforce, about 350,000, live in Gulf countries according to some sources. , Lebanon was host to over 1,600,000 refugees and asylum seekers: 449,957 from Palestine, 100,000 from Iraq, over 1,100,000 from Syria, and at least 4,000 from Sudan. According to the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia of the United Nations, among the Syrian refugees, 71% live in poverty. A 2013 estimate by the United Nations put the number of Syrian refugees at over 1,250,000. In the last three decades, lengthy and destructive armed conflicts have ravaged the country. The majority of Lebanese have been affected by armed conflict; those with direct personal experience include 75% of the population, and most others report suffering a range of hardships. In total, almost the entire population (96%) has been affected in some way – either personally or because of the wider consequences of armed conflict. Religion Lebanon is the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East. Because the relative sizes of different religions and religious sects remains a sensitive issue, a national census has not been conducted since 1932. There are 18 state-recognized religious sects – four Muslim, 12 Christian, one Druze, and one Jewish. The Lebanese government counts its Druze citizens as part of its Muslim population, although most Druze today do not identify as Muslims, and they do not accept the five pillars of Islam. It is believed that there has been a decline in the ratio of Christians to Muslims over the past 60 years, due to higher emigration rates of Christians, and a higher birth rate in the Muslim population. When the last census was held in 1932, Christians made up 53% of Lebanon's population. In 1956, it was estimated that the population was 54% Christian and 44% Muslim. A demographic study conducted by the research firm Statistics Lebanon found that approximately 27% of the population was Sunni, 27% Shia, 21% Maronite, 8% Greek Orthodox, 5% Druze, 5% Melkite, and 1% Protestant, with the remaining 6% mostly belonging to smaller non-native to Lebanon Christian denominations. The CIA World Factbook estimates (2020) the following (data does not include Lebanon's sizable Syrian and Palestinian refugee populations): Muslim 67.8% (31.9% Sunni, 31.2% Shia, smaller percentages of Alawites and Ismailis), Christian 32.4% (Maronite Catholics are the largest Christian group), Druze 4.5%, and very small numbers of Jews, Baha'is, Buddhists, and Hindus. Other sources like Euronews or the Madrid-based diary La Razón estimate the percentage of Christians to be around 53%. A study conducted by the Lebanese Information Center and based on voter registration numbers shows that by 2011 the Christian population was stable compared to that of previous years, making up 34.35% of the population; Muslims, the Druze included, were 65.47% of the population. The World Values Survey of 2014 put the percentage of atheists in Lebanon at 3.3%. The Sunni residents primarily live in Tripoli, Western Beirut, the Southern coast of Lebanon, and Northern Lebanon. The Shi'a residents primarily live in Southern Beirut, the Beqaa Valley, and Southern Lebanon. The Maronite Catholic residents primarily live in Eastern Beirut and the mountains of Lebanon. They are the largest Christian community in Lebanon. The Greek Orthodox, the second largest Christian community in Lebanon, primarily live in Koura, Beirut, Rachaya, Matn, Aley, Akkar, in the countryside around Tripoli, Hasbaya and Marjeyoun. They are a minority of 10% in Zahle. The Greek Catholics live mainly in Beirut, on the eastern slopes of the Lebanon mountains and in Zahle which is predominantly Greek Catholic. In the Christian village of Hadat, there has been a municipal ban on Muslims from buying or renting property. It has been claimed that it is due to an underlying fear of mixing with one another's salvation since for three decades, the village of Hadat has been predominantly Christian. Language Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The majority of Lebanese people speak Lebanese Arabic, which is grouped in a larger category called Levantine Arabic, while Modern Standard Arabic is mostly used in magazines, newspapers, and formal broadcast media. Lebanese Sign Language is the language of the Deaf community. There is also significant presence of French, and of English. Almost 40% of Lebanese are considered francophone, and another 15% "partial francophone", and 70% of Lebanon's secondary schools use French as a second language of instruction. By comparison, English is used as a secondary language in 30% of Lebanon's secondary schools. The use of French is a legacy of France's historic ties to the region, including its League of Nations mandate over Lebanon following World War I; , some 20% of the population used French on a daily basis. The use of Arabic by Lebanon's educated youth is declining, as they usually prefer to speak in French and, to a lesser extent, English, which are seen as more fashionable. English is increasingly used in science and business interactions. Lebanese citizens of Armenian, Greek, or Assyrian descent often speak their ancestral languages with varying degrees of fluency. , there were around 150,000 Armenians in Lebanon, or around 5% of the population. Culture The culture of Lebanon reflects the legacy of various civilizations spanning thousands of years. Originally home to the Canaanite-Phoenicians, and then subsequently conquered and occupied by the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Fatimids, the Crusaders, the Ottoman Turks and most recently the French, Lebanese culture has over the millennia evolved by borrowing from all of these groups. Lebanon's diverse population, composed of different ethnic and religious groups, has further contributed to the country's festivals, musical styles and literature as well as cuisine. Despite the ethnic, linguistic, religious and denominational diversity of the Lebanese, they "share an almost common culture". Lebanese Arabic is universally spoken while food, music, and literature are deep-rooted "in wider Mediterranean and Arab Levantine norms". Arts In visual arts, Moustafa Farroukh was among Lebanon's most prominent painters of the 20th century. Formally trained in Rome and Paris, he exhibited in venues from Paris to New York to Beirut over his career. Many more contemporary artists are active, such as Walid Raad, a contemporary media artist residing in New York. In the field of photography, the Arab Image Foundation has a collection of over 400,000 photographs from Lebanon and the Middle East. The photographs can be viewed in a research center and various events and publications have been produced in Lebanon and worldwide to promote the collection. Literature In literature, Khalil Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi. He is particularly known for his book The Prophet (1923), which has been translated into over twenty different languages and is the second best selling book in the 20th century behind the Bible. Ameen Rihani was a major figure in the mahjar literary movement developed by Arab emigrants in North America, and an early theorist of Arab nationalism. Mikha'il Na'ima is widely recognized as among the most important figures in modern Arabic letters and among the most important spiritual writers of the 20th century. Several contemporary Lebanese writers have also achieved international success; including Elias Khoury, Amin Maalouf, Hanan al-Shaykh, and Georges Schehadé. Music While traditional folk music remains popular in Lebanon, modern music reconciling Western and traditional Arabic styles, pop, and fusion are rapidly advancing in popularity. Lebanese artists like Fairuz, Majida El Roumi, Wadih El Safi, Sabah, Julia Boutros or Najwa Karam are widely known and appreciated in Lebanon and in the Arab world. Radio stations feature a variety of music, including traditional Lebanese, classical Arabic, Armenian and modern French, English, American, and Latin tunes. Media and cinema The cinema of Lebanon, according to film critic and historian, Roy Armes, was the only cinema in the Arabic-speaking region, besides the dominant Egyptian cinema, that could amount to a national cinema. Cinema in Lebanon has been in existence since the 1920s, and the country has produced over 500 films with many films including Egyptian filmmakers and film stars. The media of Lebanon is not only a regional center of production but also the most liberal and free in the Arab world. According to Press freedom's Reporters Without Borders, "the media have more freedom in Lebanon than in any other Arab country". Despite its small population and geographic size, Lebanon plays an influential role in the production of information in the Arab world and is "at the core of a regional media network with global implications". Holidays and festivals Lebanon celebrates national and both Christian and Muslim holidays. Christian holidays are celebrated following both the Gregorian Calendar and Julian Calendar. Greek Orthodox (with the exception of Easter), Catholics, Protestants, and Melkite Christians follow the Gregorian Calendar and thus celebrate Christmas on 25 December. Armenian Apostolic Christians celebrate Christmas on 6 January, as they follow the Julian Calendar. Muslim holidays are followed based on the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslim holidays that are celebrated include Eid al-Fitr (the three-day feast at the end of the Ramadan month), Eid al-Adha (The Feast of the Sacrifice) which is celebrated during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and also celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to God, the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad, and Ashura (the Shiite Day of Mourning). Lebanon's National Holidays include Workers Day, Independence day, and Martyrs Day. Music festivals, often hosted at historical sites, are a customary element of Lebanese culture. Among the most famous are Baalbeck International Festival, Byblos International Festival, Beiteddine International Festival, Jounieh International Festival , Broumana Festival, Batroun International Festival, Ehmej Festival, Dhour Chwer Festival and Tyr Festival. These festivals are promoted by Lebanon's Ministry of Tourism. Lebanon hosts about 15 concerts from international performers each year, ranking 1st for nightlife in the Middle East, and 6th worldwide. Cuisine Lebanese cuisine is similar to those of many countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, such as Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. The Lebanese national dishes are the kibbe, a meat pie made from finely minced lamb and burghul (cracked wheat), and the tabbouleh, a salad made from parsley, tomatoes, and burghul wheat. Lebanese restaurant meals begin with a wide array of mezze - small savoury dishes, such as dips, salads, and pastries. The mezze are typically followed by a selection of grilled meat or fish. In general, meals are finished with Arabic coffee and fresh fruit, though sometimes a selection of traditional sweets will be offered as well. Sports Lebanon has six ski resorts. Because of Lebanon's unique geography, it is possible to go skiing in the morning and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea in the afternoon. At the competitive level, basketball and football are among Lebanon's most popular sports. Canoeing, cycling, rafting, climbing, swimming, sailing and caving are among the other common leisure sports in Lebanon. The Beirut Marathon is held every fall, drawing top runners from Lebanon and abroad. Rugby league is a relatively new but growing sport in Lebanon. The Lebanon national rugby league team participated in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, and narrowly missed qualification for the 2008 and 2013 tournaments. Lebanon also took part in the 2009 European Cup where, after narrowly failing to qualify for the final, the team defeated Ireland to finish 3rd in the tournament. Hazem El Masri, who was born in Tripoli, is considered to be the greatest Lebanese to ever play the game. He immigrated to Sydney, Australia from Lebanon in 1988. He became the greatest point-scorer in National Rugby League history in 2009 by scoring himself 2418 points while playing for Australian club, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs where he also holds the record for most first grade appearances for the club with 317 games and most tries for the club with 159 tries. At international level, He also hold the records as top-try scorer with 12 tries and top-point scorer with 136 points for the Lebanese national team.Lebanon participates in basketball. The Lebanese National Team qualified for the FIBA World Championship 3 times in a row. Dominant basketball teams in Lebanon are Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut, who are the Arab and Asian champions, Club Sagesse who were able to earn the Asian and Arab championships before. Fadi El Khatib is the most decorated player in the Lebanese National Basketball League. Football is also among the more popular sports in the country. The top football league is the Lebanese Premier League, whose most successful clubs are Al Ansar FC and Nejmeh SC. Lebanon's most notable players include Roda Antar, Youssef Mohamad, and Hassan Maatouk. In recent years, Lebanon has hosted the AFC Asian Cup and the Pan Arab Games. Lebanon hosted the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie, and have participated in every Olympic Games since its independence, winning a total of four medals. Prominent Lebanese bodybuilders include Samir Bannout, Mohammad Bannout and Ahmad Haidar. Water sports have also shown to be very active in the past years, in Lebanon. Since 2012 and with the emergence of the Lebanon Water Festival NGO, more emphasis has been placed on those sports, and Lebanon has been pushed forward as a water sport destination internationally. They host different contests and water show sports that encourage their fans to participate and win big. Science and technology Lebanon was ranked 87th in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, up from 88th in 2019. Notable scientists from Lebanon include Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah, Rammal Rammal, and Edgar Choueiri. In 1960, a science club from a university in Beirut started a Lebanese space program called "the Lebanese Rocket Society". They achieved great success until 1966 where the program was stopped because of both war and external pressure. See also Outline of Lebanon Notes References Citations Works cited General references Arkadiusz, Plonka. L’idée de langue libanaise d’après Sa‘īd ‘Aql, Paris, Geuthner, 2004 (French) Firzli, Nicola Y. Al-Baath wa-Lubnân [Arabic only] ("The Baath and Lebanon"). Beirut: Dar-al-Tali'a Books, 1973 Fisk, Robert. Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon. New York: Nation Books, 2002. Glass, Charles, "Tribes with Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East", Atlantic Monthly Press (New York) and Picador (London), 1990 Gorton, TJ and Feghali Gorton, AG. Lebanon: through Writers' Eyes. London: Eland Books, 2009. Hitti Philip K. History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine, Vol. 2 (2002) () Norton, Augustus R. Amal and the Shi'a: Struggle for the Soul of Lebanon. Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1987. Sobelman, Daniel. New Rules of the Game: Israel and Hizbollah After the Withdrawal From Lebanon, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel-Aviv University, 2004. Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Salibi, Kamal. A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Schlicht, Alfred. The role of Foreign Powers in the History of Syria and Lebanon 1799–1861 in: Journal of Asian History 14 (1982) Georges Corm, Le Liban contemporain. Histoire et société (La découverte, 2003 et 2005) External links Official Government of Lebanon information site Lebanon. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 1943 establishments in Asia Arabic-speaking countries and territories Countries in Asia Eastern Mediterranean Levant Member states of the Arab League Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean Current member states of the United Nations Middle Eastern countries Near Eastern countries Republics States and territories established in 1943 Western Asian countries	[ -0.035454533994197845, 0.3255954682826996, -0.403306245803833, 0.03878265246748924, 0.3781336545944214, 0.47741827368736267, -0.27108076214790344, 0.5327569246292114, -0.5990294814109802, -0.2880130410194397, -0.8065553307533264, 0.1599881798028946, -0.3447658121585846, 0.36467599868774414...
17772	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20Lebanon	History of Lebanon	The history of Lebanon covers the history of the modern Republic of Lebanon and the earlier emergence of Greater Lebanon under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, as well as the previous history of the region, covered by the modern state. Prehistory Ksar Akil, 10 km northeast of Beirut, is a large rock shelter below a steep limestone cliff where excavations have shown occupational deposits reaching down to a depth of with one of the longest sequences of Paleolithic flint archaeological industry is a very well tained Upper Levalloiso-Mousterian remains with long and triangular Lithic flakes. The level above this showed industries accounting for all six stages of the Upper Paleolithic. An Emireh point was found at the first stage of this level (XXIV), at around below datum with a complete skeleton of an eight-year-old Homo sapiens (called Egbert, now in the National Museum of Beirut after being studied in America) was discovered at , cemented into breccia. A fragment of a Neanderthal maxilla was also discovered in material from level XXVI or XXV, at around . Studies by Hooijer showed Capra and Dama were dominant in the fauna along with Stephanorhinus in later Levalloiso-Mousterian levels. It is believed to be one of the earliest known sites containing Upper Paleolithic technologies. Artifacts recovered from the site include Ksar Akil flakes, the main type of tool found at the site, along with shells with holes and chipped edge modifications that are suggested to have been used as pendants or beads. These indicate that the inhabitants were among the first in Western Eurasia to use personal ornaments. Results from radiocarbon dating indicate that the early humans may have lived at the site approximately 45,000 years ago or earlier. The presence of personal ornaments at Ksar Akil is suggestive of modern human behavior. The findings of ornaments at the site are contemporaneous with ornaments found at Late Stone Age sites such as Enkapune Ya Muto. Ancient Near East The earliest prehistoric cultures of Lebanon, such as the Qaraoun culture gave rise to the civilization of the Canaanite period, when the region was populated by ancient peoples, cultivating land and living in sophisticated societies during the 2nd millennium BC. Northern Canaanites are mentioned in the Bible as well as in other Semitic records from that period. Canaanites were the creators of the oldest known 24-letter alphabet, a shortening of earlier 30-letter alphabets such as Proto-Sinaitic and Ugaritic. The Canaanite alphabet later developed into the Phoenician one (with sister alphabets of Hebrew, Aramaic and Moabite), influencing the entire Mediterranean region. The coastal plain of Lebanon is the historic home of a string of coastal trading cities of Semitic culture, which the Greeks termed Phoenicia, whose maritime culture flourished there for more than 1,000 years. Ancient ruins in Byblos, Berytus (Beirut), Sidon, Sarepta (Sarafand), and Tyre show a civilized nation, with urban centres and sophisticated arts. Phoenicia was a cosmopolitan centre for many nations and cultures. Phoenician art, customs and religion reveal considerable Mesopotamian and Egyptian influence. The sarcophagi of Sidonian kings Eshmunazzar II and Tabnit reveal that Phoenician royalty adopted Egyptian burial customs. Phoenician traders exported spices from Arabia, such as cinnamon and frankincense, to the Greeks. This trade likely led to the transmission of the Phoenician alphabet to Greece. Herodotus attests that the Phoenicians "introduced into Greece upon their arrival a great variety of arts, among the rest that of writing, whereof the Greeks till then had, as I think, been ignorant."According to legend however, it is Cadmus, Prince of Tyre, who brought the alphabet with him to Greece in his search for his abducted sister Europa. Cadmus ultimately settles in Greece and founds the city of Thebes. Ancient Greek history accepts the Phoenician origin of the Greek alphabet. According to Herodotus, "[the Greeks] originally they shaped their letters exactly like all the other Phoenicians, but afterwards, in course of time, they changed by degrees their language, and together with it the form likewise of their characters."Herodotus attests the persistence of traces of the Phoenician alphabet in Greece on tripods in Delphi in what is now known as the 5th century BC. The Phoenicians were equally reputed for their seafaring skills. They were allegedly the first to circumnavigate the African continent. Herodotus writes that Egyptian Pharaoh Necos, "[...] sent to sea a number of ships manned by Phoenicians, with orders to make for the Pillars of Hercules [the Strait of Gibraltar], and return to Egypt through them, and by the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians took their departure from Egypt by way of the Erythraean sea [the Red Sea], and so sailed into the southern ocean. When autumn came, they went ashore, wherever they might happen to be, and having sown a tract of land with corn, waited until the grain was fit to cut. Having reaped it, they again set sail; and thus it came to pass that two whole years went by, and it was not till the third year that they doubled the Pillars of Hercules, and made good their voyage home. On their return, they declared - I for my part do not believe them, but perhaps others may - that in sailing round Libya [i.e., Africa] they had the sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya first discovered."The last phrase is usually regarded by modern historians as lending credibility to the Phoencian narrative, as they could not have otherwise known that the sun would be on their right hand side as they sailed southwards below the Equator line. The Phoenicians founded various colonies in the Mediterranean. The most famous of them were Carthage in today's Tunisia and Cadiz in today's Spain. Phoenicia maintained an uneasy tributary relationship with the neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian empires during the 9th to 6th centuries BC. Classical Antiquity After the gradual decline of their strength, the Phoenician city-states on the Lebanese coast were conquered outright in 539 BCE by Achaemenid Persia under Cyrus the Great. Under Darius I, the area comprising Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, and Cyprus was administered in a single satrapy and paid a yearly tribute of three hundred and fifty talents. By comparison, Egypt and Libya paid seven hundred talents. Many Phoenician colonies continued their independent existence—most notably Carthage. The Persians forced some of the population to migrate to Carthage, which remained a powerful nation until the Second Punic War. The Phoenicians of Tyre showed greater solidarity with their former colony Carthage than loyalty towards Persian king Cambyses, by refusing to sail against the former when ordered. The Phoenicians furnished the bulk of the Persian fleet during the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus considers them as "the best sailors" in the Persian fleet. Phoenicians under Xerxes I were equally commended for their ingenuity in building the Xerxes Canal. Nevertheless, they were harshly punished by the Persian king following the Battle of Salamis, which culminated in a defeat for the Achaemenid Empire. In 350 or 345 BC, a rebellion in Sidon led by Tennes was crushed by Artaxerxes III. Its destruction was described by Diodorus Siculus. After two centuries of Persian rule, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great, during his war against Persia, attacked and burned Tyre, the most prominent Phoenician city. He conquered what is now Lebanon and other nearby regions in 332 BCE. After Alexander's death the region was absorbed into the Seleucid Empire and became known as Coele-Syria. Christianity was introduced to the coastal plain of Lebanon from neighboring Galilee, already in the 1st century. The region, as with the rest of Syria and much of Anatolia, became a major center of Christianity. In the 4th century it was incorporated into the Christian Byzantine Empire. Mount Lebanon and its coastal plain became part of the Diocese of the East, divided to provinces of Phoenice Paralia and Phoenice Libanensis (which also extended over large parts of modern Syria). During the late 4th and early 5th centuries, a hermit named Maron established a monastic tradition, focused on the importance of monotheism and asceticism, near the mountain range of Mount Lebanon. The monks who followed Maron spread his teachings among the native Lebanese Christians and remaining pagans in the mountains and coast of Lebanon. These Lebanese Christians came to be known as Maronites, and moved into the mountains to avoid religious persecution by Roman authorities. During the frequent Roman–Persian Wars that lasted for many centuries, the Sassanid Persians occupied what is now Lebanon from 619 to 629. Middle Ages Islamic rule During the 7th century AD the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria soon after the death of Muhammad, establishing a new regime to replace the Romans (or Byzantines as the Eastern Romans are sometimes called). Though Islam and the Arabic language were officially dominant under this new regime, the general populace still took time to convert from Christianity and the Syriac language. In particular, the Maronite community clung to its faith and managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Syria. Muslim influence increased greatly in the seventh century, when the Umayyad capital was established at nearby Damascus. During the 11th century the Druze faith emerged from a branch of Islam. The new faith gained followers in the southern portion of Lebanon. The Maronites and the Druze divided Lebanon until the modern era. The major cities on the coast, Acre, Beirut, and others, were directly administered by Muslim Caliphs. As a result, the people became increasingly absorbed by Arabic culture. Crusader kingdoms Following the fall of Roman/Christian Anatolia to the Muslim Turks of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century, the Romans in Constantinople appealed to the Pope in Rome for assistance. There resulted a series of wars known as the Crusades, launched by Latin Christians (of mainly French origin) in Western Europe to reclaim the former Roman territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Syria and Palestine (the Levant). Lebanon stood in the main path of the First Crusade's advance on Jerusalem from Anatolia. Frankish nobles occupied areas within present-day Lebanon as part of the southeastern Crusader States. The southern half of present-day Lebanon formed the northern march of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (founded in 1099); the northern half became the heartland of the County of Tripoli (founded in 1109). Although Saladin eliminated Christian control of the Holy Land around 1190, the Crusader states in Lebanon and Syria were better defended. One of the most lasting effects of the Crusades in this region was the contact between the crusaders (mainly French) and the Maronites. Unlike most other Christian communities in the region, who swore allegiance to Constantinople or other local patriarchs, the Maronites proclaimed allegiance to the Pope in Rome. As such the Franks saw them as Roman Catholic brethren. These initial contacts led to centuries of support for the Maronites from France and Italy, even after the later fall of the Crusader states in the region. Mamluk rule Muslim control of Lebanon was reestablished in the late 13th century under the Mamluk sultans of Egypt. Lebanon was later contested between Muslim rulers until the Turkish Ottoman Empire solidified authority over the eastern Mediterranean. Ottoman control was uncontested during the early modern period, but the Lebanese coast became important for its contacts and trades with the maritime republics of Venice, Genoa other Italian city-states. (See also Levantines) The mountainous territory of Mount Lebanon has long been a shelter for minority and persecuted groups, including its historic Maronite Christian majority and Druze communities. It was an autonomous region of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman rule Starting from the 13th century, the Ottoman Turks formed an empire which came to encompass the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa. The Ottoman sultan Selim I (1516–20), after defeating the Persians, conquered the Mamluks. His troops, invading Syria, destroyed Mamluk resistance in 1516 at Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo. During the conflict between the Mamluks and the Ottomans, the amirs of Lebanon linked their fate to that of Ghazali, governor (pasha) of Damascus. He won the confidence of the Ottomans by fighting on their side at Marj Dabiq and, apparently pleased with the behavior of the Lebanese amirs, introduced them to Salim I when he entered Damascus. Salim I decided to grant the Lebanese amirs a semiautonomous status. The Ottomans, through the two main feudal families, the Maans who were Druze and the Chehabs who were Sunni Muslim Arab converts to Maronite Christianity, ruled Lebanon until the middle of the nineteenth century. During Ottoman rule the term Syria was used to designate the approximate area including present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine. The Maans, 1517–1697 The Maans came to Lebanon in 1120. They were a tribe and dynasty of Qahtani Arabs who settled on the southwestern slopes of the Lebanon Mountains and soon adopted the Druze religion. Their authority began to rise with Fakhr ad-Din I, who was permitted by Ottoman authorities to organize his own army, and reached its peak with Fakhr ad-Din II (1570–1635). (The existence of "Fakhr ad-Din I" has been questioned by some scholars.) Fakhreddine II Fakhr al-Din II was born in Baakline to a Druze family, his father died when he was 13, and his mother entrusted her son to another princely family, probably the Khazens (al-Khazin). In 1608, Fakhr-al-Din forged an alliance with the Italian Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The alliance contained both a public economic section and a secret military one. Fakhr-al-Din's ambitions, popularity and unauthorized foreign contacts alarmed the Ottomans who authorized Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, Muhafiz of Damascus, to mount an attack on Lebanon in 1613 in order to reduce Fakhr-al-Din's growing power. Professor Abu-Husayn has made the Ottoman archives relevant to the emir's career available. Faced with Hafiz's army of 50,000 men, Fakhr-al-Din chose exile in Tuscany, leaving affairs in the hands of his brother Emir Yunis and his son Emir Ali Beg. They succeeded in mainlining most of the forts such as Banias (Subayba) and Niha which were a mainstay of Fakhr ad-Din's power. Before leaving, Fakhr ad-Din paid his standing army of soqbans (mercenaries) two years wages in order to secure their loyalty. Hosted in Tuscany by the Medici Family, Fakhr-al-Din was welcomed by the grand duke Cosimo II, who was his host and sponsor for the two years he spent at the court of the Medici. He spent a further three years as guest of the Spanish Viceroy of Sicily and then Naples, the Duke Osuna. Fakhr-al-Din had wished to enlist Tuscan or other European assistance in a "Crusade" to free his homeland from Ottoman domination, but was met with a refusal as Tuscany was unable to afford such an expedition. The prince eventually gave up the idea, realizing that Europe was more interested in trade with the Ottomans than in taking back the Holy Land. His stay nevertheless allowed him to witness Europe's cultural revival in the 17th century, and bring back some Renaissance ideas and architectural features. By 1618, political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many of Fakhr-al-Din's enemies from power, allowing Fahkr-al-Din's return to Lebanon, whereupon he was able quickly to reunite all the lands of Lebanon beyond the boundaries of its mountains; and having revenge from Emir Yusuf Pasha ibn Siyfa, attacking his stronghold in Akkar, destroying his palaces and taking control of his lands, and regaining the territories he had to give up in 1613 in Sidon, Tripoli, Bekaa among others. Under his rule, printing presses were introduced and Jesuit priests and Catholic nuns encouraged to open schools throughout the land. In 1623, the prince angered the Ottomans by refusing to allow an army on its way back from the Persian front to winter in the Bekaa. This (and instigation by the powerful Janissary garrison in Damascus) led Mustafa Pasha, Governor of Damascus, to launch an attack against him, resulting in the battle at Majdel Anjar where Fakhr-al-Din's forces although outnumbered managed to capture the Pasha and secure the Lebanese prince and his allies a much needed military victory. The best source (in Arabic) for Fakhr ad-Din's career up to this point is a memoir signed by al-Khalidi as-Safadi, who was not with the Emir in Europe but had access to someone who was, possibly Fakhr ad-Din himself. However, as time passed, the Ottomans grew increasingly uncomfortable with the prince's increasing powers and extended relations with Europe. In 1632, Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha was named Muhafiz of Damascus, being a rival of Fakhr-al-Din and a friend of Sultan Murad IV, who ordered Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha and the sultanate's navy to attack Lebanon and depose Fakhr-al-Din. This time, the prince had decided to remain in Lebanon and resist the offensive, but the death of his son Emir Ali Beik in Wadi el-Taym was the beginning of his defeat. He later took refuge in Jezzine's grotto, closely followed by Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha. He surrendered to the Ottoman general Jaafar Pasha, whom he knew well, under circumstances that are not clear. Fakhr-al-Din was taken to Constantinople and kept in the Yedikule (Seven Towers) prison for two years. He was then summoned before the sultan. Fakhr-al-Din, and one or two of his sons, were accused of treason and executed there on 13 April 1635. There are unsubstantiated rumors that the younger of the two boys was spared and raised in the harem, later becoming Ottoman ambassador to India. Although Fakhr ad-Din II's aspirations toward complete independence for Lebanon ended tragically, he greatly enhanced Lebanon's military and economic development. Noted for religious tolerance, the Druze prince attempted to merge the country's different religious groups into one Lebanese community. In an effort to attain complete independence for Lebanon, he concluded a secret agreement with Ferdinand I, grand duke of Tuscany. Following his return from Tuscany, Fakhr ad-Din II, realizing the need for a strong and disciplined armed force, channeled his financial resources into building a regular army. This army proved itself in 1623, when Mustafa Pasha, the new governor of Damascus, underestimating the capabilities of the Lebanese army, engaged it in battle and was decisively defeated at Anjar in the Biqa Valley. In addition to building up the army, Fakhr ad-Din II, who became acquainted with Italian culture during his stay in Tuscany, initiated measures to modernize the country. After forming close ties and establishing diplomatic relations with Tuscany, he brought in architects, irrigation engineers, and agricultural experts from Italy in an effort to promote prosperity in the country. He also strengthened Lebanon's strategic position by expanding its territory, building forts as far away as Palmyra in Syria, and gaining control of Palestine. Finally, the Ottoman sultan Murad IV of Istanbul, wanting to thwart Lebanon's progress toward complete independence, ordered Kutshuk, then governor of Damascus, to attack the Lebanese ruler. This time Fakhr ad-Din was defeated, and he was executed in Istanbul in 1635. No significant Maan rulers succeeded Fakhr ad-Din II. Fakhreddine is regarded by the Lebanese as the best leader and prince the country has ever seen. The Druze prince treated all the religions equally and was the one who formed Lebanon. Lebanon has achieved during Fakhreddine's reign enormous heights that the country had and would never witness again. The Shihabs, 1697–1842 The Shihabs succeeded the Maans in 1697 after the Battle of Ain Dara, a battle that changed the face of Lebanon back then, where a clash between two Druze clans broke up: the Qaysis and the Yemenis. The Druze Qaysis, then led by Ahmad Shihab, won, and expelled the Yemenis from Lebanon to Syria. This has led to an enormous decrease to the Druze population in Mount-Lebanon, who were a majority at the time and helped the Christians overcome the Druze demographically. This Qaysi "victory" gave the Shihab, who were Qaysis themselves and the allies of Lebanon, the rule over Mount-Lebanon. The Druze overlords voted for the Shihabs to rule Mount Lebanon and the Chouf by the threat of the Ottoman Empire who wanted the Sunnis to rule Lebanon. The Shihabs originally lived in the Hawran region of southwestern Syria and settled in Wadi al-Taym in southern Lebanon. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774, responding to Admiral Alexei Orlov's Russian naval First Archipelago Expedition operating in the Mediterranean, local Lebanese authorities briefly attempted to place themselves under Russian protection. The most prominent Shihab, Bashir Shihab II, ruled as Emir of Mount Lebanon from 1789 to 1840. The events of 1799 tested his ability as a statesman when Napoleon besieged Acre, a well-fortified coastal city in Palestine, about forty kilometers south of Tyre. Both Napoleon and Al Jazzar, the governor of Acre, requested assistance from the Shihab leader; Bashir, however, remained neutral, declining to assist either combatant. Unable to conquer Acre, Napoleon returned to Egypt, and the death of Al Jazzar in 1804 removed Bashir's principal opponent in the area. The Shihabs were originally a Sunni Muslim family, but converted to Christianity in the late-18th century. Emir Bashir II In 1788 Bashir Shihab II (sometimes spelled Bachir in French sources) would rise to become the Emir. Born into poverty, he was elected emir upon the abdication of his predecessor, and would rule under Ottoman suzerainty, being appointed wali or governor of Mt Lebanon, the Biqa valley and Jabal Amil. Together this is about two thirds of modern-day Lebanon. He would reform taxes and attempt to break the feudal system, in order to undercut rivals, the most important of which was also named Bashir: Bashir Jumblatt, whose wealth and feudal backers equaled or exceeded Bashir II—and who had increasing support in the Druze community. In 1822 the Ottoman wali of Damascus went to war with Acre, which was allied with Muhammad Ali, the pasha of Egypt. As part of this conflict one of the most remembered massacres of Maronite Christians by Druze forces occurred, forces that were aligned with the wali of Damascus. Jumblatt represented the increasingly disaffected Druze, who were both shut out from official power and angered at the growing ties with the Maronites by Bashir II, who was himself a Maronite Christian. Bashir II was overthrown as wali when he backed Acre, and fled to Egypt, later to return and organize an army. Jumblatt gathered the Druze factions together, and the war became sectarian in character: the Maronites backing Bashir II, the Druze backing Bashir Jumblatt. Jumblatt declared a rebellion, and between 1821 and 1825 there were massacres and battles, with the Maronites attempting to gain control of the Mt. Lebanon district, and the Druze gaining control over the Biqa valley. In 1825 Bashir II, helped by the Ottomans and the Jezzar, defeated his rival in the Battle of Simqanieh. Bashir Jumblatt died in Acre at the order of the Jezzar. Bashir II was not a forgiving man and repressed the Druze rebellion, particularly in and around Beirut. This made Bashir Chehab the only leader of Mount Lebanon. However, Bashir Chehab was depicted as a nasty leader because Bashir Jumblatt was his all-time friend and has saved his life when the Keserwan peasants tried to kill the prince, by sending 1000 of his men to save him. Also, days before the Battle of Simqania, Bashir Jumblatt had the chance to kill Bashir II when he was returning from Acre when he reportedly kissed the Jezzar's feet in order to help him against Jumblatt, but Bashir II reminded him of their friendship and told Jumblatt to "pardon when you can". The high morals of Jumblatt led him to pardon Bashir II, a decision he should have regretted. Bashir II, who had come to power through local politics and nearly fallen from power because of his increasing detachment from them, reached out for allies, allies who looked on the entire area as "the Orient" and who could provide trade, weapons and money, without requiring fealty and without, it seemed, being drawn into endless internal squabbles. He disarmed the Druze and allied with France, governing in the name of the Egyptian Pasha Muhammad Ali, who entered Lebanon and formally took overlordship in 1832. For the remaining 8 years, the sectarian and feudal rifts of the 1821–1825 conflict were heightened by the increasing economic isolation of the Druze, and the increasing wealth of the Maronites. During the nineteenth century the town of Beirut became the most important port of the region, supplanting Acre further to the south. This was mostly because Mount Lebanon became a centre of silk production for export to Europe. This industry made the region wealthy, but also dependent on links to Europe. Since most of the silk went to Marseille, the French began to have a great impact in the region. Sectarian conflict: European Powers begin to intervene The discontent grew to open rebellion, fed by both Ottoman and British money and support: Bashir II fled, the Ottoman Empire reasserted control and Mehmed Hüsrev Pasha, whose sole term as Grand Vizier ran from 1839 to 1841, appointed another member of the Shihab family, who styled himself Bashir III. Bashir III, coming on the heels of a man who by guile, force and diplomacy had dominated Mt Lebanon and the Biqa for 52 years, did not last long. In 1841 conflicts between the impoverished Druze and the Maronite Christians exploded: There was a massacre of Christians by the Druze at Deir al Qamar, and the fleeing survivors were slaughtered by Ottoman regulars. The Ottomans attempted to create peace by dividing Mt Lebanon into a Christian district and a Druze district, but this would merely create geographic powerbases for the warring parties, and it plunged the region back into civil conflict which included not only the sectarian warfare but a Maronite revolt against the Feudal class, which ended in 1858 with the overthrow of the old feudal system of taxes and levies. The situation was unstable: the Maronites lived in the large towns, but these were often surrounded by Druze villages living as perioikoi. The relationship between the Druze and Christians has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence, with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war. In 1860, this would boil back into full scale sectarian war, when the Maronites began openly opposing the power of the Ottoman Empire. Another destabilizing factor was France's support for the Maronite Christians against the Druze which in turn led the British to back the Druze, exacerbating religious and economic tensions between the two communities. The Druze took advantage of this and began burning Maronite villages. The Druze had grown increasingly resentful of the favoring of the Maronites by Bashir II, and were backed by the Ottoman Empire and the wali of Damascus in an attempt to gain greater control over Lebanon; the Maronites were backed by the French, out of both economic and political expediency. The Druze began a military campaign that included the burning of villages and massacres, while Maronite irregulars retaliated with attacks of their own. However, the Maronites were gradually pushed into a few strongholds and were on the verge of military defeat when the Concert of Europe intervened and established a commission to determine the outcome. The French forces deployed there were then used to enforce the final decision. The French accepted the Druze as having established control and the Maronites were reduced to a semi-autonomous region around Mt Lebanon, without even direct control over Beirut itself. The Province of Lebanon that would be controlled by the Maronites, but the entire area was placed under direct rule of the governor of Damascus, and carefully watched by the Ottoman Empire. The long siege of Deir al Qamar found a Maronite garrison holding out against Druze forces backed by Ottoman soldiers; the area in every direction was despoiled by the besiegers. In July 1860, with European intervention threatening, the Turkish government tried to quiet the strife, but Napoleon III of France sent 7,000 troops to Beirut and helped impose a partition: The Druze control of the territory was recognized as the fact on the ground, and the Maronites were forced into an enclave, arrangements ratified by the Concert of Europe in 1861. They were confined to a mountainous district, cut off from both the Biqa and Beirut, and faced with the prospect of ever-growing poverty. Resentments and fears would brood, ones which would resurface in the coming decades. Youssef Bey Karam, a Lebanese nationalist played an influential role in Lebanon's independence during this era. Al-Saghir Dynasty/ El Assaad Rule El-Assaad dynasty that ruled most of South Lebanon for three centuries and whose lineage defended fellow denizens of history's Jabal Amel (Mount Amel) principality – today southern Lebanon – for 36 generations, throughout the Arab caliphate by Sheikh al Mashayekh (Chief of Chiefs) Nasif Al-Nassar ibn Al-Waeli, Ottoman conquest under Shbib Pasha El Assaad, Ali Bek El Assaad ruler of Belad Bechara (Part of Jabal Amel), Ali Nassrat Bek. Advisor of the Court and a Superior in the Ministry of Foreign affairs in the Ottoman Empire, Moustafa Nassar Bek El Assaad Supreme Court President of Lebanon and colonial French administration by Hassib Bek—also supreme court Judge and grand speaker at halls across the Levant. El-Assaads are considered now "Bakaweit" (title of nobility plural of "Bek" granted to a few wealthy families in Lebanon in the early eighteenth century), and previously considered Princes, however titles have changed over time. During the El-Assaad era, they, as provincial governors by consent, were given Khuwwa (brotherly voluntary crop-sharing) by local clans to finance protecting their co-operative trade from outside occupation, peacefully upholding the autonomy of a laborious few in the midst of one massive imperial taxation hegemony after another. This continued until contemporary domestic ideological belligerence, foreign interferences, and emergence of corruption led to rapid depredation of the El-Assaads’ ability to maintain control. When the 1858 Ottoman Land reforms led to the accumulated ownership of large tracts of land by a few families upon the expense of the peasants, the El-Assaad descendants of the rural Ali al-Saghir dynasty expanded their fief holdings as the provincial leaders in Jabal Amel. In December 1831 Tyre fell under the rule of Mehmet Ali Pasha of Egypt, after an army led by his son Ibrahim Pasha had entered Jaffa and Haifa without resistance. Two years later, Shiite forces under Hamad al-Mahmud from the Ali Al-Saghir dynasty rebelled against the occupation. They were supported by the British Empire and Austria-Hungary: Tyre was captured on 24 September 1839 after allied naval bombardments. For their fight against the Egyptian invaders, Al-Mahmud and his successor Ali El-Assaad – a relative – were rewarded by the Ottoman rulers with the restoration of Shiite autonomy in Jabal Amel. However, in Tyre it was the Mamlouk family that gained a dominant position. Its head Jussuf Aga Ibn Mamluk was reportedly a son of the Anti-Shiite Jazzar Pasha. Late 19th century The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. The remainder of the 19th century saw a relative period of stability, as Muslim, Druze and Maronite groups focused on economic and cultural development which saw the founding of the American University of Beirut and a flowering of literary and political activity associated with the attempts to liberalize the Ottoman Empire. Late in the century there was a short Druze uprising over the extremely harsh government and high taxation rates, but there was far less of the violence that had scalded the area earlier in the century. Early 20th century and World War I In the approach to World War I, Beirut became a center of various reforming movements, and would send delegates to the Arab Syrian conference and Franco-Syrian conference held in Paris. There was a complex array of solutions, from pan-Arab nationalism, to separatism for Beirut, and several status quo movements that sought stability and reform within the context of Ottoman government. The Young Turk revolution brought these movements to the front, hoping that the reform of Ottoman Empire would lead to broader reforms. The outbreak of hostilities changed this, as Lebanon was to feel the weight of the conflict in the Middle East more heavily than most other areas occupied by the Syrians. Great famine in Lebanon, 1915–1918 About half the population of the Mount Lebanon subdivision, overwhelmingly Maronites, starved to death (200,000 killed out of 400,000 of the total populace) throughout the years of 1915–1918 during what is now known as the great famine Mount of Lebanon. As a consequence of a mixed combination of crop failure, punitive governance practices, naval blockade of the coast by the Allies, and an Ottoman military ban on exports from Syria into Lebanon, during World War I. Dead bodies were piled in the streets and starving Lebanese civilians were reported to be eating street animals while some even resorted to cannibalism. League of Nations Mandate (1920-1939) Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the League of Nations mandated the five provinces that make up present-day Lebanon to the direct control of France. Initially the division of the Arabic-speaking areas of the Ottoman Empire were to be divided by the Sykes–Picot Agreement; however, the final disposition was at the San Remo conference of 1920, whose determinations on the mandates, their boundaries, purposes and organization was ratified by the League in 1921 and put into effect in 1922. According to the agreements reached at San Remo, France had its control over what was termed Syria recognised, the French having taken Damascus in 1920. Like all formerly Ottoman areas, Syria was a Class A Mandate, deemed to "... have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory." The entire French mandate area was termed "Syria" at the time, including the administrative districts along the Mediterranean coast. Wanting to maximize the area under its direct control, contain an Arab Syria centered on Damascus, and ensure a defensible border, France moved the Lebanon-Syrian border to the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, east of the Beqaa Valley, territory which had historically belonged to the province of Damascus for hundreds of years, and was far more attached to Damascus than Beirut by culture and influence. This doubled the territory under the control of Beirut, at the expense of what would become the state of Syria. On October 27, 1919, the Lebanese delegation led by Maronite Patriarch Elias Peter Hoayek presented the Lebanese aspirations in a memorandum to the Paris Peace Conference. This included a significant extension of the frontiers of the Lebanon Mutasarrifate, arguing that the additional areas constituted natural parts of Lebanon, despite the fact that the Christian community would not be a clear majority in such an enlarged state. The quest for the annexation of agricultural lands in the Bekaa and Akkar was fueled by existential fears following the death of nearly half of the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate population in the Great Famine; the Maronite church and the secular leaders sought a state that could better provide for its people. The areas to be added to the Mutasarrifate included the coastal towns of Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre and their respective hinterlands, all of which belonged to the Beirut Vilayet, together with four Kazas of the Syria Vilayet (Baalbek, the Bekaa, Rashaya and Hasbaya). As a consequence of this also, the demographics of Lebanon were profoundly altered, as the added territory contained people who were predominantly Muslim or Druze: Lebanese Christians, of which the Maronites were the largest subgrouping, now constituted barely more than 50% of the population, while Sunni Muslims in Lebanon saw their numbers increase eightfold, and the Shi'ite Muslims fourfold. The Modern Lebanon's constitution, drawn up in 1926, specified a balance of power between the various religious groups, but France designed it to guarantee the political dominance of its Christian allies. The president was required to be a Christian (in practice, a Maronite), the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. On the basis of the 1932 census, parliament seats were divided according to a six-to-five Christian/Muslim ratio. The constitution gave the president veto power over any legislation approved by parliament, virtually ensuring that the 6:5 ratio would not be revised in case the population distribution changed. By 1960, Muslims were thought to constitute a majority of the population, which contributed to Muslim unrest regarding the political system. World War II and independence During World War II when the Vichy government assumed power over French territory in 1940, General Henri Fernand Dentz was appointed as high commissioner of Lebanon. This new turning point led to the resignation of Lebanese president Émile Eddé on April 4, 1941. After five days, Dentz appointed Alfred Naqqache for a presidency period that lasted only three months. The Vichy authorities allowed Nazi Germany to move aircraft and supplies through Syria to Iraq where they were used against British forces. Britain, fearing that Nazi Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and Syria by pressure on the weak Vichy government, sent its army into Syria and Lebanon. After the fighting ended in Lebanon, General Charles de Gaulle visited the area. Under various political pressures from both inside and outside Lebanon, de Gaulle decided to recognize the independence of Lebanon. On November 26, 1941, General Georges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the Free French government. Elections were held in 1943 and on November 8, 1943, the new Lebanese government unilaterally abolished the mandate. The French reacted by throwing the new government into prison. In the face of international pressure, the French released the government officials on November 22, 1943, and accepted the independence of Lebanon. Republic of Lebanon Independence and following years The allies kept the region under control until the end of World War II. The last French troops withdrew in 1946. Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of political stability and turmoil interspersed with prosperity built on Beirut's position as a freely trading regional center for finance and trade. Beirut became a prime location for institutions of international commerce and finance, as well as wealthy tourists, and enjoyed a reputation as the "Paris of the Middle East" until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. In the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Lebanon became home to more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees. Economic prosperity and growing tensions In 1958, during the last months of President Camille Chamoun's term, an insurrection broke out, and 5,000 United States Marines were briefly dispatched to Beirut on July 15 in response to an appeal by the government. After the crisis, a new government was formed, led by the popular former general Fuad Chehab. During the 1960s, Lebanon enjoyed a period of relative calm, with Beirut-focused tourism and banking sector-driven prosperity. Lebanon reached the peak of its economic success in the mid-1960s—the country was seen as a bastion of economic strength by the oil-rich Persian Gulf Arab states, whose funds made Lebanon one of the world's fastest growing economies. This period of economic stability and prosperity was brought to an abrupt halt with the collapse of Yousef Beidas' Intra Bank, the country's largest bank and financial backbone, in 1966. Additional Palestinian refugees arrived after the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. Following their defeat in the Jordanian civil war, thousands of Palestinian militiamen regrouped in Lebanon, led by Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization, with the intention of replicating the modus operandi of attacking Israel from a politically and militarily weak neighbour. Starting in 1968, Palestinian militants of various affiliations began to use southern Lebanon as a launching pad for attacks on Israel. Two of these attacks led to a watershed event in Lebanon's inchoate civil war. In July 1968, a faction of George Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an Israeli El Al civilian plane en route to Algiers; in December, two PFLP gunmen shot at an El Al plane in Athens, resulting in the death of an Israeli. As a result, two days later, an Israeli commando flew into Beirut's international airport and destroyed more than a dozen civilian airliners belonging to various Arab carriers. Israel defended its actions by informing the Lebanese government that it was responsible for encouraging the PFLP. The retaliation, which was intended to encourage a Lebanese government crackdown on Palestinian militants, instead polarized Lebanese society on the Palestinian question, deepening the divide between pro- and anti-Palestinian factions, with the Muslims leading the former grouping and Maronites primarily constituting the latter. This dispute reflected increasing tensions between Christian and Muslim communities over the distribution of political power, and would ultimately foment the outbreak of civil war in 1975. In the interim, while armed Lebanese forces under the Maronite-controlled government sparred with Palestinian fighters, Egyptian leader Gamal Abd al-Nasser helped to negotiate the 1969 "Cairo Agreement" between Arafat and the Lebanese government, which granted the PLO autonomy over Palestinian refugee camps and access routes to northern Israel in return for PLO recognition of Lebanese sovereignty. The agreement incited Maronite frustration over what were perceived as excessive concessions to the Palestinians, and pro-Maronite paramilitary groups were subsequently formed to fill the vacuum left by government forces, which were now required to leave the Palestinians alone. Notably, the Phalange, a Maronite militia, rose to prominence around this time, led by members of the Gemayel family. In September 1970 Suleiman Franjieh, who had left the country briefly for Latakia in the 1950s after being accused of killing hundreds of people including other Maronites, was elected president by a very narrow vote in parliament. In November, his personal friend Hafiz al-Assad, who had received him during his exile, seized power in Syria. Later, in 1976, Franjieh would invite the Syrians into Lebanon. For its part, the PLO used its new privileges to establish an effective "mini-state" in southern Lebanon, and to ramp up its attacks on settlements in northern Israel. Compounding matters, Lebanon received an influx of armed Palestinian militants, including Arafat and his Fatah movement, fleeing the 1970 Jordanian crackdown. The PLO's "vicious terrorist attacks in Israel" dating from this period were countered by Israeli bombing raids in southern Lebanon, where "150 or more towns and villages...have been repeatedly savaged by the Israeli armed forces since 1968," of which the village of Khiyam is probably the best-known example. Palestinian attacks claimed 106 lives in northern Israel from 1967, according to official IDF statistics, while the Lebanese army had recorded "1.4 Israeli violations of Lebanese territory per day from 1968–74" Where Lebanon had no conflict with Israel during the period 1949–1968, after 1968 Lebanon's southern border began to experience an escalating cycle of attack and retaliation, leading to the chaos of the civil war, foreign invasions and international intervention. The consequences of the PLO's arrival in Lebanon continue to this day. The Lebanese Civil War: 1975–1990 The Lebanese Civil War had its origin in the conflicts and political compromises of Lebanon's post-Ottoman period and was exacerbated by the nation's changing demographic trends, inter-religious strife, and proximity to Syria, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Israel. By 1975, Lebanon was a religiously and ethnically diverse country with most dominant groups of Maronite Christians, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims; with significant minorities of Druze, Kurds, Armenians, and Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Events and political movements that contributed to Lebanon's violent implosion include, among others, the emergence of Arab Nationalism, Arab Socialism in the context of the Cold War, the Arab–Israeli conflict, Ba'athism, the Iranian Revolution, Palestinian militants, Black September in Jordan, Islamic fundamentalism, and the Iran–Iraq War. In all, it is estimated that more than 100,000 were killed, and another 100,000 handicapped by injuries, during Lebanon's 16-year war. Up to one-fifth of the pre-war resident population, or about 900,000 people, were displaced from their homes, of whom perhaps a quarter of a million emigrated permanently. Thousands of people lost limbs during many stages of planting of land-mines. The War can be divided broadly into several periods: The initial outbreak in the mid-1970s, the Syrian and then Israeli intervention of the late 1970s, escalation of the PLO-Israeli conflict in the early 1980s, the 1982 Israeli invasion, a brief period of multinational involvement, and finally resolution which took the form of Syrian occupation. Constitutionally guaranteed Christian control of the government had come under increasing fire from Muslims and leftists, leading them to join forces as the National Movement in 1969, which called for the taking of a new census and the subsequent drafting of a new governmental structure that would reflect the census results. Political tension became military conflict, with full-scale civil war in April 1975. The leadership called for Syrian intervention in 1976, leading to the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon, and an Arab summit in 1976 was called to stop the crisis. In the south, military exchanges between Israel and the PLO led Israel to support Saad Haddad's South Lebanon Army (SLA) in an effort to establish a security belt along Israel's northern border, an effort which intensified in 1977 with the election of new Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Fatah attacks in Israel in March 1978, occupying most of the area south of the Litani River, and resulting in the evacuation of at least 100,000 Lebanese, as well as approximately 2,000 deaths. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal and creating the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with maintaining peace. Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, leaving an SLA-controlled border strip as a protective buffer against PLO cross-border attacks. In addition to the fighting between religious groups, there was rivalry between Maronite groups. In June 1978 one of Suleiman Franjieh's sons, Tony, was killed along with his wife and infant daughter in a nighttime attack on their town, reportedly by Bashir Gemayel, Samir Geagea, and their Phalangist forces. Concurrently, tension between Syria and Phalange increased Israeli support for the Maronite group and led to direct Israeli-Syrian exchanges in April 1981, leading to American diplomatic intervention. Philip Habib was dispatched to the region to head off further escalation, which he successfully did via an agreement concluded in May. Intra-Palestinian fighting and PLO-Israeli conflict continued, and July 24, 1981, Habib brokered a cease-fire agreement with the PLO and Israel: the two sides agreed to cease hostilities in Lebanon proper and along the Israeli border with Lebanon. After continued PLO-Israeli exchanges, Israel invaded Lebanon on June 6 in Operation Peace for Galilee. By June 15, Israeli units were entrenched outside Beirut and Yassir Arafat attempted through negotiations to evacuate the PLO. It is estimated that during the entire campaign, approximately 20,000 were killed on all sides, including many civilians. A multinational force composed of U.S. Marines and French and Italian units arrived to ensure the departure of the PLO and protect civilians. Nearly 15,000 Palestinian militants were evacuated by September 1. Although Bashir Gemayel did not cooperate with the Israelis publicly, his long history of tactical collaboration with Israel counted against him in the eyes of many Lebanese, especially Muslims. Although the only announced candidate for the presidency of the republic, the National Assembly elected him by the second-narrowest margin in Lebanese history (57 votes out of 92) on August 23, 1982; most Muslim members of the Assembly boycotted the vote. Nine days before he was due to take office, Gemayel was assassinated along with twenty-five others in an explosion at the Kataeb party headquarters in Beirut's Christian neighborhood of Achrafieh on September 14, 1982. Phalangists entered Palestinian camps on September 16 at 6:00 PM and remained until the morning of September 19, massacring 700–800 Palestinians, according to official Israeli statistics, "none apparently members of any PLO unit". These are known as the Sabra and Shatila massacre. It is believed that the Phalangists considered it retaliation for Gemayel's assassination and for the Damour massacre which PLO fighters had committed earlier in a Christian town. Bachir Gemayel was succeeded as president by his older brother Amine Gemayel, who served from 1982 to 1988. Rather different in temperament, Amine Gemayel was widely regarded as lacking the charisma and decisiveness of his brother, and many of the latter's followers were dissatisfied. Amine Gemayel focused on securing the withdrawal of Israeli and Syrian forces. A May 17, 1983, agreement among Lebanon, Israel, and the United States arranged an Israeli withdrawal conditional on the departure of Syrian troops. Syria opposed the agreement and declined to discuss the withdrawal of its troops, effectively stalemating further progress. In 1983 the IDF withdrew southward and left the Chouf, and would remain only in the "security zone" until the year 2000. That led to the Mountain War between the Druze Progressive Socialist Party and the Maronite Lebanese Forces. The PSP won the decisive battle that occurred in the Chouf and Aley District and inflected heavy losses to the LF. The result was the expulsion of the Christians from the Southern Mount Lebanon. Intense attacks against U.S. and Western interests, including two truck bombings of the US Embassy in 1983 and 1984 and the landmark attacks on the U.S. Marine and French parachute regiment barracks on October 23, 1983, led to an American withdrawal. The virtual collapse of the Lebanese Army in the 6 February 1984 Intifada in Beirut, led by the PSP and Amal, the two main allies, was a major blow to the government. On March 5, as a result of the Intifada and the Mountain War, the Lebanese Government canceled the 17 May 1983 agreement. The US Marines departed a few weeks later. Between 1985 and 1989, heavy fighting took place in the "War of the Camps". The Shi'a Muslim Amal militia sought to rout the Palestinians from Lebanese strongholds. Combat returned to Beirut in 1987, with Palestinians, leftists and Druze fighters allied against Amal. After winning the battle, the PSP controlled West Beirut. The Syrians then entered Beirut. This combat was fueled by the Syrians in order to take control of Beirut by taking as a pretext of stopping the fights between the brothers, the PSP and Amal. Violent confrontation flared up again in Beirut in 1988 between Amal and Hezbollah. Meanwhile, on the political front, Prime Minister Rashid Karami, head of a government of national unity set up after the failed peace efforts of 1984, was assassinated on June 1, 1987. President Gemayel's term of office expired in September 1988. Before stepping down, he appointed another Maronite Christian, Lebanese Armed Forces Commanding General Michel Aoun, as acting Prime Minister, as was his right under the Lebanese constitution of 1943. This action was highly controversial. Muslim groups rejected the move and pledged support to Selim al-Hoss, a Sunni who had succeeded Karami. Lebanon was thus divided between a Christian government in East Beirut and a Muslim government in West Beirut, with no President. In February 1989, General Aoun launched the "War of liberation", a war against the Syrian Armed Forces in Lebanon. His campaign was partially supported by a few foreign nations but the method and approach was disputed within the Christian community. This led to the Lebanese forces to abstain from the Syrian attack against Aoun. In October 1990, the Syrian air force, backed by the US and pro-Syrian Lebanese groups (including Hariri, Joumblatt, Berri, Geagea and Lahoud) attacked the Presidential Palace at B'abda and forced Aoun to take refuge in the French embassy in Beirut and later go into exile in Paris. October 13, 1990 is regarded as the date the civil war ended, and Syria is widely recognized as playing a critical role in its end. The Taif Agreement of 1989 marked the beginning of the end of the war, and was ratified on November 4. President Rene Mouawad was elected the following day, but was assassinated in a car bombing in Beirut on November 22 as his motorcade returned from Lebanese independence day ceremonies. He was succeeded by Elias Hrawi, who remained in office until 1998. In August 1990, the parliament and the new president agreed on constitutional amendments embodying some of the political reforms envisioned at Taif. The National Assembly expanded to 128 seats and was divided equally between Christians and Muslims. In March 1991, parliament passed an amnesty law that pardoned most political crimes prior to its enactment, excepting crimes perpetrated against foreign diplomats or certain crimes referred by the cabinet to the Higher Judicial Council. In May 1991, the militias (with the important exception of Hizballah) were dissolved, and the Lebanese Armed Forces began to slowly rebuild themselves as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian institution. Some violence still occurred. In late December 1991 a car bomb (estimated to carry of TNT) exploded in the Muslim neighborhood of Basta. At least thirty people were killed, and 120 wounded, including former Prime Minister Shafik Wazzan, who was riding in a bulletproof car. It was the deadliest car bombing in Lebanon since June 18, 1985, when an explosion in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli killed sixty people and wounded 110. The last of the Westerners kidnapped by Hezbollah during the mid-1980s were released in May 1992. Post-war occupation: 1990 to February 2005 Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Only Hezbollah retained its weapons, and was supported by the Lebanese parliament in doing so, as they had defended Lebanon against the Israeli occupation. Syria on the other hand kept its military presence in most of Lebanon, also holding various government institutions in the country, strengthening its occupation. The Israeli forces finally withdrew from south of Lebanon in May 2000, though the Syrian occupation of most Lebanon still continued. By early November 1992, a new parliament had been elected, and Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri had formed a cabinet, retaining for himself the finance portfolio. The formation of a government headed by a successful billionaire businessman was widely seen as a sign that Lebanon would make a priority of rebuilding the country and reviving the economy. Solidere, a private real estate company set up to rebuild downtown Beirut, was a symbol of Hariri's strategy to link economic recovery to private sector investment. After the election of then-commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces Émile Lahoud as president in 1998 following Hrawi's extended term as president, Salim al-Hoss again served as Prime Minister. Hariri returned to office as Prime Minister in November 2000. Although problems with basic infrastructure and government services persist, and Lebanon is now highly indebted, much of the civil war damage has been repaired throughout the country, and many foreign investors and tourists have returned. Postwar social and political instability, fueled by economic uncertainty and the collapse of the Lebanese currency, led to the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami, also in May 1992, after less than 2 years in office. He was replaced by former Prime Minister Rachid Solh, who was widely viewed as a caretaker to oversee Lebanon's first parliamentary elections in 20 years. If Lebanon has in part recovered over the past decade from the catastrophic damage to infrastructure of its long civil war, the social and political divisions that gave rise to and sustained that conflict remain largely unresolved. Parliamentary and more recently municipal elections have been held with fewer irregularities and more popular participation than in the immediate aftermath of the conflict, and Lebanese civil society generally enjoys significantly more freedoms than elsewhere in the Arab world. However, there are continuing sectarian tensions and unease about Syrian and other external influences. In the late 1990s, the government took action against Sunni Muslim extremists in the north who had attacked its soldiers, and it continues to move against groups such as Asbat al-Ansar, which has been accused of being partnered with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. On January 24, 2002, Elie Hobeika, another former Lebanese Forces figure associated with the Sabra and Shatilla massacres who later served in three cabinets and the parliament, was assassinated in a car bombing in Beirut. During Lebanon's civil war, Syria's troop deployment in Lebanon was legitimized by the Lebanese Parliament in the Taif Agreement, supported by the Arab League, and is given a major share of the credit for finally bringing the civil war to an end in October 1990. In the ensuing fifteen years, Damascus and Beirut justified Syria's continued military presence in Lebanon by citing the continued weakness of a Lebanese armed forces faced with both internal and external security threats, and the agreement with the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Taif Agreement. Under Taif, the Hezbollah militia was eventually to be dismantled, and the LAF allowed to deploy along the border with Israel. Lebanon was called on to deploy along its southern border by UN Security Council Resolution 1391, urged to do so by UN Resolution UN Security Council Resolution 1496, and deployment was demanded by UN Security Council Resolution 1559. The Syrian military and intelligence presence in Lebanon was criticised by some on Lebanon's right-wing inside and outside of the country, others believed it helped to prevent renewed civil war and discourage Israeli aggression, and others believed its presence and influence was helpful for Lebanese stability and peace but should be scaled back. Major powers United States and France rejected Syrian reasoning that they were in Lebanon by the consent of the Lebanese government. They insist that the latter had been co-opted and that in fact Lebanon's Government was a Syrian puppet. Up to 2005, 14–15,000 Syrian troops (down from 35,000) remained in position in many areas of Lebanon, although the Taif called for an agreement between the Syrian and Lebanese Governments by September 1992 on their redeployment to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Syria's refusal to exit Lebanon following Israel's 2000 withdrawal from south Lebanon first raised criticism among the Lebanese Maronite Christians and Druze, who were later joined by many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims. Lebanon's Shiites, on the other hand, have long supported the Syrian presence, as has the Hezbollah militia group and political party. The U.S. began applying pressure on Syria to end its occupation and cease interfering with internal Lebanese matters. In 2004, many believe Syria pressured Lebanese MPs to back a constitutional amendment to revise term limitations and allow Lebanon's two term pro-Syrian president Émile Lahoud to run for a third time. France, Germany and the United Kingdom, along with many Lebanese politicians joined the U.S. in denouncing alleged Syria's interference. On September 2, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 1559, authored by France and the U.S. in an uncommon show of cooperation. The resolution called "upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon" and "for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias". On May 25, 2000, Israel completed its withdrawal from the south of Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 425. A 50-square-kilometre piece of mountain terrain, commonly referred to as the Shebaa farms, remains under the control of Israel. The UN has certified Israel's pullout, and regards the Shebaa Farms as occupied Syrian territory, while Lebanon and Syria have stated they regard the area as Lebanese territory. The January 20, 2005, UN Secretary-General's report on Lebanon stated: "The continually asserted position of the Government of Lebanon that the Blue Line is not valid in the Shab'a farms area is not compatible with Security Council resolutions. The Council has recognized the Blue Line as valid for purposes of confirming Israel's withdrawal pursuant to resolution 425 (1978). The Government of Lebanon should heed the Council's repeated calls for the parties to respect the Blue Line in its entirety." In Resolution 425, the UN had set a goal of assisting the Lebanese government in a "return of its effective authority in the area", which would require an official Lebanese army presence there. Further, UN Security Council Resolution 1559 requires the dismantling of the Hezbollah militia. Yet, Hezbollah remains deployed along the Blue Line. Both Hezbollah and Israel have violated the Blue Line more than once, according to the UN. The most common pattern of violence have been border incursions by the Hezbollah into the Shebaa Farms area, and then Israeli air strikes into southern Lebanon. The UN Secretary-General has urged "all governments that have influence on Hezbollah to deter it from any further actions which could increase the tension in the area". Staffan de Misura, Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Southern Lebanon stated that he was "deeply concerned that air violations by Israel across the Blue Line during altercations with Hezbollah are continuing to take place", calling "upon the Israeli authorities to cease such violations and to fully respect the Blue Line". In 2001 de Misura similarly expressed his concern to Lebanon's prime minister for allowing Hezbollah to violate the Blue Line, saying it was a "clear infringement" of UN Resolution 425, under which the UN certified Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon as complete. On January 28, 2005, UN Security Council Resolution 1583 called upon the Government of Lebanon to fully extend and exercise its sole and effective authority throughout the south, including through the deployment of sufficient numbers of Lebanese armed and security forces, to ensure a calm environment throughout the area, including along the Blue Line, and to exert control over the use of force on its territory and from it. On January 23, 2006, The UN Security Council called on the Government of Lebanon to make more progress in controlling its territory and disbanding militias, while also calling on Syria to cooperate with those efforts. In a statement read out by its January President, Augustine Mahiga of Tanzania, the council also called on Syria to take measures to stop movements of arms and personnel into Lebanon. On September 3, 2004, the National Assembly voted 96–29 to amend the constitution to allow the pro-Syrian president, Émile Lahoud, three more years in office by extending a statute of limitations to nine years. Many regarded this as a second time Syria had pressured Lebanon's Parliament to amend the constitution in a way that favored Lahoud (the first allowing for his election in 1998 immediately after he had resigned as commander-in-chief of the LAF.) Three cabinet ministers were absent from the vote and later resigned. The USA charged that Syria exercised pressure against the National Assembly to amend the constitution, and many of the Lebanese rejected it, saying that it was considered as contradictive to the constitution and its principles. Including these is the Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir—the most eminent religious figure for Maronites—and the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. To the surprise of many, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who had vehemently opposed this amendment, appeared to have finally accepted it, and so did most of his party. However, he ended up resigning in protest against the amendment. He was assassinated soon afterwards (see below), triggering the Cedar Revolution. This amendment comes in discordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which called for a new presidential election in Lebanon. On October 1, 2004, one of the main dissenting voices to Émile Lahoud's term extension, the newly resigned Druze ex-minister Marwan Hamadeh was the target of a car bomb attack as his vehicle slowed to enter his Beirut home. Mr. Hamadeh and his bodyguard were wounded and his driver killed in the attack. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt appealed for calm, but said the car bomb was a clear message for the opposition. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed his serious concern over the attack. On October 7, 2004, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the Security Council that Syria had failed to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. Mr. Annan concluded his report saying that "It is time, 14 years after the end of hostilities and four years after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, for all parties concerned to set aside the remaining vestiges of the past. The withdrawal of foreign forces and the disbandment and disarmament of militias would, with finality, end that sad chapter of Lebanese history.". On October 19, 2004, following the UN Secretary General's report, the UN Security Council voted unanimously (meaning that it received the backing of Algeria, the only Arab member of the Security Council) to put out a statement calling on Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon, in accordance with Resolution 1559. On October 20, 2004, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri resigned; the next day former Prime Minister and loyal supporter of Syria Omar Karami was appointed Prime Minister. On February 14, 2005, former Prime Minister Hariri was assassinated in a car-bomb attack which killed 21 and wounded 100. On February 21, 2005, tens of thousand Lebanese protestors held a rally at the site of the assassination calling for the withdrawal of Syria's peacekeeping forces and blaming Syria and the pro-Syrian president Lahoud for the murder. Hariri's murder triggered increased international pressure on Syria. In a joint statement U.S. President Bush and French president Chirac condemned the killing and called for full implementation of UNSCR 1559. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that he was sending a team led by Ireland's deputy police commissioner, Peter FitzGerald, to investigate the assassination. And while Arab League head Amr Moussa declared that Syrian president Assad promised him a phased withdrawal over a two-year period, the Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said Mr Moussa had misunderstood the Syrian leader. Mr Dakhlallah said that Syria will merely move its troops to eastern Lebanon. Russia, Germany, and Saudi Arabia all called for Syrian troops to leave. Local Lebanese pressure mounted as well. As daily protests against the Syrian occupation grew to 25,000, a series of dramatic events occurred. Massive protests such as these had been quite uncommon in the Arab world, and while in the 90s most anti-Syrian demonstrators were predominantly Christian, the new demonstrations were Christian and Sunni. On February 28 the government of pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami resigned, calling for a new election to take place. Mr Karami said in his announcement: "I am keen the government will not be a hurdle in front of those who want the good for this country." The tens of thousands gathered at Beirut's Martyrs' Square cheered the announcement, then chanted "Karami has fallen, your turn will come, Lahoud, and yours, Bashar". Opposition MPs were also not satisfied with Karami's resignation, and kept pressing for full Syrian withdrawal. Former minister and MP Marwan Hamadeh, who survived a similar car bomb attack on October 1, 2004, said "I accuse this government of incitement, negligence and shortcomings at the least, and of covering up its planning at the most... if not executing". Two days later Syrian leader Bashar Assad announced that his troops will leave Lebanon completely "in the next few months". Responding to the announcement, opposition leader Walid Jumblatt said that he wanted to hear more specifics from Damascus about any withdrawal: "It's a nice gesture but 'next few months' is quite vague—we need a clear-cut timetable". On March 5 Syrian leader Assad declared in a televised speech that Syria would withdraw its forces to the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, and then to the border between Syria and Lebanon. Assad did not provide a timetable for a complete withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon—14,000 soldiers and intelligence agents. Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah called for a "massive popular gathering" on Tuesday against UN Resolution 1559 saying "The resistance will not give up its arms ... because Lebanon needs the resistance to defend it", and added "all the articles of UN resolution give free services to the Israeli enemy who should have been made accountable for his crimes and now finds that he is being rewarded for his crimes and achieves all its demands". In opposition to Nasrallah's call, Monday, March 7 saw at least 70,000 people—with some estimates putting the number at twice as high—gathered at central Martyrs' Square to demand that Syria leave completely. The following day a pro-Syrian demonstration set a new record when Hezbollah amassed 400–500 thousand protestors at Riad Solh square in Beirut, most of them bussed in from the heavily Shi'ite south Lebanon and eastern Beka'a valley. The show of power demonstrated Hezbollah's influence, wealth and organization as the sole Lebanese party allowed to hold a militia by Syria. In his speech Nasrallah blasted UN Security-Council Resolution 1559, which calls for Hezbollah's militia to be disbanded, as foreign intervention. Nasrallah also reiterated his earlier calls for the destruction of Israel saying "To this enemy we say again: There is no place for you here and there is no life for you among us. Death to Israel!". Though Hezbollah organized a very successful rally, opposition leaders were quick to point out that Hezbollah had active support from Lebanon's government and Syria. While the pro-democracy rallies had to deal with road blocks forcing protestors to either turn back or march long distances to Martyr's Square, Hezbollah was able to bus people directly to Riad Solh square. Dory Chamoun, an opposition leader, pointed out that "the difference is that in our demonstrations, people arrive voluntarily and on foot, not in buses". Another opposition member said the pro-Syrian government pressured people to turn out and some reports said Syria had bused in people from across the border. But on a mountain road leading to Beirut, only one bus with a Syrian license plate was spotted in a convoy of pro-Syrian supporters heading to the capital and Hezbollah officials denied the charges. Opposition MP Akram Chehayeb said "That is where the difference between us and them lies: They asked these people to come and they brought them here, whereas the opposition's supporters come here on their own. Our protests are spontaneous. We have a cause. What is theirs?". One month after Hariri's murder, an enormous anti-Syrian rally gathered at Martyr's Square in Beirut. Multiple news agencies estimated the crowd at between 800,000 and 1 million—a show of force for the Sunni Muslim, Christian and Druze communities. The rally was double the size of the mostly Shi'ite pro-Syrian one organized by Hezbollah the previous week. When Hariri's sister took a pro-Syrian line saying that Lebanon should "stand by Syria until its land is liberated and it regains its sovereignty on the occupied Golan Heights" the crowd jeered her. This sentiment was prevalent among the rally participants who opposed Hezbollah's refusal to disarm based on the claim that Lebanese and Syrian interests are linked. Cedar Revolution and 2006 War (2005–06) Jamil Al Sayyed, a Syrian ally in the Lebanese security forces, resigned on 25 April, just a day before the final Syrian troops pulled out of Lebanon. On 26 April 2005, the last 250 Syrian troops left Lebanon. During the departure ceremonies, Ali Habib, Syria's chief of staff, said that Syria's president had decided to recall his troops after the Lebanese army had been "rebuilt on sound national foundations and became capable of protecting the state." UN forces led by Senegalese Mouhamadou Kandji and guided by Lebanese Imad Anka were sent to Lebanon to verify the military withdrawal which was mandated by Security Council resolution 1559. Following the Syrian withdrawal a series of assassinations of Lebanese politicians and journalists with the anti-Syrian camp had begun. Many bombings have occurred to date and have triggered condemnations from the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General. Eight months after Syria withdrew from Lebanon under intense domestic and international outrage over the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri the UN investigation has yet to be completed. While UN investigator Detlev Mehlis has pointed the finger at Syria's intelligence apparatus in Lebanon he has yet to be allowed full access to Syrian officials who are suspected by the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) as being behind the assassination. In its latest report UNIIIC said it had "credible information" that Syrian officials had arrested and threatened close relatives of a witness who recanted testimony he had previously given the commission, and that two Syrian suspects it questioned indicated that all Syrian intelligence documents on Lebanon had been burned. A campaign of bomb attacks against politicians, journalists and even civilian neighborhoods associated with the anti-Syrian camp has provoked much negative attention for Syria in the UN and elsewhere. On December 15, 2005, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UNIIIC. On December 30, 2005, Syria's former vice-president, Abdul Halim Khaddam, said that "Hariri received many threats" from Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad. Prior to Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon Mr Khaddam was in charge of Syria's Lebanon policy and mainly responsible for Syria's abuse of Lebanon's resources. Many believe that Khaddam seized the opportunity to clear his history of corruption and blackmail. Parliament voted for the release of the former Lebanese Forces warlord Samir Geagea in the first session since election were held in the spring of 2005. Geagea was the only leader during the civil war to be charged with crimes related to that conflict. With the return of Michel Aoun, the climate was right to try to heal wounds to help unite the country after former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated on 14 February 2005. Geagea was released on 26 July 2005 and left immediately for an undisclosed European nation to undergo medical examinations and convalesce. During the Cedar Revolution Hezbollah organized a series of pro-Syrian rallies. Hezbollah became a part of the Lebanese government following the 2005 elections but is at a crossroads regarding the UNSCR 1559 call for its militia to be dismantled. On 21 November 2005, Hezbollah launched an attack along the entire border with Israel, the heaviest in the five and a half years since Israel's withdrawal. The barrage was supposed to provide tactical cover for an attempt by a squad of Hezbollah special forces to abduct Israeli troops in the Israeli side of the village of Al-Ghajar. The attack failed when an ambush by the IDF Paratroopers killed 4 Hezbollah members and scattered the rest. The UN Security Council accused Hezbollah of initiating the hostilities. On 27 December 2005, Katyusha rockets fired from Hezbollah territory smashed into houses in the Israeli village of Kiryat Shmona wounding three people. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the Lebanese Government "to extend its control over all its territory, to exert its monopoly on the use of force, and to put an end to all such attacks". Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora denounced the attack as "aimed at destabilizing security and diverting attention from efforts exerted to solve the internal issues prevailing in the country". On December 30, 2005, the Lebanese army dismantled two other Katyusha rockets found in the border town of Naqoura, an action suggesting increased vigilance following PM Saniora's angry remarks. In a new statement Saniora also rejected claims by Al-Qaeda that it was responsible for the attack and insisted again that it was a domestic action challenging his government's authority. The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. Instability and Syrian War spillover In 2007, the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp became the center of the 2007 Lebanon conflict between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam. At least 169 soldiers, 287 insurgents and 47 civilians were killed in the battle. Funds for the reconstruction of the area have been slow to materialize. Between 2006 and 2008, a series of protests led by groups opposed to the pro-Western Prime Minister Fouad Siniora demanded the creation of a national unity government, over which the mostly Shia opposition groups would have veto power. When Émile Lahoud's presidential term ended in October 2007, the opposition refused to vote for a successor unless a power-sharing deal was reached, leaving Lebanon without a president. On 9 May 2008, Hezbollah and Amal forces, sparked by a government declaration that Hezbollah's communications network was illegal, seized western Beirut, leading to the 2008 conflict in Lebanon. The Lebanese government denounced the violence as a coup attempt. At least 62 people died in the resulting clashes between pro-government and opposition militias. On 21 May 2008, the signing of the Doha Agreement ended the fighting. As part of the accord, which ended 18 months of political paralysis, Michel Suleiman became president and a national unity government was established, granting a veto to the opposition. The agreement was a victory for opposition forces, as the government caved in to all their main demands. In early January 2011, the national unity government collapsed due to growing tensions stemming from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was expected to indict Hezbollah members for the Hariri assassination. The parliament elected Najib Mikati, the candidate for the Hezbollah-led March 8 Alliance, Prime Minister of Lebanon, making him responsible for forming a new government. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah insists that Israel was responsible for the assassination of Hariri. A report leaked by the Al-Akhbar newspaper in November 2010 stated that Hezbollah has drafted plans for a takeover of the country if the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues an indictment against its members. In 2012, the Syrian Civil War threatened to spill over in Lebanon, causing more incidents of sectarian violence and armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. As of 6 August 2013, more than 677,702 Syrian refugees are in Lebanon. As the number of Syrian refugees increases, the Lebanese Forces Party, the Kataeb Party, and the Free Patriotic Movement fear the country's sectarian based political system is being undermined. 2019 Protests due to Liquidity Crisis In October 2019 a series of country-wide protests began in response to many of the government's failures and malfeasances. In the months leading up to the protests there was an ever deepening foreign reserves liquidity crisis. Days before protests broke out, a series of about 100 major wildfires in Chouf, Khroub and other Lebanese areas displaced hundreds of people and caused enormous damage to Lebanese wildlife. The Lebanese government failed to deploy its firefighting equipment due to lack of maintenance and misappropriation of funds. Lebanon had to rely on aid from neighboring Cyprus, Jordan, Turkey and Greece. In November 2019, commercial banks responded to the liquidity crises by imposing illegal capital controls to protect themselves, despite there being no official law by the BDL regarding banking controls. The protests created a political crisis in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri tendering his resignation and echoing protesters' demands for a government of independent specialists.A cabinet headed by Hassan Diab was formed in 2020. 2020 meltdown of central bank Concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Banque du Liban (BdL) in March 2020 defaulted on $90 billion of sovereign debt obligations, triggering a collapse in the value of the Lebanese pound. The decision was taken unanimously at a cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Hassan Diab on 7 March. That in turn caused the complex and opaque financial engineering with which the BdL maintained the nation's tenuous stability to crash and burn. Simultaneously, commercial banks imposed "informal capital controls limiting the amount of dollars depositors can withdraw as well as transfers abroad." Capital controls were expected to remain in place until at least 2025. It was remarked at the time that Lebanon, whose population is under 7 million, "produces little and imports about 80 percent of the goods it consumes." Debt servicing had consumed 30 percent of recent budgets. On 25 June the IMF estimated the losses at $49 billion, equivalent "to 91 per cent of Lebanon’s total economic output in 2019, according to World Bank figures... almost equal to the total of value of the deposits held by the Banque du Liban from the country’s commercial banks." The government of Lebanon concurred with the IMF estimates. The value of the pound, which had been artificially pegged at 1,507.5 pounds per U.S. dollar by the BdL, traded on the informal market in June 2020 at 5,000 pounds to the dollar, and concurrently the BdL welcomed in an official publication the involvement of the IMF. It came to light in an audit of 2018 BdL finances whose results were revealed on 23 July that the governor of the BdL, Riad Salameh, had fictionalized assets, used creative accounting and cooked the books. Two days earlier the government had announced its contract with New York-based Alvarez & Marsal to conduct "a forensic audit" of BdL finances. Beirut port explosion and state of emergency On 4 August 2020, the Beirut explosion occurred in the port sector of the city, destroying hectares of buildings and killing over 200 people. It was felt throughout the country. 4 days later on 8 August, a peaceful protest was organized starting from the port of Beirut and destined for the parliament building. The demonstrators were faced with brutal, deadly, and extreme excessive force including the use of live-ammunition by the security apparatus to oppress and subdue demonstrators. 728 demonstrators were injured during the 8 August protests and at least 153 injuries were severe enough to be treated in surrounding hospitals. Amid much popular unrest, the entire cabinet of Hassan Diab resigned on 10 August, and a state of emergency, which gave "the army broad powers to prevent gatherings, censor media and arrest anyone deemed to be a security threat", was declared on 13 August by the caretaker government. On 14 August, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah "referred to the possibility of civil war" were the anti-government protestors to force an early election. Meanwhile, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif complained about the presence of "French and British warships that were deployed to assist in the delivery of medical assistance and other aid." Also on 14 August, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) launched a $565 million appeal for donors of aid to victims of the explosion. The UN effort was to focus on: meals, first aid, shelters, and repair of schools. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab in August 2020, both Mustafa Adib and Saad Hariri failed to form a government. Najib Mikati was designated to fill the role on 26 July 2021. He received 72 votes out of 128 MPs. On September 10, 2021, Mikati was able to form a government. He announced that he wanted to ask for help from Arab countries to try to get Lebanon out of the crisis it is going through. On 14 October 2021, clashes erupted in Beirut between the Christian militia Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah fighters supported by the Amal Movement. See also Archaeology of Lebanon Constitution of Lebanon Foreign relations of Lebanon History of the Middle East History of Israel History of Syria Lebanese Civil War Lebanese diaspora Politics of Lebanon Timeline of Lebanese history References Bibliography Lebanon	[ -0.29086896777153015, 0.27877020835876465, -0.951065719127655, 0.00989393051713705, 0.16429665684700012, 0.4888339638710022, -0.0255048256367445, 0.5830668210983276, -0.4855710566043854, -0.649249255657196, -0.27773845195770264, 0.14683499932289124, 0.09536238759756088, 0.5882391333580017,...
17773	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography%20of%20Lebanon	Geography of Lebanon	Lebanon is a small country in the Middle East, located at approximately 34˚N, 35˚E. It stretches along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and its length is almost three times its width. From north to south, the width of its terrain becomes narrower. Lebanon's mountainous terrain, proximity to the sea, and strategic location at a crossroads of the world were decisive factors in shaping its history. The country's role in the region, as indeed in the world at large, was shaped by trade. It serves as a link between the Mediterranean world and India and East Asia. The merchants of the region exported oil, grain, textiles, metal work, and pottery through the port cities to Western markets. Physical geography and regions The area of Lebanon is . The country is roughly rectangular in shape, becoming narrower toward the south and the farthest north. Its widest point is , and its narrowest is ; the average width is about . Because Lebanon straddles the northwest of the Arabian Plate, it is sometimes geopolitically grouped together with nations with adjacent tectonic proximations such as Syria, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Egyptian Sinai, Israel and the UAE. The physical geography of Lebanon is influenced by natural systems that extend outside the country. Thus, the Beqaa Valley is part of the Great Rift system, which stretches from southern Turkey to Mozambique in Africa. Like any mountainous country, Lebanon's physical geography is complex. Land forms, climate, soils, and vegetation differ markedly within short distances. There are also sharp changes in other elements of the environment, from good to poor soils, as one moves through the Lebanese mountains. A major feature of Lebanese topography is the alternation of lowland and highland that runs generally parallel with a north-to-south orientation. There are four such longitudinal strips between the Mediterranean Sea and Syria: the coastal strip (or the maritime plain), western Lebanon, the central plateau, and eastern Lebanon. The extremely narrow coastal strip stretches along the shore of the eastern Mediterranean. Hemmed in between sea and mountain, the sahil, as it is called in Lebanon, is widest in the north near Tripoli, where it is only wide. A few kilometers south at Juniyah the approximately 1.5-kilometer-wide plain is succeeded by foothills that rise steeply to within from the sea. For the most part, the coast is abrupt and rocky. The shoreline is regular with no deep estuary, gulf, or natural harbor. The maritime plain is especially productive of fruits and vegetables. The western range, the second major region, is the Lebanon Mountains, sometimes called Mount Lebanon, or Lebanon proper before 1920. Since Roman days the term Mount Lebanon has encompassed this area. Antilibanos (Anti-Lebanon) was used to designate the eastern range. Geologists believe that the twin mountains once formed one range. The Lebanon Mountains are the highest, most rugged, and most imposing of the whole maritime range of mountains and plateaus that start with the Nur Mountains in northern Syria and end with the towering massif of Sinai. The mountain structure forms the first barrier to communication between the Mediterranean and Lebanon's eastern hinterland. The mountain range is a clearly defined unit having natural boundaries on all four sides. On the north it is separated from the Al-Ansariyah mountains of Syria by Nahr al-Kabir ("the great river"); on the south it is bounded by Al Qasimiyah River, giving it a length of 169 kilometers. Its width varies from about near Tripoli to on the southern end. It rises to alpine heights southeast of Tripoli. Qurnat as Sawda' ("the black nook") reaches and is the highest mountain of Lebanon. Of the other peaks that rise east of Beirut, Mount Sannine () is the highest. Ahl al Jabal ("people of the mountain"), or simply jabaliyyun, has referred traditionally to the inhabitants of western Lebanon. Near its southern end, the Lebanon Mountains branch off to the west to form the Shuf Mountains. The third geographical region is the Beqaa Valley. This central highland between the Lebanon Mountains and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains is about in length and 9.6 to 16 kilometers wide and has an average elevation of . Its middle section spreads out more than its two extremities. Geologically, the Beqaa is the medial part of a depression that extends north to the western bend of the Orontes River in Syria and south to Jordan through Arabah to Aqaba, the eastern arm of the Red Sea. The Beqaa is the country's chief agricultural area and served as a granary of Roman Syria. Beqaa is the Arabic plural of buqaah, meaning a place with stagnant water. Emerging from a base south of Homs in Syria, the eastern mountain range, or Anti-Lebanon (Lubnan ash Sharqi), is almost equal in length and height to the Lebanon Mountains. This fourth geographical region falls swiftly from Mount Hermon to the Hawran Plateau, whence it continues through Jordan south to the Dead Sea. The Barada Gorge divides Anti-Lebanon. In the northern section, few villages are on the western slopes, but in the southern section, featuring Mount Hermon (2860 meters), the western slopes have many villages. Anti-Lebanon is more arid, especially in its northern parts, than Mount Lebanon and is consequently less productive and more thinly populated. Climate Lebanon has a Mediterranean climate characterized by a long, hot, and dry summer, and a cool, rainy winter. Fall is a transitional season with a lowering of temperature and little rain; spring occurs when the winter rains cause the vegetation to revive. Topographical variation creates local modifications of the basic climatic pattern. Along the coast, summers are warm and humid, with little or no rain. Heavy dews form, which are beneficial to agriculture. The daily range of temperature is not wide. A west wind provides relief during the afternoon and evening; at night the wind direction is reversed, blowing from the land out to sea. Winter is the rainy season, with major precipitation falling after December. Rainfall is generous but is concentrated during only a few days of the rainy season, falling in heavy cloudbursts. The amount of rainfall varies greatly from one year to another. A hot wind blowing from the Egyptian desert called the khamsin (Arabic for "fifty"), may provide a warming trend during the fall but more often occurs during the spring. Bitterly cold winds may come from Southern Europe. Along the coast the proximity to the sea provides a moderating influence on the climate, making the range of temperatures narrower than it is inland, but the temperatures are cooler in the northern parts of the coast where there is also more rain. In the Lebanon Mountains the gradual increase in altitudes produces extremely cold winters with more precipitation and snow. The summers have a wider daily range of temperatures and less humidity. In the winter, frosts are frequent and snows heavy; in fact, snow covers the highest peaks for much of the year. In the summer, temperatures may rise as high during the daytime as they do along the coast, but they fall far lower at night. Inhabitants of the coastal cities, as well as visitors, seek refuge from the oppressive humidity of the coast by spending much of the summer in the mountains, where numerous summer resorts are located. The influence of the Mediterranean Sea is abated by the altitude and, although the precipitation is even higher than it is along the coast, the range of temperatures is wider and the winters are more severe. The Biqa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains are shielded from the influence of the sea by the Lebanon Mountains. The result is considerably less precipitation and humidity and a wider variation in daily and yearly temperatures. The khamsin does not occur in the Biqa Valley, but the north winter wind is so severe that the inhabitants say it can "break nails". Despite the relatively low altitude of the Biqa Valley (the highest point of which, near Baalbek, is only ) more snow falls there than at comparable altitudes west of the Lebanon Mountains. Because of their altitudes, the Anti-Lebanon Mountains receive more precipitation than the Biqa Valley, despite their remoteness from maritime influences. Much of this precipitation appears as snow, and the peaks of the Anti-Lebanon, like those of the Lebanon Mountains, are snow-covered for much of the year. Temperatures are cooler than in the Biqa Valley. The Biqa Valley is watered by two rivers that rise in the watershed near Baalbek: the Orontes flowing north (in Arabic it is called Nahr al-Asi, "the Rebel River", because this direction is unusual), and the Litani flowing south into the hill region of the southern Biqa Valley, where it makes an abrupt turn to the west in southern Lebanon and is thereafter called the Al Qasmiyah River. The Orontes continues to flow north into Syria and eventually reaches the Mediterranean in Turkey. Its waters, for much of its course, flow through a channel considerably lower than the surface of the ground. The Nahr Barada, which waters Damascus, has as its source a spring in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Smaller springs and streams serve as tributaries to the principal rivers. Because the rivers and streams have such steep gradients and are so fast moving, they are erosive instead of depository in nature. This process is aided by the soft character of the limestone that composes much of the mountains, the steep slopes of the mountains, and the heavy rainstorms. The only permanent lake is Lake Qaraoun, about ten kilometers east of Jezzine. There is one seasonal lake, fed by springs, on the eastern slopes of the Lebanon Mountains near Yammunah, about southeast of Tripoli. Temperatures are rising in Lebanon as a part of global warming. Lebanon is considered to be part of the Fertile Crescent, yet in the meantime with the severe climate changes, it might lose fertility. Area and boundaries Area: Total: Land: Water: Land boundaries: Total: Border countries:Israel , Syria Coastline: Maritime claims: Territorial sea: Exclusive Economic Zone: Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Mediterranean Sea (sea level) Highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' Resources and land use Limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land Land use: arable land: 10.72% permanent crops: 12.06% other: 77.22% (2011) Irrigated land: (2011) Total renewable water resources: (2011) Water in Lebanon Water is becoming a scarce resource in Lebanon due to climate change, which leads to different rainfall patterns as well as to inefficient methods of distribution within the country. Most of Lebanon's rainfall is in the four months of winter, but over the last 45 years, the Ministry of Environment (Lebanon) estimates that rainfall has decreased overall between 5 and 20 percent. The coastal strip of Lebanon gets approximately 2,000 mm of rain per year, while the Beqaa Valley to the east gets only one-tenth as much. In 2004, only about 21% of households across Lebanon had constant access to water in the summer months, with most of those households concentrated in or near Beirut. It is predicted that in future years, there will be higher temperatures, lower rainfall, and longer droughts, leading to even less access to water. According to the Ministry of Environment, several factors that are putting stress on Lebanon's water resources are unsustainable water management practices, increasing water demand from all sectors, water pollution, and ineffective water governance. Lebanon has struggled with inadequate water and sanitation services for many years. The factors with the greatest effect on quality and quantity of water resources in Lebanon are population growth, urbanization (88% of the population now lives in urban areas), economic growth, and climate change. In recent years, population growth has been increased rapidly with the addition of many Syrian refugees. Some new projects have been proposed to restructure the water sector. Currently, over 48 percent of water supplied by the public system is lost through seepage and wastewater networks are extremely poor, or even non-existent in some areas. One project that is currently being implemented by the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) focusses on harvesting rainwater from agricultural greenhouse tops in order to increase water harvesting and reduce the pressure on pumping groundwater. This project is expected to increase water availability during the especially critical months of late summer and early autumn when there is less precipitation, which would help to reduce the risk of salinity in both soil and water, and to increase the resilience of crops faced with prolonged drought. There are also proposed projects that suggest the agricultural sector use recycled waste water to allow for more fresh and potable water for consumption. This would be a huge improvement, as solid-wast treatment facilities are in short supply, and over 92 percent of Lebanon's sewage runs untreated directly into water-courses and the sea. If Lebanon does not reform its water sector, it is likely that there will be chronic and critical water shortages by 2020, which would create needs the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) would be unable to meet. Water is becoming a scarce resource and if Lebanon instates reformed practices, the progression forward into future water scarcity can be slowed. Influence of Syrian Refugees on Lebanon's Resources As of September 2019, approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees reside in Lebanon. As the number of Refugees of the Syrian Civil War in Lebanon rises, Lebanon continues to face more major challenges to its food and water security. The refugee situation is placing tremendous pressure on the country's resources. There are serious changes in Lebanon's water availability and agricultural production as a result of climate change and population growth, making it more difficult to fulfill the needs of refugees. More than 40% of farmers in Kfardebian and 81% in the Beqa'a region have reported water shortages being exacerbated by the region's close proximity to Syria and the influx of refugees. Water scarcity affects the quantity and quality of water available to the villages, food security, and land availability for living and for cultivating. The influx of Syrian refugees is not something the Lebanese government could have reasonably prepared for as it happened so rapidly, but international aid has proven to also be inadequate for the scale of the crisis, especially in the Beqa'a and Northern Lebanon region, which borders closely with Syria. Arrivals of refugees to Lebanon grew at an unprecedented pace in 2013 and 2014, with an average of 47,000 refugees being registered by UNHCR per month. Close to 30 percent of the refugee population are left without access to safe drinking water because of the increased water scarcity in the region. One issue with providing adequate care for the refugees is that both Syria and Lebanon have deeply divided populations, meaning that their current priorities are not climate change or population growth as much as they are regime stability and national security. Because of this priority focus away from refugees, Lebanon needs major international assistance to meet immediate humanitarian needs, as well as to strengthen water infrastructure and irrigation throughout the country. By the beginning of 2015, there were an estimated 1.3 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, and it is expected that this number will rise to approximately 1.8 million by December 2015.It is estimated to be around 2 million Syrian refugees as of September 2019. "As their displacement extends and their savings deplete, refugees' socio-economic vulnerability increases." Syrian refugees who were born in Lebanon are at an increased risk, as 72 percent of them do not possess official birth certificates. The majority of refugees have settled in the Beqa'a region. Because of the influx, not only has Lebanon suffered on a basis of resources and environmental stress, but Lebanon has also suffered economically through a loss of trade, tourism and investment. According to a World Bank Assessment in October 2013, the economic impact of the Syrian crisis was estimated to cost Lebanon USD 7.5 billion, and the country's GDP has plunged from 10 percent before the crisis to 2 percent currently. Public services and infrastructure as well are under severe strain as a result of the refugee influx. A vulnerability assessment conducted by the UN and partner agencies has shown that upward of 70 percent of refugees cannot meet their minimum daily food requirements. 72 percent of all refugees have been receiving monthly food assistance from WFP (World Food Programme). However, in 2015, WFP lost funding and had to reduce the value of food vouchers by 40 percent. There is a serious strain on resources in Lebanon being exacerbated by an influx of refugees in the country, and Lebanon needs more international aid in order to sustain the population in the long-term. Environmental concerns Natural hazards include dust storms. Current environmental degradation concerns include deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes, and pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills. Lebanon's rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity. Air quality in Lebanon As a result of increasingly hot summers and its location within the Mediterranean region, which is often cited for having long episodes of pollution, Lebanon, Beirut in particular, is at high risk for air pollution. Approximately 93 percent of Beirut's population is exposed to high levels of air pollution, which can most often be attributed to vehicle-induced emissions, whether it be long-range travel or short commuting traffic. The cost of air pollution to health may exceed ten million dollars a year. The levels of air pollution in Beirut are increasing annually, and were already above acceptable WHO (World Health Organization) standards by 2011. The most noted pollution in Beirut is particulate matter (street dust), chemicals in the air, and vehicle exhaust. Air pollution is exacerbated by city structure and inadequate urban management as indicated by high buildings on narrow streets, which contain air pollutants. Some recommendations for improvement of air quality include encouragement of carpooling and citywide biking, alternative fuels for vehicles, and a widened public transit sector. Land pollution in Lebanon Sukleen, Lebanon's largest waste disposal company has a waste management process that goes through several stages, including clean-up and collection, sorting and composting, and burial. However, many argue that Lebanon needs a much better system for disposal of waste to reduce pollution and environmental degradation. The Litani River is Lebanon's largest river and many farms use the river's water to irrigate land and crops. Because of Lebanon's poor waste management system, a lot of waste and pollution ends up in the Litani and contaminates the crops, in turn endangering the health of consumers and farmers alike, contributing to environmental degradation, as well as hurting the agricultural reputation and economy. Trashy protests of January 2014 In January 2014, protests in the town of Naameh began to arise, effectively blocking disposal of garbage at the landfill for three days. The protests were instated in response to the continued use of the landfill in Naameh beyond the date it was originally meant to close. The landfill began as a six-year project in 1997, but has remained open for seventeen years as of 2015, and without a sufficient alternative location for garbage disposal, it is likely that it will remain open for the foreseeable future. In 1997, Naameh became the country's primary landfill and was initially supposed to hold two million tons of waste. The landfill currently holds ten million tons of trash, and is still in use. Residents of the area in 2014 did not want to extend the landfill agreement, and staged the protests to prevent future plans. The company in charge of the majority of the area's collection and cleanup of trash is called Sukleen. It serves 364 towns and municipalities within Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The total waste collected by the company rose from 1,140 tons daily in 1994, to 3,100 tons in 2014. Sukleen is the largest government-contracted private waste management company in Lebanon. In response to the protests, which were asking the government for more efficient waste management systems along with the closure of the landfill in Naameh, Sukleen responded to environmentalists by halting service to Beirut and Mount Lebanon for three days. Because the Naameh landfills were closed and Sukleen was out of service, trash began to pile up in the streets of the city, affecting everyone citywide and drawing attention to the issue of city/region waste-management issues. References bn:লেবানন#ভূগোল	[ -0.40029698610305786, 0.43643856048583984, -0.13123805820941925, -0.3429615795612335, 0.27614784240722656, 0.4506162106990814, 0.08693698793649673, 0.6624594926834106, -0.3500553369522095, -1.0243933200836182, -0.44932669401168823, -0.05710124969482422, 0.12051144242286682, 0.5464079380035...
17774	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics%20of%20Lebanon	Demographics of Lebanon	This article is about the demographic features of the population of Lebanon, including population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 95% of the population of Lebanon is either Muslim or Christian, split across various sects and denominations. Because the matter of religious balance is a sensitive political issue, a national census has not been conducted since 1932, before the founding of the modern Lebanese state. Consequently, there is an absence of accurate data on the relative percentages of the population of the major religions and groups. The absence of data and comprehensive statistics also concerns all other demographic studies unrelated to religious balance, due to the all but total inactivity of the concerned public agencies. The only recent (post-war) statistics available are estimates based on studies made by private organizations. The biggest study made after the independence on the Lebanese Population was made by the Central Administration of Statistics (in French: "Administration Centrale de la Statistique") under the direction of Robert Kasparian and Grégoire Haddad's Social Movement: "L'enquête par sondage sur la population active au Liban en 1970" (in English: "The survey on the active population in Lebanon in 1970"). It was conducted on a sample of 130,000 individuals. There are over 4 million Lebanese and descendants of Lebanese worldwide, mostly Christians, compared with the internal population of Lebanon of around 4.6 million citizens, in 2020. Ethnic groups Lebanese Ethnic background is an important factor in Lebanon. The country encompasses a great mix of Indigenous and non indigenous cultural, religious, and ethnic groups such as Arabs, Druze & Armenians amongst others. Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula invaded and occupied Lebanon in the 7th century AD. In the time since then, Arabic has become the lingua franca of the area and much of the population of Lebanon (especially Muslims) have come to identify as Arab. Ethnic identity has come to revolve increasingly around aspects of cultural self-identification more than descent. To an extent, religious affiliation has also become a substitute in some respects for ethnic affiliation. Generally, the cultural and linguistic heritage of the People of Lebanon is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over the course of thousands of years. Moreover, in a 2013 interview, the lead investigator, Pierre Zalloua, pointed out that genetic variation preceded religious variation and divisions: "Lebanon already had well-differentiated communities with their own genetic peculiarities, but not significant differences, and religions came as layers of paint on top. There is no distinct pattern that shows that one community carries significantly more Phoenician than another". Religious groups The Lebanese Christians are some of the oldest Christians in the world, preceded only by the oriental Orthodox of Armenia, Ethiopia, the Copts of Egypt, and the Saint Thomas Christians of India. The Maronite Christians belong to the West Syriac Rite. Their Liturgical language is the Syriac-Aramaic language. The Melkite Greek Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, tend to focus more on the Greco-Hellenistic heritage of the region from the days of the Byzantine Empire, and the fact that Greek was maintained as a liturgical language until very recently. Some Lebanese even claim partial descent from Crusader knights who ruled Lebanon for a couple of centuries during the Middle Ages, also backed by recent genetic studies which confirmed this among Lebanese people, especially in the north of the country that was under the Crusader County of Tripoli. This identification with non-Arab civilizations also exists in other religious communities, albeit not to the same extent. The sectarian system Lebanon's religious divisions are extremely complicated, and the country is made up by a multitude of religious groupings. The ecclesiastical and demographic patterns of the sects and denominations are complex. Divisions and rivalries between groups date back as far as 15 centuries, and still are a factor today. The pattern of settlement has changed little since the 7th century, but instances of civil strife and ethnic cleansing, most recently during the Lebanese Civil War, has brought some important changes to the religious map of the country. (See also History of Lebanon.) Lebanon has by far the largest proportion of Christians of any Middle Eastern country, but both Christians and Muslims are sub-divided into many splinter sects and denominations. Population statistics are highly controversial. The various denominations and sects each have vested interests in inflating their own numbers. Shias, Sunnis, Maronites and Eastern Orthodox (the four largest denominations) all often claim that their particular religious affiliation holds a majority in the country, adding up to over 150% of the total population, even before counting the other denominations. One of the rare things that most Lebanese religious leaders will agree on is to avoid a new general census, for fear that it could trigger a new round of denominational conflict. The last official census was performed in 1932. Religion has traditionally been of overriding importance in defining the Lebanese population. Dividing state power between the religious denominations and sects, and granting religious authorities judicial power, dates back to Ottoman times (the millet system). The practice was reinforced during French mandate, when Christian groups were granted privileges. This system of government, while partly intended as a compromise between sectarian demands, has caused tensions that still dominate Lebanese politics to this day. The Christian population majority is believed to have ended in the early 1970s, but government leaders would agree to no change in the political power balance. This led to Muslim demands of increased representation, and the constant sectarian tension slid into violent conflict in 1958 (prompting U.S. intervention) and again in the grueling Lebanese Civil War, in 1975–90. The balance of power has been slightly adjusted in the 1943 National Pact, an informal agreement struck at independence, in which positions of power were divided according to the 1932 census. The Sunni elite was then accorded more power, but Maronites continued to dominate the system. The sectarian balance was again adjusted towards the Muslim side but simultaneously further reinforced and legitimized. Shia Muslims (by now the second largest sect) then gained additional representation in the state apparatus, and the obligatory Christian-Muslim representation in Parliament was downgraded from a 6:5 to a 1:1 ratio. Christians of various denominations were then generally thought to constitute about 40% of the population, although often Muslim leaders would cite lower numbers, and some Christians would claim that they still held a majority of the population. 18 recognized religious groups The present Lebanese Constitution officially acknowledges 18 religious groups (see below). These have the right to handle family law according to their own courts and traditions, and they are the basic players in Lebanon's complex sectarian politics. Alawite Armenian Catholic Armenian Orthodox Assyrian Church of the East Chaldean Catholic Copts Druze Greek Orthodox Isma'ili Jewish Latin Catholic Maronite Catholic Melkite Greek Catholic Protestant Sunni Shia Syriac Catholic Church Syriac Orthodox Church Religious population statistics Note: stateless Palestinians and Syrians are not included in the statistics below since they do not hold Lebanese citizenship. The numbers only include the present population of Lebanon, and not the Lebanese diaspora. The 1932 census stated that Christians made up 50% of the resident population. Maronites, largest among the Christian denomination and then largely in control of the state apparatus, accounted for 29% of the total resident population. Total population of Lebanon was reported to be 1,411,000 in 1956. The largest communities were Maronites (424,000), Sunni Muslims (286,000), Shiite Muslims(250,000), Greek Orthodox (149,000), Greek Catholics (91,000), Druzes (88,000), Armenian Orthodox (64,000), Armenian Catholics (15,000), Protestants (14,000), Jews (7,000), Syriac Catholics (6,000), Syriac Orthodox (5,000), Latins (4,000) and Nestorian Chaldeans (1,000). A 2010 study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm, cited by the United States Department of State found that of Lebanon's population of approximately 4.3 million was estimated to be: 45% Christian (Maronite, Eastern Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Protestant, other Christian denominations non-native to Lebanon like Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Copt) 48% Islam (Shia and Sunni) 5.2% Druze (included within the Muslim group in the Lebanese Constitution.) There is also a very small number of other religious minorities such as, Baháʼís, Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons. In 2021, the CIA World Factbook specified that of those residing in Lebanon, 61.1% are Muslims (30.6% Sunni, 30.5% Shia, with smaller percentages of Alawites and Ismailis), 33.7% are Christians (mostly Maronites, Eastern Orthodox, Melkite Catholics, Protestant, Armenian Apostolic, Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox, Chaldean Catholic, Syrian Catholic), 5.2% are Druze, and there are "very small numbers of Jews, Baha'is, Buddhists, and Hindus". Census of 1932 Muslims According to the CIA World Factbook, in 2021 the Muslim population was estimated at 60% within Lebanese territory and 20% of the over 4 million Lebanese diaspora population. In 2012 a more detailed breakdown of the size of each Muslim sect in Lebanon was made: The Shia Muslims are around 22.5%–29% of the total population. The Speaker of Parliament is always a Shia Muslim, as it is the only high post that Shias are eligible for. The Shias are largely concentrated in northern and western Beqaa, Southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Sunni Muslims constitute also about 25.5%–29% of the total population. Sunni notables traditionally held power in the Lebanese state together, and they are still the only sect eligible for the post of Prime Minister Sunnis are mostly concentrated in west Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, Central and Western Beqaa, and Akkar in the north. Other Muslim sects have a small presence, with the Isma'ilis and Alawites combined comprising less than 1% of the population and are included among Lebanese Shia Muslims. Christians According to the CIA World Factbook, in 2021, the Christian population in Lebanon was estimated at 35%. In 2012 a more detailed breakdown of the size of each Christian sect in Lebanon was made: The Maronites are the largest of the Christian groups about 30% of the population of Lebanon. They have had a long and continuous association with the Roman Catholic Church, but have their own patriarch, liturgy, and customs. Traditionally they had good relations with the Western world, especially France and the Vatican. They traditionally dominated the Lebanese government. Their influence in later years has diminished, because of their relative decrease in numbers but also due to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, which generally benefited Shia communities, and was resisted by most of the others. Today the Maronites are believed to compose about 26% of the population, scattered around the Lebanese countryside but with heavy concentrations on Mount Lebanon and in Beirut (Greater Beirut). The second largest Christian group is the Eastern Orthodox that constitute at least 9% of the population. The church exists in many parts of the Arab world and Eastern Orthodox Christians have often been noted for pan-Arab or pan-Syrian leanings; it has had less dealings with Western countries than the Maronites. The Eastern Orthodox Lebanese Christians have a long and continuous association with Eastern Orthodox European countries like Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the deputy Prime Minister are reserved for Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Melkite Catholics are thought to constitute about 6% of the population. The Protestants are thought to constitute about 1% of the population. The remaining Christian churches are thought to constitute another 5% of the population (Roman Catholics, Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, and Assyrians.) Druze The Druze constitute 5% of the population and can be found primarily in the rural, mountainous areas of Mount Lebanon and the Chouf District. Traditionally, the Druze tended to prefer Syria over the West, but after the civil war and the emergence of Hezbollah, the Druze hold a powerful negativity towards Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, and now the Druze strongly prefer to ally with the West. Even though the faith originally developed out of Ismaili Islam, most Druze do not identify as Muslims, and they do not accept the five pillars of Islam. Other religions Other religions account for only an estimated 0.3% of the population mainly foreign temporary workers, according to the CIA World Factbook. There remains a very small Jewish population, traditionally centered in Beirut. It has been larger: most Jews left the country after the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) as thousands of Lebanese did at that time. Diaspora Apart from the four and a half million citizens of Lebanon proper, there is a sizeable Lebanese diaspora. There are more Lebanese people living outside of Lebanon (over 4 million), than within (4.6 million citizens plus 1.5 million refugees). The majority of the diaspora population consists of Lebanese Christians; however, there are some who are Muslim. They trace their origin to several waves of Christian emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1860 Lebanon conflict in Ottoman Syria. Under the current Lebanese nationality law, diaspora Lebanese do not have an automatic right of return to Lebanon. Due to varying degrees of assimilation and high degree of interethnic marriages, most diaspora Lebanese have not passed on the Arabic language to their children, while still maintaining a Lebanese ethnic identity. Many Lebanese families are economically and politically prominent in several Latin American countries (in 2007 Mexican Carlos Slim Helú, son of Lebanese immigrants, was determined to be the wealthiest man in the World by Fortune Magazine), and make up a substantial portion of the Lebanese American community in the United States. The largest Lebanese diaspora is located in Brazil, where about 6–7 million people have Lebanese descent (see Lebanese Brazilian). In Argentina, there is also a large Lebanese diaspora of approximately 1.5 million people having Lebanese descent. (see Lebanese Argentine). In Canada, there is also a large Lebanese diaspora of approximately 250,000-500,000 people having Lebanese descent. (see Lebanese Canadians). There are also sizable populations in West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Senegal. The large size of Lebanon's diaspora may be partly explained by the historical and cultural tradition of seafaring and traveling, which stretches back to Lebanon's ancient Phoenician origins and its role as a "gateway" of relations between Europe and the Middle East. It has been commonplace for Lebanese citizens to emigrate in search of economic prosperity. Furthermore, on several occasions in the last two centuries the Lebanese population has endured periods of ethnic cleansing and displacement (for example, 1840–60 and 1975–90). These factors have contributed to the geographical mobility of the Lebanese people. While under Syrian occupation, Beirut passed legislation which prevented second-generation Lebanese of the diaspora from automatically obtaining Lebanese citizenship. This has reinforced the émigré status of many diaspora Lebanese. There is currently a campaign by those Lebanese of the diaspora who already have Lebanese citizenship to attain the vote from abroad, which has been successfully passed in the Lebanese parliament and will be effective as of 2013 which is the next parliamentary elections. If suffrage was to be extended to these 1.2 million Lebanese émigré citizens, it would have a significant political effect, since as many as 80% of them are believed to be Christian. Lebanese Civil War refugees and displaced persons With no official figures available, it is estimated that 600,000–900,000 persons fled the country during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90). Although some have since returned, this permanently disturbed Lebanese population growth and greatly complicated demographic statistics. Another result of the war was a large number of internally displaced persons. This especially affected the southern Shia community, as Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in 1978, 1982, and 1996 prompted waves of mass emigration, in addition to the continual strain of occupation and fighting between Israel and Hezbollah (mainly 1982 to 2000). Many Shias from Southern Lebanon resettled in the suburbs south of Beirut. After the war, the pace of Christian emigration accelerated, as many Christians felt discriminated against in a Lebanon under increasingly oppressive Syrian occupation. According to a UNDP study, as much as 10% of the Lebanese had a disability in 1990. Other studies have pointed to the fact that this portion of society is highly marginalized due to the lack of educational and governmental support of their advancement. Languages Arabic is the official language of the country. Lebanese Arabic is mostly spoken in non-official contexts. French and English are taught in many schools from a young age. Among the Armenian ethnic minority in Lebanon, the Armenian language is taught and spoken within the Armenian community. CIA World Factbook demographic statistics The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Population: Total population: 6,100,075 (July 2018 est.) Lebanese nationals: 4,680,212 (July 2018 est.) Syrian refugees: 944,613 (April 2019 est.) registered at the UNHCR (down from 1,077,000 in June 2014) Palestinian refugees: 175,555 (2018 est.) Iraqi refugees: 5,695 (2017 est.) Age structure: 0–14 years: 23.32% (male 728,025/female 694,453) 15–24 years: 16.04% (male 500,592/female 477,784) 25–54 years: 45.27% (male 1,398,087/female 1,363,386) 55–64 years: 8.34% (male 241,206/female 267,747) 65 years and over: 7.03% (male 185,780/female 243,015) (2018 est.) Median age: Total: 31.3 years Male: 30.7 years Female: 31.9 years (2018 est.) Population growth rate: 1.04% (2005 est.) 0.96% (2011 est.) −3.13% (2018 est.) Net migration rate: −4.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.) −40.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.9 years male: 76.6 years female: 79.3 years (2018 est.) Vital statistics UN estimates Registered births and deaths Births for 2018 includes Lebanese births (69,646) and non-Lebanese (59,041) Life expectancy Immigrants and ethnic groups There are substantial numbers of immigrants from other Arab countries (mainly Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Egypt) and non-Arab-speaking Muslim countries. Also, recent years have seen an influx of people from Ethiopia and South East Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, as well as smaller numbers of other immigrant minorities, Colombians and Brazilians (of Lebanese descent themselves). Most of these are employed as guest workers in the same fashion as Syrians and Palestinians, and entered the country to search for employment in the post-war reconstruction of Lebanon. Apart from the Palestinians, there are approximately 180,000 stateless persons in Lebanon. Armenians, Jews and Iranians Lebanese Armenians, Jews and Iranians form more distinct ethnic minorities, all of them in possession of a separate languages (Armenian, Hebrew, Persian) and a national home area (Armenia, Israel, Iran) outside of Lebanon. However, they combined total 5% of the population. French and Italians During the French Mandate of Lebanon, there was a fairly large French minority and a tiny Italian minority. Most of the French and Italian settlers left after Lebanese independence in 1943 and only 22,000 French Lebanese and 4,300 Italian Lebanese continue to live in Lebanon. The most important legacy of the French Mandate is the frequent use and knowledge of the French language by most of the educated Lebanese people, and Beirut is still known as the "Paris of the Middle East". Palestinians Around 175,555 Palestinian refugees were registered in Lebanon with the UNRWA in 2014, who are refugees or descendants of refugees from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Some 53% live in 12 Palestine refugee camps, who "suffer from serious problems" such as poverty and overcrowding. Some of these may have emigrated during the civil war, but there are no reliable figures available. There are also a number of Palestinians who are not registered as UNRWA refugees, because they left earlier than 1948 or were not in need of material assistance. The exact number of Palestinians remain a subject of great dispute and the Lebanese government will not provide an estimate. A figure of 400,000 Palestinian refugees would mean that Palestinians constitute less than 7% of the resident population of Lebanon. Palestinians living in Lebanon are considered foreigners and are under the same restrictions on employment applied to other foreigners. Prior to 2010, they were under even more restrictive employment rules which permitted, other than work for the U.N., only the most menial employment. They are not allowed to attend public schools, own property, or make an enforceable will. Palestinian refugees, who constitute nearly 6.6% of the country's population, have long been denied basic rights in Lebanon. They are not allowed to attend public schools, own property or pass on inheritances, measures Lebanon says it has adopted to preserve their right to return to their property in what constitutes Israel now. Their presence is controversial, and resisted by large segments of the Christian population, who argue that the primarily Sunni Muslim Palestinians dilute Christian numbers. Many Shia Muslims also look unfavorably upon the Palestinian presence since the refugee camps have tended to be concentrated in their home areas. The Lebanese Sunnis, however, would be happy to see these Palestinians given the Lebanese nationality, thus increasing the Lebanese Sunni population by well over 10% and tipping the fragile electoral balance much in favor of the Sunnis. Late prime minister Rafiq Hariri —himself a Sunni— had hinted on more than one occasion on the inevitability of granting these refugees Lebanese citizenship. Thus far the refugees lack Lebanese citizenship as well as many rights enjoyed by the rest of the population, and are confined to severely overcrowded refugee camps, in which construction rights are severely constricted. Palestinians may not work in a large number of professions, such as lawyers and doctors. However, after negotiations between Lebanese authorities and ministers from the Palestinian National Authority some professions for Palestinians were allowed (such as taxi driver and construction worker). The material situation of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is difficult, and they are believed to constitute the poorest community in Lebanon, as well as the poorest Palestinian community with the possible exception of Gaza Strip refugees. Their primary sources of income are UNRWA aid and menial labor sought in competition with Syrian guest workers. The Palestinians are almost totally Sunni Muslim, though at some point Christians counted as high as 40% with Muslims at 60%. The numbers of Palestinian Christians has diminished in later years, as many have managed to leave Lebanon. During the Lebanese Civil War, Palestinian Christians sided with the rest of the Palestinian community, instead of allying with Lebanese Eastern Orthodox or other Christian communities. 60,000 Palestinians have received Lebanese citizenship, including most Christian Palestinians. Syrians In 1976, the then Syrian president Hafez al-Assad sent troops into Lebanon to fight PLO forces on behalf of Christian militias. This led to escalated fighting until a cease-fire agreement later that year that allowed for the stationing of Syrian troops within Lebanon. The Syrian presence in Lebanon quickly changed sides; soon after they entered Lebanon they had flip-flopped and began to fight the Christian nationalists in Lebanon they allegedly entered the country to protect. The Kateab Party and the Lebanese Forces under Bachir Gemayel strongly resisted the Syrians in Lebanon. In 1989, 40,000 Syrian troops remained in central and eastern Lebanon under the supervision of the Syrian government. Although, the Taif Accord, established in the same year, called for the removal of Syrian troops and transfer of arms to the Lebanese army, the Syrian Army remained in Lebanon until the Lebanese Cedar Revolution in 2005 ended the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In 1994, the Lebanese government under the pressure of the Syrian government, gave Lebanese passports to thousands of Syrians. There are nearly 1.08 million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanonbut is estimated that Lebanon hosts 1.5 million. Assyrians There are an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 Iraqi Assyrian refugees in Lebanon. The vast majority of them are undocumented, with a large number having been deported or put in prison. They belong to various denominations, including the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, and Syriac Catholic Church. Iraqis Due to the US-led invasion of Iraq, Lebanon received a mass influx of Iraqi refugees numbering at around 100,000. The vast majority of them are undocumented, with a large number having been deported or put in prison. Kurds There are an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 Kurdish refugees from Turkey and Syria within Lebanese territory. Many of them are undocumented. As of 2012, around 40% of all Kurds in Lebanon do not have Lebanese citizenship. Turks The Turkish people began to migrate to Lebanon once the Ottoman sultan Selim I conquered the region in 1516. Turks were encouraged to stay in Lebanon by being rewarded with land and money. Today the Turkish minority numbers approximately 80,000. Moreover, since the Syrian Civil War, approximately 125,000 to 150,000 Syrian Turkmen refugees arrived in Lebanon, and hence they now outnumber the long established Turkish minority who settled since the Ottoman era. Circassians The Circassians migrated to the Ottoman Empire including Lebanon and neighboring countries in the 18th and 19th century. However, they are mostly located in Akkar Governorate, in which they have come to Berkail since 1754. Today the Circassian minority numbers approximately 100,000. See also Demographics of the Middle East Notes References	[ -0.18162621557712555, 0.42646870017051697, -0.7304806709289551, -0.2833821773529053, -0.13418549299240112, 0.8965294361114502, 0.3565213978290558, 0.7182995080947876, -0.7340664863586426, -0.9806831479072571, -0.81987065076828, -0.015351719222962856, 0.0020206894259899855, 0.47960981726646...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.